11 Lesser-Known Raspberry Pi Projects You Can Actually Build

When I got my first Raspberry Pi, I did what most people do: installed Retropie, blinked an LED, etc. But over the years, I discovered many clever projects that were useful in everyday life. Today, I’m sharing some of my favorites ideas with you.

The Raspberry Pi can be used for many practical and interesting projects, such as building an automatic pet feeder, setting up a time-lapse camera, or creating a Ham radio station.

In this post, you’ll find 11 Raspberry Pi projects that are not very well known and that you may have never tried before. For most of them, a basic Raspberry Pi board will be enough. Let’s get started!

If you’re looking for inspiration for your next Raspberry Pi project, I’ve put together a list of 75+ ideas with full descriptions, difficulty ratings, and links to tutorials. Whether you’re a beginner or more advanced, there’s something here for you. Grab the list for free here!

Host a DIY Password Manager

You’ve probably heard of popular password manager browser extensions like LastPass, Bitwarden, NordPass, 1Password, and many more. But did you know these services store your passwords on their cloud servers?

This means your sensitive data is online and controlled by the service provider. But did you know you could take control of your passwords and keep them secure without relying on third parties?

This is where Bitwarden comes in. Although Bitwarden is a popular password manager (which I also use), it offers a self-hosted version you can install on your server. But instead of dedicating a whole PC or virtual machine to this task, why not use a Raspberry Pi?

The Raspberry Pi is a small, powerful device you can easily set up, connect to your network, and tuck away. Once it’s up and running, you won’t even notice it’s there. It makes the little Pi the perfect solution for hosting your own password manager.

We have a detailed guide that walks you through installing Bitwarden on Linux. Be sure to check it out for a step-by-step breakdown. You’ll also learn more about the benefits of using the self-hosted version of Bitwarden and why it’s a great choice for enhanced security.

Want even more ideas? I put together a free resource with over 75 Raspberry Pi project ideas, each with a quick description, tutorial link, and hardware requirements. Whether you’re just starting out or looking for something to do this weekend, this list will keep you busy for a while. Just click here to get instant access.

Track the Forecast with a Homemade Weather Station

When I mention a weather station, you might picture the large, complex facilities you see on land or at sea, filled with various equipment for measuring atmospheric conditions to aid in weather forecasting. While those exist, that’s not exactly what I’m referring to here.

First, let’s take a moment to understand how a weather station works. At its core, it consists of several sensors that measure specific atmospheric conditions. This includes things like temperature, humidity, barometric pressure, wind speed, and rainfall. Essentially, it’s a setup that collects data to give us an accurate picture of the weather in real-time.

Now, back to our Raspberry Pi. To build a weather station, we need different sensors to measure various atmospheric conditions and connect them to the Raspberry Pi. Of course, it will need some circuit setup but it’s not that complex.

You can look at our post about beginner sensors that you can use for your Raspberry Pi projects. Here you will come across sensors like temperature & humidity sensors that you can use for a weather station project. You can also check out this weather kit on Amazon that comes with core components of weather measurement: wind speed, wind direction, and rainfall.

What I like about this project is that you are not limited to a specific Raspberry Pi board. You can even use a controller like the Raspberry Pi Pico, a simple board like the Raspberry Pi Zero or an advanced board like the Raspberry Pi 4 and Raspberry Pi 5.

Build a Smart Plant Monitor

A plant monitor is a system that tracks and records environmental conditions important for plant health and growth. One of the best things about this project is its flexibility. It can be used on both small-scale and large-scale grows.

It works well for monitoring indoor flowers, a backyard kitchen garden, or even a greenhouse. For large-scale commercial farms that stretch over several hectares, the concept is still applicable, but you’d require lots of Pi boards to handle it all.

Now let’s dive into the application part. What will you need for this project?

The first thing, as you might have guessed, is sensors. Now, there are different sensors that you can use, but some of the most basic include:

• Soil moisture sensor: This sensor detects when the soil is too dry or too wet for plants. Different sensors are available on the market, but I recommend the Adafruit 4026 Stemma Soil Sensor—I2C Capacitive Moisture Sensor.
  
