It's that time of the weekend again, time to start thinking of what Raspberry Pi projects you're going to be working on before Monday rolls around! Today, I'm showing three unique projects that can run on either a Pi Pico or a full-size Pi.
My garage is my woodworking shop, and, while I most often just run my lasers in it, I do still have super noisy equipment that I use from time to time. If you're anything like me, then there's a good chance you want to let others know just how noisy that workshop actually is to know if it's okay for them to walk out there or not.
Using a Raspberry Pi Pico with a microphone and three LEDs, you can actually build a fun little project that tells people just that. The only part that actually needs to be in the workshop is the microphone, though the Pi Pico can also hang out there.
However, the full build just uses the microphone to estimate the noise level and illuminate one of three LEDs to tell people how noisy it is—green for good, yellow for slightly noisy, and red to signify that hearing protection is needed to enter.
The overall design is fairly simple and can be run on a breadboard with no soldering required, though I'd recommend soldering the resistors to the LEDs and properly wiring and heat shrinking the system to keep it safe from dust and debris.
One of the best parts of a design like this is there is no wireless connectivity, no storage, and no privacy nightmare to worry about. Everything stays local to the Pi Pico and it simply doesn't have the storage needed to keep any recordings local. All it does is parse the raw noise information from the microphone and use that information to know which LED to illuminate.
The Pomodoro method has been my favorite way to focus lately, as it's extremely simple and works extremely well for my ADD brain. If you've never heard of the Pomodoro method, it basically is based on working for a set amount of time (often 25 minutes) and then taking a break for a set amount of time (often 5 minutes). The amount of work for breaks is customizable, but that's the basics for how it works.
Building your own Pomodoro timer is actually fairly straightforward. This project can be built with either a traditional Pi or a Pico, and relies on an e-ink display and a button of some sort.
This type of project will require a bit more hands-on work than others I've featured in the past, as you'll need to build the interface and button handling yourself. However, AI can be a great assistant for this.
If I was building this project (and I'm heavily considering doing it), I wxould use just one button and a rotary knob for the entire thing. The display would showcase the timer and countdown in minutes and seconds using a fast-refresh E-ink display like the Waveshare Pico ePaper 2.13-inch screen.
A single press of the button when no timer is running would start the timer, and if the timer is already running it would pause the timer. A double press would reset the timer no matter the state.
The rotary knob would be used to change the timer's length, though it would default to 25 minutes work and 5 minutes of a break.
This is the type of project that just sits on your desk and helps you be more productive throughout the day, so if that's something you struggle with, definitely give it a try.
The fun part is you can build this however you want, using things like color E-ink displays, or even LCD or OLED screens for an entirely different aesthetic. A color screen could even be programmed to show different colors depending on how much time is left on the timer.
My family loves games of all types, and one of the family's favorite games right now is Herd Mentality. The thing with Herd Mentality, or any other similar games, is you have to remember whose turn it is or who has already gone.
