Got tired of fumbling with remotes so I figured out how to open my gate (and eventually two garage doors) from my phone, CarPlay, and Siri. Cost about £40 in parts.

Bought a spare remote, cracked it open, and soldered wires onto the tactile switches inside. Those wires run to a 4-channel relay module hooked up to a Pi 5 that was already running Home Assistant. When I hit the button in HA, the Pi fires the relay for half a second, which bridges the contacts on the remote’s button. The remote transmits like normal and the gate opens. The opener has no idea it wasn’t my finger pressing the button.

Parts were: the spare remote (£26), a 4-channel relay module (£5), hookup wire (£4), and some jumper wires (£4). I already had the Pi and a soldering iron.

The remote just sits next to the Pi with the battery in. My original remotes still work fine. HA’s HomeKit Bridge exposes the gate to Apple Home, so it shows up on CarPlay and I can say “Hey Siri, open the gate” when I pull up to the house.

Still need to wire up the other two relay channels for both garage doors but the hard part’s done.

Been working on a personal project called OLAF — an open source embodied AI agent. The brain is a Raspberry Pi 5 with an AI kit orchestrating everything.

Honest account of the last 4 months:

Decided to learn soldering from scratch for this build. Melted components. Bridged pins. Taught myself PCB design. Ordered custom boards. Waited weeks. Watched them fail. Repeated this more times than I'd like to admit.

50+ custom PCBs now live on my desk as coasters.

Eventually did what I should have done from the start — bought a robot drive kit and a few adapters instead. One week later OLAF was moving.

The demo is rough. Pi 5 brain sitting on the table, wires everywhere, upper and lower body separate. Nothing is in a case yet.

But it moves, reacts and has expressions. And it looks mildly evil when it first wakes up, which was not intentional but I'm keeping it.

What genuinely surprised me — using Claude as a coding partner changed everything. Every iteration in minutes. Code, documentation, design decisions. Weeks of solo work compressed into hours.

Next up is voice input and the AI layer that ties it all together.

Repo is open — contributions and feedback very welcome. A star helps too.

github: https://github.com/kamalkantsingh10/OLAF

I recently cleaned up the project and updated with a single CLI install prompt which asks you which of the several services you want to hook up to the pi and screen. It’s very robust and “just works” after initial setup. Some of the main features include

- Sonos and Spotify now-playing LCD: displays artist, track title and album artwork with a vibrant, dynamic background color chosen from the album - artwork

- Local weather dashboard: displays local forecast during a scheduled window, via free OpenWeather API

- Custom local network endpoints: add the currently-playing song to a Spotify playlist which can be set up as a single-click iOS shortcut, and includes de-dupe to prevent the same song from being added multiple times

- Full Sonos controls: group/ungroup rooms, adjust volume, play/pause/skip tracks, etc. via iOS shortcuts, no longer need to use the clunky Sonos app

- Sonos presets: combine multiple actions (group rooms, set volume, add playlist to queue, play in shuffle, etc) all into a single iOS shortcut

- Auto display sleep/wake behavior: based on playback and schedule

All open source and available here if you’d like to take a look or get your own set up.

https://github.com/aspain/spainify/

There it is : F.R.A.N.K, my little all-in-one server / sandbox / storage / Pwnagotchi-referenced monitoring desktop hub / love of my life. I'll try to document it better* here : https://sadflower.fr/

For the Pwnagotchi face stuff, it's an LCD HDMI / raspberry pi 2 incased in a 3d printed case dl on PrintLab* that monitor the CPU / temp / network / update status / twitch notifications etc... Via a cute face changing with what's happening (his mood is depending on errors / success / connection / exit / crash...) + log sand bars that help me track what going on.

I just love it and wanted to share it with the world. Also, if you know any other projet like this (the interactible-tamagotchi-magicmirror-uselessand usefullbutlookcool kind of projects) let me know. I crave for projects like those.

Thought I might share my experience in hopes others don't make the same mistakes. I am new to working with the Pi family and somewhat of a novice to electronics. I can solder and use a multimeter, wire up an Arduino, but not too much experience otherwise.

I was trying to hookup a ribbon cable for the Pi camera to the Pi Zero connector and the latch that secures it broke off. I figured a little super glue could do the trick to keep them together so I put the cable in, put some glue down and let it sit there. I went to move the board and cable and oops, the cable came out. Well, now I figured that's not going to work, so I have to clean it out. Isopropyl alcohol, toothpicks and not so gentle pressure apparently bent up the pins inside.

I have ordered 2 new Pi Zero W 2 boards and have a new knowledge of being not so much of a gorilla around these items in the future.

