In celebration of cyberdecks

A cyberdeck was the very first thing I blogged about on my first day at Pi Towers back in 2020, so it felt personally serendipitous when CNN reported last week on the rise of cyberdeck projects among the maker community. And it was extra excellent to see Raspberry Pi mentioned as the go-to computer for a lot of these builds.

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In celebration of this latest flurry of internet attention (and in the hopes of inspiring you to build your own), here are some of the finest Raspberry Pi–powered cyberdecks we’ve posted about over the years.

Mega six-screen cyberdeck

Redditor Holistech (aka Sören Gebbert) really leaned into the lesser-known “more is more” idiom when building this big orange cyberdeck with three Raspberry Pis. Why use just one screen to manipulate enemy cyberware and take down your cyberpunk foes when you can have six?

And it gets even better: this whole multi-screen thing is portable. Yes, portable. You can fold it up, pack it away in its suitably steampunk metal box, and carry it around with you.

Amstrad PPC 640 cyberdeck

When faced with a broken Amstrad PPC 640, Mikey Damager had two choices: return the machine to its former glory or tear it apart and rebuild it using modern parts. He decided to do the latter, turning what was Amstrad’s first portable IBM PC-compatible computer, released in 1987, into a cool-looking cyberdeck powered by Raspberry Pi 4. The resulting machine was capable of running an interactive fiction project for Mikey’s master’s degree. 

Super 8 cyberdeck

Cyberdecks tend to have a niche aesthetic, often inspired by post-apocalyptic films or TV shows. This one by VEEB Projects features an analogue Hanimex E300 film viewer from the 1970s, which the makers repurposed after developing serious terminal envy while watching Severance. It uses a Raspberry Pi 4 running Manjaro Linux and ytfzf as the command-line viewing tool.

Clamshell BlackBerry cyberdeck

This teeny-tiny build harks back to the early 2000s, when PDAs were a must-have business accessory and smartphones had yet to launch. It pairs a clamshell BlackBerry with a Raspberry Pi 4 for maximum computing power, which was as powerful as we got back in 2023 when we first saw this project. The rustic wooden surround was designed and laser-cut by the maker, Michael Klements.

Pi-PipBoy cyberdeck

We saw a lot of Raspberry Pi–powered PipBoys pop up around the time Fallout was airing on TV, and this one by Kev’s Robots is especially easy to copy if you want to make your own. All the STL files are readily available, along with assembly images and a video tutorial. A PipBoy is a great build if you want to create something wearable, as it’s basically a big computer bracelet. Kev chose nice bright colours for the 3D-printed parts, making it one of the more whimsical builds in this list.

Next-gen cyberdecks

This new generation of cyberdeck creators seems to be competing over who can put a Raspberry Pi inside the weirdest casing. A few we like but haven’t featured on the blog yet include the P-Sea SeaShell by Evette’s Niche; this build from TikTok tinkerer Goblin, who found an old makeup caboodle and is in the process of turning it into a Raspberry Pi… something (and who also taught us that the word for a retro plastic makeup case is ‘caboodle’); and the bajillion videos from Instagram tech guru unicoleunicron, who explains the new wave of female makers creating cyberdecks and how to go about building your own.

If you’re not a TikToker or an Instagrammer, this Reddit thread is alive with recent builds and makers looking for tips on turning incredibly random objects into Raspberry Pi–powered creations.

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What’s the collective noun for a load of cyberdecks? A cluster? A celebration? Anyway, drop a link in the comments to any makers I’ve missed from this list. Cyberdecks for everyone!

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A security update for Raspberry Pi OS

Today we are releasing version 6.2 of Raspberry Pi OS, the second update to the Trixie version we released last year. This update is mostly a round-up of all the small changes and bug fixes we have made over the past few months, but there is one significant change that we’d like to flag up: passwordless sudo is now disabled by default.

Given the ever-increasing threat of cybercrime, we continually review the security of Raspberry Pi OS to ensure it is sufficiently robust to withstand potential attacks. This is always a tricky balance, as anything that makes the operating system more secure will invariably inconvenience legitimate users to some extent, so we try to keep such changes to a minimum. This particular security update is one that many users may not even notice, but it will affect some.

What would superuser do?

