The Raspberry Pi is a low cost micro computer developed to help kids gain computer and electronics skills in schools. It is also very popular with amateur electronics enthusiasts building 1000's of projects from flashing LEDs to Robotics.
What is a Raspberry PI?
A Raspberry Pi is a credit card sized micro computer, first released in 2012, designed by RaspberryPi.Org to be a cheap computer of around £25, that schools and educational places can afford. IT classes in schools had just become lessons on how to use Microsoft Office so no real computing skills were being taught. The Raspberry Pi project would allow schools to teach a class to program and build electronics projects without spending £1000's on equipment, giving kids the basic skills that industry required when they leave school.
The Raspberry Pi, also known as RPi or Pi, has also become very popular with hobbyists and professionals who build electronics projects and develop software. In two years over 4 million Raspberry Pi's had been sold with it's popularity growing all the time.
With the Raspberry Pi's popularity and many backers it has started to make a difference in the way IT is taught in schools with many children who wouldn't usually be interested in computing or electronics enjoying the hands on approach the Raspberry Pi offers.
The Raspberry PI Models
There are nine main models of the Raspberry Pi available. The Raspberry PI, RPi B+, Rpi 2, RPi 3, RPi 3B+, RPi 4, RPi 5 RPi 400, RPi Zero for electronics projects. Also the Raspberry Pi Pico microcontroller and also the RPi Compute Modules aimed at industry.
The Raspberry Pi 5
The Raspberry Pi 5 was released in October 2023. The Raspberry Pi 5 features a RP1 chip that is the first in house designed chip on a Raspberry Pi. This manages all input and output across all ports.
The Pi5 is around 2-3x faster than a Pi4, along with it's new features it is a viable micro Desktop machine.
Other features include 2 Camera/CSI Display ports. 2 x 60fps 4K HDMI outputs, a PCIe port for loads of higher performance addons and a power button that has absent from all previous models.
The RPI 5 comes in two memory configurations.
The 4GB version for £59.
The 8Gb version for £79.
Different equipment will be needed to use the PI5:
A new power supply will be required as it needs a 5v 5amp supply to power the Pi and any addons used. The Pi4 need 3amps which is standard for a USB-c port. So the Pi5 will need a dedicated supply.
It is recommended that cooling is also added if it is expected to working hard for any length of time.
Specifications:
- CPU: 2.4GHz quad-core 64-bit Arm Cortex-A76 CPU
- GPU: VideoCore VII GPU, supporting OpenGL and Vulkan
- HDMI: Dual 4Kp60 HDMI output including HDR support
- Video Decoder: 4Kp60 HEVC decoder
- Ram: 4GB or 8GB
- Wifi: Dual-band Wi-Fi
- Bluetooth 5.0
- Storage: MicroSD supporting high-speed SDR104 mode
- 2 × USB 3.0 ports
- 2 × USB 2.0 ports
- Gigabit Ethernet
- 2 × camera/display ports
- PCIe 2.0 x1 interface for fast peripherals
- Raspberry Pi standard 40-pin GPIO
- Real-time clock. Battery addon required
- ON/OFF Button
The Raspberry Pi Pico RS2040 Microcontroller
The Raspberry Pi Pico is a microcontroller board containing the RS2040 chip designed by Raspberry Pi.org
This is their first microcontroller and allows devices to be connected the same as the Raspberry Pi GPIO pins but does not use a memory card as it runs C++ or Micropython code directly from the onboard memory. There are additional features compared to a Raspberry Pi MicroComputer such as a Real Time Clock, Analogue inputs and several PWM connectors and multiple SPI and I2c connections per channel. There are also 8 PIO pins that can be directly programmed for any type of output or input. This is a good device to get started in the wide and varied world of microcontroller programming.
