10 surprisingly sensible Raspberry Pi initiatives anyone can do

The Raspberry Pi single-board pc and all its variants have captured the imaginations of DIY fans and budding hobbyists alike. With the newest mannequin, the Raspberry Pi 5, the mini-PC is extra succesful than ever, with an upgraded four-core 2.4GHz system-on-chip (SoC) that’s as much as 3 times quicker than earlier fashions.

A lot of the protection you’ll see across the internet focuses on the extra fantastical initiatives—magic mirrors, transportable gaming handhelds, clever drones, and so forth. These maker masterpieces actually present what kind of energy the sub-$100 mini-PC is able to within the palms of somebody with just a little creativeness and a bin filled with spare electronics. 

However most individuals, significantly freshmen, received’t use the Raspberry Pi to whip up loopy creations. There are near-endless sensible makes use of for this bare-bones equipment, from media streaming to extending the vary of your Wi-Fi community, as the next 10 initiatives display. Time to place that lil’ pc to actual work. Heck, many of those initiatives will even work with the $10 Raspberry Pi Zero — a very good element to recollect with trendy RPi costs rising resulting from RAM shortages.

Additional studying: I constructed a maxed-out Raspberry 5 PC with an SSD for underneath $200. You’ll be able to too

The unique $35 Raspberry Pi might have been revolutionary to makers, however it took off with PC fans as properly because of its capacity to double as a dirt-cheap home-theater PC. That attract might have waned a bit in recent times as devoted gadgets just like the Chromecast hit the streets at equally low costs, however utilizing a Raspberry Pi as a media-streaming field nonetheless presents much more energy than these streaming-centric sticks, particularly you probably have a sizeable native media assortment.

There are a slew of HTPC-centric Raspberry Pi working techniques on the market, every revolving round slapping your HD movies on the massive display. OSMC is constructed across the well-liked Kodi media heart software program (previously XBMC), whereas RasPlex transforms your Pi into the last word Plex streaming field. The $21 Raspberry Pi TV Hat accent, in the meantime, can grant your mini-PC the power to learn over-the-air TV alerts.

Give a dumb TV smarts

Likewise, you probably have a dumb TV that you simply’d like so as to add internet shopping and different fundamental computing talents to, the Raspberry Pi does the trick with out costing wherever close to as a lot as a correct dwelling theater PC. You’ll need to use a Raspberry Pi 2, 3, or 4, although—the unique Pi and the Raspberry Pi Zero are simply pokey sufficient to be irritating for common duties. With the precise case, the Pi can look downright fashionable in your house theater, too.

Bonus: For those who’re connecting the Raspberry Pi to your TV, you should use it to stream internet movies, too!

File storage server

You can even have your Raspberry Pi play wingman for the opposite gadgets in your home, serving as a centralized gadget that performs useful duties.

Working example: You should utilize the mini-PC as a low-cost NAS field for common file storage in case you join an exterior USB arduous drive to the machine. Hit these hyperlinks for technical particulars, and one tip in case you’re planning to transform the pc to a file server: Use a wired ethernet connection relatively than Wi-Fi in case you’re in a position. Ensure you seize a strong exterior drive, too!

Wi-fi community printer

Printing isn’t as prevalent because it was once, however the Raspberry Pi will help you rework that chunky outdated USB printer in your closet right into a networked printer that each gadget in your home can use.

You’ll want an influence supply for every gadget, clearly, in addition to a USB connection between the gadgets, however setting it up is fairly simple. This MakeUseOf tutorial walks you thru the method step-by-step.

Prolong your house’s Wi-Fi community

Raspberry Pi doesn’t make the house networks you utilize, however it might probably make the house networks you utilize higher in case you configure the mini-PC as a wi-fi vary extender, tapping into the gadget’s ethernet and USB ports. Doing so will help your Wi-Fi sign attain the farthest corners of your home and assist wipe out useless zones.

Configuring the gadget to bolster your house community will take a little bit of time, and also you’ll want to purchase a USB Wi-Fi adapter to do it, however once more, it’s comparatively simple with a information. Take a look at Adafruit’s reader-friendly tutorial.

Outdated-school gaming emulator

Gaming emulators are a authorized grey space, however there’s little question that utilizing the Raspberry Pi as a butt-kicking console emulator is a well-liked use for the machines. It might play video games from all kinds of consoles proper on as much as the PlayStation 1 period in case you handle to snag some authorized recreation ROMs, although the older the system being emulated, the higher the efficiency.

Curious? Take a look at PCWorld’s full information to turning your Raspberry Pi right into a retro gaming console for the complete scoop.

A music streaming machine

The Raspberry Pi’s media chops aren’t restricted to video streaming alone. Quite a few working techniques have additionally been launched that rework the gadget right into a high-fidelity music participant when related to a speaker, kind of like a extra highly effective, versatile model of Chromecast Audio.

he varied music-oriented OSes accessible provide totally different options; poke across the FAQs and options of every to see which is true in your wants. Listed below are tutorials on the way to have your Raspberry Pi flip dumb audio system into sensible music options with Volumio and Rune Audio (pictured), each of which provide cellular apps so you’ll be able to management your tunes together with your cellphone.

Be taught programming

You may all the time use the Raspberry Pi because it was initially meant, too: As a low-cost introduction to programming and pc science. The mini-PC’s loaded with all kinds of software program that encourages deep-level tinkering.

Past the command-line terminal, you’ll must wade in typically, you’ll additionally discover variations of Wolfram Mathematica, Python program creation instruments, and Scratch, an animation coding IDE for teenagers, within the Raspbian working system that the Raspberry Pi Basis encourages new customers to put in. Get sensible!

Play Minecraft

Or you possibly can play Minecraft. There’s a free Raspberry Pi model of Minecraft that anyone can obtain for free of charge. Even higher, it’s designed to show you the way to use the Python programming language as you construct out the world. (Hey, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella did say that a part of the explanation the corporate bought Mojang was to lure children into pc science.)

Obtain Minecraft: Pi Version and soar in.

Inexpensive productiveness PC

With choices of 2GB, 4GB, and now 8GB fashions, the Raspberry Pi 4 and 5 pack a heftier punch than earlier RPi iterations—making them appropriate for fundamental on a regular basis duties like internet shopping, watching video streams, and doc enhancing. Establishing one as a PC goes quick, too, with the majority of the hour setup time dedicated to ready for the working system set up to finish.

As a starter or secondary pc, it’s arduous to beat, particularly given its construct value of $100 (and even much less, in case you go for the 2GB model and never the 4GB). Take a look at PCWorld’s full information in the way to put collectively a $100 Raspberry Pi PC for every thing you’ll want.

Loopy superior experiments

Let’s end the place we started. When you’ve wrapped your head across the Raspberry Pi’s potential, why not attempt your hand at a kind of awe-inspiring creative initiatives? PCWorld’s have a look at 10 insanely modern, extremely cool Raspberry Pi creations will help with the inspiration, whereas the undertaking guides at Instructables, Hackaday, and the Raspberry Pi Basis web site itself are able to stroll you step-by-step via the actually superior stuff just like the magic mirror above.

Additionally take a look at our roundup of the finest Raspberry Pi kits. Whether or not you’re a beginner who simply needs to get all of the fundamentals with one buy, or an skilled tinkerer trying to construct a specialised undertaking, a equipment might be the best way to go.

Editor’s word: This text is up to date periodically to incorporate new information, most not too long ago to resurface these initiatives for Pi day (March 14, 2025) and word rising costs resulting from RAM shortages.