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The Raspberry Pi is a wonderful little device that opens up endless possibilities. Its community is spread across multiple web platforms, with Reddit hosting one of the largest.
If you are looking for inspiration or curious about what is possible with the Raspberry Pi, these are the most interesting Raspberry Pi projects showcased on Reddit:
1Magic Mirror
Magic Mirroris the quintessential Raspberry Pi project that shows up on almost every project list. It is a one-way mirror (or two-way mirror) with a digital display behind it. The Raspberry Pi’s low-power nature, small size, and networking capabilities are particularly well-suited for the smart mirror project. Created byMicheal Teeuwin 2014, the simple DIY project has evolved into a modular platform with pre-written source code and tons of tutorials.
Maker eatyourcabbage’s spin on the Magic Mirror is less of a mirror and more of an impressive, wall-mounted display powered by a Raspberry Pi running Magic Mirror software. It is a digital wall calendar that shows a baseball feed, Spotify Now Playing, weather, time, and news.
The parts list includes an LG monitor, a Raspberry Pi Model 3B+ (more recent models will work too), a VESA mount, power adapters for the Raspberry Pi and monitor, and a few other accessories. You should try this project if you have a Raspberry Pi and a display in storage.
2Cardiography Signal Measuring Device
The Cardiography Signal Measuring Device by Milo Rasic is an open-source device that measures blood pressure using aRaspberry Pi Pico W microcontroller. The project was designed for a master’s thesis project and features a custom, 4-layer printed circuit board with a Raspberry Pi Pico W, voltage regulators, an instrumentation amplifier, and an electrocardiography (ECG) sensor.
Fully open-source, the project’s hardware and software files are hosted in a repository onGitHubfor interested makers to replicate. The project includes software that allows users to visualize real-time data and record and analyze measurements using Python. While not a project for beginners, it showcases what is achievable with a Raspberry Pi and some technical know-how.
3YAAC (Yet Another Apache Cyberdeck)
Cyberdecks are laptops for nerds, and you can build your own using a Raspberry Pi. Often custom-made and portable, a cyberdeck is less powerful than an average laptop but looks cooler and more futuristic (in a cyberpunk kind of way).
DayZedAndConfused762’s cyberdeck project is named the YAAC (Yet Another Apache Cyberdeck) after the all-black, waterproof Apache 3800 case that houses it. It features aRaspberry Pi Model 4B, a 10-inch display from Waveshare, a 24000mAh power bank, and a Geekworm UPS. TheGitHub repositorycontains an already extensive but growing list of resources that will be helpful to anyone looking to make a similar cyberdeck.
The maker plans to use it to learn cybersecurity and browse Wikipedia and a few other websites without internet access. The YAAC offers an average battery life of 12 hours with the display on, much more than a typical laptop.The Raspberry Pi 400keyboard computer is another great option for making a portable cyberdeck based on a Raspberry Pi.
4Open-Source Trackpad
If you are more interested in making something more mundane and every day than a magic mirror or a heart activity measurement device, look no further than the Ploopy trackpad. It is an open-source, responsive trackpad with Windows and Linux operating systems.
It is powered by theRP2040 microcontroller chipand uses the Microchip ATMXT1066TD chip for tracking. It is fully customizable and completely open-source. The design files and firmware are available for free onGitHub. It is sold as a kit and assembled for CAD 99.99 and CAD 129.99, respectively, at thePloopy Store. Products bought from the store come with preloaded firmware.
5Outdoor Rover
Finally, a Raspberry Pi project that can move around. Matt Vella of Viam Robotics has designed a weatherproof, solar-charging Raspberry Pi “Cybertruck” with night vision cameras, an impressive feature set in its own right. It also costs less than $500 to build and can even cost much less if you already have a Raspberry Pi and omit some optional equipment.
Matt showcased the outdoor rover project on Reddit, but the parts list and assembly guide are in a post on theViamwebsite. The rover requires a Raspberry Pi 3B or upwards, a weatherproof plastic case, a 12V battery, brushless hub motor wheels, brushless motor controllers, and caster wheels. You will need other tools/components to assemble the rover.
This project requires a fair bit of physical tinkering, but that is half the fun of it. It uses the Viam software platform to control and manipulate the rover robot’s components. You can add even more modules to build the exact rover you want. Matt uses his outdoor rover to keep animals away from his garden, as well as garbage and duck eggs.
6World’s Smallest iMac
Micheal Pick, aka “The Casual Engineer,” has created a miniature Pi-powered iMac. It may not be very usable, but the design looks very interesting indeed.
While the resulting build appears simple enough, the project video shows the level of detail and accuracy needed to get it right. Unfortunately, the iMac’s parts aren’t open-source, and you will have to design the 3D models and assemble the parts yourself if you are looking to replicate the build.
It is powered by a Raspberry Pi 4B with the ports cut to fit inside the ultra-slim iMac case. It also uses a 7-inch touchscreen display with built-in speakers. On the software end, the tiny iMac runs theTwister OS operating system, which can be themed to look like macOS (or Windows).
7Raspberry Pi Mini Server
A Raspberry Pi is an inexpensive, power-efficient, and modular platform that is particularly suited for running a self-hosted server.A Raspberry Pi-hosted serversaves you money and puts you in control. However, it can be asource of potential headaches, with a major one being ensuring constant power during outages.
To solve this problem, Micheal Klements has designed a Raspberry Pi Mini Server setup with a built-in UPS. The UPS module uses two 18650 batteries to keep the Pi running during a power interruption. It provides up to one hour and a half of runtime, more than enough to shut down the Raspberry Pi safely. The build also has an OLED display for performance stats and battery information.
The above list is hardly exhaustive, and Reddit has countless equally impressive Raspberry Pi projects. If you haven’t already, you should consider joining theRaspberry Pi,Raspberry Pi Projects, andRaspberry Pi DIYsubreddits to showcase your projects and learn from others in the community.