- Dual-core Arm Cortex-M0+ @ 133MHz
- 264KB RAM
- DMA controller
- 30 GPIO pins, 4 of which can be used as analogue inputs
- 2 × UARTs, 2 × SPI controllers, and 2 × I2C controllers
- 16 × PWM channels
- Micro USB 1.1
- 8 × Raspberry Pi Programmable I/O (PIO) state machines
- USB mass-storage boot mode with UF2 support, for drag-and-drop programming
The Raspberry Pi 400
The Raspberry Pi 400 is the first Raspberry Pi to be integrated into a keyboard which makes it more usable as a computer. It is like the style of the old 8 Bit computers of the 80's & 90's but with far more performance. The Raspberry Pi 400 is based on the Raspberry Pi 4 but is not just a Pi4 fitted in a keyboard. The circuit board has been specifically designed for the case. All the normal Raspberry Pi connectors are along the back and side of the case including the 40 pi GPIO connectors. There are only 2 USB 3 ports and only 1 USB 2 port available unlike the PI4 which has 2 USB port. This is because the keyboard uses the 2nd USB 2 port.
You will still need a mouse and a hdmi monitor but this a good option as a kids computer or cheap portable computer. You can by this as a kit with all the cables and software included you just need a TV or monitor.
With the Pi4 having the option of 2gb, 4gb or 8gb of memory the Raspberry Pi 400 is available in just the 4gb option. This is useful amount of memory for use as a desktop machine as well as all the learning applications available.
The processor is a the same as the Pi4 but is a newer revision and runs a little faster. Cooling is through a heatsink within the case so it runs silent.
The Specs are:
- Processor: Quad Core Cortex A72 (ARM v8) 64bit 1.8Ghz
- Memory: 4Gb (LPDDR4 SDram)
- Network: Gigabit Ethernet, Duel Band 802.11ac Wireless (2.4Ghz & 5Ghz), Bluetooth 5
- Storage: Micro SD card
- USB: 1 x USB 2, 2 x USB 3
- HDMI: Duel Mini HDMI for duel Monitor and 4K video
- Graphics: Video Core VI with OpenGL ES3
- Power: Micro USB-C, 5v 3A (min 2.5v with less than 500ma USB devices in total)
- GPIO: 40 pins that can be configured for, Up To 6 x UART, Up to 6 x I2C, Up to 5 x SPi, 1 x SDIO, 1 x DPI, 1 x PCM, Up to 2 x PWM channels, Up to 3 x GPCLK outputs
- Camera Port
- DSI Display Port
- Composite Port: Stereo Audio and Composite Video
More details here https://www.raspberrypi.org/products/raspberry-pi-400-unit/
The Raspberry Pi 4
The Raspberry Pi 4 was released in June 2019. It was a redesign as it required a new CPU and chipset allowing for more features and much better performance than previous Raspberry Pi's. This is the first Pi powerful enough to be a comfortable desktop computer. It can also output 2 x 4k video via two micro HDMI ports. High speed USB 3 ports and unlike previous models the ports can run at full speed.
The RPI 4 comes in three memory configurations.
The 1GB version for £35. Good for electronics projects, programming. The 1GB version has been discontinued
The 2Gb version for £35. Good for applications needing more memory, web browsing, more graphical programming, gaming.
The 4GB version for £55. Good for use as Desktop computer with more graphics requirements, Artificial Intelligent applications.
The 8GB version for £74. For power applications or you wish to use lots of programs at the same time. Artificial Intelligent applications. A 64bit PI OS in development which will take advantage of the extra memory.
Different equipment will be needed to use the PI4. It needs a 3v power supply using a usb-c connector unlike the other models that use micro USB. The HDMI ports are Micro HDMI. The Pi Zero uses Mini HDMI and the other PI's use standard HDMI.
Specifications:
- Processor: Quad Core Cortex A72 (ARM v8) 64bit 1.5Ghz
- Memory: 2Gb, 4Gb & 8gb options (LPDDR4 SDram)
- Network: Gigabit Ethernet, Duel Band 802.11ac Wireless (2.4Ghz & 5Ghz), Bluetooth 5
- Storage: Micro SD card
- USB: 2 x USB 2, 2 x USB 3
- HDMI: Duel Mini HDMI for duel Monitor and 4K video
- Graphics: Video Core VI with OpenGL ES3
- Power: Micro USB-C, 5v 3A (min 2.5v with less than 500ma USB devices in total)
- GPIO: 40 pins that can be configured for, Up To 6 x UART, Up to 6 x I2C, Up to 5 x SPi, 1 x SDIO, 1 x DPI, 1 x PCM, Up to 2 x PWM channels, Up to 3 x GPCLK outputs
- Camera Port
- DSI Display Port
- Composite Port: Stereo Audio and Composite Video
- Power over Ethernet connector
The Rapberry Pi 3B+
The Raspberry Pi 3B+ was released in 2018 as an final upgrade before moving to a new processor in the Pi4. The main new features over the PI3 is 1.4Ghz Quad Core CPU, 5ghz Wifi, Bluetooth 4.2, Faster Ethernet and capable of PoE (Power over Ethernet).