  If you decide to go for other options, you will come across terms like resistive and capacitive. Capacitive sensors are a better choice if you’re building a plant monitor that will run continuously or be used outdoors.
• Temperature and humidity sensors: These sensors check if the air around the plant is warm and moist enough for healthy growth. You can check this digital temperature sensor module on Amazon.
• Light sensor: A light sensor measures how much sunlight or indoor light the plant gets to ensure it has enough to grow well. You can get this package on Amazon, which comes with 4 digital light sensors compatible with the Raspberry Pi and other controllers like the Arduino.

Based on the information from these sensors, the system can turn on devices like fans, and irrigation systems, or even close a curtain to reduce light. Alternatively, the Raspberry Pi can send a notification through email, SMS, or a custom app.

There are plenty of good options of Raspberry Pi boards for this project. Your choice depends on how complex your setup is. For basic monitoring, even a Raspberry Pi Zero can handle the job.

For more advanced features like automation or dashboards, the Raspberry Pi 4 or 5 is a better fit. If you prefer using a microcontroller, the Raspberry Pi Pico W is ideal thanks to its built-in Wi-Fi for network connectivity.

Automate Mealtime for Your Pets

If you have ever had a chance to visit any farm where they keep animals like chickens or pigs, you will realize that many use feeders that automatically dispense food through gravity. Have a look at the chicken feeder below.

With such systems, the logic is simple. Food is put into the top, and it trickles down using gravity as the chickens eat.

This one works if you want your pets to have a continuous food supply. But what about situations where you want specific mealtimes for animals like cats, dogs, and rabbits? That’s where you come in as a techie with your Raspberry Pi to save the day.

The first problem you’ll face is the design of your pet feeder, which can vary based on your creativity, materials, and tools available. Here are some common styles and ideas:

• Rotating Tray Feeder: This feeder has a round tray with several food sections. The tray turns to show a new section at each mealtime. You can check out this guide by Ian Burton, who built an automated cat feeder using a Raspberry Pi.
• Gravity Hopper with Servo Gate: With this design, food falls from a container when a small gate opens using a servo motor. It is simple and works well with dry pet food.
  
  There is a video I came across on YouTube. It doesn’t necessarily use a Gravity hopper, but the developer did a great job building a DIY pet feeder using a Raspberry Pi. The video is clear, and they have provided comprehensive documentation for that project.

I researched other feeder designs, though they seem a little complex. However, if you have an existing feeder that uses such a design, you can automate it using the Raspberry Pi. These designs include:

• Auger (Screw) Dispenser: A spinning screw inside a tube pushes food out in small amounts. This design is great when you want more control over the portions. If you are interested, look at this project, although they used an Arduino.
  
  There is also this guide from Instructables, it doesn’t necessarily make use of the Auger Screw but it should give you an idea.
• Conveyor Belt Feeder: A small conveyor belt moves food from a storage box to the bowl. It looks cool and works well if built correctly.

Monitor Your Internet Speeds 24/7

Have you ever needed to check your internet speed at different times of the day? Maybe you’re trying to figure out why your connection drops frequently or want to know when slowdowns occur. Constantly running speed tests can be tiring, but there’s a better way.

You can configure a Raspberry Pi on your network whose main job will be to monitor internet speeds 24/7 and keep records of the connection performance. The best thing is all of this is done automatically. Of course, you’ll have to set it up first, but everything else runs on its own.

There are several areas where you can apply this project. These include:

• Home Use: You can track network speed in your home to check if it matches what you’re paying for. This is helpful when troubleshooting slow streaming, downloads, or video calls.
• Small Businesses: If you run a shop, cafe, or small offices that rely on the Internet of things like point-of-sale systems, customer Wi-Fi, VoIP calls, or cloud backups, any downtime can be costly. This project will enable you to monitor and maintain a stable service.
• Schools or Learning Centers: This project is also applicable in learning institutions. Whether it’s for online lessons or research, a speed monitor can help IT staff monitor performance and act quickly if issues arise.
• Shared Internet Environments: Apartments or hostels can use this to detect when speeds drop due to overuse or ISP throttling.

With this project, the Raspberry Pi runs an internet speed test automatically every 15 to 60 minutes using tools like speedtest-cli or LibreSpeed. Each time, it records your download speed, upload speed, and ping, then saves the results in a log file or a database.