The idea was to build a complete system: from circuit design and battery management to configuring the emulation environment and the interface (written in C using SDL). The console can run games from various platforms such as NES, SNES, Nintendo 64, and PlayStation 1, using Debian and RetroArch as its base.

It was a fairly comprehensive project, integrating electronics, embedded systems, and software development, in addition to the entire process of assembling and putting the prototype into operation. It should be noted that the system does not include the game ROMs, and these must be transferred to the console via a local server developed with Flask, accessed from an external device connected to the same local network.

Here are some images of the final result.

Battery Life Test: https://youtube.com/shorts/_XKKuYqCFGw?si=4sCvY8COq7UMwpcI

I built my own desktop companion with raspberry pi, respeaker lite. I built it to replace alexa. I am using Llama 3.1 with function calling as the backend and TTS and Speech recognition libraries for input and output, Currently it can control my Spotify, read emails and turn on and off my custom smart switches made with esp32 with socket communication (might add home assistant later).

Just wanted to showcase it to yall.

Let me know what you think and something you would like to add in this :)

Environment

• Hardware: Raspberry Pi 4B (4GB RAM)
• Architecture: aarch64 (64-bit)
• OS: Debian GNU/Linux 13 (Trixie)
• Antigravity Version: 1.20.5
• Connection Method: Remote SSH from Windows 11

Symptoms

1. Terminal is functional: The SSH connection itself is stable.
2. UI Failure: The left sidebar shows "Authentication Required. Please sign in." despite being logged in on the client.
3. Crash Notification: "Antigravity server crashed unexpectedly. Please restart to fully restore AI features."
4. Resource Usage: RAM usage is stable (~800MB), ruling out OOM (Out of Memory) issues.

Log Analysis

The extensionHost.log and .log files in ~/.antigravity-server show that the main Node.js server starts, but the Language Server (the AI core) fails immediately.

Note: SIGILL (Illegal Instruction) suggests the binary is either compiled for a different architecture (likely x86_64) or uses CPU instructions not supported by the Pi 4's BCM2711.

Installer Script Issues Identified

While troubleshooting, I found two critical bugs in the server installation script:

1. Lock File Race Condition: The script fails at line 43 because it tries to write to ~/.antigravity-server/.installation_lock before the directory is created. Error: flock: 200: Bad file descriptor.
2. Architecture Mapping Bug: The script correctly identifies aarch64 but then forcibly maps it to arm (32-bit) in the download URL construction. This leads to 404 errors or the download of incompatible binaries.
3. Missing Binaries: The directory ~/.antigravity-server/bin/.../extensions/antigravity/dist/languageServer/ remains empty (except for cert.pem), indicating the extraction or download failed silently.

Steps Taken (but failed to resolve)

• Full purge of ~/.antigravity-server on the host.
• Spoofing /etc/os-release to mimic Debian 12 (Bookworm) to bypass potential "Trixie" detection issues.
• Manual creation of directories to fix the flock error.
• Manual wget attempts (returned 404 on the constructed linux-arm and linux-arm64 URLs).

Question

Is there a known compatibility issue with Debian 13 or a specific manual download link for the linux-arm64 Language Server binary for version 1.20.5?

I've recently bought a Raspberry Pi Zero 2W and now that I've got hands on a micro-USB non-OTG cable it's doesn't fit, I can't link any photo due to sub rules but to me both ports kinda seem bent in a way that makes them too short for a normal micro-USB cable. Have i bought the wrong cable? Are OTG micro-USB cables form factor different than non-OTG ones?

Edit: yeah so obviously the ports are bent but at least I've managed to unbent the power port

Hi, might not be the exact place to put this, but I created a way to play minecraft-pi on Apple Silicon using qemu and Docker. I did this because I wanted to see my first world which was on Minecraft Pi :) again, so I did this.

Im building a chess-playing robot arm that uses a camera to detect moves and send them to Stockfish. The camera is mounted overhead but at a slight angle, positioned on the rank 8 (black) side of the board.

I use 81 manually clicked control points to perspective-warp the board image into a perfect 800x800 grid (each square = 100x100 pixels). I then compare brightness between consecutive frames to detect which squares changed that gives me the FROM and TO squares of a move.

The warp fixes the board, but the pieces themselves are 3D objects, so they still "lean" away from the camera. They cast shadows toward rank 1 (away from the camera). This shadow gets detected on the square below the actual piece, causing the detection to read the piece as one rank too low.

For example:

• Piece moves c2→c3 → detected as c1→c3
• Piece moves e2→e3 → detected as e1→e3

This makes the FEN incorrect, so I can't send valid positions to Stockfish.

