Raspberry Pi Pico & Pico W Projects

  How to Use Your Spare Android Phone as a Webcam If you’ve got an old Android phone lying around, don’t let it gather dust. You can turn it into a high-quality webcam for your PC or Mac. With remote work, video calls, and content creation on the rise, webcams are more important than ever. Why spend money on a dedicated webcam when your Android phone can do the job just as well? This blog will walk you through various methods to transform your Android phone into a fully functional webcam. Why Use Your Android Phone as a Webcam? Cost Savings: No need to buy a separate webcam. High-Quality Camera: Modern smartphones have excellent cameras that often outperform entry-level webcams. Versatility: Use your phone for live streams, video calls, or recording content. Recycling: Give your old phone a new purpose, reducing electronic waste. What You’ll Need An Android smartphone with a functioning camera. A PC or Mac. A stable Wi-Fi connection or USB cable. A webcam app (...

  Ensuring your family’s online safety is crucial in today’s digital age. A Raspberry Pi 4 can be transformed into a cost-effective and powerful firewall to block adult content and inappropriate material on your home network. This step-by-step tutorial will guide you through setting up content filtering using Pi-hole and optional advanced proxies like DansGuardian or SquidGuard . Why Use a Raspberry Pi as a Firewall? A Raspberry Pi 4 is small, affordable, and powerful enough to serve as a home firewall. With tools like Pi-hole, it can: Block adult content and inappropriate websites. Provide network-wide protection. Enhance your family’s online safety. What You’ll Need Raspberry Pi 4 (or similar model). MicroSD card (16GB or larger). Power supply for the Raspberry Pi. Ethernet cable (optional for a more stable connection). Home Wi-Fi router. Step 1: Install Raspberry Pi OS Download and Install Raspberry Pi OS : Use Raspberry Pi Imager to install Raspberry P...

 Building a Raspberry Pi Pico W and LM35 Web Server project involves setting up the Raspberry Pi Pico W to read temperature data from the LM35 sensor and serve this data on a web page. The web server will allow users to access real-time temperature data via their browser. Here’s a step-by-step guide to help you set up the project: What You'll Need: Raspberry Pi Pico W (with Wi-Fi capability) LM35 Temperature Sensor Breadboard and Jumper wires Micro-USB Cable (to power the Pico W and upload the code) A computer with Thonny or another Python IDE MicroPython installed on the Raspberry Pi Pico W Step 1: Setting Up the Raspberry Pi Pico W Before starting, ensure that MicroPython is installed on the Raspberry Pi Pico W: Download and Install MicroPython: Visit Raspberry Pi's official site to get the latest firmware for the Raspberry Pi Pico W. Put the Raspberry Pi Pico W in boot mode by holding down the BOOTSEL button and connecting it to your computer. Copy the micropython.uf2 ...

Tutorial: Using Raspberry Pi as an OpenVPN Client Router with Ethernet Sharing Tutorial: Using Raspberry Pi as an OpenVPN Client Router with Ethernet Sharing This guide will show you how to configure your Raspberry Pi as an OpenVPN client router. The Raspberry Pi will connect to your home Wi-Fi for internet access, and its Ethernet port ( eth0 ) will be configured to share the VPN connection with a connected device (e.g., a PC). Prerequisites Raspberry Pi 4 with Raspbian OS OpenVPN Configuration File (.ovpn file) from your VPN provider Wi-Fi Connection to your home network Step 1: Connect Raspberry Pi to Your Home Wi-Fi Configure Wi-Fi using raspi-config : Copy sudo raspi-config Navigate to Network Options > Wi-Fi, select your network, and enter the password. Verify the Wi-Fi connection: Copy ip a show wlan0 Step 2: Instal...

  In this tutorial, we'll demonstrate how to use the Raspberry Pi Pico and an HW-488 Infrared Obstacle Avoidance Sensor to control video playback on your PC. The setup will allow you to automatically play or pause a video based on your proximity to the sensor. When you are in front of the sensor, the video will play; when you step away, the video will pause. We'll use CircuitPython to achieve this, as it has built-in support for USB Human Interface Devices (HID), allowing the Pico to act like a USB keyboard. Prerequisites Hardware: Raspberry Pi Pico HW-488 Infrared Obstacle Avoidance Sensor Jumper wires USB cable for Pico connection to the PC Software: CircuitPython firmware for Raspberry Pi Pico Adafruit HID Library for CircuitPython Step 1: Setup CircuitPython on Raspberry Pi Pico To begin, we need to install CircuitPython on the Raspberry Pi Pico. Installing CircuitPython: Visit the CircuitPython download page . Download the latest .uf2 file for Raspberry Pi Pico. Hold ...

 In this tutorial, we'll build a simple WiFi-enabled temperature and humidity monitor using the Raspberry Pi Pico W and a DHT11 sensor . We'll use Python-based MicroPython to program the Pico and send sensor data to ThingSpeak , a cloud platform that provides easy data logging and visualization. What You’ll Need: Raspberry Pi Pico W (with MicroPython firmware installed) DHT11 Temperature & Humidity Sensor Jumper wires for connections WiFi network credentials ThingSpeak account (to obtain your API key) Steps: 1. Setup Your Raspberry Pi Pico W First, make sure you have MicroPython installed on your Pico W. If not, follow these simple steps: Download and install Thonny IDE . Select the correct board ( Raspberry Pi Pico ) and install MicroPython firmware using Tools > Options > Interpreter . Write and save your MicroPython code using Thonny, directly onto your Pico. 2. Connect the DHT11 Sensor to Raspberry Pi Pico W We'll connect the DHT11 sensor to the Pico W...

Building a Temperature-Based Control System with Raspberry Pi Pico and DS18B20/HW-506 Sensor In this tutorial, you will learn how to use a Raspberry Pi Pico to create a simple temperature control system that automatically switches a relay based on temperature readings from a DS18B20/HW-506 temperature sensor . This project is perfect for beginners who want to understand how to interface with temperature sensors and control devices such as fans or heaters via relays. Components Needed: Raspberry Pi Pico . DS18B20/HW-506  temperature sensor . Relay module (to control an output device like a fan, heater, or any other electrical appliance). Jumper wires and a breadboard . A computer with Thonny IDE for coding in MicroPython. How the System Works: The DS18B20 sensor continuously measures the room temperature. The Raspberry Pi Pico monitors the temperature and turns on a relay when the temperature rises above 20°C . The relay can be connected to any output device that you want to con...