What is Raspberry Pi

[Markh68]

Hi,

I am new to all the AP thing and in a thread Raspberry Pi was mentioned what exactly is it?

[saac]

Mark, the Raspberry Pi is micro computer - it is generally setup to run a version of Linux.  The particularly useful feature of the Pi is that it comes with IO (input/output) pins which can be used to control/read other external devices with suitably authored scripts (programmes).  There is a whole network of support on the web where programmes and projects can be shared.

https://www.raspberrypi.org/

Jim

[Markh68]

Thanks Jim.

It is a bit over my head at the moment but I am sure I will learn as I am in the right place

[saac]

I'm not that experienced on using the Pi Mark - I did play around with it when it first came out but to be honest I'm not really that strong on coding.  It's like most things, it's mainly about having the time to invest in climbing the learning  curve.  The last time I played with coding was while at university (30 years past) and that was with the BBC computer  The good thing about the Pi is that it is not that expensive to pick up so perhaps easy to justify to have an initial play with. There are some clever folk here who have done some lovely projects using it - I was reading one the other day (can't remember by whom) on use of the Pi to drive a Sky Watcher electric focuser as proper auto focuser.  I'd love to be able to do something similar.  I do love reading about these projects though and that is one of the great  things about SGL.

 

Jim 

[Charic]

My last coding was over 40 Years, Punched cards and paper tape?
I have fancied a dabble with the  credit card sized 'P'i since its inception, which was designed for basic computing in schools and is  already in its third incarnation now!

It was on 2016's Christmas list of possibilities.

Have even seen them stacked to make super computers?

[AKB]

7 minutes ago, Charic said:

Have even seen them stacked to make super computers?

Yup.  Example here : http://www.zdnet.com/article/build-your-own-supercomputer-out-of-raspberry-pi-boards/

 

[alanjgreen]

On a similar note, I bought myself a bbc micro:bit for xmas (its the size of a credit card, with built-in bluetooth, compass, temperature sensor, tilt sensor) in preference to a raspberry pi as you can just connect the micro:bit to your pc rather than have to connect all the peripherals to a pi.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/4hVG2Br1W1LKCmw8nSm9WnQ/the-bbc-micro-bit

All the coding is done in any web browser ...

https://www.microbit.co.uk/td/editor  usign a python style language (not dissimilar from "c" which i used to program in)

It has the nice block editor in the browser, so I sat with my daughter who suddenly decided "i want to code" and we went through a few of the lessons on there and eventually we wrote a little pacman type game.

Anyway, then I found a utility for windows called "thonny" which lets me code & compile direct on the PC and then spent 2 weeks writing a sudoku solver!

- finally had is solving the expert and evil  level puzzles and felt really pleased with myself

I can recommend anyone spend £15 on the micro:bit, if you want a bit of fun with some younger relatives, you may also discover that you have the knack too!

- they can code a program to display their name in 30 seconds

- there is a rock, paper, scissors lesson that my daughter thought was fun - that took 10 minutes. It all shows them how simple it can be!

 

Alan

[wimvb]

8 hours ago, Charic said:

My last coding was over 40 Years, Punched cards and paper tape?
 

Been there, done that, never got the t-shirt.

I use a raspberry pi as autoguider, controlling my AZ EQ6. It works great, but as mentioned in this thread, there is a bit of a learning curve. You need some basic understanding of Linux, and a number of cloudy nights to set up (no shortage of those).

The advantage of a Raspberry pi over a laptop is that it's a lot cheaper and I can control it from my livingroom. There's no need to drag a laptop outside. Even if I lose wifi, my setup will continue guiding. With the right software (indilib, free) and a couple or Raspberry pi's, you can have a remotely controlled setup at low cost.

[cjdawson]

The Raspberry PI simply put is a computer that runs on an ARM processor.   The chip is similar to one that you would find inside your mobile phone or tablet.

The main operating system that runs on it is Lunix.  But here's the cool thing...

The Raspberry PI will cost you about £50 to get one up and running.  That's the rough cost of a PI3, power supply and memory card.

What makes the PI So cool?

The linux operating system for it is free.

 

I've got a few of these at home.  Currently, I'm making use of three of them.

1. Raspberry PI 2 - This one I use to control my home network, it has a GPS on it to set my home network time.  Also has other software to assign IP Addresses and the names of the devices on my network.   In addition, it runs a VPN (Virtual Private Network) so that I can connected to my devices at home securely from anywhere in the world.

2. Raspberry PI 3 - I call this one PiVan.  It runs a program called KODI which is media center software.  Combine this with a 3TB Hard drive which I have put my entire movie collection on and we have video player which will play any film whenever I want.  It's great in my caravan.

3. Raspberry PI 3 - This one, I'm tinkering with.  It's got a touchscreen added and I'm playing with electronic circuits for light detection, motor control and will eventually include a camera shutter release too.

 

all in all it's a fantastic little device, very powerful for it's size.  But yeah, it's not one for those people that struggle to do things on computers.

[DorsetBlue]

As a long time Linux user I was going to impart my wisdom....and then found out it had been better imparted by other posts. :-)

If you look in your local WHSmiths / Supermarket magazine section / Newsagent - you might well find a "Beginners Guide to Raspberry Pi".  This has been written by the team behind Linux Format and has a number of projects that you could use to get up to speed with what these little cheap wonders are capable of.

[happy-kat]

I bought an arduino instead, the bbc micro bit also looks like a good brain exercise opportunity and cheap from Maplins.

[iapa]

10 hours ago, alanjgreen said:

On a similar note, I bought myself a bbc micro:bit for xmas (its the size of a credit card, with built-in bluetooth, compass, temperature sensor, tilt sensor) in preference to a raspberry pi as you can just connect the micro:bit to your pc rather than have to connect all the peripherals to a pi.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/4hVG2Br1W1LKCmw8nSm9WnQ/the-bbc-micro-bit

All the coding is done in any web browser ...

https://www.microbit.co.uk/td/editor  usign a python style language (not dissimilar from "c" which i used to program in)

It has the nice block editor in the browser, so I sat with my daughter who suddenly decided "i want to code" and we went through a few of the lessons on there and eventually we wrote a little pacman type game.

Anyway, then I found a utility for windows called "thonny" which lets me code & compile direct on the PC and then spent 2 weeks writing a sudoku solver!

- finally had is solving the expert and evil  level puzzles and felt really pleased with myself

I can recommend anyone spend £15 on the micro:bit, if you want a bit of fun with some younger relatives, you may also discover that you have the knack too!

- they can code a program to display their name in 30 seconds

- there is a rock, paper, scissors lesson that my daughter thought was fun - that took 10 minutes. It all shows them how simple it can be!

 

Alan

Input "enter name", $namestring

print %namestring

hey - I remember ?

[Alien 13]

Not used a Pi yet but have the Arduino and Microbit,  I do prefer the latter for its simplicity and some of the inbuilt features look to be useful for camera interfaces.

Alan

[DorsetBlue]

A Raspberry PI is not really the same kind of thing as either the Arduino or MicroBit.  The latter two are programmable microcontrollers - excellent and ideal for controlling things but they are entirely dependent on your programming of them for their functionality.

The Raspberry PI on the other hand is a proper computer with its own operating system.  It can therefore operate without your input (as much as a computer can do anyway) and doesn't even need to be programmed if you are happy with the functionality provided by the applications available for it (most prominent Linux programmes have been ported to the ARM processor).  The RPI 3 is quite a powerful little beasty - it has a Quad Core processor for example.

They all have their uses and situations where one is more appropriate, than the other.