Raspberry Pi ARK-io Survival Deck Doubles as Mobile Weather Station

Raspberry Pi
(Image credit: Techno-recluse)

This isn’t your average Raspberry Pi cyberdeck; it’s a survival deck that doubles as a working mobile weather station. It was created by a maker known as Techno-recluse, who dubs the project ARK-io, short for Apocalypse Repository of Knowledge - input/output.

The initial idea was to create a weather station, but Raspberry Pis are capable devices, and it wasn’t long before the project evolved into an emergency survival kit. In a pinch, it can charge devices, scan for radio signals, and even provide access to an archive of survival/medical-based documents.

It’s housed inside an ammunition box fitted with a custom 3D printed frame for mounting the hardware. Everything is powered by a Raspberry Pi 3B connected to various sensors and modules, including an NESDR wideband RF receiver, a BME280 module (used for detecting pressure, humidity, temperature, etc.), and a BN-220 GPS/GLONASS module.

There are plenty more components thrown into the mix ranging from a USB hub to a voltmeter, that lends to its use as a survival deck. According to Techno-recluse, the ARK-io can directly decode NOAA satellite data used for weather prediction. It has a built-in 5-port switch and even runs Kali for a bit of penetration testing on the side.

The design for the ARK-io is overall very well-done with a clean and somewhat retro finish. To get a closer look at the system, check out the original thread shared to Reddit and be sure to follow Techno-recluse for more cool projects.

Ash Hill
Freelance News and Features Writer

Ash Hill is a Freelance News and Features Writer at Tom's Hardware US. She manages the Pi projects of the month and much of our daily Raspberry Pi reporting.