News
raspberrypi.org/magpi The Official Raspberry Pi Projects Book 167
BUILD AN AWESOME RETRO HANDHELD Feature
RASPBERRY PI
POKÉMON FINDER
> magpi.cc/2lKXpcA <
Based on the Lure Modules found in Pokémon GO, this
project caused a little bit a stir at the time, as it used
some APIs that people possibly shouldn’t have had
access to. It would tell you if there were any Pokémon
in your immediate area, and even display a coloured
light for how rare the Pokémon was.NEOPIXEL YOYO
> magpi.cc/2lKRd4c <
A simple playground toy turned awesome with the use of
some NeoPixel LEDs. The yoyo itself is also 3D-printed,
allowing for custom parts so that you can fit the
electronics inside. It even has a USB charging port. Check
out the link for some cool GIFs of the yoyo in action.HALO ENERGY SWORD
> magpi.cc/2lKKSWC <
This one isn’t a completely custom build – instead, it’s
an upgrade/customisation of a pre-existing licensed
Halo Energy Sword toy by Mattel. The Ruiz Brothers
took the already pretty cool design and added a ton of
NeoPixels to make it pulse with energy, similar to how
the sword looks in the Halo games.MORE FROM THE
RUIZ BROTHERSOther amazing things you can find
by Noé and Pedroin Google Glass and thought we’d make a DIY version with the
Raspberry Pi. We hacked apart a pair of video glasses, and designed
a custom 3D-printed housing for the display and driver. It was a fun
experiment and this is how we learned about the Raspberry Pi.”
Things escalated even further when the brothers made the
original PiGRRL. Originally an idea from Limor Fried, founder of
Adafruit and ‘Ladyada’ herself, the idea was to improve upon her
earlier Game Grrl project but this time use a custom 3D-printed
enclosure. It was their biggest project to date, so they were
extremely happy to see that it had such a positive reaction.
The PiGRRL projects have since become the Brothers’ favourites
to work on, according to Noé.
“I think it’s become a classic Raspberry Pi project because it
looks like an iconic device that offers lots of playtime. People love
to play games, and being able to build your own gaming console is
super-rewarding. Every year we create a new version with better
hardware, and change the form factor to try different designs. So
many folks have built one and it’s really awesome to see parents
building them with their kids.”