Raspberry Pi enters the phone wars with PiPhone, a cheap DIY alternative

There are literally thousands of Raspberry Pi projects that have been posted on the internet since the device was introduced to the market as a learning tool way back in 2012 and while some border on the mundane (using it simply as a PC) others are truly unique. Case-in-point- programmer/photographer David Hunts do-it-yourself Pi-based PiPhone project, which turns the popular single-board computer into a cellphone.

 

The phone, as it is at this point, doesn’t rival current smartphones or even cellphones for that matter, however it IS a cellphone essentially and does function as any cellphone should. David created his PiPhone using off-the-shelf parts and makes use of the Raspberry Pi as its foundation, a hub of sorts that binds everything together. Connected to the Pi is a SIM900 GSM/GPRS communications module, which is attached VIA UART, allowing the device to send AT commands in order to make phone calls, send text messages, hang-up, etc. The module features a SIM slot that allowed David to insert his prepaid SIM card to initialize his device in order to make calls over his preferred network. The phone is outfitted with a rechargeable LiPo battery (complete with on/off switch) with a DC-DC converter, which transitions the native 3.7 volts to a beefier 5 volts needed to power the phone. An Adafruit TFT touchscreen display (320 X 240) was used as the phone’s input panel and is programmed to display simple numbers and a phone icon to answer calls as well as hanging up. That’s it. That’s all there is to the PiPhone, which is all that it was meant to be as David created it as a cheap, proof-of-concept device