The Raspberry Pi is three years old todayย and in those three yearsย over five million have been sold, and amazinglyโthanks to the launch of the new Raspberry Pi 2โten percentย of these have been in the last three weeks.ย From humble beginnings on Eben and Liz Upton’s kitchen table the Pi has travelled a long way, and will soon be heading to the International Space Station.
To celebrate the Foundation are holding something that looks like a cross between a conference, a scrumโwhether a rugby scrum or the other sort is left to the imaginationโand a birthday party for the little board that could in its home town of Cambridge
Amongst the celebrations, and pizza, there has also been some announcementsโincluding an official Raspberry Pi caseโand we hear that there’s also an official WiFi dongle coming along soon.
So three years on, and five million boards later, I thought it might be fun to look back at some of myย favouriteย Pi-powered projects we’ve featuredย here on the blog.
Crypto Currency Tracker
The Crypto Currency Trackerโfrom the most recent issue of Make:โis aย real-time tracker that routinely refreshes with the current values of your favouriteย digital currencies, including Bitcoin, Dogecoin and Litecoin,ย and compares them each against the USย dollar.
Raspberry Pi VPN/TOR Router
Serious about using the Internet securely? Then this project is for you. All you need is a Raspberry Pi, two USB WiFi dongles, an SD Card and a power plug.
Face Recognition Treasure Safe
This one was from Make: Volume 40. Using a Raspberry Pi, a camera and some free software you can make a lockbox that opens only when it sees your face.
Bulk Arduino Programmer
If you have the need to program tens, hundreds or perhaps even thousands of Arduino boards, then you’ll be needing a bulk programmer. This one, built by Ben Prit the creator of Mirobotโwho we talked to last year at Maker Faire UKโis of course built around a Raspberry Pi.
Raspberry Pirate Radio
Sometimes the simplest hacks are the most impressive. This oneโfrom Make: Volume 38โuses just a length of wire to turn your Raspberry Pi into a powerful FM transmitter, and is amongstย the most impressive pieces of hackery I’ve seen done with theย Pi.
Raspberry Pi Tablet
Built by our own Michael Castor, the PiPad is an all-in-one system built around the Raspberry Pi. It’s usable, portable and Linux basedโit also looks pretty cool.
Frozen Raspberry
Possibly one of the most impressive projects I’ve seen. Built out of 48 individual Raspberry Pi boards, each with a Pi camera module attached, the Frozen Raspberry is a bullet time rig. Made famous by the fight scenes in theย Matrix, the bullet time effectย might seem almost common place today it’s been used so many times now in movies, however building a rig to duplicate the effectย usingย theย Raspberry Pi is an amazing technical achievement.
In closing…
I could have gone on, and on, hereโbecause I’veย seen some amazing things built with the Pi, from an ROV, to a robot that collects ping pong balls.
The Pi has been used for education, for making, and will soon be going into space. If you’ve just picked up a Piย there are plenty of things you can plug into itย and plenty of projectsย to inspire your next build. Whilst there are other boards, in the three years it has been around the Raspberry Pi has become one of the most dominant, and perhaps moreย importantly has built a vibrant community that excels in making stone soupย with the Pi.
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