{"id":3121,"date":"2022-10-10T09:55:10","date_gmt":"2022-10-10T09:55:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/picockpit.com\/raspberry-pi\/?p=3121"},"modified":"2023-08-22T10:26:40","modified_gmt":"2023-08-22T10:26:40","slug":"raspberry-pi-project-ideas-whisky-flask","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/picockpit.com\/raspberry-pi\/raspberry-pi-project-ideas-whisky-flask\/","title":{"rendered":"Coolers, Calculators, and Trackers: Raspberry Pi project ideas"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Here are some fantastic Raspberry Pi project ideas!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whisky Flask Cooler<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

What happens if you can’t get a heat sink in time for your project, but want to start immediately?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How about liquid-cooling?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Coin-and-flask DIY Raspberry Pi 4 NAS cooling by Joel. (Photo from Gray Code<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A guy named Joel posted this cooling solution with the Raspberry Pi 4.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Joel’s blog<\/a>, he started using his Raspberry Pi 4 as a NAS to store stuff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, he wasn’t prepared at all. He received the Pi 4 as a gift but it didn’t come with any fans or heat sinks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Basically, a whim struck him and he decided to go in head first.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Didnt have it in me to wait, homemade NAS waits for nothing!!!,” Joel said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joel acknowledged that the Raspberry Pi 4 would throttle itself if it got too hot, but he thought it wasn’t a good idea to run computers at its limits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thus, he stacked a few coins and a hip flask.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was a wobbly mess, but he managed to reduce temperatures by 9 degrees Celcius from 68 to 58 C under a large transfer load.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This little Jenga tower of metal coins and a flask did tip once and caused a short on the Raspberry Pi, but luckily it caused no damage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So what’s the conclusion? According to Joel:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s not stupid if it works.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

On a side note, here’s how you can monitor your Pi’s temperatures.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mechanical Calculator<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Jonathan Fortmann’s mechanical calculator (photo from Reddit<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Kids these days…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

… make me feel like a boomer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not only did Jonathan Fortmann design a mechanical calculator hardware, he also programmed it using a Raspberry Pi Pico.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“This is my very first real physical and polished project and thus im very proud of it as a 14 year old :)” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can use this project as a calculator and if you modify the code, you can use it as a numpad keyboard device (HID).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can find the code, KiCAD files and more information on Jonathan’s Github.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pico Solar System Tracker<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Dmytro Panin’s Pico Solar System project. (photo from Dymtro’s Github<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

If you’re a fan of Kerbal Space Program…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Or if you are obsessed with the Apple Watch’s solar system tracker watch face…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then you are probably going to love this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For me, this project is proof of two things:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  1. It proves that the Raspberry Pi Pico can output useful, colourful graphics<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. It proves that the Raspberry Pi Pico W’s wireless can substitute a real-time clock (RTC).<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    You need two components. The first is the Pico Display Pack from Pimoroni. The second is a Raspberry Pi Pico with an RTC or a Pico W (that syncs online to get the time).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Code and instructions are available here.<\/a><\/p>\n