Raspberry pi: Whats and Whys.

   

As you must have heard about the hype going around this new board called Raspberry pi. So in this article we will know what is raspberry pi and not just definition but also the fun you can have with it. 

So, what is Raspberry pi??

   The Raspberry Pi is a series of small sized (credit card) computer. It is a small computer mounted on a single board. It was developed in England, United Kingdom by Raspberry Pi Foundation to promote the teaching of basic computer science in schools and developing countries. 

The original Raspberry Pi and Raspberry Pi 2 are manufactured in several board configurations through licensed manufacturing agreements with Newark Element14,RS Components and Egoman(Wikipedia).

Products and Configurations:

   As of now, there are 5 models of Raspberry Pi :RASPBERRY PI 3 MODEL B, RASPBERRY PI 2 MODEL B, RASPBERRY PI 1 MODEL B+, RASPBERRY PI ZERO, RASPBERRY PI 1 MODEL A+.

1. RASPBERRY PI 3 MODEL B :This is the latest pi which has replaced RASPBERRY PI 2.

 Configurations of this third generation pi includes :

~35$

·         A 1.2GHz 64-bit quad-core ARMv8 CPU

·         802.11n Wireless LAN

·         Bluetooth 4.1

·         Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE)

·         4 USB ports

·         40 GPIO pins

·         Full HDMI port

·         Ethernet port

·         Combined 3.5mm audio jack and composite video

·         Camera interface (CSI)

·         Display interface (DSI)

·         Micro SD card slot (now push-pull rather than push-push)

·         VideoCore IV 3D graphics core

The Raspberry Pi 3 has complete compatibility with Raspberry Pi 1 and 2.

According to their website, they recommend Raspberry Pi 3 Model B for use in schools, or for any general use. For embedding Pi in a project  Pi Zero or ModelA+ are recommended, which are more useful for embedded projects, and projects which require very low power.

2. RASPBERRY PI ZERO:  This is the cheapest and still very useful small pi. It can be mainly used for embedded projects as stated above.

 Configurations are :

~5$

·         1Ghz, Single-core CPU

·         512MB RAM

·         Mini HDMI and USB On-The-Go ports

·         Micro USB power

·         HAT-compatible 40-pin header

·         Composite video and reset headers

 As you may have observed, the camera is gone and also gone is MIPI port for rpi camera and LCD. There is a USB and a HDMI port though.

Competitors:

There are alternatives to raspberry pi from tech giants like intel, Samsung, etc. Some of the alternatives worth mentioning are odroid, intel, beaglebone, orange pi, banana pi(more cheap!), etc.

Banana pi

Then, why raspberry pi? Well, first of course because its super cheap. As it was created mainly for teaching purpose, its cost was kept down for to affordable for all.

Secondly, popularity. Popularity provides a great advantage, as many people have already used raspberry pi in their project and its potential has been tested. Yes, people love it! This also means that there is a huge community out there to help you with any barrier you hit while developing.

Third reason, there are great number of resources available for raspberry pi. There are huge number of books dedicated to developing with raspberry pi. There are also linux distros made specific to development on raspberry pi.

Conclusion: You will find that raspberry pi is fun to develop and an efficient board to work on. There may be many alternatives (some maybe cheaper than pi) but due to its huge community and cost effectiveness, Raspberry pi stands tall. Please comment below for discussion.