We've saved you the trouble and brought the pot of gold you've been looking for—a treasure trove of awesome Raspberry Pi projects. These are some of our favorite creations we've had the pleasure of featuring over the last month, and we're delighted to share them with you again. These makers use everything from the first Raspberry Pi 1 to the latest Raspberry Pi 5 to make their ideas a reality.
Whenever possible, we share all of the links to the source code so you can make them for yourself at home or just dig into how they're put together. You can expect to find the best Raspberry Pi accessories, HATs, modules and more among the parts list that turn a simple Raspberry Pi into a masterpiece of creation.
Raspberry Pi-Powered Luxury Automated Smart House for Cats
This project is made for cat lovers with a fervor for Pi. What do you know? We fit the bill. Created by a maker known as Visible_Turnover3952 over at Reddit, this smart house has tons of cool automated features that keep his outdoor cats living in absolute luxury. The floors are heated and it has tons of sensors to help monitor the environment for total optimization.
Why we love it:
Not only does this project benefit our fuzzy companions, but it's also a great showcase of how much the Raspberry Pi can handle when it comes to flexibility and DIY smart features. There's a lot going on in this cat house and we're all for it.
Read: Raspberry Pi-powered Luxury Automated Smart House for Cats
Raspberry Pi Creeper Robot
A creeper is one of the last things you want to see sneaking up on you, but that didn't stop maker Efren Lopez from making his own from scratch. This Raspberry Pi creeper robot locomotes using four wheels and has camera modules that let it see the world around it. It's also spruced up with AI so it can interpret the surrounding environment and react accordingly.
Why we love it:
Minecraft is just as cool today as it was over a decade ago. This robot would be neat enough even if it wasn't Minecraft-themed, but it is—so here we are. The creeper robot looks great and is a wonderful example of the Raspberry Pi's potential as an AI-driven controller.
Read: Raspberry Pi Creeper Robot
Raspberry Pi 5 Wood Finished Cyberdeck with Custom Milled Keypad
The Raspberry Pi is to cyberdecks as peanut butter is to jelly. This beautiful handheld cyberdeck has the kind of professional finish most makers can only dream about. It has gorgeous wood casing and the keypad has been completely custom milled just for this project. Maker Nicholas LaBonte truly went above and beyond for this creation.
Why we love it:
This cyberdeck is really cool. It's the kind of hardware you wouldn't mind someone seeing you play around with in public. In fact, you want someone to ask about it just for the chance to splurge about all the hard work that went into making it look so fine.
Read: Raspberry Pi 5 Wood Finished Cyberdeck with Custom Milled Keypad
Raspberry Pi Glass Dome Display
What's that sitting in the corner? It might not look like it at first glance, but that glass dome is actually a transparent screen for a Raspberry Pi. Using the "Pepper's Ghost" effect, this project projects images onto a clear film creating a really cool invisible screen. The code has also been made open source so you can recreate it for yourself at home.
Why we love it:
This project is way cooler than your typical LCD panel or eInk display. In fact, it's one of the most rare screen types you'll come across when it comes to Raspberry Pi projects. This screen is more than a novelty, it's a highlight of skill and just as impressive today as it was when the "Pepper's Ghost" effect was created over 100 years ago.
Read: Raspberry Pi Glass Dome Display
Dual Raspberry Pi Pico Portable Mini PC
We've seen Raspberry Pi handhelds that incorporate a Pico into them as an extra controller but this is one of the few we've ever come across that runs entirely on a Pico. This handheld uses two Picos—one to operate as the main processor and another one to operate as a graphics card.
Why we love it:
This is a beautiful example of the Raspberry Pi Pico's potential and the end results are fantastic. The handheld has a professional design and is finished with a look that's classy and function that's got lots of room for customization.
Read: Dual Raspberry Pi Pico Portable Mini PC
Raspberry Pi AI Pizza Clock
This project takes everything we love about telling time and pizza, merging the two using the power of AI. This AI pizza clock creates an image of pizza to represent the current time. You can use any other round image you like. In the examples given by maker Likeablob, we see a demo of a sunflower that accomplishes the same thing.
Why we love it:
You have to wonder how makers come up with ideas like this, but in the end we just don't care. It's a really fun idea and it's so well executed. Even if you don't want one for yourself, reading into how the project is pulled off is fascinating in itself.
Read: Raspberry Pi AI Pizza Clock
Raspberry Pi Pico 'WOPR' Server Rack Upgrade
If you're familiar with the 1980's movie War Games, you're sure to recognize this project. Maker Aforsberg has created an upgrade for his server rack that replicates the 'WOPR' computer using our favorite microcontroller—the Raspberry Pi Pico—along with some daisy-chained matrices and custom code.
Why we love it:
This is a really cool shoutout to the classic movie and is so well done that we couldn't help but feature it again in our list here today. The Pico is responsible for controlling the matrix panels and coming up with a randomized light display to mimic the computer from the movie.
Read: Raspberry Pi Pico 'WOPR' Server Rack Upgrade
Raspberry Pi Pico Spacewar Controller
Tominator2000 uses a Raspberry Pi Pico to make a custom controller to emulate the game Spacewar more accurately. It's got a couple of joysticks and runs entirely on the Pico as its main controller. The idea was to create a couple of controllers to demo the game emulation at a convention.
Why we love it:
We love retro gaming on the Raspberry Pi, and this is just another flavor to add to our menu. The project is very well done and is so unique that we thought it deserved a little extra attention. You can see a demo video of it in action in the original project thread.
Read: Raspberry Pi Pico Spacewar Controller
Raspberry Pi Map of Manhattan
This Raspberry Pi-powered map of Manhattan shows you where subway trains are in real-time. It has a 3D-printed body and uses fiber optics to show train locations connected to matrix panels controlled by the Raspberry Pi. The colors are determined by the matrix panels, not the subway lines, so you can tell when trains run on different tracks than usual.
Why we love it:
Words can hardly express how unique and impressive this project is. Everything from the concept to the finished design oozes creativity, and we're all for it. The only way to get something this cool is to make it yourself, and Bicapitate deserves all the praise in the world for its construction.
Read: Raspberry Pi Map of Manhattan
Raspberry Pi Dune Weaver Table
This Raspberry Pi-powered decor is at the top of most makers' wishlist. Using our favorite SBC, this 'Dune Weaver' table draws images automatically in sand using magnets. It has a smartphone interface that you can use to select images or just let it rotate through a playlist of them for some automated variety.
Why we love it:
We fell in love with this project as soon as we laid eyes on it. It's a beautiful work of art and engineering that's worthy of all the extra attention we can give it. The idea is cool enough on its own but to see it in action is on a different level entirely.
Read: Raspberry Pi Dune Weaver Table
Tom's Hardware Projects
It's hard to look at so many awesome projects and not expect a little inspiration and creativity to rub off on us. Here are a few Pi projects put together by the staff here at Tom's Hardware over the last month, complete with all the steps you need to recreate it for yourself at home.
Create your own Raspberry Pi powered home VOIP service with Mumble
You don't even need the latest Raspberry Pi to do this project. We successfully pulled it off using the original Raspberry Pi 1. This guide shows us how to make a home VOIP service using Mumble.
Read: Create your own Raspberry Pi-powered home VOIP service with Mumble
How to Run DeepSeek R1 on your Raspberry Pi 5
Want to check out DeepSeek R1? You're not the only one. This guide demonstrates how to set it up on the latest Raspberry Pi 5. It might not be the fastest way to use DeepSeek R1, but it can operate offline.
