The Raspberry Pi community is feeling the charms of springtime as new projects blossom across the internet. We’ve had the honor of featuring these projects here at Tom’s Hardware and it’s time to recognize them again for the amazing feats they are. From running Doom to resurrecting our favorite helper from Windows XP, these are the projects that left us excited and unable to pass by without sharing.
As always, these makers use the best Raspberry Pi accessories and HATs they could get ahold of to bring their projects to life. If you’re looking for something to inspire projects of your own or just want to see what other makers are up to, keep reading to dig into the details of these brilliant creators’ impressive creations.
Raspberry Pi Brings ChatGPT AI to Clippy
If you grew up with Windows XP, you’re sure to remember Clippy—one of the first virtual assistants in popular culture that graced the corner of your screen in the early 2000’s operating system. With the help of a Raspberry Pi, David Packman has resurrected Clippy with a beautiful 3D printed housing in this hilarious, yet impressive, callback to the classic helper.
Why we love it:
Not only does this project bring Clippy out of the monitor and into the real world, it also uses ChatGPT to include AI functionality. Never before has Clippy been powered with so much intention and knowledge. This project goes to show how ingenuitive you can get using ChatGPT, no matter how ridiculous.
Read: Raspberry Pi Brings ChatGPT AI to Clippy
Maker Adds Second HDMI Port to a Laptop with Raspberry Pi
Does your laptop lack an HDMI port? Not to worry! Pierre Couy’s project has got you covered. Using a Raspberry Pi, he’s managed to create a second HDMI port for his laptop. Data is transmitted from the laptop to the Pi via Ethernet and from the Pi to another screen using HDMI, turning the Pi into a custom HDMI adapter.
Why we love it:
There’s almost always an adapter out there to bridge practically any connection you can think of—but if you can’t find one, you can always build one! This is a clever use of the Raspberry Pi with one heck of a practical application. This rig can save you in a pinch when setting up an external display is critical.
Read: Maker Adds Second HDMI Port to a Laptop with Raspberry Pi
YouTuber Upgrades Lowest Spec Raspberry Pi 4 to 8GB of RAM
Raspberry Pis aren’t that easy to come by right now but if you’ve got enough patience, like maker MadEDoctor, you can upgrade your Pi to the specs you want. MadEDoctor has managed to upgrade this basic Raspberry Pi 4 model to a higher spec version by replacing the RAM with an 8GB module.
Why we love it:
When it comes to Pi projects, just because you can doesn’t mean you should. But if you do, we’ll probably think it’s really cool and this project is no exception. It takes a lot of patience to swap out surface mounted components and we’re incredibly impressed that this worked as well as it did.
Read: YouTuber Upgrades Lowest Spec Raspberry Pi 4 to 8GB of RAM
Raspberry Pi Pico Plays MicroPython River Raid
Make Pixylatte uses a Tufty2040 from Pimoroni as the main board for this project. This tiny handheld LCD features a color screen with a few buttons that makes it a great option for teeny handheld gaming. The game played here is a custom coded version of River Raid, a classic found on the Atari. This version was made by Pixylatte just for the project and was created using MicroPython.
Why we love it:
We love Pimoroni products and can't help but get excited when we come across one in the wild. Retrogaming goes with the Pi like peanut butter and jelly, so of course we're eager to check out this River Raid adaptation ourselves. It's one thing to port over a ROM, but Pixylatte made this version from scratch!
Read: Raspberry Pi Pico River Raid
Raspberry Pi Pico Unbricks Nintendo Wii U
When Voultar realized his Nintendo Wii U was bricked, he knew that something had to be done. What better way to solve the problem than to use our favorite microcontroller, the Raspberry Pi Pico? With the Pico, Voultar managed to trick his Wii into ignoring a system memory flag and was able to successfully boot it up.
Why we love it:
Voultar was kind enough to share the entire repair process on his YouTube channel. If you're in the same boat and want to use a Pico to fix your broken Wii U, you're in luck. You can snag all the hardware you need for cheap and follow along to bring life back into your Nintendo Wii U console.
Read: Raspberry Pi Pico Unbricks Nintendo Wii U
Dodepan: Lo-Fi Raspberry Pi Pico Music Maker
If you're looking for a fun way to cook up some lo-fi jams, look no further than TuriSc's Dodepan project. This hexagonal handmade gadget was built using the Raspberry Pi Pico. It has a series of buttons and potentiometers that can be used to craft MIDI audio in real time as a digital instrument.
Why we love it:
This project is super groovy and we love the work that went into creating it. It looks fantastic, with a neat hexagon shape and LEDs along the edges. We're already fans of digital music and this is another great addition to the world of electronic tunes.
Read: Dodepan: Lo-Fi Raspberry Pi Pico Music Maker
Raspberry Pi Powers Commodore 64 Expansion Cartridge and Plays Doom
This Commodore 64 mod uses a Raspberry Pi to improve performance with enough juice to run Doom which released roughly a decade after the Commodore 64. The maker, Carsten, dubs the project the “RAD Expansion Unit”. There are two sizes designed to be compatible with either the Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W or Raspberry Pi 3B+ and Raspberry Pi 3A+.
Why we love it:
We love the Raspberry Pi and are absolute suckers for old school computers like the Commodore 64. This project is a brilliant example of how to merge these two passions into one cool project. The fact that it’s open source and we can make it ourselves at home is just icing on the cake.
Read: Raspberry Pi Powers Commodore 64 Expansion Cartridge and Plays Doom
Tom's Hardware Projects
The Pi community creates so many awesome things, it's hard not to get excited ourselves and make a few projects of our own! After perusing the community's work all month, here's what we've been up to—complete with instructions to recreate our projects yourself at home.
How To Create Your Own AI Chatbot Server With Raspberry Pi 4
In this guide, Les shows us how you can create your own AI Chatbot server using the Raspberry Pi 4. You'll need the 8 GB module for the best results. This project uses the LLaMA language model but don't worry if you haven't played with it before. We'll go over everything you need step by step to get this server set up and running.
Read: How To Create Your Own AI Chatbot Server With Raspberry Pi 4
