Still have a drawer full of Raspberry Pis? Well, get them out, because here are three fun and simple Pi projects to do this weekend.
- Brand
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Raspberry Pi
- CPU
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Cortex-A72 (ARM v8)
- Memory
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2 GB
With the Raspberry Pi 4 Model B, you can create all kinds of fun projects and upgrade gadgets around your home. Alternatively, install a full desktop OS and use it like a normal PC.
USB automatic backup station
Just insert a USB drive or SD card and the Pi automatically backs up to the NAS
If you have non-technical people at home who need to back up stuff to their NAS, this project is perfect for them. Instead of people backing up directly to the NAS, as it can be confusing for some if it’s not installed correctly at boot time – you can simply back them up to a flash drive or external hard drive.
From there, you can set up the Pi as an automated backup transfer tool. You need to use at least a Pi 4 for this project to get Gigabit Ethernet. I’d also recommend setting the OLED or LED status, but that’s optional.
This is done through the basis of the project The Little Backup Box project on GitHub. With Little Backup Box, your Pi will detect things like SD cards, USB drives, cameras or phones and automatically back them up to additional storage or network storage.
In this case, I would recommend using network storage. You won’t have to manually install anything or write rsync scripts because Little Backup Box handles it all for you. It’s really a neat little app that works on your network or offline when you’re at home.
Little Backup Box is designed for photographers and videographers, so it has an offline local storage backup solution. This would be a great option if you have a large USB drive you keep around and want to use the Pi to back up your SD card while taking photos or videos on location.
This is a fun project that will come in handy anywhere, so definitely give it a try.
Homework control panel
Track family affairs and send tasks, reminders, etc. use Home Assistant to display
If you have kids at home and want to keep track of family chores, the Pi is perfect for the job.
This project revolves around two things: Raspberry Pi and touch screen kind of. Which touchscreen you use is entirely up to you, as Amazon has many built for the Pi. I would just recommend finding something like this does Working with the Pi.
From there, you have many options for setting up your dashboard for household chores. One option is to build special Home Assistant dashboard it does everything you want. House helper can integrate with task managers, calendars and more to create the ultimate family dashboard.
Setting up Home Assistant this way will definitely take some time, so be prepared for a time investment on this side of things.
On the other hand, you can use something like WAC boardit’s an online-based family dashboard that can be easily managed on the Pi. It’s all cloud-based, so Pi is just a window into the platform. If all you need are two calendars and you’re fine with the predefined screen layouts, there’s a free plan.
However, if you want more features (and less branding) on your family dashboard, there are also paid plans starting at $5 per month.
If you just want a fun weekend project that the whole family will enjoy, then building a family chalkboard is a great option.
Personal daily briefing generator
Close the screen and show the Pi your calendar, weather, news and more
Another screen-based Pi project is simply a personal daily briefing generator. This is a simpler project and you can use something like this View for that.
The view is usually seen it is a homelab type dashboardbut you can definitely use it for personal daily briefing. You simply deploy it with Docker on the Pi itself (or on another system if you prefer) and then use the kiosk browser to display it on any screen you attach to the Pi.
With Glance, you can set up a dashboard that displays all kinds of content at a glance. From feeds to weather, your calendars, news, stocks, RSS and more, Glance is truly your one-stop morning summary.
You can fully customize how Glance looks so you have the information you need right in front of you. Building a tiny Pi system with a 5- or 7-inch touchscreen is the perfect dashboard to use for Glance, as it sits ready for you the moment you sit down at your desk.
Don’t leave your Pis to rot in a drawer
There are so many Pi projects that there shouldn’t be any unused Pis just sitting in a drawer. Whether you’re doing one of these projects or one of those many other Pi projects I’ve talked about over the yearsthere definitely is something That can make your Bad outside collecting dust.