All Linux systems have two types of user account: a regular user and an administrator. Administrators are able to access the system in ways that regular users cannot — the most obvious being that they can write files to parts of the file system that are restricted to others.

However, regular users sometimes need to perform administrator-level actions. To enable this without having to log out and then log back in as an administrator, users can employ Linux’s sudo utility. Short for ‘superuser do’, sudo is a command prefix that tells the system to perform an action as if it were requested by an administrator rather than a regular user. It is most commonly used when interacting with the terminal — so while cp file.txt /usr/share/ would not be permitted (as a regular user cannot write to the /usr/share directory), sudo cp file.txt /usr/share/ would.

Raspberry Pi OS has always been set up so that regular user accounts can use sudo in this way. Specifically, it has been configured with passwordless sudo enabled by default — all a regular user needs to do to execute a command as an administrator is prefix it with sudo. However, this creates a potential security hole, as anyone who can access the computer can perform administrator actions from a regular user account, some of which could be malicious.

Password, please

From this release onwards, passwordless sudo is disabled by default. If you use sudo for administrator-level access, you will be prompted to enter the current user’s password. In the terminal, the password prompt will appear as soon as you issue a sudo command. If you enter the correct password, the command will proceed as normal; if you enter an incorrect password, the command will be refused.

Certain actions in the desktop interface also require sudo access, including some operations in Control Centre. In these cases, a dialog box will pop up asking for the password.

Once a password has been entered, you won’t be prompted again for the next five minutes, even if you perform further sudo actions in that period.

If you prefer not to be prompted for sudo passwords, there is an option to revert to the original passwordless behaviour in the ‘System’ tab in Control Centre. By toggling the ‘Admin Password’ switch off, the system will no longer ask for a password before running sudo commands in either the terminal or the desktop interface.

As with all such changes, we are aware that this update may inconvenience some users who have become accustomed to the way things have worked up until now, but we hope you can understand the reasoning behind it.

Please note that this change will not affect updates to existing installations of Raspberry Pi OS — the Admin Password switch will appear in Control Centre as shown above, but passwordless sudo will remain enabled unless you choose to disable it.

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Maker Monday: 10 non-traditional clock projects

We love it when folks get creative with a Raspberry Pi, and Maker Monday is a great time to showcase this. While there are definitely many Raspberry Pi devices out there doing important jobs in factories and industrial settings, it’s nice to see when people do something artistic — or just plain funny — with a Raspberry Pi at home. A great example of this is the many ways people have taken the ancient concept of telling the time and given it a twist. Here are just some of our favourites from the latest issue of Raspberry Pi Official Magazine.

01. Counter-rotating clock

Shifted perspective

This is the project that sparked the idea for this list: the hour hand remains stationary while the entire face rotates instead. Editor Lucy does not enjoy it.

02. Falling clock

Manufactured error

When Burke McCabe decided to fix his clock, which was making a screeching noise, he added a camera so that it would know when it was being looked at and then launch itself off the wall.

03. Colourful word clock

Say the time

Word clocks use a word-search-style mixture of words and letters to tell you the time, any time, in the 12-hour format. There are word clocks available in other languages too.

04. Smart Nixie tubes

Retro tech

A striking bit of retro technology updated with a Raspberry Pi 3 to accurately tell the time. The perfect prop for your steampunk movie.

05. Moon and tide clock

Alternate time-telling

Less weird and more ‘cool and classy’, this modified vintage carriage clock uses e-ink displays to show the current moon phase and the tide timings. It looks really lovely.

06. Robot arm clock

Automated manual progression

When your clock breaks, how do you fix it? Well, if you’re anything like Hendrik Ohrens, you program a robot arm to manually move the minute hand. Obviously!

07. Pico solar system display

The cosmic ballet

This early but memorable Raspberry Pi Pico project simulates the positions of the planets in our solar system depending on what time it’s set to. You could set it to the future (or past) if you wish to miss work.

08. Flip clock

Got you babe

Flip clocks are retro chic and were memorably featured in Groundhog Day. With modern 3D printing and Raspberry Pi know-how, it’s dead easy to make one yourself. Every day.

