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Table of Contents For Beginners
Digital Picture Frame ............................................................................................................................. 3
Retro Gaming With Raspberry Pi .......................................................................................................... 4
Wireless Printer ..................................................................................................................................... 5
Motion Sensor ....................................................................................................................................... 6
Balloon Pi-Tay Popper ........................................................................................................................... 7
Minecraft Selfies .................................................................................................................................... 8
Pi DosBox ............................................................................................................................................... 9
Raspberry Pi DIY Music Player ............................................................................................................ 10
Weather Station .................................................................................................................................. 11
Mobile Robot ....................................................................................................................................... 12
For Experts
Xbox Zero Controller With Pi Zero ...................................................................................................... 13
Setting Personal Web Server .............................................................................................................. 14
Home Automation ............................................................................................................................... 15
Pandora Jukebox with Airplay Receiver ............................................................................................. 16
Raspberry Pi DSLR Camera ................................................................................................................. 17
Pi Powered MAME (Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator) Table ......................................................... 18
Semi Quad Copter ............................................................................................................................... 19
Pi Powered Mobile Phone ................................................................................................................... 20
Talking toy ........................................................................................................................................... 21
Pi Powered Food Nuker ....................................................................................................................... 22
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Book Introduction Whether you’re an entry-level user of the Raspberry Pi or an expert of using this amazing super-tiny and affordable computer, you need some idea or guidance for creating excellent designs and trying new funny and silly stuff. To help you by putting one step ahead in your innovative world of Raspberry Pi models, we have compiled this book which contains 20 different projects for both the rookies and pros. This guide will let you go through the necessary information, accessories needed for the projects and resources to get full step-by-step instructions to complete your design.
Copyright and Disclaimer The material of this book is communicated to you for giving the ideas about the different projects of Raspberry Pi. May some parts of this book can be found on other sites as well just because they are providing truthful information and are subjected to be used in the same language and manner as they were introduced. The material in this communication guide may be subject to copyright under the Act. Every effort made to create this book is dedicated to providing the accuracy of the information given in it. Neither the author or the publisher will be held liable for using any part of this book by any third party or person which cause any damage or alleged directly or indirectly.
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Let’s first start with the Raspberry Pi projects for beginners.
1) Digital Picture Frame
A digital picture frame with Raspberry Pi is a simple project for beginners who want to display
the pictures of their loved ones, pets, memories or anything else. This simple project is not
time-consuming and can be completed in just a few time after you gather all the required
hardware and software.
You can connect your Flickr account, and it will automatically pull out new images from it and
displays on the frame. It detects the movement you make in front of it and then changes the
pictures; pretty simple idea but a good one to execute.
For this project, you will need:
● A Raspberry Pi
● 4 GB / 8 GB SD card and if you are using Pi 2, B+ or higher models, then micro SD card
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● A USB WiFi or an Ethernet card
● An LCD
● An external hard drive or USB drive
● Keyboard, Mouse, Pi case (Optional)
See full Information here
2) Retro Gaming with Raspberry Pi
Love gaming? Want a self-made gaming console? If yes, then this project is for you. You can
build a perfect retro-game-console with your Raspberry Pi device in just 10 minutes, and that is
without any prior knowledge of Linux!
After successful completion of this simplest DIY project, you will turn your Raspberry Pi into an
Emulation Station. It is a program which runs on a custom SD card (RetroPie) which allows
using a controller (not keyboard or mouse) to select the emulator and a game you want to play.
You will be able to navigate every movement needed to enjoy your retro gaming with your
Raspberry Pi as a controller.
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What you will need:
● Raspberry Pi (Model Pi 3 recommended)
● 4 GB micro SD card (minimum)
● A power supply
● An HDMI cable
● A computer or laptop monitor
● USB keyboard and mouse (optional)
● RetroPie software and a Windows/Mac/Linux OS
See full Information here
3) Wireless Printer
Over the years, wireless technology has become the best improvement for home and office
printing. Because it lets you print the paper almost anywhere within your home and office area
without standing nearby the printing device. It allows flexible working conditions without
‘locking’ you on the desk. But, with so many benefits, one thing that can discourage you from
buying a wireless printer is its cost. Yes, if you want to buy a goof-quality wireless printer, you
perhaps have to pay $$$ for it. But, with the technology revolution made by this super tiny
computer (Raspberry Pi), the printing solution becomes both affordable and reliable.
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With the Raspberry Pi model, you can turn any printer into a wireless printing machine with a
lot of added functionality at a lower price just about $40!
