Nobody asked for these, Pi fans did it anyway

By Xuyun Zeng | June 12, 2022

In this article, we’re looking at some fantastic Raspberry Pi projects – a smile detector, a jukebox, and a cyberdeck to master Python!

Nobody asked for these, but we Raspberry Pi fans just built it anyway.

Smile detector

A smile detector for anyone who has asked me to smile more ⚡😊 pic.twitter.com/IFgIks0rkU
— lee cyborg 🦞🔭 (@Leeborg_) June 2, 2022

Take this project from lee cyborg.

Lee built a smile detector which, as you can see from the video, activates an LED when they smile.

It’s pretty prototypey at its current stage, but it shows real promise.

Twitter user grime_ninja asked Lee why they decided to build this project. He asked,

“is this to prove to others that you do indeed smile, and make it clearer when it is happening? Or is this an alert to help reinforce yourself never smiling again?”

Lee replied,

“So people far and wide can come and observe the much requested smile. It’s a beacon. A beacon of how much I hate everyone.”

Ah.

There’s so much potential for this project. Imagine being able to play an applause sound every time you smiled. Or canned laughter every time you smile (which enhances the probability someone would laugh at your joke).

This isn’t Lee’s only face-based project, though. Here’s a scrunch detector and a chin switch.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by lee cyborg (@leeborg_)

Portable Python practice Cyberdeck

It takes 10,000 hours to master a skill.

Why not make a portable Python programming rig to ensure no lapses in your programming routine?

Beta build of my portable #python practice #cyberdeck rig. @pimoroni #Hyperpixel display on a #raspberrypi Zero 2 W in a @flirc case. Input by @solderparty with their awesome new BB Q20 keyboard/mouse. Held together with indoor/outdoor 2 sided tape. To do: USB hub for Pico coding pic.twitter.com/QyBAXi663x
— Chris Remboldt (@ChrisRemboldt) May 26, 2022

That’s exactly what Chris Remboldt did.

Chris built his rig out of these components:

Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W
Display: HyperPixel from Pimoroni
Keyboard: BlackBerry Q20 Keyboard with trackpad
Power: 20,000mAh powerbank giving Chris hours of use

In addition to being a mobile Python practice kit, Chris built this to program his Raspberry Pi Pico, which is easily programmed via Thonny, which is installed on the Raspberry Pi OS by default.

He cautions that you should be careful as this is quite fragile, “but a 3D printed case would solve that.”

Raspberry Pi Zero Jukebox

raspberry pi jukebox — Raspberry Pi jukebox project by Scott Petersen (photo by Scott Petersen).

Scott Petersen modified his old jukebox and installed a Raspberry Pi.

He built it in about 3 months, starting with zero knowledge of the Raspberry Pi or Python.

There are actually two parts to his project. What you are seeing in this picture is a wall box/consolette which collects the money and also chooses songs for the jukebox to play.

Instead of a jukebox with music media in it, Scott used the Raspberry Pi Zero that interprets the signals from the consolette and plays the correct music.

Video of the jukebox in action

Here is the Github repo