Raspberry Pi

Raspberry Pi is a family of low cost single board computers (SBC) developed in the UK by the Raspberry Pi Foundation

Originally the promotion of computer science education in schools was sought

But it has become more popular in the personal computer market

It is even sold as robotics or home automation components

One of its characteristics is that it does not include peripherals (such as keyboard, mouse or case), these components must be purchased separately

Its accessories have been included in official and unofficial packages

Description

It is not expressly indicated whether it is free or trademarked hardware

In your official web They explain that they have distribution and sale contracts with two companies, but at the same time anyone can become a reseller or redistributor of Raspberry Pi cards

Therefore, it implies that it is a product with registered property, maintaining control of the platform, but allowing its free use both at an educational and private level.

On the other hand, the software is open source, its official operating system being an adapted version of Debian, called Raspberry Pi OS, although it allows the use of other operating systems, including a version of Windows 10

In all its versions, it includes a Broadcom processor, RAM, GPU, USB ports, HDMI, Ethernet (the first model did not have it), 40 GPIO pins (from the Raspberry Pi 2) and a camera connector

None of its editions includes memory, this being in its first version an SD card and in later editions a MicroSD card

The foundation supports downloads of ARM architecture distributions:

• Raspberry Pi OS (derived from Debian)
• RISC OS 5
• Arch Linux ARM (derived from Arch Linux)
• Pidora (derived from Fedora)

Mainly promoting learning the Python language

It also supports Tiny BASIC, C, Perl and Ruby languages

Raspberry Pi Foundation developed the first models

After the release of the Raspberry Pi 1 Model B, the Raspberry Pi Trading was created and Eben Upton as CEO during the development of the Raspberry Pi Model 1 B+

Raspberry Pi Trading is responsible for developing the technology

The foundation is a non profit educational organization, which aims to promote the teaching of computer science in schools and developing countries

Sale of units

According to the Raspberry Pi Foundation, more than five million Raspberry Pi were sold in February 2015, making it the best selling British computer

November 2016, they sold 11 million units, and 12.5 million in March 2017, being the third best selling “general purpose computer”

July 2017, sales reached about 15 million

March 2018, sales reached 19 million

Most Raspberry Pis are built in a Sony factory in Pencoed, Wales; the rest are manufactured in Asian countries such as China or Japan

Models

Model A

Raspberry Pi 1 Model A (discontinued)

Raspberry's first model, started selling in 2012

It lacked an Ethernet port, so it required a USB Wi-Fi adapter to connect to the Internet

It had 26 GPIO connectors, video output via HDMI and Video RCA, a 3.5-millimeter Jack connector, a single USB connector, MicroUSB (for power) and a camera connector

Its processor was a Broadcom BCM2835, Single-Core at 700MHz

It also had 256 MB of RAM and a Broadcom VideoCore IV chart

It required a 5-volt, 2-amp power supply, a common element to other versions

Its initial cost was 40 euros

Raspberry Pi 3 model A+

Announced in November 2018

A+ models have lower performance so their price is lower

It has 512 MB of RAM (shared with the VideoCore IV GPU), a single USB port and lacks a wired network connection (RJ-45)

Model B

Raspberry Pi 1 Model B (discontinued)

It appeared in 2012, is a variant of the Model A, which included several improvements, such as a double RAM, from 256 MB to 512MB

An additional USB port and Ethernet connector (RJ-45), so internet access was now possible without peripherals

It remained both in size and cost

There were no variations on the processor or the graphics

Raspberry Pi 1 model B+ (discontinued)

A short time later the Model B+ was launched, it is a variant of Model B with little modification

It included 4 USB ports and changed the SD memory to a MicroSD

Raspberry Pi 2 Model B

It was released in 2014 and is the first model to use the BCM2836 processor, different from the previous three, but from the same manufacturer

It goes from one core to four, and from 700 MHz to 900 MHz

However, it uses the same graph, the VideoCore IV

Doubles the amount of RAM, from 512MB to 1GB

Although because this memory is shared with the graph, there is really something less

It also includes 40 GPIO pins, keeping all four USB ports

RCA connection is deleted

Raspberry Pi 3 Model B

It came to light in 2016, renewing its processor, once again from broadcom company

It was a Quad-Core, but it goes from 900 MHz to 1.20 GHz

Keeps RAM at 1GB

Its biggest novelty was the inclusion of Wi-Fi and Bluetooth (4.1 Low Energy) without the need for peripherals

Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+

It appeared in March 2018 to update the Raspberry Pi 3 Model B and among its improvements features a new processor and better connectivity

Going from 1.2 Ghz to 1.4 Ghz and in terms of wireless connectivity now incorporates dual band, 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz

Its new Ethernet port triples, from 100 Mbits/s to 300 Mbits/s

Also features Bluetooth 4.2 (Low Energy)

Raspberry Pi 4 Model B

Announced in June 2019

HDMI ports have been replaced by two microHDMI ports

It has the ability to operate a display at 4K at 60 Hz or two 4K displays at 30 Hz

USB 3.0 ports have been included and the Ethernet port is no longer limited to 300 Mbps

Its Broadcom processor is up to three times more efficient than the previous one

Three models are available, depending on their amount of RAM, 2 GB, 4 GB, and 8GB

Raspberry Pi 5 Model B

Announced in September 2023

The COVID-19 pandemic forced chip manufacturing plants to close completely or partially, causing a severe shortage of components

Due to this situation, the launch of the Raspberry Pi 5 had to be delayed for two years

There have not been too many technological advances compared to its predecessor the Raspberry Pi 4:

