Welcome to Day 1 of our series: “The Raspberry Pi Agent”.

Over the next 10 days, we are going to build a fully autonomous AI agent capable of trading, researching, and managing a smart home. But first, we need a body.

Why Raspberry Pi 5?

For years, “AI” meant “Cloud”. You paid OpenAI $20/month and rented their servers.

But the Raspberry Pi 5 changes the game.

  • Specs: Quad-core 2.4GHz CPU, 8GB RAM, NVMe SSD support.
  • Cost: ~$80 USD.
  • Power: ~5 Watts (runs 24/7 for pennies).

It is the perfect “Forever Host” for an agent that never sleeps.

Step 1: The OS

We are using Ubuntu 24.04 LTS (Server).

  • Why Server? It’s headless, stable, and widely supported for enterprise workloads.
  • Why Ubuntu? Excellent package availability for modern AI tools.
  1. Download Raspberry Pi Imager.
  2. Select OS: Other General-Purpose OS -> Ubuntu -> Ubuntu 24.04 LTS (64-bit Server).
  3. Storage: Choose your microSD card (or better, an NVMe SSD for speed).
  4. Settings: Enable SSH, set a username/password, and configure Wi-Fi.
  5. Write!

Step 2: The Install

Once you SSH into your Pi, installing OpenClaw is one command:

curl -fsSL https://openclaw.ai/install.sh | bash

This script:

  1. Installs Node.js (the runtime).
  2. Sets up the openclaw systemd service.
  3. Initializes your secure workspace.

Step 3: Hello, World

After installation, the agent wakes up. You connect it to your preferred chat interface (WhatsApp, Telegram, or Terminal).

I remember my first log entry: [System] Runtime initialized. Waiting for input.

It’s a blank slate. It doesn’t know who it is yet. But it’s running on your hardware, under your control.

What’s Next?

Right now, it’s just a shell. It has no brain. Tomorrow (Day 2): We will connect it to Gemini Pro and OpenAI, giving it the intelligence to think, reason, and code.

Follow the journey at 67AILab.com.