Win a Raspberry Pi Media Center Kit - Winners Announced!

Would use it as a media center for a while and then try learning how to use the Raspberry Pi for other projects.

I would love to make use the media center for my father to upload photos of family members and places to help keep his memory of his family fresh as possible. His onset of Alzheimer is starting to rob him of his past and I would like to see if using a large monitor with the media center loaded with family photos on a constant loop might help him keep his memories fresh.

I would like to make my home more technologically advanced with common tasks made more convenient with as small of an impact on the environment as possible.

The Pi's I/O, networking capabilities and substantial computing power along with a low power consumption makes it a great device for a smarter home. With some thought, programming and electronics, it can be made to carry out the tasks required.

That is why I hope to be able to use the Pi to not only make my home TV 'smart' and be able to stream content off the network, but also to download or transfer large files that would take hours to my NAS without using a desktop and wasting power on a relatively simple task, further reducing the overall carbon footprint. With the GPIO, I will make a large LED matrix that displays the date, time, PSI, weather forecast and useful information pulled from the internet above the TV with a python script. A PWM pin (because the 3.5mm would be used for the media centre) will control a speaker that reads out the time every hour during the day.To contribute back to the community, BOINC will be run while the Pi is otherwise idle, processing mathematical problems to help in world-improving research.

I'm a developer working on creating mini embedded systems that could help others like connecting  group of arduino boards with sensors and cams all are connected to only one ras. to transform a simple car interior into a large transparent screen  allowing the driver to see the surrounding area  and auto-spot out unnoticeable objects in dark areas through ultrasonic laser  or even image processing ... as for me that would be so helpful coz i want to drive and i have only one eye ... home controlling system to help old ones like my mom and grandma and so on . . .. but here in Egypt every thing is pretty much expensive .. so  i'ld really really be greatful to have one and save some money for other related staff that i do need

anyway even without it I'm so pleased with what you do and the way you teach others ,so  ... Thank you sir and keep it going please

Hi Ben,

I live off-grid (not by choice - no grid near here!) so I have installed an (unconventional) solar power system.  Why 'unconventional? - because the expensive part is energy storage, not energy production.  So, although I have solar panels peaking at 850W, I have only 200Ah of battery storage (@24V), with a design depth of discharge of 20% - giving me 40Ah to play with at night (about 1kWh) - hence low power devices are a necessity.  Daytime, while the sun shines, I pump water for drip irrigation of 1/4 acre under shade netting, and run the fridge (which freezes water in the ice-compartment - storing latent heat energy to keep the fridge cold at night without having to run the compressor).

Solar Array:

Battery Bank:

Although we are on the equator, we still get cloudy days, when it's not necessary to run the pump (which is the highest energy consumer).  I have several comparator boards which I designed 30 years ago (!!) which monitor voltage levels in the system - but this doesn't take account of passing clouds on generally sunny days - so I need a more intelligent monitoring system which will integrate power production and consumption over time, and make better decisions as to when to shed the pump and/or fridge loads - to ensure the batteries are fully charged by evening.

Power Board:

Comparator Unit:

A Raspberry Pi will fit nicely into this scenario.

I have yet to get my hands on a 'Pi - not so easy to get here.

May I also mention that I have (still working!) a Nascom 1 (built from kit), A Nascom 2 (built from kit), Various Gemini 80-bus cards(CPU, IVC, SVC, FDD) and in addition, ZX80's (2), ZX81's (5), Spectrum's (2) - all definitely long in the tooth (like me).

Here's hoping for a favourable consideration.

Cheers,

Tony