Projects

Top Raspberry Pi Projects for Beginners

As we all know that a Raspberry Pi is a super-tiny, affordable and multi-tasking computer developed by Raspberry Pi Foundation. After the first launch of the original Pi model in February 2012, the company has introduced different and upgraded versions of Pi family including Raspberry Pi model A, A+, B, B+, Raspberry Pi 2, Raspberry Pi Zero, and Raspberry Pi 3. Till the date, the company has shipped over 8.5 million Raspberry Pi devices all over the world which shows the popularity of this amazing credit-card sized computer. If you are one of the lucky people who already has got the Raspberry Pi device, the next thing you should think about for doing a useful and creative design with it.

For the pros in electronics or who have an experience with Raspberry Pi designs, can add an extra test to their projects or make even more exciting models. But for the beginners or who is using the Raspberry Pi for the first time, can be a bit difficult to decide where to start from. It is advisable that first you get a good-quality Raspberry Pi starter kit available on the market. The next thing you can do is to think of a simple and easy to develop a project with your Raspberry Pi.

Here, I have created a list of the Top Raspberry Pi Projects for beginners, which are simple to understand and easy to develop. Check them below.

1) Simple Raspberry Pi Photo Frame

If you want to digitally display photos of your loved ones, memories, or anything else, then the Raspberry Pi Digital Photo Frame is a perfect set up for you. This is a very easy project and should not take much time of yours. Not only streaming your photos, but it can also show the weather, play music or movies, receive an AirPlay content when you needed.

It is a thin, lightweight, attractive, quickly made, and affordable (Everything you will get for this project under $200) design which can be made with some simple hardware settings and software installations.

Things needed for this Raspberry Pi Project:

  • A Raspberry Pi device
  • An LCD panel or touchscreen
  • A 4GB SD card or a Micro SD card if you are using Pi 2 or Pi 3
  • A USB drive or external hard drive
  • A Raspberry Pi WiFi dongle or an Ethernet cord
  • A USB keyboard and mouse and a Raspberry Pi case are optional components

2) Raspberry Pi Web Interface

A great way to start learning your Raspberry Pi is, to control your Pi device remotely. By learning just, a little coding with the Raspberry Pi will let you make your Pi model interacting with the outside world. This project will turn the LEDs on and off from your smartphone via a simple user interface. Scripts are provided on the web, so you do not need to understand the complex of coding, but taking a look at them will surely teach you to set up your Raspberry Pi Web Interface.

Things needed for the Raspberry Pi project of Web Interface are:

  • A good Raspberry Pi starter kit
  • A Raspberry Pi device
  • A mobile phone for operating the Pi

3) A Raspberry Pi Wireless Printer

Only one thing that makes a wireless printer less preferable than the USB printer is its cost. But, you can turn your USB printer into a wireless printer with the help of the Raspberry Pi without breaking the bank. Only a few simple commands and a great Raspberry Pi WiFi dongle will let you print the papers from afar in no time.

Components needed to create a Raspberry Pi Wireless Printer:

  • A USB printer
  • A basic Raspberry Pi starter kit
  • Raspberry Pi device
  • A Raspberry Pi WiFi dongle

4) Raspberry Pi AirPlay Receiver

Yes, you can buy AirPlay speakers if the money is not the thing you worry about. But, if you want a low-budget solution for this, then the Raspberry Pi will be great a choice to have. You can give your old speakers a new life by turning them into AirPlay receivers with using Raspberry Pi. After successfully completing this project, you can stream music from you iPhone, iPad, or MAC PC to your speakers without spending a lot of money for upgrading them.

Things you need for creating a Raspberry Pi Airplay Receiver:

  • A Raspberry Pi
  • A stereo jack
  • A WiFi dongle of Raspberry Pi
  • Speakers

5) A Retro Gaming Machine – Raspberry Pi Emulator

You can get a hundred of hours of fun by playing the retro games using a Raspberry Pi emulator. You can find a number of articles to teach you how to create a Raspberry Pi Emulator for Retro Gaming.

Equipment you need for creating a Raspberry Pi emulator:

  • A Raspberry Pi device
  • A USB keyboard and USB mouse
  • An HDMI cord
  • An 8GB SD card or a Micro SD card if you are using a Pi 2 or Pi 3
  • A Raspberry Pi WiFi dongle/an Ethernet cord, and retro gaming controllers are the optional components

6) Raspberry Pi XMBC Media Center

You can turn your Raspberry Pi into a fully-fledged XMBC (Kodi) media center. It can also play movies, music, and TV shows. You can build your own XMBC media center with Raspberry Pi with variations like Raspbmc, OpenElec, and Xbian. With only a USB keyboard and mouse, you can control your Raspberry Pi XMBC media center with your tablet or via a web browser.

Components you need for building Raspberry Pi XMBC Media Center:

  • A Raspberry Pi device
  • A recommended 8GB SD card for Raspberry Pi or a Micro SD card if you are using Raspberry Pi 2 or Pi 3 model
  • A USB keyboard
  • A USB mouse
  • An HDMI cord
  • An Ethernet cord or a Raspberry Pi WiFi dongle is optional

Hope you enjoyed the reading of the Top Raspberry Pi Projects for Beginners. A basic Raspberry Pi Starter Kit is enough for developing these simple projects. These Raspberry Pi projects will inspire the students and beginners in the electronics field to learn computer science in an easy way and enable them to dream up wild and big projects without breaking their banks.

Jessica Ward

Hey! I am Jessica Ward. I love to write about technology and learn or thinking about latest techno. And my forever ever love technology project is Raspberry Pi. I do and know more or more for Raspberry Pi.

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