Articles about Raspberry Pi Zero W

How to use a Raspberry Pi Zero W?

After figuring out why you will want to get a Raspberry Pi Zero W, you may wonder how you can use it.

Given that, this post shows how you can use a Raspberry Pi Zero W in your next IoT project.

What are the specifications of the Raspberry Pi Zero W?

Before we can decide if a Raspberry Pi Zero W is suitable for our Raspberry Pi project, it is helpful to know the specifications.

How to setup a Raspberry Pi security camera for home surveillance with Raspbian Buster Lite and motionEye

Even though a Raspberry Pi security camera is not the cheapest surveillance camera, it can be worthwhile building one.

Especially for Raspberry Pi fans, you may have several unused Raspberry Pis because you buy one for each release. In such a case, a big part of your Raspberry Pi security camera is sunken cost.

Given that, let’s look at how we can setup a Raspberry Pi security camera with Raspbian Buster Lite and motionEye.

Why buy the Raspberry Pi Zero W?

When you have seen the Raspberry Pi 4 with 4GB ram, you may wonder why should we even be bothered with the earlier versions.

If you have been following Seeed Studio, you may have heard that they had included Raspberry Pi Zero W in their product catalogue.

I welcome this move from Seeed Studio with open arms.

Since I live in Singapore, I will be able to shave hefty shipping costs getting the Pi Zero W from Seeed Studio instead of vendors from the west. If you are staying in countries that are nearer to Guangzhou, then the real cost of your Pi Zero W will be much closer to the 10 USD price tag.

But why buy the Raspberry Pi Zero W?

In case you are thinking of whether to trade 10-ish bucks for one, here are some reasons why you should have a look at the Raspberry Pi Zero W for your next Raspberry Pi project.

How to host a static website on your Raspberry Pi Zero W with Raspbian Stretch Lite and Nginx web server

After you capture the Northern Lights with an entry level DSLR, you may want include them in your personal portfolio. Until you find the time to setup a content management system for your personal portfolio, you want to keep it as a static website.

At this point in time, you saw that Raspberry Pi Zero W and cover lying on the table. In addition to that, you have a spare micro USB charger that you used for charging your old Android phone.

Since you do not have any other use for these items, you decided to host your personal portfolio on that Raspberry Pi Zero W.

With this intention, this is how you can host a static website on your Raspberry Pi Zero W with Raspbian Stretch Lite and Nginx web server.

How I use my Raspberry Pis to help me work on with my side projects

Undeniably, Raspberry Pi has revolutionised the way we use computing technology in our lives. In addition to being energy efficient, a Raspberry Pi is a single board computer that does not take up too much space.

Given these points, a Raspberry Pi is an ideal programmer gift and one of the things that you should buy if you are a computer programmer.

On the other hand, pursuing side projects help me explore technologies that I may not be able to explore at work. For example, through Techcoil, I got to know more about:

• web development with the LEMP stack,
• building and deploying solutions based on Raspberry Pi,
• using Python for building things,
• running a blog as a programmer

In case you are wondering how to use Raspberry Pis to help you work on your side projects, read on to find out more.

How to enable Raspberry Pi camera on Raspbian Stretch Lite

Previously, I had written two posts on how you can connect the Raspberry Pi Camera Module to Raspberry Pi 2/3 and Raspberry Pi Zero W:

• How to connect the Raspberry Pi Camera Module to Raspberry Pi 2 or Raspberry Pi 3
• How to connect Raspberry Pi camera module to Raspberry Pi Zero W and the official case

When you install Raspbian Stretch Lite on your Raspberry Pi, you will need to enable the Raspberry Pi camera before you can use it.

In case you need a reference, this post will show you how to enable Raspberry Pi camera on Raspbian Stretch Lite.

Comparing the 0.67x wide angle lens and the Fisheye lens on a Raspberry Pi CCTV

Recently, I found a pack of Camera Lens Kit for mobile phones. Inside that pack, there is one 0.67x wide angle lens and one Fisheye lens.

Given that, I had created the following posts to show how you can put them onto your Raspberry Pi Zero W CCTV:

• How to make your Raspberry Pi Zero W camera see an ultra-wide view
• How to turn your Raspberry Pi Zero W CCTV into a wide angle security camera

In case you want to see the effect of those lens before getting a pack to turn your Raspberry Pi Zero W CCTV or Raspberry Pi 3 CCTV into wide angle security cameras, read this post to compare the effects of 0.67x wide angle lens and Fisheye on a Raspberry Pi CCTV.

How to turn your Raspberry Pi Zero W CCTV into a wide angle security camera

When Raspberry Pi Zero W appeared in the market, I immediately got one and setup a Raspberry Pi Zero W security camera with motionEyeOS. In addition to taking half the size of a credit card, a Raspberry Pi Zero W comes with Wi-Fi inbuilt. Therefore, it is ideal for building a security camera that connects to your Wi-Fi network.

Previously, I wrote about how to make your Raspberry Pi Zero W camera see an ultra-wide view through a Fisheye lens.

Since the pack of Camera Lens Kits for mobile phones includes a 0.67x wide angle lens, I decided to use it to turn my other Raspberry Pi Zero W CCTV into a wide angle security camera.

If you need a reference, read this to find out how you can turn your Raspberry Pi Zero W CCTV into a wide angle security camera.