Ingenious tinkerer builds an electric advent calendar using Lego and a Raspberry Pi

Today is the first day in December, which means that many people around the world can now open the first door of their advent calendar. For people who find regular advent calendars from the store too ordinary, or for people who struggle not to open all doors and eat the entire candy at once, a creative tinkerer has now presented an adequate solution.

The ingenious programmer Richard Hayler has build an advent calendar using mostly Lego parts, the well-known single-board computer Raspberry Pi (from US$53 on Amazon) and the additional Raspberry Pi Build HAT interface, which enables the operation of Lego components like motors and sensors via Python. An electric Christmas tree with RGB lighting was also added. Hayler programmed his unique advent calendar so that it only dispenses one candy per day.

If the according button is pressed more than once per day, the authoritarian Raspberry Pi advent calendar refuses to release another Christmas treat and activates a red warning light. Hayler has published a short Youtube video in which he showcases the functionality of his electric Lego advent calendar. Judging by the construction, this advent calendar currently appears to be compatible with ball-shaped Christmas treats only. Unfortunately there are no step by step instructions to recreate this unique Raspberry Pi project, but technically inclined people and experienced Lego fans may be able to use this project as inspiration to build their own electric advent calendar.