A frustrated gamer built a Raspberry Pi-powered security system to keep their family away from their Steam Deck

Credit: ConroyyJenkinss / Reddit Published Jul 27, 2026, 2:34 PM EDT Patrick O'Rourke is XDA's News Editor and Entertainment Segment Lead. Previously, he was Pocket-lint's Editor-in-Chief, the Editor-in-Chief of Canadian tech publication MobileSyrup, and earlier in his career, he worked as the technology editor at the Financial Post and Postmedia. He's based in Toronto. Over the past 15 years, he's written thousands of articles. Patrick has also interviewed dozens of tech industry executives and covered GDC, E3, Gamescom, WWDC, Apple keynotes, Samsung Unpacked events and more. Patrick has a BA in journalism from Toronto Metropolitan University. Sign in to your XDA account Summary This is an over-the-top Steam Deck security project that includes a spiky case, object-detection camera, a servo and a taser. A Python camera script warns intruders; servo primes taser if someone lingers. It's a positively unhinged deterrent to prevent family members from using the Steam Deck without asking. A Steam Deck owner was so tired of their family borrowing their handheld and leaving it with a dead battery that they created a ridiculously over-engineered security system for Valve's handheld. On the r/SteamDeck subreddit, ConroyyJenkinss showed off their homemade contraption, which includes a rather shocking looking 3D-printed spike-filled case, a taser, and even an object detection camera hooked up to a Raspberry Pi and a servo motor (via Steam Deck HQ). A python script monitors the camera feeds and plays an audio warning when someone enters the room. If that individual is still nearby, the servo then activates a taser mounted to the top of the Steam Deck. "[It's] easily the dumbest thing I've ever built but it works, and nobody touches my steam deck anymore," writes ConroyyJenkinss in the post. The goal is to get family members to ask for permission to use the Steam Deck first Wouldn't a SteamOS Pin just have been easier? ConroyyJenkinss says that the taser is more designed to scare his family away than to actually shock them. It's all more than a bit wild, especially when you remember that the goal of this project is to prevent their family members from using the Steam Machine without first asking for permission. Still, it's hard not to be impressed by the security system when you see it in action. In a post in the Reddit thread, ConroyyJenkinss says that they're "very happy with how it tuned out, my family on the other hand is not." It's clear that the entire contraption is an elaborate joke, but it's fascinating that the Steam Deck security system seems to also actually work. In order to even use the handheld, all of this extra equipment would need to be removed, especially the spiky case, which amusingly, looks like it was built with pieces of Bowser's shell. In the Reddit thread where the wacky security project was original posted, several Reddit users mention that ConroyyJenkinss could have just setup SteamOS PIN protection, or purchased a carrying case with a lock. Of course, what's the fun in that, though?