Ask HN: What do you do with your Raspberry Pi?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5425673

by tixocloud • 13 years ago

10 14 13 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

Hey all,

I recently got a Raspberry Pi as a gift. For those of you that have one, I'm curious what you've done with it. I'm contemplating a media server but I'm open to more interesting ideas.

dreamdu5t• 13 years ago

A file server with open wifi placed somewhere in an urban downtown setting. See what people share.

orangethirty• 13 years ago

I'm about to set them up for the company I'm working for as cheap remote servers. Each of them will have an API for me to connect to from the main server. Cool use case, and fun. Total Rpi used will be about 20-ish.

DanBC• 13 years ago

(http://crushbeercrushcode.org/2013/03/developing-the-rogue-p...)

copiga• 13 years ago

in the process of making a better-than-stock security system for the land rover defender.

Fzzr• 13 years ago

A friend and I share one that's hosted at his house, we use it as a mumble server, and plan possibly to host other shared services.

Dnguyen2• 13 years ago

My mom had a stroke recently and is paralyzed on the right side. I'm using the Raspberry Pi to make her an exercise machine to keep her from muscle atrophy.

yossilac• 13 years ago

Sounds interesting! Would love some more details.

Dnguyen2• 13 years ago

I got an old Craftman garage motor. It has the torque I'm looking for. I got a LifeGear rowing machine on Craigslist for $50. I like this one because the seat and track is used for the leg exercise, moving the leg back and forth. The extra arm and pullies I use for the arm exercise, using her good arm to move the other arm. That way, both arms are getting exercise. The base is built out of 3 in. PVC pipes. Since she's only 115 pounds, it's more than enough to hold her weight. And PVC are super easy to work with. Using a Raspberry Pi and a Gertboard to control the motor, I can set how far back and forth to move the leg assembly. My next step is to hook the Raspberry Pi to an iPod and let my mom control the speed and duration of the exercise.

tixocloud2• 13 years ago

Wow. I really feel for you. It's really amazing that you're doing that!

deadfall• 13 years ago

I setup OpenELEC on one Pi. It connects to a network server with my media files on it. Portable entertainment system for any TV I hook it to. I have another that I am trying to figure out what to do with.

christiangenco• 13 years ago

Set it up to boot into a web page on startup and refresh every ten minute.

In theory, I'll have useful information on the webpage. Right now I have a picture of a cat.

damian2000• 13 years ago

We use it as sort of a 'programmable, smart serial port'. Because RS-232 serial ports are rare these days on laptops and even desktops, its easier to use the RPi as a bridge between PC applications and electronics/hardware devices which use RS-232. The PC application connects to the RPi using a direct TCP/IP cable. Its a bit more complicated than that, but that's the general idea.

canatan01• 13 years ago

Besides maker projects I see that the R-Pi is many times used as a media center with XBMC.

tixocloud2• 13 years ago

Yeah, that was my initial idea but the current naked state of the Pi has me hunting for nice cases.

Ask HN: What do you do with your Raspberry Pi?

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