Show HN: I was reintroduced to computers: Raspberry Pi

9 days ago

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The author transitioned to a new team at work, focusing on fine-tuning BERT, which required long hours and dedication.
Now that work projects are stable, the author has time to revisit physical AI projects.
The author and their wife are paranoid about home safety when away, prompting the idea of a remote-controlled car with a camera.
A Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W was purchased on sale to serve as the foundation for the project, offering a full Linux computer in a compact form.
A 2WD car kit was assembled with additional components like a motor driver, batteries, a buck converter, and a USB camera for functionality.
The Raspberry Pi was set up headlessly via SSH, allowing remote access and control.
Key software components include a motor control server, live video streaming via mjpg-streamer, and a web interface with a virtual joystick.
Nginx was used as a reverse proxy to route all services through a single URL for simplicity.
systemd was utilized to manage and auto-start services, ensuring the system reboots correctly after power cuts.
A Cloudflare Tunnel was set up for global access to the robot without exposing the home IP, using a cheap domain from Namecheap.
The project successfully allows remote monitoring and control, though concerns about battery safety remain.
The author reflects on the joy of discovering the Raspberry Pi and Linux world, wishing they had been introduced to it earlier.

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