The $35 Raspberry Pi is a credit-card-size computer developed with the intention of promoting computer science. it is a pleasant exodus from the monotonous computing world.
Most computer science students get to learn high-level programming languages and application development but they don’t really understand computers. The fun of controlling the real world with a real computer is never exposed to them. A normal computer lacks the capability to communicate with the real world through real interfaces.
With a normal computer that has a monitor, keyboard, mouse, printer and modem connected, hardly anything can be done, except the intended use. Of course, the printer port on a PC can be used to interface with the real world but that will be very clumsy and cumbersome not to talk of the non-availability of an easy programming environment for that.
The Raspberry Pi is a pleasant exodus from that monotonous computing world. You can hold this palm-size computer in your hand and at the same time interface with the real world with its 26 input/output (I/O) pins. With a Raspberry Pi in hand, robotics is no more a fancy imaginary world of big and serious people but a real and authentic one.
You can get this computer for a small amount of money. In the UK the Raspberry Pi Model-A costs $25, while the price of Model-B is $35, plus local taxes and shipping/han- dling fees. In India, at many hobby outlets, it is available for only Rs2600. In fact, the latest B Model with 512MB RAM is no less than a Celeron computer of yesteryear, yet with a whole lot of imagination and possi- bilities to tap.
Model-A and Model-B
The first model of Raspberry Pi that appeared was Model-B, with two USB ports, an Ethernet socket.and 256MB RAM. Later, the Model B was upgraded to 512MB, and Model-A came to market with one USB port,no Ethernet socket and 256MB RAM. It is built around a BCM2835 Broadcom processor. It consumes 5V electricity at 1A current. As power consumption is less, there is no heat dissipation and no clumsy heat-sink is required. The operating system is based on the light- weight ARMv6 instruction set that a typical Broadcom processor under- stands—all open source and based on Linux variety.
| Raspberry Pi Model A | Raspberry Pi Model B | |||||
| 
| |||||
| Price | From US$25 | From US$35 | ||||
| Ethernet/Internet | No | Yes | ||||
| Dual USB Connector | No | Yes | ||||
| 512MB Memory | No | Yes | ||||
Technical Features | ||||||
| Chip | Broadcom BCM2835 SoC full HD multimedia applications processor | Broadcom BCM2835 SoC full HD multimedia applications processor | ||||
| CPU | 700 MHz Low Power ARM1176JZ-F Applications Processor | 700 MHz Low Power ARM1176JZ-F Applications Processor | ||||
| GPU | Dual Core VideoCore IV Multimedia Co-Processor | Dual Core VideoCore IV Multimedia Co-Processor | ||||
| Memory | 256MB SDRAM | 512MB SDRAM | ||||
| Ethernet | None | onboard 10/100 Ethernet RJ45 jack | ||||
| USB 2.0 | Single USB Connector | Dual USB Connector | ||||
| Video Output | HDMI (rev 1.3 & 1.4) Composite RCA (PAL and NTSC) | HDMI (rev 1.3 & 1.4) Composite RCA (PAL and NTSC) | ||||
| Audio Output | 3.5mm jack, HDMI | 3.5mm jack, HDMI | ||||
| Onboard Storage | SD, MMC, SDIO card slot | SD, MMC, SDIO card slot | ||||
| Operating System | Linux | Linux | ||||
| Dimensions | 8.6cm x 5.4cm x 1.5cm | 8.6cm x 5.4cm x 1.7cm | ||||
| Visit the Raspberry Pi Group and Accessories Group for more activites and related products. | ||||||
Original copy written by Somnath Bera for electronics for you April edition
