10 Of The Best Raspberry Pi Projects

It’s a wonderful time for Raspberry Pi: the credit card-sized, British-made marvel has ushered in a delicious wave of technological innovation since its 2012 launch, and it seems that ingenious tech types just can’t stop finding new and innovative ways of applying its pocked-sized power.

While the Raspberry Pi Foundation’s initial aim of providing a system for schools to teach basic computer science has long been put into practice, their increasingly-smart products have gone on instead to instigate a surge of DIY creativity in the tech world and beyond.

And with the Pi now officially the UK’s biggest-selling PC of all time, it comes as little surprise that a whole catalogue of DIY Pi projects have sprung up in the past few years.

Let’s take a look at 10 of the most interesting Raspberry Pi projects to have surfaced in recent times.

1. Tornado Warning System

Not only has the Raspberry Pi given the next generation their first taste of computer science, the pocket-sized marvel has also proven useful in biting back at Mother Nature when she’s at her fiercest.

Picking up storm-based warnings that are published on the internet by The National Weather Service in the US, this Pi project cleverly alerts you to any impending storms in your local area – once you’ve carefully assembled its parts and hooked it up to a loud-enough bringer-of-doom speaker, that is. A pretty nifty how-to guide can be found over at Opensource, which uses the Raspberry Pi 3 B+ system.

2. Running a restaurant

It appears the organisational and versatile brilliance of the Pi is now being used in a range of environments, with restaurants the latest business to adopt the technology into their operational management.

Case in point: ViewTouch, a rather interesting example of touchscreen software that aims to “automate the information processes in the hospitality and retail markets.” The Pi’s powerful fulfilment of this role means that the cost of automating said information processes is now virtually zero, which restaurateurs will no doubt see as a big bonus when it comes to cutting costs.

3. Weather forecast and air traffic information provider for pilots

For those of you curious about the ever-lasting sky dance extravaganza that are international flight paths, Stratux is the Raspberry Pi project that’ll probably pique your curiosity the most – particularly if you happen to be a pilot.

The brainchild of programmer Christopher Young – himself a pilot – the Pi interplays with a Linux computer and a digital radio tuner (fed into the very pilot-y sounding ADS-B receiver) to bring sky enthusiasts the latest weather forecasts and air traffic to the plane’s onboard computer. Now that’s one Pi project that’s really taken to the skies.

Retro gaming, home alarms and more: Numbers 4-7 on page 2…