9) The BeetBox
The wackiest project on the list is the BeetBox. Created by artist Scott Garner, it’s an interactive drum kit made of vegetables. You tap the beets to create a beat, just like a real drum kit.
The secret sauce is a capacitive touch sensor that connects to a Raspberry Pi, which sends signals to an amp inside a handmade wooden case. Surreal? Yes. Functional? Yes. Fun? Hell yes.
10) The PiPhone
Forget the Batphone, it’s all about the PiPhone. Stuart Johnson took the classic red GPO 746 rotary-dial phone, gutted out the old circuit board, and replaced it with a Raspberry Pi.
With a little elbow grease in C# he synced the Pi to the phone’s dial-pulse system, turning it into a functioning internet phone. At the last update, he had applied to Microsoft to make calls over Skype.
11) Pi in the Sky
Vying with BeetBox for the coolest name, is the Pi in the Sky. Balloon enthusiast Dave Ackerman sent his Raspberry Pi into space using a weather balloon.
Boldly going where Pi had gone before, it travelled 30km, survived temperatures of -50C and 1 per cent atmosphere with the help of specialised heat sinks and a GPS transmitter. More images are available on Ackerman’s blog.
12) The Mini Mac
Dedicated Apple fan John Badger used his Raspberry Pi to build the world’s smallest Macintosh. The Mini Mac is one-third the size of the original Mac and is built to scale with some PVC and off-the-shelf computer parts
The Pi serves as its motherboard and it uses Linux to run System 6, one of the original versions of Mac OS.
“This is one of those ‘because I can’ projects with no practical use – my favorite kind!” Badger wrote on his blog.
Behind its 3.5in LCD display is support for USB, Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi. After some soldering, he managed to cut the components down enough to even include an HDMI-out port.
13) Live Calendar
Instructables user Piney filled the empty space on his wall with a Google Calendar.
Using a spare PC monitor and his Raspberry Pi, Piney set up the OS to always open Google Calendar over his home Wi-Fi with some clever scripting. One wall mount later, he had a live digital calendar on his wall.
14) The Raspberry Pi Tablet
Maker Faire contestant Michael Castor used a Raspberry Pi to make his own tablet.
The wooden frame was designed using AutoCAD. Castor then fit a power supply, Raspberry Pi, and 10in touch-sensitive display inside the frame.
The results are impressive. The PiPad is a full-size tablet running Raspbian Linux with XBMC.
15) PiRate Radio
Turns out the Raspberry Pi can do more that just computing. It can send out signals over FM airwaves. It’s perfect for users who’ve dreamt about starting their own pirate radio station.
Some basic tools like a soldering iron, wire cutters, and an FM radio can come together to make a local FM radio transmitter. The video claims it can cover an entire football stadium.
16) Home-made media centre
The Raspberry Pi runs Raspbian Linux, a variant of Debian. Linux runs XBMC, the free media center program. Put those together and you’ve got a home-made media centre.
XBMC has a rich plugin library allowing you to use your Pi to watch content from sources like Hulu, The Daily Show, Netflix and Amazon Prime.
17) Jack the Ripper Bot
Not to be confused with the notorious serial-killer from London, the Ripper Bot is simply a DVD changer. One Raspberry Pi fan was tired of manually changing out discs while ripping DVDs to store content digitally.
The machine uses 3D-printed parts to pull CDs out of the player, drop them off to the side, and then load in a new one. Of course, it’s powered by a Raspberry Pi.
18) This is the Droid you’re looking for
A Raspberry Pi owner known as Greensheller went all out for Valentine’s Day last year and built a functioning R2-D2 for his girlfriend.
The little droid is brought to life by the Pi and can recognise and track faces, motion and distance. You can even give it commands in English and Chinese.
The creator’s girlfriend loved it, calling it “the best gift she’s ever received.” Alas, instructions aren’t available at this time, so you’ll have to use the force to help you construct this one.
19) Create a talking toy phone
Finally, a blogger by the name of Grant Gibson used a Raspberry Pi to create a talking telephone toy.
The project uses a Fisher Price Talking Telephone that features in Toy Story 3. Gibson used one he bought for his infant son.
A Raspberry Pi Model B+ gives the phone more brains than it was built with. A tiny WiFi dongle provides wireless network access, and a custom Python script (code below) running on startup provides all of the logic.
20) Track your cat with a Raspberry Pi
A mobile connected moggy you can monitor
Jeremy Wall has shown how you never have to put up posters looking for a missing cat with this handy pussy monitoring device.
IoT Kitteh uses a Raspberry Pi, mobile and GPS technology to communicate with the cloud and back to a user.
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