7 Surprising Uses for Raspberry Pi That Will Blow Your Mind
Many assume that the Raspberry Pi is only good for simple hobbyist projects at home. But the Pi is much more than that—it’s a tiny computer with enormous potential. In this post, I’ll be sharing the most incredible uses for the Pi worldwide.
The Raspberry Pi can be found going underwater and up to space. It’s being used in every industry imaginable because of its robust hardware and versatility.
Read on to discover how this single-board-computer-that-could is tackling global challenges and arousing our wonder.
If you’re looking for inspiration for your next Raspberry Pi project, I’ve put together a list of 75+ ideas with full descriptions, difficulty ratings, and links to tutorials. Whether you’re a beginner or more advanced, there’s something here for you. Grab the list for free here!
Students Take Raspberry Pi to the Stars
Let’s start this list with one of the most unforgiving places to operate: space, the final frontier.
The Astro Pi program lets students conduct experiments on the International Space Station (ISS) with the Raspberry Pi. Astro Pi units are specialized Pis loaded with gyroscopes and sensors, interfaces to connect with ISS power systems and a Coral machine learning accelerator.
Student teams enter by writing programs for the Astro Pi that solve a scientific problem. Past challenges have included tracking object movements near the ISS or modelling plant growth in microgravity. It’s like a science fair competition—but in space!
Why has the Pi been chosen to boldly go where no man or woman has gone before? The Pi is a small payload with low power requirements so experiments run longer. It also broadly supports Linux and Python, both of which have libraries used extensively in space applications.
Agriculture Revolution: Raspberry Pi Leads the Way
The last time agriculture couldn’t keep up with global food demands, it was solved by the Industrial Revolution. In the future, this effort might be led by robots.
The Land Care Robot uses the Raspberry Pi as its brain. With modular attachments for different jobs, this baby is the ultimate Swiss Army Knife of crop care. It can till planted rows, haul and spread fertilizer, and even grade sloped surfaces.
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The Raspberry Pi 4 paired with multiple RP2040 microcontrollers is responsible for the robot’s autonomous navigation and solar charging capabilities. The Pi is an innovator because right-to-repair has become a critical issue for farmers.
Many manufacturers lock down farming equipment. This means the equipment can only be fixed by authorized dealers. However, because of the Raspberry Pi, farmers can update the Land Care Robot in remote locations and replace parts inexpensively.
I don’t know about you, but I, for one, welcome our new robot tractor overlords.
Raspberry Pi Helps Save the Turtles
If there was a reality TV show following the lives of sea turtles, what hijinks would it show them getting up to? If this question has kept you up at night, watch the turtle-POV footage above recorded by the Arribada Initiative.
The Arribada Initiative uses a Raspberry Pi to track sea turtles that have been rehabilitated and re-released into the ocean. Fitting many turtles with geo-trackers that work underwater was a solution that was difficult to scale up.
The Raspberry Pi Zero—equipped with a camera and battery backup inside a waterproof enclosure—ended up becoming the perfect solution. The Pi does more than track the turtles via GPS. By running AI software, the Pi can decide when to wake up to start recording interesting behavior.
You’ve heard of The Real World: Paris, but now get ready for The Real World: Galápagos.
Eco-Engineering: Pi Recycles Carbon Fiber
Carbon fiber is the matte, jet-black material you might have seen on race cars and spaceships. It turns out that when you cut a rocket shape out of a giant sheet of carbon fiber, there’s a lot left over that becomes landfill waste.
Recycling carbon fiber scrap is difficult because it has to be reprocessed to match the specs for its intended use. Elevated Materials, a manufacturing company, uses the Pi as its industrial process controller. During the carbon fiber recycling process, the Pi adjusts for temperature and pressure.
Other industrial process controllers can control temperature and pressure, but none collect logs as extensively and easily as the Pi. Logging lets line workers read what isn’t working optimally, so they can calibrate the process for success.
I know what you’re thinking: yes, some people do read logs.
Health Tech: Pi’s Role in Smart Monitoring
The Raspberry Pi already has tons of HATs, like the Sense HAT, which can monitor air pressure, temperature, and magnetic fields. But what about monitoring human vital signs? Yes, the Pi can do that too.
Smart health devices that use the Pi to measure blood pressure, monitor glucose levels, and even create patient wearables are popping up. EKORA, a company founded by cardiologists, uses the Raspberry Pi to store heart activity from electrocardiograms (EKGs or ECGs).
Even post-pandemic, most EKG machines still print out their readings on paper. That’s because strict privacy laws protect how medical records can be handled electronically. EKORA allows EKGs to go paperless because it uses the Pi to encrypt the transmission and storage of health data.
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It sure beats filling out your entire medical history from scratch every time you visit a new doctor, doesn’t it?
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Ultimate Cooling: Pi Research in the Arctic
If record-breaking temperatures over the last few summers haven’t convinced you that climate change is our generation’s biggest problem, maybe scientific research will. Ice sheets in the Arctic act as our planet’s protective buffer, and they’re melting at an alarming rate.
Researchers from Stanford University are studying this process with Peregrine, a drone equipped with a Raspberry Pi. The Peregrine soars over glaciers with a radar that peers under the ice and images down to the bedrock.
In the past, ice-penetrating radar studies were carried out with large setups on planes crewed with personnel. It isn’t an easy or cost-effective way to gather scientific data. The Peregrine accomplishes this mission unmanned with a Pi to control its radar—all while weighing under one kilogram.
Sitting inside its 3D-printed enclosure lined with copper shielding, the Pi withstands operating in arctic temperatures of 3 °C down to -20 °C. At those temps, I’m guessing they won’t have to worry about the Pi overheating.
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Art in Motion: Pi Creates Sand Drawings
The intersection of art and technology is a trend that’s on the rise, from art installations like Erica the Cyber Rhino to IoT fashionwear. These disciplines have converged in a form you might not have expected: the ancient art of sand drawings.
The Sisyphus Sand Table uses the Raspberry Pi to create sand drawings in real time. Instead of relying on a monk with a stick, the Sisyphus rolls a ball bearing around to trace patterns in the sand.
But what hardware is versatile enough to control the magnet, not to mention interfacing with the motors, LED strips, and light sensors? The Raspberry Pi coordinates these moving parts and provides rock-solid support for JavaScript on Node.js.
Sand drawings are meant to be temporary so you can appreciate the transient nature of existence—oops, a gust of wind just blew away something you spent all morning on. With the Sisyphus, you can enjoy your sand drawing for a few more days.
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