- CPU Broadcom BCM2837B0, Cortex-A53 64-bit SoC @ 1.4 GHz
- 1GB Memory
- 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz IEEE 802.11.b/g/n/ac wireless LAN
- Bluetooth 4.2, BLE
- 4 x USB 2 Ports
- 40 pin GPIO Pins
- HDMI display Port to connect to a TV or Monitor
- Shared 3.5mm audio out and video out port.
- RPi Camera Connector for use with the PiCamera module
- RPi Display connector for the touch screen display.
- MicroSD card port to run the operating system from.
The Raspberry Pi 3
The Raspberry Pi 3, first released in 2016, is generally the same as a Raspberry Pi 2 but has a faster 64 bit processor and built in WiFi and Bluetooth.
Main features:
- ARMv8 Cortex-A53 64bit 1.2Ghz Quad core CPU
- Wifi 802.11n
- Bluetooth 4.1 & Bluetooth Smart Low Energy
- 1GB of memory
- 40 pin GPIO port used to connect to addon boards or connect sensor's, motors, LED's and buttons for electronics projects
- 4 USB version 2 ports
- Network port
- HDMI display Port to connect to a TV or Monitor
- Shared 3.5mm audio out and video out port.
- RPi Camera Connector for use with the PiCamera module
- RPi Display connector for the touch screen display.
- MicroSD card port to run the operating system from.
The Raspberry Pi 2
The Raspberry Pi 2, first released in 2015, is much faster than the previous model and has twice as much memory.
Main features:
ARMv7-Cortex-A7 900MHz Quad core CPU (BCM2836)
1 GB of memory
40 pin GPIO port used to connect to add-on boards or connect sensor's, motors, LED's and buttons for electronics projects
4 USB version 2 ports
Network port
HDMI display Port to connect to a TV or Monitor
Shared 3.5mm audio out and video out port.
RPi Camera Connector for use with the PiCamera module
RPi Display connector for the touch screen display.
MicroSD card port to run the operating system from.
The Raspberry Pi B+ or B plus
The Raspberry Pi B+ is an update to the Raspberry Pi B as it has a much better power circuit allowing for better performance when powered by a battery and run more demanding USB devices such as hard drives. The audio circuits have also been updated to improve sound and noise reduction.
Main features:
- ARMv6 Single core processor (BCM2835)
- 512mb memory
- 40 pin GPIO port
- 4 USB ports
- Network Port
- HDMI port
- Shared 3.5mm audio out and video out port.
- RPi Camera Connector for use with the PiCamera module
- RPi Display connector for the touch screen display.
- MicroSD card port to run the operating system from.
The Raspberry Pi B
The Raspberry Pi B is the original model which is the same as the B+ but with only 2 USB ports and a slightly different layout. Though most have 512mb memory the Raspberry Pi's released in 2012 only had 256 mb of memory but otherwise were the same.
Main features:
- ARMv6 Single core processor (BCM2835)
- 512mb memory
- 26 pin GPIO port
- 2 USB ports
- Network Port
- HDMI port
- Audio out 3.5 jack port
- Phono analogue video out port.
- RPi Camera Connector for use with the PiCamera module
- RPI Display connector
- Full size SD card port to run the operating system from.
Model A Raspberry Pi's
For both the model B and B+ versions there is a model A which has the same specifications but does not have a network port, has a single USB ports and 256mb of memory. These are a cheaper alternatives for classrooms at about £17 each. At the moment there is no model A of the RPi 2.