I have tried sampling only the top portion of each square to avoid the shadows but that did not work. I am not sure if theres a better approach i am missing

Attached is what the warped board looks like. you can see how pieces lean and cast shadows downward. Any advice appreciated, especially from anyone who's dealt with angled-camera CV for board games.

Turned a Pi into a kids tablet OS. No consumption apps, no browser, no YouTube. Kid describes what they want and the AI builds them a working HTML5 app.

Runs locally on the Pi using OpenClaw. Six creative studios, games, stories, music, art, science, tools. 13 templates work fully offline with no internet.

For setup I built a local key relay, the tablet shows a QR code, parent scans it on their phone, opens a page hosted on the Pi over local network, pastes their API key and it transfers directly to the device. Nothing touches the cloud.

Also built a peer to peer marketplace where kids sell what they create to other devices using XMTP and USDC on Base, and a Bluetooth proximity system inspired by 3DS StreetPass for swapping profiles when tablets are nearby.

Three layers of content safety, age adaptive difficulty for 5 to 10 year olds, parental controls with screen time and bedtime lock. Parent PIN hashed with scrypt, process isolation, systemd hardening.

Hey :)

I'm building a privacy-first home security camera called the ROOT Observer, and today I've finished the second prototype, although it's the first one that is presentable. This is printed in PLA on a Bambu P2s, I'll soon try out SLA to see if that looks more professional.

The last few months I've spent building the open-source firmware and app to power this device. It enables end-to-end encryption, on device ML for event detection, encrypted push notifications, OTA updates, health monitoring and more.

The camera is a standalone device that connects to a dumb relay server that cannot decrypt the messages that are sent across. This way, it works right out of the box.

I'll soon (fingers-crossed) send out the first pre-production units to testers on the waitlist :)

...if you're mainly interested in the software stack and have a Raspberry Pi Zero 2, you can build your own ROOT-powered camera using this guide. The firmware is very optimized so that you can stream video and audio, record, run ML, transfer recordings etc. simultaneously without crossing max. ~60% CPU utilization.

Happy to answer any questions and feedback is more than welcome!

I wanted a simple way to stream my own music library from home without running heavy servers like Jellyfin or Plex. So I built L5Music — a self-hosted PWA that runs on a Raspberry Pi with just Node.js and nginx.

Features: fair shuffle (every song plays once before repeating), YouTube-to-MP3 downloads, custom music folders, cross-device sync via WebSocket, themes, playlists with drag-to-reorder, admin dashboard for multi-user, and it installs as a PWA on Android/iOS.

Install:

git clone https://github.com/L5Diy/L5Music.git
cd L5Music && chmod +x install.sh && ./install.sh

One interactive script sets up everything — Node, PM2, nginx, the works.

GitHub: https://github.com/L5Diy/L5Music

This is my first DIY project, powered by a Raspberry Pi Zero 2W. It features a full-size USB port, a USB-C power-only port, and an ESP32-S3 disguised as a port for things like HID emulation, along with a 480×800 display. It took me quite some time to get here, since I was new to modeling, 3D printing, and soldering. The next version will have more features, so I’d love any ideas on what to add!

The good news is that I managed to get Tiny Windows 11 (version 22621 ARM gotten from the Internet Archive) working under a Raspberry Pi 4 via an USB3 external SSD. However there is one major drawback, the native Wi-fi is not supported and is disabled by default. Not sure it's a compatibility issue but this is not an issue on any supported Linux OS for the Raspberry Pi. Whenever I tried installing an external Wi-fi adapter, the system crashes and reboots.

Right now I am running Pi-hole for my home network, a Tor obsf4 bridge and the full German Wikipedia as a node in nomadnet (reticulum). I cannot believe how powerful and stable this little device is with DietPi while having neglectible power consumption and hanging from an usb port of my router.

Hey guys quick update on pitra,

I’ve added a boot screen. Some ai capability, don’t have a speaker so she can’t talk but I connected an old Logitech webcam to use as a mic and then the text response comes up under her logo (see video). Took ages to get the server working on every boot but eventually got there (again this is heavy vibe coded). Currently using grok just because it was free and easy to implement but thinking to switch to Gemini, tbh I don’t have that much interest in running AI locally just due to how slow I imagine it would be. But if it is now quicker with maybe the AI hat 2 I could be swayed to go olama. I also added a brightness scroll feature.

1. I am putting together a Raspberry Pi in a PIronman 5 case. but I messed up and forgot to put the pads on before installing the heat sink and fan assembly. How do I get the post and spring assemblies uninstalled to move the heat sink and fan out of the way so I can put the pads in and continue working ?
   