Over time, you can review this data to spot patterns, troubleshoot issues, or even create simple graphs to visualize how your internet performs throughout the day. To get started, you can check our post on monitoring internet speed on the Raspberry Pi.

Run a Headless Torrent Box for Seamless Downloads

I understand that nowadays, torrents are not as popular as they used to be. There are so many streaming services today replacing the dire need for torrents, but having a nice web interface to quickly download torrents when you need to would be really great.

If you have a Raspberry Pi running 24/7, maybe as a media center or for selling unused storage, adding a torrent seedbox on top won’t be a problem.

The first thing you’ll need for this project is a Raspberry Pi. A Pi 3, 4, or 5 would be ideal. Next, I would insist on storage. Now, this is dependent on the number of files you plan to download.

If you think you will be downloading huge files, use an SD card with bigger storage or opt for NVMe SSD. NVMe SSDs are amazing because they are both smaller and faster than regular SSDs.

The next step will be setting up a torrent service on your Raspberry Pi. Here, you have several options for what app you want to use, such as qBittorrent, Deluge, and Transmission. We have a whole guide on this step: Turn Your Raspberry Pi Into A Torrent Box.

Operate a Ham Radio Station

Another interesting project you can consider is a Raspberry Pi Ham Radio Station. Have you ever wondered how people communicate across cities or continents without using the internet or cell towers? That’s exactly what Ham radio, also known as amateur radio, is all about.

Ham radio lets you send and receive messages using radio waves. You’ll be working with different frequencies, which help you reach people nearby or even far away, depending on the time of day and the weather in the atmosphere.

With the right setup, you can use a Raspberry Pi to control radios, keep track of your contacts, decode signals, or even link up with global radio networks through the internet.

To get started with this project, first, you’ll need a Raspberry Pi (any model with USB and GPIO support will do, but something like a Pi 3, 4, or 5 is ideal). Then you’ll pair it with a USB Software Defined Radio (SDR) dongle or a radio transceiver like the popular Yaesu, Baofeng, or Icom models, depending on how advanced you want the setup to be.

You’ll also need an antenna, and this part matters. Your signal strength depends heavily on the quality and tuning of your antenna. For software, many ham radio enthusiasts use FLDIGI, WSJT-X, or Hamlib to control radios, decode digital modes, and log contacts.

I went through various blogs and tutorials online, and I think this YouTube playlist from KM4ACK on building a Raspberry Pi Ham Radio is the best, especially if it’s the first time you are trying out such a project. We also have a guide here: Getting Started with Ham Radio on Raspberry Pi.

Set Up a Network Print Server

The problem with having an old printer that only connects via USB is that anytime you want to print anything from your computer, you will have to walk to where the computer is, plug it in, and run your print job.

Now this becomes even more hectic if you need to do this several times, or you have like an office setup where many people need to print stuff from their phones or PCs. If you have a Raspberry Pi lying around, you can turn it into a print server and solve this issue.

The basic idea is to set up the Raspberry Pi to receive print jobs from any device on your network, such as laptops, phones, or even other Raspberry Pis, and then pass those jobs to the printer through a USB connection.

To execute this project, you will need to follow four main steps:

• Connecting the Printer: First, connect the printer to the Raspberry Pi via USB, as you would to any regular computer. But instead of having the printer dedicated to just one device, the Raspberry Pi will make it available to everyone on the network.
• Setting Up the Print Server: On the Raspberry Pi, you install print server software (like CUPS – Common Unix Printing System). This software will handle incoming print jobs and manage the printer, allowing any device on the network to send print commands to it.
  
  I think this is where you’ll need to put in more effort to install packages and configure settings. However, you can follow our linked article for a comprehensive step-by-step guide.
• Network Setup: Once it’s up and running, you’ll configure your devices (laptops, phones, etc.) to recognize the Raspberry Pi as the print server. Instead of sending print jobs directly to the printer, your devices will send them to the Raspberry Pi over Wi-Fi or Ethernet.
• Printing from Anywhere: With the Raspberry Pi acting as a middleman, any device on the network can send a document to be printed without needing a direct USB connection. This makes printing more flexible and accessible for everyone in your household or office.

For this project, you can use older Raspberry Pi boards that support an internet connection. A Raspberry Pi print server is not resource-intensive, so even a Raspberry Pi Zero will work fine.

