The 30 silliest Raspberry Pi projects

By Nick Heath · July 31, 2019, 7:54 AM PST

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Teabag dunker

The Raspberry Pi has reimagined what's possible with low-cost computing: powering robots that clear landmines and conducting experiments in space.
The following projects are a trifle less lofty, not so much lowering the bar, as dropping it into the Mariana Trench. Here are perhaps the silliest Pi-powered creations around, projects with less 'wow' and a lot more 'why?', starting with one for tea lovers.
If your cupboards are cluttered with CD drives from long-deceased PCs, why not put them to work making the perfect cuppa.
SEE: Raspberry Pi: More must-read coverage (TechRepublic on Flipboard)

Image: Andrey Chilikin
Lickable lollipop computer controller

Thought RSI was bad? Imagine licking your way through an eight-hour stint at your desktop.
SEE: Raspberry Pi: More must-read coverage (TechRepublic on Flipboard)

Image: Nicole He
The confused camera

When you take a picture, do you ever think 'Why did I bother?'. This 'camera' throws away your photo and replaces it with one of the thousands of similar images online.
SEE: Raspberry Pi: More must-read coverage (TechRepublic on Flipboard)

Image: Salade Tomate Oignon / Vimeo
Hamster-powered drawing machine

A machine that draws hamster selfies. Alternatively, a contraption that traps unwitting creatures in a cycle of behavior to power a machine beyond their comprehension.
SEE: Raspberry Pi: More must-read coverage (TechRepublic on Flipboard)

Image: Neil Mendoza / Vimeo
Robocod

Not really a robot or a cod, but it's still a goldfish driving a vehicle by swimming around its tank.
SEE: Raspberry Pi: More must-read coverage (TechRepublic on Flipboard)

Image: Alex Kent / YouTube
Ridiculous subscriber robot

Basically an exercise in self-torture. Every subscriber to the YouTube channel of Pi tinkerer Michael Reeves' results in him being blasted by a siren louder than a jackhammer and spasms the lights in his office on and off.
SEE: Raspberry Pi: More must-read coverage (TechRepublic on Flipboard)

Image: Michael Reeves / YouTube
Laser dog minder

This greedy dog is no match for a laser-based motion sensor, which triggers a recording scolding the hound the moment it puts its paws on the countertop.
SEE: Raspberry Pi: More must-read coverage (TechRepublic on Flipboard)

Image: Dave Young / YouTube
Bark-activated door

Ever wished your dog could open doors? No. Well, someone created a bark-triggered door anyway.
SEE: Raspberry Pi: More must-read coverage (TechRepublic on Flipboard)

Image: Dave Hunt / YouTube
Whoo-Pi cushion

The Whoo-Pi cushion promises hilarity for fans of boisterous bottom burps and thunderous tush trumpets.
SEE: Raspberry Pi: More must-read coverage (TechRepublic on Flipboard)

Image: Raspberry Pi Foundation
Motion-tracking Nerf gun

Elon Musk warned us this would happen. An autonomous weapon that tracks movement and peppers intruders with round after round of high caliber, compacted foam.
SEE: Raspberry Pi: More must-read coverage (TechRepublic on Flipboard)

Image: Hacker House / hackster.io
Bicycle-powered beer dispenser

A fitting reward for the effort, or a surefire way to undo your hard work?
SEE: Raspberry Pi: More must-read coverage (TechRepublic on Flipboard)

Image: Menabrea / Grant Gibson
Wi-Fi cradle

Not a serious project in any way, but a demonstration of how not to rock your baby to sleep.
SEE: Raspberry Pi: More must-read coverage (TechRepublic on Flipboard)

Image: Useless Duck Company / YouTube
Sock-removing robot

From the same creator, this joke robot removes rather more than clothing.
SEE: Raspberry Pi: More must-read coverage (TechRepublic on Flipboard)

Image: Useless Duck Company / YouTube
Joke-telling Pi

Because nothing is funnier than staring at a screen, waiting for the punchline to a joke about C++.
SEE: Raspberry Pi: More must-read coverage (TechRepublic on Flipboard)

Image: Jo Bergs / YouTube
Coffee-replenishing system

A complex mesh of deep learning and other back-end systems work round the clock to make sure this guy never runs out of coffee.
SEE: Raspberry Pi: More must-read coverage (TechRepublic on Flipboard)
Tweeting catflap

