Things to Do With Your Raspberry Pi

Ah, the wondrous Raspberry Pi: proof that great things come in small packages! Ahead of Matt and Shawn’s setting-up webcast (airing on January 23^rd), we thought we’d round up some of the best and most innovative uses for Raspberry Pi dreamed up by clever makers from around the world.

Make your case:

Before you get started on all that technical wizardry and hardware hackery, why not create a case (a ‘Punnet’) for your Pi? Those nice folks over at SquareItRound have created a downloadable .pdf so you can do just that. The design is totally blank and customisable, allowing you to print whatever you want onto it!

Retro Gaming System:

Ever yearn for gaming systems of old? The RetroPie project has found a way to make the Pi emulate once-beloved (but now ancient) consoles, bringing back to life family favourites like the SNES and Sony’s Mega Drive. You’ll never be bored again.

Minecraft:

In a similar vein, it was announced recently that the vast and limitlessly creative Minecraft will be coming to Raspberry Pi. Whilst the Pi version won’t have as much content as the original, the hacking opportunities should more than make up for it. Mojang, the game’s publisher, has said of the Pi version:  “there’s opportunity to break open the code and use programming language to manipulate things in the game world”. Watch this space!

12/02/2013 EDIT: It’s now been released… for free!

Missile Launcher:

Using Retaliation code, this missile launcher has been hooked up to Pi and looks set to be the bane of any code developer’s working life. Placed amongst a developing team, the launcher detects who has broken the code and fires off a foam missile at them. We’re trying to think of ways to use it in our own office. Maybe we could fire it at people when we’d like a biscuit/cup of coffee bought to us?

Mini Tank:

Once you’ve finished bombarding enemy encampments with your lethal missile launcher, you’ll need to send in a miniature tank battalion to finish the job. Self-proclaimed ‘robot-tinkerer’ Ian Renton has taken a hobby RC tank and outfitted it with a Raspberry Pi computer and a wireless controller. Genius! In true hacking spirit, Ian has shared how he managed to achieve such a feat and has kept a very detailed construction diary for your perusal.

Piana Synth:

The Piana user interface

If miniature warfare isn’t your bag, and you’re more about peace and harmonies, then how about making your Pi into a synth? After all, “music brings the people together, yeah” as Confucius once said. Talking to RaspberryPi, Omenie, the developer, described the task of turning the Pi into a synth as a ‘hideous effort to get even 4 notes of polyphony out of it’. Undeterred, he’s cracking on, and you can read all about his trials on tribulations over on his blog.

So there you have it, a list of some of our favorite things to do with the Rapsberry Pi. What’re yours?