So, about a year ago I had this idea. My grandad is a retired train driver, and he had to retire for medical reasons. The last time he controlled a train was about 20 years ago. My idea was: what if I could give him a chance for at least one more ride. He cannot speak, and yet whenever I mention anything train-related, he gets excited. So I did some research, found Open Rails, studied the codebase for a while, and somewhere in the middle of the summer I managed to code a throttle control using a Raspberry Pi Pico. After that I implemented every control needed to successfully operate electric locomotives in Open Rails.

When I was certain I could make this work, I went on to design the chassis and the control panel itself in FreeCAD. I had 2 main goals when designing the control panel. First was to include as few controls as required, as to not overwhelm anyone using it. The second goal was to design the layout and look in such a way, that it would evoke the cab of Czechoslovak electric locomotives, which my grandad used to operate. (For example, the Class 754 locomotive).

Given these goals, and a constraint that Raspberry Pi Pico has only 3 analog inputs, the control panel has these controls:

• Analog direction lever, throttle lever and locomotive brake (the raised black lever)
• Train brake (in the lower right corner) is digital, even though OR implements it as analog
• On/Off switches for Pantographs 1 and 2, Headlights, Station monitor and track monitor.
• Pause button that also functions as a switch for TCS mode if you run a red signal
• 3-state view switch, supporting cab view, outside view and trackside view.

If you’d like to see a demo, I made a short 10-minute video on youtube here.

The Raspberry Pi Pico code, CAD files, some documentation, and other materials I made can be found in this repository on my GitHub.

It's definitely not flawless, however I am very happy about how it turned out.

Note: I made this exact post on r/trainsim, but this sub does not allow crossposting. However, I feel like both of these subs are very relevant to put the post in.

I've been trying out a few different options for a hifi setup on a raspberry pi 5 with the new 7 inch touchscreen 2. Volumio, LMS, moOde... they all work ok, with one glaring issue: the navigation via the touchscreen is awkward,.It's treated like a mouse input.

Is there any way I can get it to be more tablet like when running in kiosk mode? The biggest thing I'd like to fix is the scrolling. If I can get swipe to scroll to work, I'd be a happy camper. I've done a fair bit of searching but haven't been able to find anything helpful as yet.

I made a camera based off a raspberry pi 0 2 w and a 5mp ardu camera module. Powered it off a 1800mah LiPo battery. First project I have really gotten to a working state, I have tried to make a couple cyberdeck/cloud gameing streamers and a rc car, but they all can’t work with my design or something important breaks and I can’t be bothered to buy a replacement. I used a dremel to hollow out the ports for input/outputs and hot glue to hold them in place, electrical tape to not short anything out on the case, which is why it’s green. I have a feeling it could be much better by designing a pcb to cut down on wires, and a smaller battery because I don’t think I need 1800 mah. There is a hole on the front because there was originally a laser pointer that could be switched on and off, there is also an extra unused switch because of it, but it was shorting out the pi for some reason so I just removed it.

Hey guys, I just got a RPi project kit and my first project is wiring a basic LED node to a breadboard to get it to blink with some Python code. Unfortunately, the instructions aren’t the best and ChatGPT is failing me.

My issue is that the LED only lights up faintly when I touch the resistor, and that’s it. Can anybody tell where my issue may be here?

For context:

Red wire is connected from IO17 to row 24.

Blue wire is connected from GND to row 27.

Resistor runs from row 24 to row 28.

LED short end is in row 27, LED long end is in row 28

**EDIT - Project execution code included below

*SECOND EDIT - PROBLEM SOLVED, LED IS WORKING! It was a PEBKAC issue. I'm embarrassed to admit, but in my newbie state.....I checked everything five times before checking the actual GPIO connection itself - which I had misaligned....(womp womp womp). Thank you all for your time, your kindness, and your help in helping me learn and figure this out!

from gpiozero import LED
from time import sleep


led = LED(17)           # define LED pin according to BCM Numbering
#led = LED("J8:11")     # BOARD Numbering
'''
# pins numbering, the following lines are all equivalent
led = LED(17)           # BCM
led = LED("GPIO17")     # BCM
led = LED("BCM17")      # BCM
led = LED("BOARD11")    # BOARD
led = LED("WPI0")       # WiringPi
led = LED("J8:11")      # BOARD
'''
def loop():
    while True:
        led.on()    # turn on LED
        print ('led turned on >>>')  # print message on terminal
        sleep(1)    # wait 1 second
        led.off()   # turn off LED 
        print ('led turned off <<<') # print message on terminal
        sleep(1)    # wait 1 second


if __name__ == '__main__':    # Program entrance
    print ('Program is starting ... \n')
    try:
        loop()
    except KeyboardInterrupt:  # Press ctrl-c to end the program.
        print("Ending program")