13 Of The Best Raspberry Pi Projects To Check Out In 2025

Although the Raspberry Pi started out as a way for kids to learn to code, it has turned into so much more since its invention in 2012. At first, the Pi was something of a simplified computer, and coding one meant you could then use it as a PC.

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Now, Raspberry Pi devices can power just about anything you can imagine, and people are coming up with new concepts all the time. Given that Pi emerged with the principle that anyone can learn to code, most of the projects you can complete with a Raspberry Pi are shared freely online as part of the platform's commitment to its open source model. Not only that, but people always like to share the cool stuff they make, and there are many awesome things to try out.

The Raspberry Pi 5 has many underrated features and upgrades, but no matter which Pi you have, there are countless projects to put together that make life easier or more fun. There are multiple Raspberry Pi models to choose from, but all offer neat ways to accomplish things you may never have considered. These are some of the best Raspberry Pi projects you should check out in 2025.

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Parking sensor

If you find yourself wanting to hang a tennis ball from your garage ceiling to avoid bumps and dings, there's one Raspberry Pi project you absolutely have to check out. A parking sensor is one of the most useful Pi projects for your garage, and it's way more functional than a hanging tennis ball.

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While the tennis ball trick gets the job done, a Raspberry Pi parking sensor takes things a step further. With programming that allows it to sense obstacles, the device lights up red if you're closer than 10cm away from a wall or other object. Between 10 and 25cm, it turns yellow, then green for 25cm or more.

Keep in mind that you will need to mount the sensor somewhere sensible, where it can both detect objects and be visible from inside the car while you're parking. To that end, the project might require a bit more engineering if you want to install the sensor on your car's bumper or place it on a wall in your garage. Also, as built, the parking sensor is not watertight, so be prepared to make modifications to suit your needs.

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Of course, you can customize the project to address your needs (and measurement conversions) by following the instruction guide to making a Raspberry Pi parking sensor.

Laser tripwire

If you've ever wanted to secure your space with movie-type laser tripwires, grab a Raspberry Pi and get started. This sci-fi-themed project brings your childhood dream to life, and it can actually be used for a bit of home security, even if that means knowing when your child is out of bed or your cat is carrying out mischief.

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The project uses a Raspberry Pi device (and some other electronic components) to sense when a laser pointer's beam is broken. When that happens, your laser tripwire will sound an alarm. To truly get that Home Alone-style trap, though, you will need multiple laser pointers and equipment for mounting the receiver part of the setup.

While this is another Raspberry Pi project that could take a bit of finesse to level it up, it's a fun way to experiment with an unexpected form of home security. However, you can also add other steps to the tripwire process, like setting up a camera to take a photo of an intruder or turning on a light when the laser is tripped.

Get started on your own laser tripwire setup by following the Raspberry Pi Foundation's guide to making a laser tripwire.

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[Featured image by Sjilla via Wikimedia Commons | Cropped and scaled | CC BY-SA 4.0]

Remote weather station

Weather apps can be handy, but unless you know what local weather station they use, the forecast might be less than accurate. A helpful and interesting way to check on the weather is by making your own remote weather station. While a setup like this is commercially available, it might just be cheaper to make your own in a Raspberry Pi project.

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The super-affordable Raspberry Pi Pico is only $7 and can become a whole host of things — including a wireless weather station. One wireless weather station design reports local information like temperature, humidity, barometric pressure, wind speed and direction, rainfall, and dew point.

While the Pi setup won't forecast the weather for you, it will allow you to detect patterns in the weather and, of course, check the temperature before you venture outside each day. With a little more technical knowhow, you can also manipulate the data from your weather station to create graphs and visuals — almost like your own weather forecast for your street.

The Raspberry Pi Foundation offers instructions on how to construct a weather station, but an Instructables wireless weather station takes things a step further and makes the entire setup wireless so you can monitor it remotely.

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2D Game Console

Nostalgic gaming has always been popular, but you couldn't always play the games you loved decades later — at least, not without a hefty investment and some time spent on eBay. Fortunately, with a Raspberry Pi Zero, you can play the same PS2 games you loved as a '90s kid (or even an '80s kid) on a self-made contraption.

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All Raspberry Pi models can emulate various console games, but the Pi Zero specifically works with all kinds of consoles and arcade system formats. With a Pi, you can emulate a Nintendo Game Boy Advance, arcade games, and even Sega 32X games.

Zap back to decades past by building your own Raspberry Pi retro gaming emulator with RetroPie. Keep in mind, though, that Raspberry Pi recommends at least a Pi 4 — with sufficient RAM — for a better gaming experience. PCs are often touted as the best option for emulators, but if Pi is your jam, this is the way to do it.