What you will need:
● A Raspberry Pi (Model A would do the work)
● 8 GB micro SD card (recommended)
● A power supply
● A USB WiFi dongle
● Raspbian or other supporting OS system
● And a printer, of course
See full information here
4) Motion Sensor
In this project, you will learn to build a Raspberry Pi motion sensor which uses a PIR (Passive
Infrared Sensor) sensor. By using a piezo speaker, you can make this project even more
exciting at the time the motion is detected. You need to hook up these devices to the GPIO
pins to work.
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You will need:
● A Raspberry Pi
● A PIR sensor
● A Piezo speaker
● A GPIO breakout kit
● 8 GB SD card (recommended)
● One 100ohm resister
● Other optional accessories are a WiFi dongle (if you want to control it remotely), a
breadboard, wires, and jumper cables
See full information here
5) BALLOON PI-TAY POPPER
There were thousands of occasions came in your life where you have pop balloons using a pin
or your hand or something. With this project, you can do the same thing but with the GPIO pin
on your Raspberry Pi device not with the traditional pins. You will learn to wire up the circuit,
using a push button to control the current, and to code with Python for controlling GPIO pins.
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You will need:
● A Raspberry Pi
● An SD card
● A single solderless breadboard
● Battery
● Transistors and resistors
Find more information here
6) MINECRAFT SELFIES
In this fun project, you will create a Pi camera to take selfies in low resolution. When you use
Python code, then you will be able to render these images using Minecraft Blocks. You will
learn to convert images into RGB values and then to Lab color space. You will also get to
iterate multiple lists and compare values.
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You will need:
● A Raspberry Pi
● Python 3 skimage software
● SD card
● Other useful peripherals
See full information here
7) Pi DosBox
After setting up the Raspberry Pi Dos Box, you can play hundreds of decent old Dos games
which released as demos, shareware, and freeware. As the Dos Box will let you play only with
MS-DOS operating systems, if you want to play more than this, check the #2 project of retro Pi
with Raspberry Pi on this list.
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You will need:
● A Raspberry Pi
● An SD card (8 GB recommended)
● WiFi dongle or Ethernet Card (If you have Raspberry Pi 3, then you will have a built-in
WiFi)
● USB keyboard and mouse
● A Raspberry Pi case, USB drive, and Game controller (optional)
See full information video here
8) Raspberry Pi DIY Music Player
Make your music player using Raspberry Pi. This straightforward project will not occur any
hard problems for you. If you use a Pi Music box software package, then you will get great
features and functionalities to make a fantastic music player. If you have a device which is
enabled to browse to interact with the player, then you can control it easily.
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You will need:
● A Raspberry Pi
● An SD card (8 GB recommended)
● A WiFi dongle or an Ethernet card
● USB mouse and keyboard, USB drive, and a Raspberry Pi case are the optional
accessories
See full information here
9) Weather Station
The Raspberry Pi has already made a Pi weather station for schools. I wanted one too, (of
course to study and test it). But, as I was no lucky to become one of the testers of selected
groups, I moved over to the third party system which worth of hundreds of dollars. But, as I
made afterward, you can also build your weather station with a Raspberry Pi device. You do
not need to buy any pre-made anemometers or rain gauges, just use your own.
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What you will need:
● A Raspberry Pi
● WiFi dongle
● Pi camera
● 5V power supply
● A Multimeter, soldering iron, and all the other hardware and electronics items needed
(check the full list in the bellow link)
See complete information here
10) Mobile Robot
Almost anyone can build this Linux-powered RPI mobile robot. Getting involved in robotics
with Pi is a significant learning advantage. You will learn to write Python code to control it from
any device connected to the internet. If you buy a pre-made robot from the market, the price
can take you down from getting it, but with the Raspberry Pi, you can build your remote-
controlled robot under $200 only.
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You will need:
● A Raspberry Pi
● A WiFi router
● An Arduino UNO or compatible board
● Motor driver
● Robot base
● Power distribution board
● 12-volt battery
See full steps here
These were the list of the ten most useful and educational startup projects for the
Raspberry Pi users. Now let’s check the list of RPI projects for tinkerers.
11) Xbox Zero Controller with Pi Zero
The Raspberry Pi zero is more than a super tiny computer which is worth for $5. You can stuff it
inside almost any gadget in the world. From some projects, you can do with the Pi zero, one
amazing and the entertaining thing is to turn it into a compact emulation machine by using an
Xbox controller.
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You will need:
● Your beloved Raspberry Pi
● X-box controller
● A USB cable
● Micro SD card
● Mini HDMI cable
● Other needful joining equipment
Check the full information here
12) Setting Personal Web Server
Though this can be done by an entry level Pi user, too, a tinkerer can find amazing innovative
stuff. Yes, it cannot handle a significant traffic, but if you want to manage a personal landing
page, an event page, a resume or a Dropbox clone, then this would a great experience for you.