09. Self-snoozing alarm

Get more rest

A bit like that box that closes itself, this lovely retro-style alarm clock art piece will go off as usual — only for the robot arm to snooze it for you.

10. Dual-spiral marble clock

Time rolls on

Very simply, the spirals slowly turn, changing the position of each marble so that they accurately line up with the hour on one spiral and the minute on the other. Why? Why not!

Issue 164 of Raspberry Pi Official Magazine is out now!

This article appeared in issue 164 of Raspberry Pi Official Magazine, which you can grab from Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda, WHSmith, and other newsagents, as well as the Raspberry Pi Store in Cambridge. It’s also available from our online store, which ships around the world. And you can get a digital version via our app on Android or iOS.

You can also subscribe to the print version of our magazine. Not only do we deliver worldwide, but people who sign up to the six- or twelve-month print subscription get a FREE Raspberry Pi Pico 2 W!

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Hackable history: Clay Interactive and Raspberry Pi at the Young V&A

Going to the museum used to mean “you can look, but you can’t touch.” Finding this model thoroughly boring, Clay Interactive put a bunch of Raspberry Pis inside the new exhibits they were developing at the V&A Museum of Childhood, helping to transform the building into the Young V&A.

The interactive museum installations allow visitors to trigger sounds, videos, lights, and stories simply by moving around or pressing buttons. Much of the new hardware is powered by Raspberry Pi 4 and our High Quality Cameras.

The tech behind the magic

Clay Interactive’s installations are basically embedded systems hiding inside museum exhibits.

A typical setup features a Raspberry Pi 4 running all of the software, as well as any sensors, lights, or screens connected to the GPIO pins. It also powers motion detectors that sense when visitors are approaching, touchscreens and buttons programmed to trigger interactions, and all sorts of gubbins that provide feedback for those interactions, such as LED strips and audio or visual playback. Media is stored on SD cards for reliability and ease of updates.

A number of interactions are triggered by walking close to the exhibits, causing stories to start playing. Others require visitors to pick up headphones to kick-start video playback, while some need physical button presses to activate lights or sounds.

The self-portrait station

A favourite exhibit is essentially a photo booth built on Raspberry Pi hardware. It features a Raspberry Pi 4, one of our cameras, a two-way mirror, LED lighting, and a touchscreen.

When a visitor sits down in front of the two-way mirror, a Raspberry Pi camera snaps their photo, showing the image on the screen in front of them. They are then invited to trace over the image with crayons to create their own self-portrait. Those portraits become part of the museum’s collection, allowing visitors to physically contribute to the history they are experiencing.

Why Raspberry Pi?

Clay Interactive liked our hardware because it allowed them to test lots of ideas quickly and affordably — there was no fear of sinking tonnes of money into something they couldn’t pull off in real life at the museum. It also made it really easy to change and update the exhibits, sometimes just by swapping out the SD card, with no need for complicated installations of new software. The GPIO pins enabled them to plug in and play with all sorts of peripherals, such as LEDs and screens. Also, because everything is open source, the team could mix and match tools freely.

Museum installations go through a lot of testing; prototypes are often installed temporarily so that real visitors can interact with them and accidentally break them. For Clay Interactive, this process made it easier to identify ways to improve their designs, and using Raspberry Pi meant they could implement changes seamlessly with flexible, affordable hardware.

A quick history of the museum

The Young V&A (formerly the V&A Museum of Childhood) is a branch of the Victoria and Albert Museum designed specifically for children and young people. After decades of mainly displaying the history of toys and childhood, it was redeveloped to become a more interactive “doing museum”, where visitors learn through play, creativity, and hands-on activities.

Clay Interactive played a huge role in this. The museum wanted practical, engaging technology that would encourage visitors to participate directly in storytelling and creative activities, helping turn the space into a more immersive and playful experience. Sounds fun.

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Mighty projects for your 1GB Raspberry Pi 5

DRAM is pretty expensive these days. In the latest issue of Raspberry Pi Official Magazine, we rounded up a range of project ideas that make good use of the 1GB Raspberry Pi 5, helping you select the right amount of RAM for your applications. This article is part of a larger feature on how to make your memory go further.

