Aliased from Raspberry Pi 4
Raspberry Pi 4
Raspberry Pi 3 B+
Raspberry Pi A+
Raspberry Pi Zero W
Raspberry Pi Pico

From the Raspberry Pi page on Wikipedia:

The Raspberry Pi is a series of small single-board computers developed in the United Kingdom by the Raspberry Pi Foundation to promote teaching of basic computer science in schools and in developing countries. The original model became far more popular than anticipated, selling outside its target market for uses such as robotics. It now is widely used even in research projects, such as for weather monitoring because of its low cost and portability. It does not include peripherals (such as keyboards and mice or cases. However, some accessories have been included in several official and unofficial bundles.

The Raspberry Pi and Arduino both contain microprocessors, the actual Central Processing Unit (CPU) integrated circuit chips that perform the execution of software code. The Raspberry Pi is a microcomputer, whereas the Arduino is a microcontroller ( AKA Microcontroller Unit or MCU). The Raspberry Pi microcomputer has a full Linux-like operating system (OS); the Arduino generally runs a single program.

The distinctions between microprocessors and microcontrollers can get a bit blurry, since in practice they can often perform similar tasks. But you can think of a Raspberry Pi as almost the same as a desktop computer, without the peripherals. Indeed, some people have outfitted their Pis with keyboards, mice, large screen monitors, and use them for everyday computing tasks.

The Raspberry Pi has several interfaces, the 40 pin GPIO, the 2 pin I2C and the SPI serial interfaces.

Here's a recipe for how to blink an LED on the Raspberry Pi.

The KR01 robot uses a Raspberry Pi 3 B+, the KRZ01 robot uses a Raspberry Pi Zero W.

Power Supply#

I'd say a sizeable majority of problems people have with Raspberry Pis are related to power supply. It's almost unfortunate that it can be powered by USB since that gives people the impression that plugging a Pi (often including additional peripherals) into a USB port, a USB power bank, etc. should just work. The Pi actually is meant to run at 5.1 volts, not 5.0 volts, and will stop operating and reset itself around 4.85v. So at 5 volts the Pi is already working under its optimal voltage, and not all USB power sources even provide 5 volts (some lower, some dangerously higher — fast chargers at 7 volts will immediately smoke test your Pi). Power supply voltages typically brown out (drop) under load, so pushing the power supply with a display, WiFi, a fan, etc. often leads to problems.

In terms of choosing a power supply it's good to overspecify by maybe 20% as you'll want a buffer. E.g., a *bare* Pi 4 B requires 3 amps (15 watts), a bare Pi 3 B+ 2.5A Overclocking would increase the requirement. Additional peripherals would also add to that value. You'll sometimes see "idle" power specified but that's rather useless for specifying power supplies unless your Pi will never do more than idle.

Pico#

On the 21st of January, 2021, the Raspberry Pi Foundation released its own microcontroller board called the Raspberry Pi Pico. Despite any confusion created by its name it's a microcontroller rather than a Single Board Computer (SBC) like the Raspberry Pi, uses an RP2040 CPU chipset (designed by the Raspberry Pi Foundation), and is significantly cheaper than any Pi at US$4.

See: Raspberry Pi OS

Pages Tagged "Raspberry Pi"#


Tags:  Raspberry Pi