Raspberry Pi Official Magazine #116

We’ve spent a lot of time tinkering with Raspberry Pi and its wonderful Linux-based operating system, Raspberry Pi OS. As a result, we’ve discovered a rich seam of hacks, tweaks, and interesting tips that would be plain rude not to share. So, this month’s lead feature is Hidden Hacks (page 32), where we reveal some of the best things we’ve learnt when using Raspberry Pi. Looking upwards, Rob has an interest in astrophotography, and the Shoot for the Stars feature (page 66) explains all about capturing the night sky. All you need is Raspberry Pi and a powerful - but not necessarily expensive - camera. April 2022 marks the 40th anniversary of another favourite computer: Sinclair’s amazing ZX Spectrum. One maker has taken Raspberry Pi Zero and squeezed it inside…

Stuart Brand was between jobs and decided to concentrate on pushing his skills by building Raspberry Pi projects: “I headed to the garage and embraced my inner nerd!” exclaims the maker of the ZX Spectrum Raspberry Pi Cassette. “I wouldn’t have had a clue how to build any of this stuff before lockdown. It goes to prove that you never know what you’re capable of until you give it a go.” Stuart’s first computer, a ZX Spectrum, has a special place in his heart, so a Raspberry Pi project based around one seemed ideal. “They’re still great machines!” he says of the beloved computer which celebrates its 40th birthday this April. Stuart loves repairing and running real hardware as well as emulations and thought “it would be nifty to see…

Electronic organisers were once all-the-rage, especially among businessmen in the 1990s. Roughly the size of a spectacles case, they allowed people to keep a check on their daily activities. But while Penk Chen appears to have created his own cool, minimalist version of one of those devices, inspiration for his project came from elsewhere. Penk was looking to build upon his work with mechanical keyboards. “I’d learned not only how to build them from scratch, or mould and cast my own key caps, but also how to use a laser engraver to melt pigment onto key caps to print my own legends,” he says. “I recall staring at those low-profile key switches and thinking to myself, this could make a great retro-style computer”. There were two things he wanted above…

In Star Wars: Attack Of The Clones, a convoy of tanks with enormous wheels that bear down inexorably on their enemies was a fearsome sight. The concept seemed ideal to 15-year-old robot builder Selin Ornek when she needed ideas for a new battlebot. Having already made quite a name for herself in the world of coding, Selin was likely to have plenty of competitors keen to take her down, which partly explains why she named her battle bot Kimberlina in tribute to a comedy character from TV show Full House that she watched in lockdown. Kimberlina may have a quirky name, but her strike is deadly! Once you know something about Kimberlina’s maker, this won’t be a surprise. Selin is an accomplished coder and Raspberry Pi robot builder. She began coding…

When New South Wales resident George Edwards wanted to make a Christmas present for his dad, he had the perfect idea. As his father owned a beautiful 1938 Austin car that he often exhibited at classic car events, George thought that making him a vintage radio to go with it, that played the songs from bygone eras to add a little authenticity, would be a great gift. “I had thought a little music box which played content from the 1930s and 1940s would be an excellent addition to the car when it’s on display,” explains George. “After putting some thought into making one myself, the idea of having content from each decade in the 20th century somehow seemed more naturally appropriate.” Radio refit So, George set to work on a project…

It’s not too hard to understand that Raspberry Pi cameras can be used for microscope builds – you just need the right lenses to focus the image on a small enough object. With a bit of custom code and software paired with it, you can then use it to view a tiny, hidden world. “We have developed M4All, a fully open-source, 3D-printable, and modular microscopy system, which enables wider accessibility to advanced imaging techniques at a much lower price point than commercial microscopes,” Gemma Cairns, one of the students working on this project, tells us. “We integrate Raspberry Pi components into our M4All systems for microscope control, image capture, and data analysis.” The team, the NanoBioPhotonics group at the University of Strathclyde, have been using their imaging expertise to “investigate…