With the same powerful BCM2712 system-on-chip (SoC) as the other Raspberry Pi 5 models, the 1GB variant offers a more affordable entry point for users who need extra processing grunt and/or features, such as a PCIe connector to add a Raspberry Pi NVMe SSD or AI HAT+. To this end, we’ve rounded up a range of project ideas that make good use of the 1GB variant’s performance without requiring a large amount of RAM.

Media centre/NAS

Since the 1GB variant of Raspberry Pi 5 has a PCIe connector, you can use it with a Raspberry Pi M.2 HAT+ (or alternative) to connect an M.2 NVMe SSD (solid-state drive). Not only does this provide extra storage, but it also allows you to boot Raspberry Pi OS from the SSD instead of the standard microSD card.

As well as speeding up general performance with lightning-quick read/write speeds, the SSD is ideal for creating a media centre (to stream movies, TV shows, and music) and/or NAS (network-attached storage).

For a slick look, you can house your Raspberry Pi in a special case like the Argon ONE V5

The easiest way to create a media centre is by using a Kodi-based OS such as LibreELEC or OSMC. For more details, check out our media player guides in issue 132 and 155.

Alternatively, you could set Raspberry Pi 5 up as a discrete NAS box, allowing files to be accessed wirelessly by other devices on your network using the Samba sharing protocol. For setup details, see our NAS tutorial.

Use Kodi add-ons to stream shows from free services such as Pluto TV

Retro gaming

As with most other models, the 1GB variant of Raspberry Pi 5 can emulate many classic computers and consoles. Higher RAM is only really needed when trying to emulate more modern systems, so anything up to and including PlayStation 1, Saturn, and Dreamcast should work fine — this includes NES, SNES, Mega Drive/Genesis, GBA, MAME, ZX Spectrum, C64, and Amiga.

Blade Buster for NES is just one of the many retro games you can play on a Raspberry Pi

The choice of OS is up to you: Recalbox, Lakka, and Batocera should all work fine — as does RetroPie, though you’ll need to install it manually in Raspberry Pi OS as there’s no ready-made OS image for Raspberry Pi 5.

Game ROMs can be added via a USB drive or over the network. Be careful downloading them from sites hosting copyrighted games illegally, however. There are lots of other legal ROMs available, including many modern ‘homebrew’ titles developed for classic hardware.

Internet radio/hi-fi

While the 1GB Raspberry Pi 5 doesn’t have a built-in audio output, you can listen via Bluetooth headphones or speakers, or through a TV connected via HDMI. Alternatively, for superior sound, several DAC HATs are available to link it to your hi-fi equipment. With the Raspberry Pi DAC Pro, for instance, you can even enjoy high-definition 24-bit audio at 192kHz — far better than standard 16-bit CD quality.

Raspberry Pi DAC Pro

Software-wise, there are numerous ways to enjoy music on your Raspberry Pi, including specialist operating systems such as Volumio, moOde, and piCorePlayer. Most should enable you to listen to locally stored files, popular streaming services, and internet radio stations. You can even cast playback to multiple smart speakers for multi-room audio. For aesthetic effect, house your Raspberry Pi in a vintage radio case.

With Volumio, you can cast audio to smart speakers around your home

Magic mirror

“Mirror, mirror on the wall… who’s the smartest of them all?… Ah, it’s you, because you’re powered by a Raspberry Pi and can display all sorts of useful information, such as news, weather, traffic, and my calendar.”

The magic mirror is a classic Raspberry Pi project, and building one isn’t as daunting as it sounds. You just need to source a suitably sized TV or monitor, cover it with some two-way mirror glass (which you can buy ready-made or make yourself by applying special film to ordinary glass), and install it in a wooden frame — you can even DIY this part if you’re keen on carpentry.

Then it’s just a case of installing the software, which you can find — along with all of the documentation and an array of add-on modules — at magicmirror.builders. It’s a good project for a 1GB Raspberry Pi 5, though you will need to have it running the desktop version of Raspberry Pi OS for the software.

Check out the rest of the feature in issue 164 of Raspberry Pi Official Magazine, including tutorials on memory optimisation in Raspberry Pi OS and how to generate images using the Stable Diffusion deep learning model.