Every time this pampered puss uses its cat flap, an image is Tweeted of its resolutely unimpressed face, alongside a computer-generated ode to the kitty.
SEE: Raspberry Pi: More must-read coverage (TechRepublic on Flipboard)
Haunted Halloween mirror

If the ravages of time aren't terrifying enough, perhaps a looming specter will give you a jolt.
SEE: Raspberry Pi: More must-read coverage (TechRepublic on Flipboard)

Image: Circuit-Help / YouTube
Hamster party cam

A hamster in its wheel, listening to party music, with disco lights--all caught on camera. A livestream waiting to happen.
SEE: Raspberry Pi: More must-read coverage (TechRepublic on Flipboard)

Image: Raspberry Pi Foundation
Pi air-drum kit

Now you don't even need a drum kit to set free your inner Phil Collins.
SEE: Raspberry Pi: More must-read coverage (TechRepublic on Flipboard)

Image: David Pride / YouTube
Eye tracker

If surveillance capitalism isn't creepy enough for you, why not build a floating eye that tracks your every movement?
SEE: Raspberry Pi: More must-read coverage (TechRepublic on Flipboard)

Image: Lukas Stratmann / YouTube
Jelly bean-pooping unicorn

Greek mythology's got nothing on this lurid creation, which, as promised, spews jelly beans from its rear.
SEE: Raspberry Pi: More must-read coverage (TechRepublic on Flipboard)

Image: Kids Invent Stuff / YouTube
Goodbye machine

Bid your friends adieu by blasting them with a verse of James Blunt's Goodbye My Lover or Lily Allen's less affectionate **** You, complete with fitting hand gestures.
SEE: Raspberry Pi: More must-read coverage (TechRepublic on Flipboard)

Image: 8 Bits and a Byte / YouTube
Toilet tracker

Say goodbye to unwelcome surprises in the bathroom, thanks to a Pi-powered system that uses radar to track what's lurking in the bowl.
SEE: Raspberry Pi: More must-read coverage (TechRepublic on Flipboard)

Image: Md. Khairul Alam/ Raspberry Pi blog
Cursing Roomba

Another Michael Reeves creation, this modified Roomba fills your home with blood-curdling screams and the harshest profanities every time it bumps into something.
SEE: Raspberry Pi: More must-read coverage (TechRepublic on Flipboard)

Image: Lukas Stratmann /YouTube
Pi voice changer

Complete your transformation into a denizen of the underworld with a suitably nightmarish rasp.
SEE: Raspberry Pi: More must-read coverage (TechRepublic on Flipboard)

Image: Oliver Ros / YouTube
Talk like a pirate translator

If pirates don't make you want to walk the plank, why not try adding the flavor of the high seas to your text?
SEE: Raspberry Pi: More must-read coverage (TechRepublic on Flipboard)

Image: Raspberry Pi Foundation
Plynth

Music connoisseurs who favor ostentatious displays over convenience can play music by placing vinyl albums in front of a camera-equipped Raspberry Pi.
SEE: Raspberry Pi: More must-read coverage (TechRepublic on Flipboard)

Image: Plynth
Pi-powered pie chart

It doesn't get much more Pi-themed than this, this Pi-powered scale tracks how much pie is left using a pie chart.
SEE: Raspberry Pi: More must-read coverage (TechRepublic on Flipboard)

Image: Mike MacHenry / Raspberry Pi blog
Santa detector

This system tasks a deep-learning neural network with the very serious matter of detecting whether that guy with the long beard really can shake his belly like a bowl full of jelly.
SEE: Raspberry Pi: More must-read coverage (TechRepublic on Flipboard)

Image: Adrian Rosebrock / YouTube
Robotic teapot

Who'd have thought a teapot could look so sinister? This robot fuses the short and stout receptacle to four distinctly insectoid legs, allowing it to stalk through your home.
Also see
Image: Paul-Louis Ageneau

Teabag dunker

The Raspberry Pi has reimagined what's possible with low-cost computing: powering robots that clear landmines and conducting experiments in space.

The following projects are a trifle less lofty, not so much lowering the bar, as dropping it into the Mariana Trench. Here are perhaps the silliest Pi-powered creations around, projects with less 'wow' and a lot more 'why?', starting with one for tea lovers.

If your cupboards are cluttered with CD drives from long-deceased PCs, why not put them to work making the perfect cuppa.

SEE: Raspberry Pi: More must-read coverage (TechRepublic on Flipboard)

Image: Andrey Chilikin

By Nick Heath

Nick Heath is a computer science student and was formerly a journalist at TechRepublic and ZDNet.

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