Lesson 0 – Introduction to the Raspberry Pi
Setting up & Configuring the Raspberry Pi –
- The Raspberry Pi is a powerful SBC (Single Board Computer) which runs a version of the Linux (Raspbian) operating system.
- In this section we will cover off tutorials that will help you setup, build and configure the Raspberry Pi
- Click on each of the tutorials to open them up in a new window –
- We’ve included links to some study videos.
- We recommend you take a few minutes to go through each of them and build a better understanding of the Raspberry Pi.
- Each of the study videos cover off relevant setup, configuration concepts.
Study Videos
About the 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. It is a capable little computer which can be used in electronics projects, and for many of the things that your desktop PC does, like spreadsheets, word processing, browsing the internet, and playing games. The original model became far more popular than anticipated, selling outside its target market for uses such as robotics.
The Raspberry Pi does not include peripherals (such as keyboards, mice and cases). However, some accessories have been included in several official and unofficial bundles. According to the Raspberry Pi Foundation, over 5 million Raspberry Pis were sold by February 2015, making it the best-selling British computer. By November 2016 they had sold 11 million units, and 12.5m by March 2017, making it the third best-selling “general purpose computer”. In July 2017, sales reached nearly 15 million.In March 2018, sales reached 19 million. Most Pis are made in a Sony factory in Pencoed, Wales; some are made in China or Japan.
You can read more about the Raspberry Pi here – RaspberryPi.org.
Prerequisites
- This tutorial makes extensive use of the Raspberry Pi 3B+
- If you haven’t purchased a Raspberry Pi 3B+ yet you might want to head over and pick one up now.
- You can pick up both the Raspberry Pi 3B+ at OzToyLib – https://www.oztoylib.com.au/.
- BBC micro:bit –
- This development track makes extensive use of the BBC micro:bit.
- If you haven’t purchased a BBC micro:bit yet you might want to head over to OzToyLib and pick one up now.
- We would recommend that you pick up the BBC micro:bit kit which comes with a battery pack, usb cable and the real micro:bit.
- You can read more about the Raspberry Pi here – RaspberryPi.org.