Raspberry Pis are low-cost, credit-card sized computer boards that can plug into a TV. Being tiny they are often used for electronic projects and specialised devices at home.
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Introduction to the Raspberry Pi
The Raspberry Pi is a low-cost, low-power, credit-card sized single-board computer. They can be plugged into a PC monitor or HDMI TV and mainly run Linux-based operating systems. With their four USB ports, they can be connected to a keyboard, mouse and/or other external devices.
The Raspberry Pi also has an Ethernet port and Wi-Fi for network and internet connectivity, Bluetooth, and a set of GPIO pins to electronic components and modules. Sound output is in the form of an HDMI connection or audio jack and power input is in the form of a 5V power supply.
The Raspberry Pi can either be used as is, or it can be protected by a Raspberry Pi case.
Raspberry Pi’s are popularly used for learning, low-end desktop computers, stand-alone devices, and as electronics modules.
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The Raspberry Pi Models
There have been many revisions and models of the Raspberry Pi since its launch 2012. The B Models are preferred over the A and Zero models because of their Ethernet connectivity.
One thing that didn’t change though was the form factor. The Raspberry Pi remained small and compact. The Raspberry Pi 4B released in 2019 is still credit-card sized and little has changed with regards to its layout.
To see the Raspberry Pi model used, the following terminal command can be used:
cat /sys/firmware/devicetree/base/model
Learning with the Raspberry Pi
One of the focus points of the Raspberry Pi Foundation is to make the Raspberry Pi a great tool for learning.
“We want to see the Raspberry Pi being used by kids all over the world to learn to program and understand how computers work.” — Raspberrypi.org.
Topics such as computing, Linux, networking, servers and computer programming can easily be explored on the Raspberry Pi.
Using the Raspberry Pi as a desktop computer
The Raspberry Pi is capable of doing everything one would expect a low-end desktop computer to do.
Like a desktop computer, the Raspberry Pi is powerful enough for browsing the internet, playing high-definition videos, listening to music, making spreadsheets, internet streaming, word processing, and playing computer games.
With the correct operating system, a Raspberry Pi can be converted into a decent retro game emulation device.
Using the Raspberry Pi as a stand-alone device
The Raspberry Pi is popularly used for media centres, music players, game emulators, digital signage, and streaming devices.
Various forms of free and open-source software packages are either installed on top of the current operating system or a single-purpose operating system can be used.
Using the Raspberry Pi as an electronic device
“What’s more, the Raspberry Pi has the ability to interact with the outside world and has been used in a wide array of digital maker projects, from music machines and parent detectors to weather stations and tweeting birdhouses with infra-red cameras.” — Raspberrypi.org.
With the power to use programming languages like Python and Bash, its internet connectivity, and its GPIO pins, Raspberry Pis are popularly used in the place of microcontrollers for micro-electronic projects.
The GPIO, screen, keyboard and mouse, and internet APIs can be used to collect data from the outside world. The data can be processed and/or permanently stored on the Raspberry Pi and the screen, LAN, GPIO, or the internet can be used to output data.
The Raspberry Pi can also connect to electronic databases like SQL and DynamoDB.
GPIO pins
A powerful feature of the Raspberry Pi is the row of GPIO (general-purpose input/output) pins along the top edge of the board. A 40-pin GPIO header is found on all current Raspberry Pi boards.
The Raspberry Pi USB ports
Raspberry Pi B models come standard with 4 USB ports. These ports are used to connect peripherals such as a keyboard and mouse, game controllers, USB Drives, USB adapters, and external hard drives.
Raspberry Pi alternatives
Although there are many more, popular competitors for the Raspberry Pi include single-board computers such as the Banana Pi, LattePanda, PocketBeagle and Odroid.
Raspberry Pi accessories
To get started with the Raspberry Pi, you might need the following accessories.
Conclusion
The Raspberry Pi is a low-cost, low-power, credit-card-sized single-board computer. It can be used for learning, low-end desktop computers, stand-alone devices, or as an electronics module.
