The Raspberry Pi is a credit card sized single-board computer developed in the UK by the Raspberry Pi Foundation with the intention of stimulating the teaching of basic computer science in schools. The Raspberry Pi plugs into your TV and a keyboard. It’s a capable little PC which can be used for many of the things that your desktop PC does, like spreadsheets, word-processing and games. It also plays high-definition video. We want to see it being used by kids all over the world to learn programming.
The Raspberry Pi has a Broadcom BCM2835 system on a chip (SoC), which includes an ARM1176JZF-S 700 MHz processor, VideoCore IV GPU, and 256 megabytes of RAM. It does not include a built-in hard disk or solid-state drive, but uses an SD card for booting and long-term storage. The Foundation’s goal is to offer two versions, priced at US$ 25 and US$ 35. The Foundation started accepting orders for the higher priced model on 29 February 2012. The Foundation provides Debian and Arch Linux ARM distributions for download. Also planned are tools for supporting Python as the main programming language, with support for BBC BASIC, (As “Brandy Basic”, the BBC BASIC clone), C, and Perl.
In simple terms you can get a credit card sized computer with linux based operating system for as low as 2000-2500 rupees. This could be the cheapest computer on earth. The foundation is a non-profit organisation, and they are developing this technology to give access to young people.
Specifications of Raspberry Pi:
| Model A | Model B | |
|---|---|---|
| Target price: | US$ 25 | US$ 35 |
| SoC: | Broadcom BCM2835 (CPU, GPU, DSP, and SDRAM) | |
| CPU: | 700 MHz ARM1176JZF-S core (ARM11 family) | |
| GPU: | Broadcom VideoCore IV, OpenGL ES 2.0, 1080p30 h.264/MPEG-4 AVC high-profile decoder | |
| Memory (SDRAM): | 256 MB (shared with GPU) | |
| USB 2.0 ports: | 1 | 2 (via integrated USB hub) |
| Video outputs: | Composite RCA (PAL & NTSC), HDMI (rev 1.3 & 1.4), raw LCD Panels via DSI
14 HDMI resolutions from 640×350 to 1920×1200 plus various PAL and NTSC standards. |
|
| Audio outputs: | 3.5 mm jack, HDMI | |
| Onboard storage: | SD / MMC / SDIO card slot | |
| Onboard network: | None | 10/100 Ethernet (RJ45) |
| Low-level peripherals: | 8 × GPIO, UART, I²C bus, SPI bus with two chip selects, +3.3 V, +5 V, ground |
|
| Power ratings: | 500 mA (2.5 W) | 700 mA (3.5 W) |
| Power source: | 5 volt via MicroUSB or GPIO header | |
| Size: | 85.60 × 53.98 mm (3.370 × 2.125 in) | |
| Weight: | 45 g (1.6 oz)[65] | |
| Planned operating systems: | Debian GNU/Linux, Fedora, Arch Linux ARM, RISC OS | |
Now with this cheap single-board computer, the applications are numerous. We can use this in developing robotics projects, computers, Automation, gaming, Networking, graphics, toys, tabs..etcI have just received my first raspberry pi board. I though of ordering atleast 10 modules for my various projects, but they are not accepting bulk orders yet. So i just got one. with USB ports on the board i have options to add camera and display modules. I am kind of thinking a Tanker kind of robot as my first project. If you got any better ideas do let me know. You can get more info at: http://www.raspberrypi.org/