Raspberry Pi is a combination of single-board computers made by the Raspberry Pi Foundation, a UK charity. They aim to educate people and create easier access to computing. This Foundation depends on the income from the sale of units to do its charitable work.
Moreover, it runs Linux and also provides a set of general-purpose input/output(GPIO) pins that allow you to explore the Internet of things(IoT) and control electronic components for physical computing.
The Raspberry Pi operates in the open-source ecosystem and its main operating system is Pi OS, which is open-source and runs a suite of open-source software.
Models
There are various generations of the numbering from Pi 1 to 4 and also a Pi 400. Generally, Model A and Model B are the most common of generations.
Model B was the first-generation Raspberry Pi model, released in February 2012, followed by Model A, simpler and cheaper. There are some Pi Models listed below:
- Pi 1 Model B (2012)
- Pi 1 Model A (2013)
- Pi 1 Model B+ (2014)
- Pi 1 Model A+ (2014)
- Pi 2 Model B (2015)
- Pi Zero (2015)
- Pi 3 Model B (2016)
- Pi Zero W (2017)
- Pi 3 Model B+ (2018)
- Pi 3 Model A+ (2019)
- Pi 4 Model A (2019)
- Pi 4 Model B (2020)
- Pi 400 (2021)
Raspberry pi Zero
It is a smaller size and reduced GPIO (general purpose input/output) capabilities. Its v1.3 version was released in 2016 and has a camera connector. In 2017, version W was launched, with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth capabilities.
Raspberry Pi Pico
Raspberry Pi’s first board released in 2021. It is based upon a single microcontroller chip, the RP2040. It is programmable in different languages like C, Rust, MicroPython, and CircuitPython.
Operating Systems
Various operating systems can be installed on an SD card depending on available adapters and the board. The Raspberry Pi Foundation provides a Debian-based Linux distribution, Raspbian or Raspberry Pi OS. Third-party operating systems are also available for Pi like Ubuntu or Windows 10 IoT Core. Some other operating systems are:
- Operating Systems based on Linux
- CentOS
- Kali Linux
- Void Linux
- Alpine Linux
- Operating Systems based on BSD
- FreeBSD
- NetBSD
- OpenBSD
- Other Operating System
- Haiku
- Helen OS
- RISC OS
Accessories required for Raspberry Pi
- MicroSD card: It is at least 8 GB. We need it to burn the OS onto it by using the computer when first setting up a Raspberry Pi.
- Power Supply: It requires a USB – C power source that provides at least 5 volts. The power supply provides power to both the Pi and the attached USB devices.
- HATs: They let you do everything from adding motors to creating LED light shows.
- Camera Modules: This has a camera port and a whole ecosystem of compatible camera modules for it.
- USB Drivers: A USB hard drive / SSD can boot this and is a cheap means to add additional storage.
Overall, these are the common Raspberry Pi accessories that can be vital for projects.
Some Software development tools used in Raspberry Pi:
- Arduino IDE: Used for programming an Arduino
- BlueJ: Used for teaching Java to beginners.
- Ninja-IDE: It is a cross – Platform IDE for Python.
- Thonny: Used as a Python IDE for beginners.
- Xojo: It is a cross-platform RAD tool cast-off to create desktop, and console apps for Pi 2 and Pi 3.
Uses:
Some people use it to learn to code and some use it to learn to code electronics for physical projects. You can create your house automation projects. It is used for weather monitoring because of its low cost, open design, and modularity. Here are some projects you can tackle with this:
- Block ads on your network
- Make your own Twitter bot
- Build projects using the Raspberry Pi camera
