The Raspberry Pi Foundation’s Coolest Projects is back for 2024 and there’s still time to enter projects. It’s a free online showcase open to any young digital creator up to age 18 from anywhere in the world.

If you know someone who would like to enter a project and needs some inspiration, or you just want to have a nosey at what has already been entered, the showcase gallery for this year is open. There are already some pretty incredible innovations on display — have a look. At the time of writing, a staggering 1596 projects have been submitted, but there’s plenty of room for more.

There are some super cool projects so far

Entries don’t have to use Raspberry Pi hardware, or indeed any hardware beyond a device to program on. Pretty much anything that involves some kind of programming or computing counts. However, since I’m not involved in judging, I’ll admit to a tiny bit of a soft spot for projects with a Pi in them. We’ve picked a few Raspberry Pi-based builds from this year’s submissions to give you a taste of some of the things people submit to Coolest Projects:

Assistbot

Assistbot, by a Coolest Projects entrant from the US, is a service and companion robot for people who could use a bit of help at home because they are elderly or lonely or have a disability. The maker wanted something better than a security camera to keep an eye on their grandfather, who is a stroke and aphasia patient. It uses LiDAR to map the house and harnesses AI voice assistant software to help the user make appointments and set reminders. A Raspberry Pi 4 is the brains, and it uses the same software library as the NASA Mars Rover.

Intelli Pantry

Intelli-pantry is an Irish entry to Coolest Projects and is an invention for reducing food waste. It uses optical character recognition (OCR), and lives in fridges, pantries, and other food storage areas to keep an eye on what is and isn’t being used.

BMO

We can never resist a BMO build. This entry from a Brazilian maker houses a Raspberry Pi Zero, speakers, a microphone, and a battery which supports two hours of RetroPie game play. It’s a smart Adventure Time character: it can translate voice to text, and talk to you using animations based on dialogue from the TV show.

What other kinds of project can I make?

Coolest Projects isn’t just for Raspberry Pi builds, and you can enter almost anything you like. It’s a showcase for digital making in general, so any project using code, computers, or digital technology is welcome. There are six categories for entries: Scratch projects, games, web-based projects, mobile apps, hardware, and advanced programming.

And, importantly for people whose ideas sometimes run away with them, your build doesn’t have to be complete. The Coolest Projects team understands what it’s like. Works-in-progress are welcome.

Registrations close on Wednesday 22 May. Sign up here.