In this article, we are discussing 15 Raspberry Pi based projects for beginners
1) Control LEDs in home
Here we are going to learn how to control light in your home. Nowadays, most light manufacturers have smart bulbs. An app on your smartphone can turn ON or turn OFF the lights, as well as, change the intensity and colors.
To control the lights at home, we need smart lights.
What is Raspberry Pi and how to use it in projects?
The Python programming language allows you to connect to the lights API and manage them using a script using a Raspberry Pi.
click here to know more
Components Required
- Raspberry Pi
- LEDs
2) Line Follower Robot using Raspberry Pi
With the use of an IR sensor, the Line Follower Robot can track a line. An IR transmitter and receiver are included in this sensor. The light is transmitted by the IR transmitter (IR LED), and the light is received by the receiver (Photodiode). Only if an IR light is reflected by a surface will it return. Whereas all surfaces cannot reflect infrared light, only white surfaces can entirely reflect them, while black surfaces can completely observe them.
Components Required
- Raspberry Pi (any model)
- IR Sensor (2Nos)
- DC Gear Motor (2Nos)
- L293D Motor Driver
- Chaises (You can also make one by using cardboards)
- Power bank (Any available power source)
3) Music Streaming
To begin, you can use the Raspberry Pi to build your own music streaming device. You’ll be able to play Spotify songs after you’ve set it up! This is made possible through Raspotify Connect, a Raspberry Pi OS client that works right out of the box.
After that, you’ll need a speaker to house it once it’s up and running. You can make your own bespoke speaker using 3D printing, but any speaker will do. There are additional software options, such as Pi MusicBox, which has Spotify Connect support. It also has AirPlay and OpenHome capabilities.
Components Required
- Raspberry Pi Zero W
- 3” 4-Ω (5-W) speaker
- Pimoroni pHAT beat
- Power supply
4) Weather Station
In just a few easy steps, you can make your own weather station! The Raspberry Pi Sense HAT is used in this project, which is equipped with a range of sensors for measuring temperature, humidity, and barometric pressure. The creator also demonstrates how to use the LED matrix to write text.
The weather is measured in the Raspberry Pi’s near vicinity, and you may specify how often it captures data. The information is stored in an a.txt file, which can then be edited or imported into other programs.
Components Required
- Raspberry Pi 3
- Sense HAT
- Raspberry Pi enclosure
- HDMI Cable
- Monitor
- Keyboard
- Mouse
5) Radio streaming
Radio is a form of sound communication that uses radio waves to transmit music, news, and another programming from a single broadcast station to a large number of individual listeners who have radio receivers.
In this project, you will use DarkIce and Icecast to create a radio streaming station. DarkIce is a real-time audio streamer that records from a microphone.
Icecast is a media streaming server that can handle a variety of formats, including MP3 and Opus.
You can run it on a Raspberry Pi and have your own radio station. Simply make sure that your Raspberry Pi is up to date.
Components Required
- Raspberry Pi
- USB Sound Card
- Microphone
- LAN Cable
- microSD Card
6) Robot Using Raspberry Pi
Raspberry Pi is an excellent robotics platform. They’re not only compact, but they’re also powerful enough to provide a variety of robotics applications. Robots with obstacle avoidance, security, and computer vision, such as OpenCV, have all been built using Raspberry Pis.
The Raspberry Pi Foundation has put together a guide that covers the fundamentals. Beginners will learn how to build a buggy that can move left, right, forward, and backward by the end. Many 3D printable files are available if you want to 3D print an enclosure or continue your build in other ways.
Components Required
- Raspberry Pi 3
- Motor Controller Board
- 3-V to 6-V DC Motors
- Wheels
- Batteries
- Ball Caster
- Jumper leads
- USB battery pack
- Soldering iron and solder
- Wire Strippers, Small Cardboard or Plastic Box
7) Security System
With a Raspberry Pi 4 and camera module, you can keep an eye on your home or business. This project demonstrates how to make a security camera inspired by Portal 2 with 6-mm wide-angle lenses.
This project does not require any programming, according to the creator. Using motionEyeOS, you can make this security camera without writing a single line of code. All you have to do now is write the motionEyeOS image to a microSD card. Then, into the Raspberry Pi, insert the microSD card! There’s also a construction that houses the Raspberry Pi Zero, which is significantly more portable.
Components Required
- Raspberry Pi 4
- Raspberry Pi HQ Camera
- Raspberry Pi 6-mm wide-angle lenses
- Red LED
8) Optical Character Recognition System
This is another one of the most fascinating projects I’ve ever worked on.
Pi will be used to read the information on boards and recognize characters. This would be extremely beneficial in upcoming projects involving automation and robots.
The Robot might be programmed to read and process data.