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A new 3GB Raspberry Pi 4 for $83.75, and more memory-driven price increases

As many of you are aware, the price of memory continues to rise, with a seven-fold increase over the last year in the price of the LPDDR4 DRAM used on Raspberry Pi 4 and 5. Providing low-cost general-purpose computing remains a non-negotiable priority for us at Raspberry Pi, so while we can’t avoid passing on a portion of these increased costs, we’re also doing engineering work to expand the range of memory-density options available to our customers: we want to make sure you don’t pay for more memory than you need.

Today we are implementing further price increases across parts of our product range, and are also introducing a new 3GB Raspberry Pi 4, priced at $83.75. Notwithstanding today’s date, our new computer is as real as the rest of our products, and you can order it now from Raspberry Pi Approved Resellers around the world.

The products affected by today’s price rises are Raspberry Pi 4 and 5 variants with 4GB or more of memory; Raspberry Pi 500 and 500+; all variants of Compute Module 4, Compute Module 4S, and Compute Module 5; the Development Kit for Compute Module 5; and Raspberry Pi AI HAT+ 2.

Product	Density	Price increase
Raspberry Pi 4 and 5	4GB	$25
Raspberry Pi 4 and 5	8GB	$50
Raspberry Pi 5	16GB	$100
Raspberry Pi 500 (unit only and kit)		$50
Raspberry Pi 500+ unit only		$150
Raspberry Pi 500+ kit		$150
Compute Module 4 and 4S	1GB	$11.25
Compute Module 4, 4S, 5	2GB	$12.50
Compute Module 4, 4S, 5	4GB	$25
Compute Module 4, 4S, 5	8GB	$50
Compute Module 5	16GB	$100
Development Kit for Compute Module 5		$25
Raspberry Pi AI HAT+ 2		$50

Right-size your memory

As painful as these price rises are, there are some brighter spots in the picture. We’ve been able to hold the price of Raspberry Pi 400 with 4GB of memory at $60, and the 1GB and 2GB variants of Raspberry Pi 4 and Raspberry Pi 5 at between $35 and $65. These are capable and versatile modern Raspberry Pi computers at affordable price points.

And, as we’ve said before, we don’t anticipate any price rises for our classic products, including Raspberry Pi Zero, Zero W and Zero 2 W; Raspberry Pi 1, 3, 3B+, and 3A+; and Compute Module 1 and 3+. These products use older LPDDR2 DRAM, of which we currently hold substantial inventory. Our commitment to long product manufacturing lifetimes means that these products are still in production, still supported by software updates, and still used by customers all over the world.

In this environment, it’s well worth right-sizing both your memory and your overall compute, rather than going for something with more headroom than your application actually needs. Consider whether these models, or lower-density variants of newer models, will get the job done.

A challenging but temporary situation

We’ve said a number of times now that memory prices won’t remain at their current very high level indefinitely; the circumstances in which we find ourselves are challenging, but in the future they will abate. When they do, we will reverse our price increases, and until they do, we will continue to work hard to limit their impact in every way we can.

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Pico chess timer

This #MakerMonday, we’re doing something a bit different by sharing an article from the previous issue of Raspberry Pi Official Magazine — there was just so. much. content. Plus, we like chess. A lot.

Maker Nirvaan Tandon’s path to becoming a coder started early — very early! He’s loved electronics from the age of four, which was when he got his first Snap Circuits kit. Nirvaan learnt programming at age six and encountered Raspberry Pi a year later when he attended Coolest Projects with his family. He’s built several Raspberry Pi–based projects since. In fact, this isn’t even the talented 14-year-old’s first appearance in Raspberry Pi Official Magazine. His Pico Chess Timer, featured in issue 163, is designed to improve strategy games with friends and family. “As we all know,” Nirvaan notes, “sometimes games can take too long.” 

The Pico Chess Timer gives players a time limit to make all of their moves; Raspberry Pi Pico W provides the countdown clock and switches between players

Exceptional diligence

Nirvaan is a lot more focused than the average teenager. Concerned that he might not stay on track with his studies, he came up with a Raspberry Pi Pico–based Pomodoro timer to help him focus on his exams. Some of those studies have a Raspberry Pi element too: he’s built several robots at school, as well as a smart light setup and a real-time energy price tracker. He eventually aims to automate his entire home and has already created a garage assistant with a map to show where the available parking spaces are. 