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You will need:
● A Raspberry Pi
● SD card (8GB recommended)
● An Ethernet cable
● A Power supply
● An HDMI cable
● A USB keyboard
See all the steps here
13) Home Automation
By completing this project, you can make a universal home automation system using your
Raspberry Pi 2 model. This system can control your Desk LEDs, CCTV cams, computers, and
can display the weather forecasts, too. See the full information below and make an own DIY
home automation system with your Raspberry Pi.
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What you need:
● Raspberry Pi 2 model
● Jumper cables
● Relay board
● Basic knowledge of Python, web servers, PHP, and GPIO pins
Full instructions here
14) Pandora Jukebox with Airplay Receiver
By making only a few tweaks and twists, you can turn your Raspberry Pi into a Pandora
jukebox and use your computer as an airplay receiver to stream your favorite album wirelessly.
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What you will need:
● A Raspberry Pi
● 8 GB micro SD card
● USB keyboard and mouse
● An HDMI cable
● USB power supply
● USB WiFi adapter
● Stereo, 3.5mm stereo cable, and a USB sound card
● A computer or an iOS device
See video guide and full instructions here
15) Raspberry Pi DSLR Camera
You can build a DIY touchscreen camera by using your Raspberry Pi device. You can also use a
WiFi and Dropbox (optional) for a synchronization and cloud storage services. These both will
allow you to transfer photos to your computer for editing automatically. Remember that this is
not the replacement of your current DSLR camera or your phone camera, this is a learning
exercise. As the code is available on open source, you can customize it in your way, though.
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You will need:
● A Raspberry Pi computer
● A Raspberry Pi camera board
● A Pi-TFT display
● 4 GB SD card (minimum)
● A WiFi adapter and USB battery pack (optional)
See full information here
16) Pi Powered MAME (Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator) Table
Though this project needs some woodworking on the top of the computer engineering, you
will get an excellent DIY Raspberry Pi powered MAME table. It will allow you to play old arcade
games, view social media updates, display photos, check or write emails, and browse the web.
You will need to mount an adjustable LCD screen on the top of the table. This project is a
remarkable experiment for the weekends.
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You need to have:
● A Raspberry Pi
● 24-inch LCD screen
● Arcade joysticks and buttons
● Wood, glue, screws, stain, speakers, and polish
Step-by-step instructions here
17) Semi Quad Copter
By completing this project, you will enable to control your quadcopter with the help of the
Raspberry Pi. Here, we use Multiwii to power up the quadcopter. You can either control it
through the remote control or your smartphone. See the full instructions below and create
your own Drone Pi.
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You will need:
● A Raspberry Pi
● A Quadcopter frame
● Four motors and four ESCs
● Power distribution board and connectors
● 3300MAh battery and a battery monitor
● Multiwii controller
● Propellers and mounting pad
● Pi camera
● WiFi dongle
● Remote control and RC receiver (optional)
Step-by-step tutorial
18) Pi Powered Phone
With a little creativity and a lot of time, you can make a decent DIY smartphone using a
Raspberry Pi! Though this phone is not full-featured and powerful as an original smartphone,
yet you will create an exciting project nevertheless.
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Accessories:
A Raspberry Pi (Model A+ recommended)
A WiFi adapter
Touch screen display
GSM antenna
Pi camera
Microphone
And other needed accessories (see full list in below link)
Full list of items and project guide
19) Talking Toy
Yes, you can create a talking toy powered by a Raspberry Pi which let you know the local
weather conditions or listen to the radio. Here, we have used the well-known Fisher-Price
Chatter Telephone featured in the ‘Toy Story 3’. You can add a WiFi adapter to this project to
enable the toy with the wireless network access.
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You will need:
● A Raspberry Pi (model B+ recommended)
● A USB WiFi dongle
● Fisher-Price chattered telephone
Full project details
20) Pi Powered Food Nuker
From an inspiring idea of instructing a microwave what to do exactly to the food, Nathan
Broadbent created a Raspberry Pi powered microwave. It uses QR code to guide microwave
like cook food on high for 2 minutes, 1-minute stand, and then medium 2 minutes. This project
is fun which you can do with your Raspberry Pi.
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Things to get:
● A Raspberry Pi
● A microwave
● Other soldering accessories
Full project with codes here
Summary
So, that’s it. You now have a full array of making some useful and innovative designs with the help of this book. You got a knowledge of different robotics platforms that operates via different Raspberry Pi models. These list of projects just introduced you the most fundamental properties of this fantastic platform. Best of luck for your designs!