You will also need a controller, of course, and you may want to build a case of some sort for your emulator machine. Some Pi fans have made cases out of NES cartridges, old Game Boy housings, and more, but there really are no limits — just your imagination.

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Loop station

Imagine recording your own studio album solo — no DJ, backup singers, or instruments required. While it's still a lot of work as you'll be performing all the parts, you can design a loop station using Raspberry Pi so that your one-person band becomes a reality. Mix tapes here we come!

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If you're a musician, you're already going to want a Raspberry Pi to help out in the studio. Who knew there were so many cool projects to make, like a theremin or even a synthesizer? One handy project is a loop station that allows even solo musicians to make complete songs. Create an entire song (or album!) by looping any audio at a set interval, then layering additional audio over it. Such a device can cost upwards of hundreds of dollars when bought online, so DIY is a fun and less expensive way to tinker with the concept.

To create your own loop station, follow Github user RandomVertebrate's guide to the raspi-looper. You'll need some parts, including a USB sound card, buttons, LEDs, and audio jacks and wires, but we promise it's worth it. Besides, if you never make it big, at least you haven't splashed out thousands of dollars on music equipment.

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Piano helper

An LED light setup is always a cool Raspberry Pi project, but what if such a setup could also help you play the piano? Take it from someone who's taken a music course and after six months still can't play all the notes: This project is just the thing for budding musicians who need some extra help.

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Although the primary motivation for making the piano helper could be that it looks cool, with LED lights spread across the keys, it may also help you practice songs. After you get your LEDs set up, you can use a converted midi file to display the lights in a sequence. The sequence shows you where to put your fingers when playing, which is a great tool for visual learners.

For this project, you will need a Raspberry Pi (the aforementioned project uses the Pico), LED lights, insulation tape, some cables, and a box to contain the Pico and its connecting wires. Check out Github user AdrianCX's Pico piano helper design to start putting together your own piano practice set. The most challenging part might just be folding up and taping the LEDs, especially given the spacing over the black and white keys, respectively, but it's worth the effort if you need extra help learning piano.

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Sunrise lamp

Do you struggle to get up in the morning, despite your smartphone (or old-fashioned alarm clock) blaring at you multiple times? One of the coolest bedroom projects for your Raspberry Pi is a sunrise lamp that makes getting up with the sun fun... or, at least, less awful. While you could program an alarm clock with a Raspberry Pi, a sunrise lamp is much cooler... and quieter.

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The lamp — which can also function as a night light and/or disco ball (your choice) — does require more components than a standard Raspberry Pi project, including an Adafruit NeoPixel LED ring. Designer Russell Eveleigh used the concept of snapology origami to make his sunrise lamp. The road to getting there involved a bunch of trial and error, but now that Russell has successfully created a very round folded paper model that closely resembles a sun, you can benefit from his efforts.

Start designing a sunrise lamp with Raspberry Pi by watching Russell Eveleigh's YouTube video on the subject. You will need some materials beyond a Raspberry Pi, including the LED light, an SD card, and a soldering iron. If that project is too easy, or you just love space, Russell also has a video on how to create a Raspberry Pi moon phase lamp.

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Infrared bird box

Birdwatching is nothing new, but what if you could see inside your resident feathered friends' house, or even stream their living space live to an audience? It turns out there's a Raspberry Pi project for that, too.

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With an infrared bird box project on a Raspberry Pi, you can create a setup for your birdhouse (a separate project entirely) that allows you to monitor the activity inside the birdhouse from inside your house. The project requires a birdhouse, of course, plus a Raspberry Pi NoIR camera module, jumper leads, resistors, and infrared LEDs.

The Pi NoIR uses night vision — AKA has the ability to 'see' in infrared light — to record the interior of the bird box. An infrared light source lets the camera view the birds without creating light that would attract bugs or predators. You will also need a cozy-looking home to attract the birds, and while the Raspberry Pi Foundation gives instructions that work with the Gardman bird box design, you can use a similar setup in any birdhouse.

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Check out the Infrared Bird Box project on the Raspberry Pi Foundation website, and make sure to share when your resident birds become internet famous. The instructions include the process of setting up your birdhouse camera to live stream to YouTube, as well as extras on how to install a remote control so your bird tenants can have privacy.

Kids' music player

As a parent of two kids who are obsessed with both music and audiobooks, I wish I had known about Raspberry Pi's audio abilities sooner. As is probably obvious to many enthusiasts, creating a music player with Pi is generally a simple yet useful project. You can go a step further, though, and create a mini record-player type music device for kids (or kids at heart) that really works.

