RASPBERRY PI
The Raspberry Pi is a series of small single-board computers developed in the United Kingdom by the Raspberry Pi Foundation to promote the 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 does not include peripherals (such as keyboards, mice and cases). However, some accessories have been included in several official and unofficial bundles.
Several generations of Raspberry Pis have been released. All models feature a Broadcom system on a chip (SoC) with an integrated ARM compatible central processing unit (CPU) and on-chip graphics processing unit (GPU).
Processor speed ranges from 700 MHz to 1.4 GHz for the Pi 3 Model B+; on-board memory ranges from 256 MB to 1 GB RAM. Secure Digital (SD) cards are used to store the operating system and program memory in either SDHC or MicroSDHC sizes. The boards have one to four USB ports. For video output, HDMI and composite video are supported, with a standard 3.5 mm phono jack for audio output. Lower-level output is provided by a number of GPIO pins which support common protocols like I²C. The B-models have an 8P8C Ethernet port and the Pi 3 and Pi Zero W have on-board Wi-Fi 802.11n and Bluetooth. Prices range from US$5 to $35.
Networking
The Model A, A+ and Pi Zero have no Ethernet circuitry and are commonly connected to a network using an external user-supplied USB Ethernet or Wi-Fi adapter. On the Model B and B+ the Ethernet port is provided by a built-in USB Ethernet adapter using the SMSC LAN9514 chip. The Raspberry Pi 3 and Pi Zero W (wireless) are equipped with 2.4 GHz WiFi 802.11n (150 Mbit/s) and Bluetooth 4.1 (24 Mbit/s) based on Broadcom BCM43438 FullMAC chip with no official support for Monitor mode but implemented through unofficial firmware patching and the Pi 3 also has a 10/100 Ethernet port. The Raspberry Pi 3B+ features dual-band IEEE 802.11b/g/n/ac WiFi, Bluetooth 4.2, and Gigabit Ethernet (limited to approximately 300 Mbit/s by the USB 2.0 bus between it and the SoC).
Peripherals
The Raspberry Pi may be operated with any generic USB computer keyboard and mouse. It may also be used with USB storage, USB to MIDI converters, and virtually any other device/component with USB capabilities.
Other peripherals can be attached through the various pins and connectors on the surface of the Raspberry Pi.
Operating Systems
The Raspberry Pi Foundation recommends the use of Raspbian, a Debian-based Linux operating system. Other third-party operating systems available via the official website include Ubuntu MATE, Windows 10 IoT Core, RISC OS and specialised distributions for the Kodi media centre and classroom management.
Many other operating systems can also run on the Raspberry Pi.
In 2014, the Raspberry Pi Foundation hired a number of its community members including ex-teachers and software developers to launch a set of free learning resources for its website.
There are a number of developers and applications that are leveraging the Raspberry Pi for home automation.
In June 2014, TECHBASE, Polish industrial automation manufacturer designed the world’s first industrial computer based on the Raspberry Pi Compute Module, called ModBerry.
