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Raspberry Pi Projects For Dummies is designed for people who are looking for something exciting to do with the Raspberry Pi. This book contains projects to amaze and inspire you! It takes you into a world of switches, lights, motors, home automation, and computer vision. It not only covers the theory behind what you’re doing, but also gives you examples of putting that theory into practice, so you can learn to work on your own projects and not just blindly follow a list of instructions.

Sure, we could just give you a list of steps to follow. But we believe that you should try to understand what you’re doing and why you’re doing it, and that’s what this book is all about. With this book as a resource, we encourage you to put your own stamp on projects, which is why many projects in this book aren’t just cut-and-dried lists of things to do, but suggestions about how you can customize the projects and make them your own.

About This Book

The projects in this book all make use of the computer language Python 2. This book shows you how to use a wide variety of input and output devices, from a simple switch to a webcam. You can explore LEDs and multicolored LEDs, learn about a keypad matrix and see how they can be integrated to become part of your code so you can make these devices do what you want. Reach out with your Raspberry Pi and become part of the cloud or build your own web server. This book shows you how.

The Raspberry Pi can interface with other electronic devices, and in this book we show you how to interact with LEGO’s latest robotic MINDSTORMS set, the EV3. You can send messages into the LEGO system or do your own thing and control the MINDSTORMS peripherals directly from the Raspberry Pi. Not only do we show you how these two systems interact, but we also show you some projects you can make using the Raspberry Pi and MINDSTORMS set together.

Linux is the staple operating system used in the Raspberry Pi world. However, there is a major alternative operating system you can run for just the price of another very small SD card, RISC OS. RISC OS is a mature, well-honed operating system, designed from the ground up to run on ARM chips, and as such, it’s fast and compact. This book shows you how you can explore the RISC OS and gives you a glimpse of another world.

A few final notes about the book: Sidebars (text in gray boxes) and Technical Stuff paragraphs are skippable. Finally, within this book, you may note that some web addresses break across two lines of text. If you’re reading this book in print and want to visit one of these web pages, simply key in the web address exactly as it’s noted in the text, pretending as though the line break doesn’t exist. If you’re reading this as an e-book, you’ve got it easy – just click the web address to be taken directly to the web page.

Foolish Assumptions

In writing this book, we made a few assumptions about you:

✔ You have a Raspberry Pi. You could certainly read this book without a Raspberry Pi, but you won’t get much out of it unless you have a Raspberry Pi to play with.

✔ You have a computer other than the Raspberry Pi. You need a computer to set up the Raspberry Pi. Note: We provide instructions on how to set up your Pi, but this information isn’t the main thrust of the book. If you need more information on setting up your Raspberry Pi, a good companion book to this one is Raspberry Pi For Dummies, by Sean McManus and Mike Cook (Wiley), which covers in much more detail your first steps with this remarkable machine.

✔ Your Raspberry Pi has some connection to the Internet. It may not be connected all the time, but you’re at least able to connect it for setting up the libraries you need to install.

✔ You don’t mind voyaging into less charted waters and you have an open mind on what constitutes computing and operating systems.

✔ You’re eager to begin exploring the world of physical computing. Physical computing takes a fresh look at inputs and outputs to a computer. The computer produces physical outputs – signals that make lights flash, sounds play, or robots move. Inputs are more than just typing – they include everything from simple push buttons to color sensors to webcams.

✔ You have access to some basic hand tools, like a small saw and drill along with a soldering iron. If you don’t have these tools on hand, we assume you have the money to buy them – or you have a friend or family member whose toolkit you can raid!

✔ You don’t mind spending some money on the components you need to make your projects. Most of these components aren’t very expensive, but you’ll need to buy them (and we recommend sources in this book).

Icons Used in This Book

In this book, we use a handful of icons (little pictures in the margins) to draw your attention to key pieces of information. Here’s what those icons mean:

When we give you an especially useful bit of information – something that can make your life with the Raspberry Pi easier or help you do something faster – we mark it with the Tip icon.

You don’t need to commit this book to memory – it’s a resource for you to turn to whenever you need it. But every once in a while, we tell you something so important that you’ll want to remember it. When we do, we mark it with the Remember icon.

What can we say? We’re geeks. And as such, we sometimes get a little technical, telling you more than you really need to know to get the job done. When we veer into the technical, we mark that text with the Technical Stuff icon. If you’re short on time, you can skip anything marked with this icon without missing anything critical to the task at hand.

You’re bound to come across some pitfalls on your journey with the Raspberry Pi. We’ve walked this road before, so think of the Warning icon as orange cones in the road, helping you steer clear of those tire-destroying potholes or open manhole covers.

Beyond the Book

In addition to the material in the print or e-book you’re reading right now, this product also comes with some access-anywhere goodies on the web. Check out the free Cheat Sheet at www.dummies.com/cheatsheet/raspberrypiprojects for information on connecting the Arduino and the Raspberry Pi, GPIO pin alternate functions, and powering other devices from the Raspberry Pi.

Also, at www.dummies.com/extras/raspberrypiprojects, you can find free bonus articles on topics like contact bounce and facial recognition.

Finally, throughout the book, we mention files that you can download from the book’s companion website, www.dummies.com/go/raspberrypiprojects.

Where to Go from Here

If you’re a beginner, you can’t do better than starting at Chapter 1 and making sure you have your Raspberry Pi and your workspace set up. Even if you’re experienced, it’s worth reading the early chapters to pick up hints we’ve gathered from our extensive experience. If you’re champing at the bit to start playing with your Pi, feel free to dive into the parts of the book that interest you most!