Raspberry Pi Zero
The Raspberry Pi Zero is a cut down version of the Raspberry main boards designed to be used in electronics projects costing only £4 ($5).
Main features:
- ARMv6 1Ghz Single core CPU (BCM2835)
- 512MB of memory
- mini-HDMI slot for 1080P video output
- unpopulated 40 pin GPIO header
- unpopulated composite video header
- mini CSI Camera Port (an adapter is required to use a Pi Camera)
- size 65mm x 30mm x 5mm
Raspberry Pi Zero W
The Raspberry Pi Zero W is the same as the Raspberry Pi zero but also has Wifi and Bluetooth bult in and costs around £9.50
Main features:
- ARMv6 1Ghz Single core CPU (BCM2835)
- 512MB of memory
- mini-HDMI slot for 1080P video output
- unpopulated 40 pin GPIO header
- unpopulated composite video header
- mini CSI Camera Port (an adapter is required to use a Pi Camera)
- Wifi 802.11n
- Bluetooth 4.1 & Bluetooth Smart Low Energy
- size 65mm x 30mm x 5mm
The Raspberry Pi Compute Module
The Raspberry Pi compute module. This is the Raspberry pi aimed at developers of industrial applications, who want to use the Raspberry Pi technology to make other devices so don't need USB ports, network ports, display and audio ports. The module contains the CPU and 512mb of ram and is laid out on a small 6.5cm x 3cm board with 200 pin SODIMM edge connector. There is 4gb of flash memory onboard to run software instead of using an SD memory card.
Available separately is a Development kit for the compute module that adds a USB port, 2x 60 pin GPIO ports, 2x Camera Ports, 1 Display pport
What equipment do you need to use a Raspberry Pi?
The Raspberry PI is just the main circuit board and needs additional items to make it usable. Though it can be used with just a SD memory card and a power supply, to use it as a desktop computer you will need:
An SD memory card for the RPi 1 B & B+ or a micro SD card for the RPi2, RPi3, RPi3B+, RPi 4 & Pi Zero/w
A 5 volt phone charger with a micro USB connector rates at 1 amp for the B & B+, 1.8 amps for the RPi2 and 2.5 amps for the RPi3 & RPi3B+. A 5v 3 amp USB-C power supply is required for the RPi 4.
A HDMI cable to connect to a TV. For a RPi4 you will need a Micro HDMI cable. For the PI Zero/w you will need a Mini HDMI cable. All other models use a standard HDMI cable.
A Keyboard and Mouse, best option is a wireless set where both mouse and keyboard share one USB wireless dongle.
It's recommended that you also get a case to protect the Raspberry Pi circuit board. For ease use with the RPi 1 & 2, a WiFi dongle instead of a wire connected to the network port for internet access. The Raspberry Pi 3, 3B+,4 and Pi Zero/w all have built in WiFi and Bluetooth.
What Software is available for the Raspberry Pi?
There are various free operating systems that can be used with the Raspberry PI including Linux Ubuntu, "Windows 10 Internet of Things core", Kodi media systems and Linux Debian. The main supported operating system is a Linux OS called Pi OS, previously known as Raspbian. This is available as a single SD card image for more competent users or an easy setup version called Noobs. This is easy to install and allows you to not only install Pi OS but from a selection of other useful operating systems. More information here Noobs from RaspberryPi.org
List of other some other Operating Systems available Operating Systems
The version of Pi OS available from the Raspberry Pi foundation contains several tools and programs for learning including
- Scratch - a easy and fun way for children to learn to program
- Sonic Pi - create sound and music through programming teaching both music composing and coding
- Python - A programming language that is simple to understand and powerful
- Minecraft Pi Edition - a version of Minecraft where buildings can be done through programming in the Python language
- Wolfram & Mathematica is a Mathematics programming tool used in science, engineering, computing and maths.
In addition to these programs you can download 1000's of other programs from within Pi OS for free to do most things you can do on a desktop computer from browsing the internet, playing games, playing music and watching videos, web servers, science, electronics, communications, HAM Radio and educational tools..
View the Pi OS software package in the software section to see what is available Pi OS Software List
Also available is a 7 inch touch screen that the Raspberry Pi mounts onto for a more portable setup.