To identify characters from images, you’ll use the Google Tesseract-OCR engine in conjunction with OpenCV and Python. You can eliminate noise from images by using the OpenCV library.
Following that, you will be able to decode information from the image using Google Tesseract-OCR and a Python script.
9) Create an IVR System to make Automated Phone calls and send Messages using Raspberry Pi and SIM800L
The Raspberry Pi, as we all know, is a powerful development board that packs a lot of computational power into a little package. This, along with Python’s flexibility, could enable us to create a slew of little devices to solve everyday problems. I recently wanted to develop an IVR system using Raspberry Pi; basically, I needed to use Raspberry Pi to make phone calls and deliver messages, and when the receiver picked up the call, I needed to play a pre-recorded audio and get DTMF inputs as a response. If you’re interested, we’ve also constructed a Raspberry Pi-based Call and Text project, as well as an Automatic Call Answering Machine.
After reviewing the pricing plans for all API-based phone call services, it became evident that using a GSM module like the SIM800L with the Pi and making calls with network service providers like Airtel or Jio is the most cost-effective option.
Components Required
- Raspberry Pi with the latest version of Buster
- SIM800L GSM Module
- 2G SIM Card (Airtel)
- Aux Cable
- LM2596 Buck Converter Module
- USB to TTL Converter
- 12V 2A Adapter
- Perf Board
- Berg Sticks
- Connecting wires
- Soldering Kit
10) Air Quality Monitoring System
The Air Quality Index, or AQI, is used to measure the quality of the air. The thermometer is an instrument that measures temperatures between 0- and 500-degrees Fahrenheit. The AQI, on the other hand, instead of indicating changes in temperature, shows changes in the amount of pollution in the air.
With rising air pollution, we may use Raspberry Pi to create an Advanced Air Quality Monitoring System. The system includes characteristics such as suspended particle matter (SPM), carbon dioxide, ozone, carbon monoxide, smoke, temperature, and humidity to monitor air quality.
Components Required
- Raspberry pi
- Bread Board
- Jumper Wires
11) Arcade Machine
You could buy an arcade machine off the shelf, but a DIY arcade box can be created at home for a fraction of the price with RetroPie and a Raspberry Pi. A Raspberry Pi 3, RetroPie, and a 3D printable housing were used by this builder. On the maker’s Github website, the code and wiring diagram is also available. The instructions also illustrate how to hang the project on the wall.
You may alter the RetroPie theme and even utilize a Scraper to obtain a thumbnail of each game on your build in addition to customizing the hardware. With being stated, it should be noted that Retropie is now fully functional on the Raspberry Pi 4.
Components Required
- Raspberry Pi 3
- Jumper Wires
- Arcade Buttons
- Joystick
- Electronics Box
12) LCD Display
Here, we are going to interface the LCD display module by using a Raspberry Pi microcontroller. We can able to display strings, and characters on the LCD using Microphython.
An LCD is an electronic display module that produces a visible image using liquid crystal technology. The 162 LCD display is a fairly basic module that is frequently used in electronic circuits. In two lines, the 162 translates to 16 characters in each line. Each character is presented in a 588-pixel matrix on this LCD.
Components Required
- Raspberry Pi 3
- Jumper Wires
- 16 x 1 LCD display module
13) Network Attached Storage
Network-attached storage (NAS) device stores files for authorized network users over a network. A Raspberry Pi can be used to create an inexpensive NAS that protects users from hard disc failure. The creator used a Raspberry Pi 4 to build a fully functional NAS device. Other options include Raspbian with SFTP, OpenMediaVault, and Nextcloud.
Components Required
- Raspberry Pi 3
- USB Drives
- USB Powered HUB
14) Nanoleaf Controller
Build a controller for Nanoleaf or Phillip Hue lights to improve your smart home system. Build your own small DIY Nanoleaf instead.
The Hue dimmer in this project is based on an ATMega256RFR2. However, customizing the control switch that was accessible was difficult. Instead, the creator chose to build their own controller from the ground up.
A Raspberry Pi is used to run the Python code that provides menus, applications, inputs, and display functionality. It can control network connectivity in addition to turning lights on and off. PyGame was used to generate the display and make the input function on the software side.
Components Required
- Raspberry Pi 3
- Perma Proto HAT
- 128×32 Adafruit PioLED Display
15) Retro Handheld Console
There are numerous old gaming systems available for purchase. You can make one at home using a Raspberry Pi. This handheld build is powered by a Raspberry Pi Zero, making it extremely portable.
The console’s casing is 3D printed, and the builder has described the necessary wiring and programming. The enclosure files for 3D printing are also included.
Components Required
- Raspberry Pi Zero
- 2.4-in 240×320 display
- battery
- charging circuit
- USB Micro-B Breakout Board
- 3-V to 5-V DC-DC step-up boost converter