The Pico Chess Timer evolved from the Pomodoro timer idea, as well as a reaction game he wrote. Nirvaan already knew how to use the Pico Graphics library to create a user interface from previous projects. He used the same Pico Display Pack but rewrote the MicroPython code for two-player control, choosing Raspberry Pi Pico W for its wireless connectivity. His aim was to create a timer similar to the one on chess.com, providing a no-arguments countdown so each player knows exactly how long they have to plan and execute a strategic move. 

Nirvaan previously created a Pomodoro timer to keep his exam studies on track

Raspberry Pi Pico W was ideal because it has low power requirements and can be battery-powered (Nirvaan attached a LiPo battery using a SHIM — an idea he picked up from a robot build). It’s also only as large as one of the king pieces, so setting up a chess game requires little extra time or effort. Nirvaan also observes that Raspberry Pi Pico works well with MicroPython and supports many accessories.

Players simply press the ‘start’ button to begin a countdown. The time allowance can be easily adjusted using the same incremental setup chess players use under the Fischer system. A second button press switches the gameplay to the other player. “Raspberry Pi Pico controls the entire project, running the program to set the time, count down the clock, and listen for button presses to switch turns.” 

Ironing out kinks

Although this was a fairly simple build given Nirvaan’s experience, some aspects required finessing, particularly getting the buttons to switch players accurately. He found this to be the hardest part, as he needed to make sure it didn’t accidentally trigger twice. “I had to use a loop checking every 0.01s, which updates the time and checks for button pushes, then add a 20ms debounce to it.” Doing this fixed the issue. 

The timer being used during a game of chess

Getting the battery setup right was important too. Nirvaan found it very convenient to solder the SHIM to the Raspberry Pi Pico so that he could attach a LiPo battery. The SHIM added an on/off button and a JST connector, and had its own charging circuit. He began with a large battery, which he attached to the bottom, but soon realised that a smaller 150mAh battery would be more suitable and could fit snugly on the board. Better yet, “soldering the SHIM flush with the bottom of the headers meant I could attach the Pico Display on top, making a compact package.”

Conclusion

Nirvaan’s confidence in coding and tackling original projects is pretty impressive. He’s already assessed what he learnt from the approximately £30 project: knowledge of dynamic positioning and more experience with Pico Graphics were technical advances for Nirvaan, while the pragmatist in him realised that keeping things straightforward is often best. He advises other would-be makers to “experiment, play around, and keep trying. Simple is best — don’t overcomplicate things or repeat code too much.”

Nirvaan has an ongoing scorebook against his younger brother and, with versions of the Pico Chess Timer on his side, might well extend their friendly sibling rivalry to Scrabble and other board games, or even an against-the-clock Rubik’s Cube challenge!

Issue 164 of Raspberry Pi Official Magazine is out now!

This article appeared in issue 163 of Raspberry Pi Official Magazine, which you can access online. You can grab issue 164 from Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda, WHSmith, and other newsagents, including the Raspberry Pi Store in Cambridge. It’s also available from our online store, which ships around the world. And you can get a digital version via our app on Android or iOS.

You can also subscribe to the print version of our magazine. Not only do we deliver worldwide, but people who sign up to the six- or twelve-month print subscription get a FREE Raspberry Pi Pico 2 W!

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Raspberry Pi Pico–powered sunrise alarm clock

In a particularly pleasant awakening, issue 164 of Raspberry Pi Official Magazine has arrived, and with it, this homemade sunrise alarm clock. Built on Raspberry Pi Pico 2 W, the alarm has done wonders for one couple’s sleep patterns — and their wallets.

Isn’t the change of seasons welcome? Birds are nesting, spring flowers are brightening our gardens, and the trees are beginning to bud. It’s been a long winter for many reasons, made all the tougher for being so endlessly dark, cold, and windy. No wonder some of us were keen to hibernate! One maker, Pawel Skiba, got an unexpected wake-up call that prompted him to create a Raspberry Pi Pico–based sunrise alarm clock, making the inevitable transition to morning that little bit less of a jolt.

