If you bought a new Raspberry Pi, or just got an older model that someone else didn’t want, there are plenty of ways to put that little computer to good use, and here are six of them.
Retro games galore
One of the most popular uses for Raspberry Pi computers is as a retro game emulation system. Which systems can be emulated depends on the specific model of Pi you have, but even older ones can do a great job with 8-bit and 16-bit retro titles, or MAME arcade titles. In fact, building your own arcade machine with a Pi at the center is a common project and you will find many instruction guides on the web for this purpose.
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arcade stick
Build your own NAS
A NAS or network attached storage device is effectively a local file server that allows you to store and access data on your local network using hard drives. You can go out and buy a NAS or you can follow the official Raspberry Pi NAS tutorial and turn your old USB hard drives into a NAS using items you already have or can get for a few dollars.
Everyone loves local streaming tools like Plex or Jellyfin, but not everyone wants to dedicate an expensive computer to act as a streaming server. Well, as long as your requirements are not too sophisticated, you can Use a Raspberry Pi as a Plex server.
Just don’t expect it to be able to handle heavy transcoding. The good news is that most of your customers’ devices can probably play videos without transcoding.
Turn your Pi into a home automation center
Core home automation devices can cost hundreds of dollars, but if you have an old Raspberry Pi, you canand run your smart home with it. The most common and effective solution is an open source application called home assistant.
build a weather station
If you’re interested in the weather, want to contribute to weather data, or are just tired of it raining when you least expect it, you have the option of getting a weather station kit for your Raspberry Pi or using something like the Raspberry Pi Sense HATwhich can detect pressure, humidity and temperature, but not wind speed. However, there are also generic wind and rain sensors you can buy and of course don’t forget a outdoor project enclosure.
There are some guides on the web, but this one guide to weather stations for Raspberry Pi It’s a good place to get some ideas.
Create a home web server
Another fun project is to host your own web server using a Raspberry Pi. You can create a website that only works on your home LAN, or even host something that can be accessed by people outside of your home network. Using open source software to host your own web resources is very educational and can also be a way to do something really useful without having to rely on a cloud service somewhere on the Internet.
Imagine having your own small bulletin board at home or hosting content such as e-books, music or audiobooks?
Endless possibilities
Despite lacking in the raw power department, all Raspberry Pi devices are small miracles: single-board computers that can (in principle) do anything their older cousins can do. Only more slowly. So if you have some old Raspberry Pis lying around, don’t rush to retire them just yet.
