What is a Raspberry Pi?

A tiny computer developed by the Raspberry Pi Foundation
 
Raspberry Pi Chinese name is "Raspberry Pi", abbreviated as RP or RasPi / RPI is designed for learning computer programming education, only a credit card-sized microcomputer, its system is based on Linux. With the release of Windows 10 IoT, we will also be able to use a Raspberry Pi running Windows.

Introduction to Raspberry Pi

Raspberry Pi computer
  
The Raspberry Pi is developed by the "Raspberry Pi Charity Foundation" registered in the UK, with Eben Upton as the project leader.

In March 2012, Eben Upton of the University of Cambridge, UK, officially launched the world's smallest desktop computer, also known as a card computer, which is only the size of a credit card, but has all the basic functions of a computer. This is the Raspberry Pi computer board. The Chinese translation is "Raspberry Pi".

The foundation's mission is to improve computer science and related subject education in schools and to make computing fun. The Foundation expects that more other applications of this computer will be continuously developed and applied to more fields, whether in developing countries or developed countries.

In 2006, the early concept of Raspberry Pi was based on Atmel's ATmega644 microcontroller. The first batch of 10,000 "units" of Raspberry Pi "boards" were made by manufacturers in Taiwan and mainland China.

It is an ARM-based microcomputer motherboard with SD/MicroSD card as the memory hard disk. There are 1/2/4 USB ports and a 10/100 Ethernet port around the card motherboard (type A has no network port), which can be connected to Keyboard, mouse and network cable, as well as TV output interface for video analog signal and HDMI high-definition video output interface, all the above components are integrated on a motherboard that is only slightly larger than a credit card, with all the basic functions of a PC, just connect the TV and keyboard, you can perform functions such as spreadsheets, word processing, playing games, playing high-definition video, and more.

The Raspberry Pi B model only provides a computer board, no memory, power supply, keyboard, case or wiring.

The Raspberry Pi is produced through three licensed companies, Element 14, Premier Farnell, RS Components and Egoman.

The Raspberry Pi Foundation offers ARM-based Debian and Arch Linux distributions for download. There are also plans to provide support for Python as the primary programming language, with support for programming languages ​​such as Java, BBC BASIC (via a RISC OS image or a "Brandy Basic" clone of Linux), C, and Perl.

Raspberry Pi main features

The Raspberry Pi is just like any other desktop or laptop computer running Linux, and you can do a lot with the Raspberry Pi.

Ordinary computer motherboards rely on hard disks to store data, but Raspberry Pi uses an SD card as a "hard disk", and you can also connect an external USB hard disk.

The Raspberry Pi's low price means it's more versatile, making it a great multimedia hub.

With the Raspberry Pi, you can play videos and even power through the TV's USB port

In the early days of Raspberry Pi, there were two models, A and B, the main differences: Type A: 1 USB, no wired network interface, power 2.5W, 500mA, 256MB RAM; Type B: 2 USB, support wired network, power 3.5W , 700mA, 512MB RAM.

Raspberry Pi model B+
 
In July and November 2014, the Raspberry Pi launched two models, B+ and A+, respectively [10-11]. The main difference is that Model A has no network interface and reduces the 4 USB ports to 1. In addition, compared to Model B, Model A has a reduced memory capacity and a smaller size design. The Model A is arguably the cheaper version of the Model B. Although a cheap version, the new Model A also supports the same MicroSD card reader as the Model B, a 40-pin GPI connection port, a Broadcom BCM2385 ARM11 processor, 256MB of memory and an HDMI output port.

The difference between Raspberry Pi Type A and Type B

The Raspberry Pi Type A has a built-in 256MB memory, a USB port, and no cable network interface.

Raspberry Pi Type B has a built-in 512MB memory, two USB ports, and a 100M wired network interface.

Raspberry Pi Computer Accessories   

SD card preinstalled system

USB keyboard and mouse

Monitor or TV with HDMI

HDMI signal cable

USB power

Micro-USB cable

WiFi adapter, USB wireless card

USB HUB

HDMI to VGA adapter

Raspberry Pi Cable