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Github user JiriKupka's Gramik is a fun way to give young kids access to parent-approved music or book selections. You will need a 3D printer or some store bought materials to create the player case, but for older kids, the design won't matter as much for durability or looks.

The design involves a kid-friendly, primary-color-accessorized button music box setup that is an adorable way for kids to choose their own music to listen to. You will need more equipment than for other projects, depending on the design you choose, but a Raspberry Pi Pico, charging module, mini RFID reader, SD card module, RFID card or stickers, battery, and buttons are a must.

You can find many options for music players using Raspberry Pi, including open-source software Volumio, which works on Pi or PC and enables you to stream music on your custom device.

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Plant health monitor

Plant parents rejoice: There is now a way to gauge your plants' health with Raspberry Pi. Using the concept of NDVI — which stands for Normalized Difference Vegetation Index — plant parents can use Raspberry Pi to determine whether their plants are healthy simply by scanning them with infrared light.

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In short, healthy plants reflect more infrared light than stressed or dead ones. By gauging the amount of infrared light your plants reflect, you can tell whether they're happy. The Raspberry Pi plant monitor system is low-cost, but it's apparently accurate enough that researchers have endorsed it as an inexpensive way to see how plants are doing.

Researchers confirmed that basic Pi components provide accurate measurements of plant health, so this device is more than a kitschy experiment. In one study, researchers used a dual camera system to collect data that was then compared to standard spectrometry, the original method of determining plant health.

Start prepping for planting season with the Raspberry Pi Foundation's NDVI and Raspberry Pi plant health monitor project. You will need a Raspberry Pi compatible camera or a Pi NoIR camera module to get started, and from there, it's mostly coding to get this project up and running.

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Smart home assistant

There's no denying that smart home assistants like Google Home and Amazon Alexa are useful, but what if you could build your own? It turns out you can, and whether you want to start from scratch or dive in with some software support, the choice is yours.

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One of perhaps the easiest ways to launch your smart home venture is with some open source software that eliminates a lot of the issues that DIYers wind up having with Raspberry Pi. One option for open-source software is Home Assistant, which works with your Pi plus over 3,000 different smart home devices to get everything connected.

Home Assistant recommends that, in addition to a Raspberry Pi, you also invest in a Micro SD Card, a card reader, and an ethernet cable. Ethernet isn't required for regular daily use, but it's apparently required for installation.

Once you're up and running, you can connect thousands of smart devices via Home Assistant's integration, and all the big names are included on the list. From Amazon's Alexa to ecobee, Google Assistant, SmartThings, and more, Home Assistant is compatible with tons of brands – although it has partnerships with a select few. It even supports my favorite temperature sensors (Govee) and streaming stick of choice (Roku).

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DIY life organizer

If those tablet-based life organizers have you drooling, no worries — Raspberry Pi has an answer. In fact, it has multiple; one Pi project that won't break the bank is a wall-mounted Google Calendar. With just a Raspberry Pi device, some cables, and an old HDMI-enabled monitor, you can create a calendar that's akin to those expensive and flashy ones, no extra dollars required.

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If Google Calendar isn't your thing, there are alternatives, too, like an Inky Dashboard. While it costs a bit more to get set up with an Inky Frame, which is a powered E-ink viewing surface, some might choose this method of creating a life organizer because it uses MicroPython firmware. Not to mention, the Inky Frame takes way less power than an old monitor, even if the latter is free.

Github user jaeheonshim's Inky Dashboard tutorial gets you set up with an e-ink dashboard that displays your calendar and to-do items. The calendar can sync with Google Calendar and iCalendar, and it looks cool, too, whether you get the smallest option or the (priciest) largest. There are also countless ways to create your own calendar display, depending on what type of Pi you have and what accessories you want to plug in.

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Trackpad

You might think it would be hard to move beyond keyboards and mice on laptops and PCs, but it turns out there's always an innovation in the making. Of course, trackpads have been a thing on laptops for a while, but imagine whipping out your portable trackpad when using your laptop or sidling up to your PC. It's essentially a touchpad that is about the size of your hand, and functions the same way a mouse does.

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A company called Ploopy came up with the design, which is a 3D printed case with a PCB inside, and made it available as an open source project, a product you can purchase ready-made, and a kit you can DIY. The trackpad uses an RP2040, a Raspberry Pi microcontroller chip, and has received praise from enthusiasts on Reddit and Github.

Check out the Ploopy trackpad on Github, but keep in mind you will need to 3D print the case and order your PCB on your own if you decide to go the DIY route. Or, you can buy a ready-made trackpad or the kit (you just assemble) directly from Ploopy — and the company strongly encourages you to select one of those options.

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