Build a Raspberry Pi Time-Lapse Camera Rig

The first time I wanted to create a YouTube channel, one idea that came to mind was posting time-lapse videos. These could be videos of plant growth, the rotting stages of various organic materials, or even the transformation of everyday objects over time.

I didn’t, however, launch this project since I didn’t have a camera, and I couldn’t leave my phone running 24/7 when I needed it for my day-to-day activities. Two years later, when I look back, I see that the best item that can be used to start this project would be a Raspberry Pi.

The Raspberry Pi supports a camera module for all types of projects. Of course, it might not give you the super HD-quality videos you see on YouTube, but it’s enough to deliver the basic concept.

After installing the camera, write a time-lapse script and automate it using a cron job. For this step, take a look at how to setup a Raspberry Pi time-lapse in four easy steps.

Track Crypto Prices with a Physical Ticker

I’m not so much into trading, but whenever I see those Wall Street images with stock price tickers flashing across giant screens, I always think how cool it would be to have something like that for crypto. A little display on your desk showing the price of Bitcoin or Ethereum in real-time.

A physical crypto price ticker is a fun and useful project you can build with a Raspberry Pi. It gives you a live feed of coin prices like Bitcoin or Ethereum on a small display, making it a great addition to your desk or home office.

The idea is simple: your Raspberry Pi connects to the internet and pulls live price data from an API such as CoinGecko or CoinMarketCap. It then displays this data, including the current price, percent change, and market cap, on a small screen. You can update it every few seconds or minutes, depending on how real-time you want it to be.

Some setups use a scrolling LED matrix, while others go with an e-paper or OLED display for a cleaner look. The Raspberry Pi runs a Python script in the background that continuously fetches and updates the data automatically.

I would highly recommend this guide from Instructables for this project. It is comprehensive and gives you a step-by-step procedure for carrying out every task. Did you know you can also use the Raspberry Pi to mine cryptocurrencies? Well, that article gives you a step-by-step guide on mining some of the most common cryptocurrencies.

Stay Organized with an E-Ink To-Do List Display

To-do lists are always useful, but if you’re someone who likes to stay organized without a lot of clutter, an E-Ink display with a Raspberry Pi might be a great option. The Pi gives you a clean and simple way to see your tasks without using sticky notes or opening apps all the time.

Unlike regular screens, E-Ink displays only use power when the content changes. Your to-do list stays visible all the time, doesn’t shine brightly in your face, and uses very little energy. It’s a great choice for something that sits quietly on your desk or fridge.

The logic behind this project is quite simple. The Raspberry Pi gets your to-do list items from a digital source. This could be a simple text file, a synced Google Tasks list, or a custom web page you make yourself.

It shows the items on the E-Ink screen in a clear and easy-to-read way. You can also set it to refresh automatically at certain times or whenever you make changes. You won’t need to tap or scroll like on a tablet. Instead, the screen gives you a calm, always-on view of your tasks, which can help you stay focused throughout the day.

Here’s a step-by-step guide on setting up an E-Ink To-Do List Display using the Raspberry Pi Pico W. The Pico is a controller and not a micro-computer like other Raspberry Pi boards, but you can use whichever board you have available for this project.

I have listed 11 projects in this article. Feel free to try out one of these ideas and see what your Raspberry Pi can do. You don’t need a powerful board such as the Raspberry Pi 5; all you need is a bit of curiosity and creativity.

Whenever you’re ready, here are other ways I can help you:

Test Your Raspberry Pi Level (Free): Not sure why everything takes so long on your Raspberry Pi? Take this free 3-minute assessment and see what’s causing the problems.

The RaspberryTips Community: Need help or want to discuss your Raspberry Pi projects with others who actually get it? Join the RaspberryTips Community and get access to private forums, exclusive lessons, and direct help.

Master your Raspberry Pi in 30 days: If you are looking for the best tips to become an expert on Raspberry Pi, this book is for you. Learn useful Linux skills and practice multiple projects with step-by-step guides.

Master Python on Raspberry Pi: Create, understand, and improve any Python script for your Raspberry Pi. Learn the essentials step-by-step without losing time understanding useless concepts.

You can also find all my recommendations for tools and hardware on this page.