Sound the alarm

Pawel speaks for many of us when he bemoans the endless winter nights. “It’s dark when we come back home after work, and it’s dark when the alarm clock again plays the same melody that irritates us more each morning.” You’ll probably also empathise with not wanting to leave a warm bed because it still feels like the middle of the night. Pawel was “passively” struggling with this fact, but “finally decided to fight winter darkness when one day I heard my lovely wife saying: ‘Enough! I’m about to buy a light alarm clock and it will cost you 250 euros – plus tax.'”

Spurred into action, Pawel soon discovered that it’s scientifically proven that humans need light to wake up properly, due to biological processes triggered in our bodies when sunlight touches our skin. In essence, “there must be some light in the bedroom if I want to get rid of the ‘it’s the middle of the night’ [thoughts] and other heavy-head feelings.”

At 6am, the first red glow of dawn is simulated by red LEDs behind the bed

Pawel’s wife had already mentioned something that could address the lack-of-light issue. “Light alarm clocks simulate the sunrise process by slowly lighting up our bedrooms when we’re still asleep.” Starting with red light shining on the horizon, sunrise lamps gradually shift to lighter colours, suffusing the room with warm white light and then bright white light to help the user wake up gently — and fully. It took Pawel next to no time to realise that these devices look just like regular alarm clocks, but with “one or a few small but powerful LED diodes” added. As Chief Technology Officer at RapidLab, which specialises in Internet of Things (IoT) research and design, creating one of his own “was not rocket science”.

Bathed in sunlight

In a bid to make his wife happy — and avoid pressing the ‘Buy Now’ button on a certain online retailer — Pawel set about collecting the necessary components to replace the dreaded alarm clock. Having looked into making his own sunrise lamp, he decided he wasn’t that keen on them, and opted to create his own setup with much more light than a commercially available device is able to provide.

A step-down converter accommodates the power difference between the 5V Raspberry Pi Pico and the 12V LEDs, which switch on at timed intervals

Pawel spent a few sleepless nights designing the system, starting out with a handful of powerful LEDs fitted with diffusers to protect the eyes. In the end, he decided to use a metre-long strip of red light at the head of the bed, rather than individual LEDs. This red light turns on 40 minutes before the couple needs to wake up, reflecting off the wall behind them in a fair approximation of a dawn glow. Warm white LEDs running along another side of the bed reflect light upwards around 30 minutes before it’s time to rise, and at the base and head of the bed, further warm white LEDs turn on 10 and 20 minutes later.

The entire setup is controlled by a Raspberry Pi Pico 2 W connected to a Waveshare 1.3-inch OLED module for the clock display. Pawel chose a Raspberry Pi–based system for its low cost and reliability. He had used Raspberry Pi Pico in previous projects, including the Locoloro interactive AI parrot that his company, RapidLab, created for an Ecuadorian restaurant in his home town (see RPOM issue 158).

Subsequent lights — mainly warm white ones — suffuse the room for a gentle wake-up call

Pawel coded everything in MicroPython to create what he calls “the sunrise magic”. While the setup itself was not overly complex, it needed a step-down converter fitted to handle the power difference between the 5V Raspberry Pi Pico 2 W and the 12V LED strips. Pawel’s initial prototype involved two separate power supplies but, as he observes, keeping the wiring simple made far more sense. “Too many wires are a bad omen for each wire,” he reasons. Since Pico’s 3.3V GPIO pins cannot drive the LED strips directly, a ULN2003AN Darlington transistor array was used for switching. There was also the practical consideration of trying to build an elegant and sophisticated bedroom lighting system that didn’t have tempting wires that might attract curious children.

The final stage shines bright white light directly into the sleeping couple’s faces

Pawel has been delighted with how his Pico Light Alarm Clock turned out: “Nothing brings me more pleasure than building devices which physically work and solve daily challenges.” This project is his favourite example to date.

Issue 164 of Raspberry Pi Official Magazine is out NOW!

You can grab this issue from Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda, WHSmith, and other newsagents, including the Raspberry Pi Store in Cambridge. It’s also available from our online store, which ships around the world. And you can get a digital version via our app on Android or iOS.

You can also subscribe to the print version of our magazine. Not only do we deliver worldwide, but people who sign up to the six- or twelve-month print subscription get a FREE Raspberry Pi Pico 2 W!

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