Chris Bensen, the developer behind the world's largest Raspberry Pi Cluster, has made what could be the smartest ornament of all-time.
The blue, 3D-printed ornament, which is shaped like Doctor Who's Tardis time machine, contains a tiny Raspberry Pi cluster that consists of two Raspberry Pi Zeros, which are powered by a USB power bank. Fortunately, it is bigger on the inside than the outside.
The Pis connect to a blue LED light that sits on top of the ornament and blinks just like the one on the real Tardis does when it's in motion.
In a Medium post about the project, Bensen writes, "what’s it do? That’s a good question. Right now it runs the same software I ran on the World’s Largest Raspberry Pi Cluster."
The Cluster. which made its debut at Oracle Open World in 2019 with 1050 Rasberry Pi 3B+ boards paired together, uses Oracle Linux 9 as its OS. It runs a Docker container with a GraalVM running GraalPython. Bensen now has the Pi Cluster in his garage where it's operating as a server. It also has two Arduinos hooked up to it and runs a web service where the boards enable reset and power buttons while also lighting up some Neopixels.
As for the Dr Who Christmas tree ornament, it could be useful if your tree is attacked by the cat.