Raspberry Pi Turns Your Ceiling Into a Live Air Traffic Radar
Imagine a sleek display projecting real-time aircraft positions across your ceiling. That’s exactly what Skylight delivers—a clever open-source project designed for a Raspberry Pi. Created by GitHub user cpaczek, this setup transforms an ordinary ceiling into an aerial dashboard, showing live flight paths and aircraft details.
A Maker-Friendly Innovation
Skylight taps into open data from services like ADS-B Exchange to fetch real-time aircraft positions. The setup requires minimal hardware: a Raspberry Pi paired with an ADS-B receiver module (such as an RTL-SDR dongle) and a projector or screen to display the data. The code, available on GitHub, is built to be modular and customizable, letting users tweak it to their liking.
A Budget-Friendly Alternative to Commercial Systems
Unlike expensive professional air traffic radars, Skylight offers an affordable and fun solution for aviation or tech enthusiasts. The project emphasizes simplicity and open-source principles, encouraging community contributions and customization. It’s a prime example of the creative potential of Raspberry Pi beyond typical hobbyist projects.
Source: XDA Developers. Editorial synthesis assisted by AI — TechnoExpress.

