Raspberry Pi Wacky Inflatable Tube Guys Keep Students in Line

The number of peripherals that one can attach to a Raspberry Pi is seemingly endless; and Thecaptnjim’s latest project demonstrates this exceptionally well. Forget servos and LEDs; this maker uses a Raspberry Pi to power a couple of wacky waving inflatable tube guys. All it takes is a little patience and a few relays; and you’re well on your way to creating a Linux-powered celebration of your own.

As exciting as this Pi-powered dance party is, the project serves an even greater purpose in the world of education. Thecaptnjim is a high school graphics teacher; and wanted to find a way to stop students from logging out of their machines before class is over. So instead of using something simple like an alarm clock or notification prompt, Thecaptnjim opted for a more entertaining solution.

A Raspberry Pi 3B+ powers the operation; but there’s no reason you couldn’t recreate this project using a Raspberry Pi 4. In addition to the Pi, it relies on two wacky waving inflatable tube guys, a sound-activated light, a push-button switch, a relay, and an amplified speaker for playing the audio clips.

The software for this project was written using Python and relies on Crontab for scheduling the inflatable tube guys’ dance party. There is also a script that stops the music when you press the push button and one for selecting a song at random from a predetermined folder.

If you want to recreate this Raspberry Pi project, check out the original thread shared on Reddit by Thecaptnjim for a closer look at how it goes together and a demo of the wacky waving inflatable guys in action.

Read more: https://www.tomshardware.com/news/wacky-waving-inflatable-raspberry-pi-project