Top 5 Raspberry Pi Project 2021

Are you looking for a Raspberry Pi Project 2021 for this school year? This article focus on projects built around the Raspberry Pi 3 a common budget computer.

We will rate this project base on the criteria listed below.

• Challenge, the chance of someone with not a lot of tools being able to reproduce the project.
• Code, the level of complexity.
• Creativity, speak for itself.
• Completement, the stage of the project.

Table of Content:

1. What is a Raspberry Pi?
2. MyPetBot.
3. PALPi Retro Game Console.
4. Smart Glasses V2.0.0.
5. Tiny Mac From a Raspberry Pi Zero.
6. Recap.

What is a Raspberry Pi?

It uses what’s called a couple of chips that integrate the CPU and GPU in a single integrated circuit, with the RAM, USB ports, and other components soldered onto the board for an all-in-one package. The Raspberry Pi is small, doesn’t use much power, and is relatively inexpensive at just $35.

The latest Pi, at the time of this writing, is the Raspberry Pi 4, with a 1.5GHz quad-core ARM CPU, a 500MHz VideoCore VI GPU, and 1GB of RAM—though you can step up to 4GB of RAM for a bit more money. There is a list of hardware that is very important to have a successful project:

1. A good power supply ( very important).
2. A Raspberry Pi computer with an SD card or micro SD card.
3. A monitor with a cable (and, if needed, an HDMI adaptor).
4. A USB keyboard and mouse.
5. Headphones or speakers (optional).
6. An ethernet cable (optional).

MyPetBot

Source: https://www.instructables.com/MyPetBot-A-Bot-That-Follows-You/

This AI tracking bot is a great Raspberry Pi Project 2021 for beginners since the rover came in as a kit from Parallax and AI is a hot topic at the moment. The rover robot is fairly simple to put together and get it going. This is just a basic platform and required much more work to have to robot operate sufficiently. However, the project is like an open sandbox for creativity.

This project is graded high in the Challenge category since you can get the Robot kit from Parallax to start the project. You will need to learn how to use the Raspberry Pi to communicate with Arduino. This project also grades high in the Code category because one can come up with amazing things with AI tracking such as line following, obstacle avoidance. In contrast, the project grade is low on Creativity since you cannot really change much on the design. The project also grades low on the Completement category because without a lot of coding the project could potentially just become a common rover robot.

• Creativity: 2
• Code: 4
• Completement: 1
• Challenge: 5
• Total Score:12

PALPi Retro Game Console

Source: https://www.instructables.com/PALPi-Retro-Game-Console/

The PALPi Retro Game Console is one of those projects that is only possible due to the modern manufacturing capability. Firstly, let talk about how cool this project is especially if you are a Pokemon lover. Moreover, this project allows you to play any of your favorite childhood games, the sky is the limit.

This project is graded medium in the Challenge category since you can get the printed PCB to start the project or build your own circuit board. However, you will need to know how to read schematic and soldering. This project also grades high in the Code category because one can play any retro games that are available in the Makers’ community. In contrast, the project grade is medium on Creativity since you cannot really change much on the design. However, some LEDs can make the unit come to life. The project also grades medium on the Completement category because with the code for these game is already exist and the PCB file is provided. The chance of this project is complete and playable is very high.

• Creativity: 3
• Code: 5
• Completement: 3
• Challenge: 3
• Total Score:14

Smart Glasses V2.0.0

Source: https://www.instructables.com/Smart-Glasses-V2/

The Smart Glasses V2.0.0 is my childhood dream comes true, especially if you watch Sky Kid growing up. This project represents the front tear of our current technology stage where reality merges with the digital world. Therefore, this is not a project for beginners by any means. The project requires soldering small components and fit them in small places. Furthermore, the parts list could be costly if you have to buy all the components at once. In contrast, the Alter Reality (AR) experience is one of the kink and hard to explain. Abling to see your messages floating in front or working on a floating block of code is the future technology.

The Smart Glasses V2.0.0 project grades high in the Creativity category, even tho big-name companies also work on the idea. However, for an individual to be able to put it together with the components that are available to Makers is amazing. Moreover, this project also grades high in the Code category because you can program different operating systems, functions. This really opens up endless opportunities such as AR, AR overlay where a digital imagine overlays a real object. This project grades average in the Completement category since the project requires a decent number of parts that could be costly. However, this project grade was very low in the Challenge category due to the level of coding that needs to be put into the project to have a functional system. Finally, most of the components would be hard to recover for other projects and that also affects the grading in the Completement category.

• Creativity: 5
• Code: 5
• Completement: 3
• Challenge: 1
• Total Score:14

Tiny Mac From a Raspberry Pi Zero

Source: https://www.instructables.com/Making-a-Tiny-Mac-From-a-Raspberry-Pi-Zero/

When I first saw this project, I thought it was just a decoration piece since it is so small. But I was wrong, this is a full-on working computer. This project is built around a Raspberry Pi Zero and everything you would usually need to start any Pi project! This is amazing since the project doesn’t require any special parts to archive the stunning finish. In my opinion, this is one of the best Raspberry Pi project 2021

The Tiny Mac grades are high in creativity in the sense of elevating an established idea to the next level. This is very hard to do as you can see in this could easily overlook at an enclosure. Furthermore, the project grades fairly in the Complement category since with a basic code the project would work. However, you would need a 3D printer for this project. On top of that, the project grades high in the Challenge category since the parts required for the project are common and required in any Pi project. In contrast, the project grades low in the Code category since there is not a lot that can be changed to the code.

• Creativity: 5
• Code: 1
• Completement: 4
• Challenge: 5
• Total Score:15

Cassette Pi IoT Scroller

Source: https://www.instructables.com/Cassette-Pi-IoT-Scroller/

The Cassette Pi IoT Scroller is another original idea that plays with your imagination. In the nutshell, this project is just another Pi enclosure, however, it is more than that. The project was able to capture the audience’s imagination by collaborating the pie with something old. This minor detail elevates the project to a vintage art piece status. Furthermore, the project doesn’t use any special parts to complete the vintage look.

The Cassette Pi IoT Scroller grades high in the Creativity category, because the project was able to elevate a known idea to the next level and also infuse the project with a Vintage Vibe. The project grades fair in the Completement category since the project needs a fairly basic code or integrates the project with other projects. The Cassette Pi IoT Scroller grades fairly in the Code category since the project doesn’t really have a lot to offer however, the project open the door when it was able to integrate it with other projects. Finally, the project grades fairly in the Challenge category due to simple parts that can find in the local thrift store, and the Raspberry Pi can be reused for other projects.

• Creativity: 5
• Code: 4
• Completement: 4
• Challenge: 4
• Total Score:17

Recap

In the end, the Raspberry Pi is a small computer that can do lots of things, you plug it into a monitor and attach a keyboard and mouse. However, the Makers Community will never fail you how creative they can be. The Maker Community has been grown so much at the rate that one can only believe that they are living in the future. These Raspberry Pi Project 2021 are fairly simple one way to another, however, doing these projects right will archive a stunning solution. Furthermore, with the vast information about these projects, you can try to elevate and improve upon them. This was a fun journey, I am looking forward to doing this again.