It has a quad-core ARM A76 processor (64 bit – 2.4 GHz) and integrated VideoCore VII 800 MHz GPU for overall performance 2 to 3 times higher than version 4 and greatly improved graphics

New features included on the card, such as the ON/OFF button and PCIe 2.0 port, as well as the integrated RTC connector for even more possibilities and improvements

Completely redesigned and improved connectivity with high-speed Micro-SD port for the OS, 2x simultaneous 4K-60 fps for the display, 2x USB 3.0 5GBps for transfers, etc

Depending on your RAM, there are 2 versions to choose from: 4GB and 8GB (LPDDR4X-4267)

Raspberry Pi Zero

Apart from normal models, the Raspberry Foundation has also taken out another range of boards called Raspberry Pi Zero

They are much smaller and less powerful than their sisters, but it is precisely their attractiveness, less consumption and a much lower price

Pi Zero

It was the first model, released in 2015

Worth $5, it's much smaller than a regular Raspberry, in fact it's smaller than a $5 bill

It's 40% more powerful than the first Raspberry model

Its Broadcom BCM2835 microprocessor operates at 1 GHz with a single core

It has 512 MB of RAM, and shares the VideoCore IV chart

Due to its size it replaces the HDMI port with MiniHDMI

It also doesn't use standard USB, but it has two MicroUSBs, one power and one data

It has RCA output, but instead of per pin there are only two connectors integrated into the board

Use MicroSD as a storage system

Pi Zero W

Es la sucesora de la Pi Zero, la W es por Wireless, ya que la única novedad de esta placa con respecto a su antecesora es la inclusión de Wi-Fi y Bluetooth

Its price is $11

Pi Zero WH

It doesn't make any difference in hardware

The specifications remain the same as the Zero W, apart from the inclusion of a 40-pin GPIO pre-solated connector

Peripheral

Video camera

In May 2012, the foundation reported that it was experimenting with a camera module for Raspberry Pi

The prototype used a 14-megapixel sensor, and was connected to the board's CSI port using a flexible flat cable

In November of the same year, the final prototype was presented at the 2012 Electronic Fair in Munich, and it was disclosed that the sensor would be 5 megapixels and that it could record video at 1080p H.264 at 30 frames per second

The module was finally released on May 14, 2013 at major suppliers

The dimensions of the module are 25 x 20 x 9 mm

In order to make use of it, it has to be activated in raspbian's raspi-config menu

At the end of October 2013, an infrared camera module was also released

Clock

In order to save economic and space costs, Raspberry Pi does not have an internal clock that preserves the time and date when turned off

The Network Time Protocol is used, otherwise the minimum date stored by default is November 30, 1999

Several manufacturers have designed small cards with a DS1302 chip and a CR2032 lithium battery that connect via GPIO port

When booting, the driver software for that device is loaded into memory, consulting the date and time

Testing from time to time while it's running

Other

Peripherals, keyboards, mouse and cases are marketed by companies outside the foundation

For example, the Gertboard, which has been created for educational purposes, serves to make use of the GPIO port and to be able to interact with LEDs, switches, analog signals, sensors and other devices

It also includes an optional controller for Arduino to be able to interact with the Raspberry Pi

Software

Raspberry Pi mainly uses GNU/Linux operating systems

Raspbian, a Debian derived distribution that is optimized for Raspberry Pi hardware, was released in July 2012 and is the distribution recommended by the foundation to get started

Slackware ARM (also called ARMedslack) version 13.37 and later boot without any modification

The 128-4096 MiB of RAM available on the Raspberry Pi covers the 64 MiB of RAM required to boot this distribution on ARM and i386 systems without using a graphical interface (fluxbox window manager operating under X Window System requires 48 MiB of additional RAM)

More specific and lighter distributions such as IPfire (distribution to be used as firewall), 77 or OpenELEC and OSMC (distributions with Kodi Media Center) are being created

The GPU is accessed using a closed-source firmware image (a binary blob), which is loaded into the GPU when booting from the SD card

The file is associated with Linux kernel drivers that are also closed source

Applications make calls to runtime libraries that are open source, and they make calls to open source drivers on the Linux kernel

The kernel driver API is specific to these libraries

Applications that use video make use of OpenMAX, three-dimensional applications use OpenGL ES, and 2D applications use OpenVG; OpenGL ES and OpenVG make use of EGL and the latter, the kernel open source controller

February 19, 2012, the foundation launched a prototype SD card image that stored an operating system and could be loaded into an SD card

The image was based on Debian 6.0 (Squezze), with the LXDE desktop and Midori browser, plus some programming tools

The image worked under QEMU allowing the Raspberry Pi to be emulated on other systems

March 8, 2012, the foundation launched Raspberry Pi Fedora Remix (now called Pidora), which at the time was the distribution recommended by the foundation

It was developed at the University of Seneca in Canada

It set out to create an app store for people to exchange programs

October 24, 2012, Alex Bradbury, the foundation's Linux development director, announced that all videocore GPU driver code running on ARM would be open source, using a modified BSD 3-clause license

Source code is available in a foundation repository on GitHub

November 5, 2012, Eben Upton announced the launch of the RISC OS 5 operating system for Raspberry Pi to the community, and could download the image for free from the foundation's website

His relationship with the RISC OS community dated back to July 2011, when he spoke in it of a hypothetical version

The operating system includes a lot of applications like ! NetSurf for web browsing, ! StrongED to edit text, ! Master to edit music, ! Packman for package management or an app store called ! Store where you can find free or paid apps

Also included are manuals for creating basic applications for the operating system

November 24, 2012, was announced in the Minecon in Paris, the game Minecraft: Pi Edition for Raspberry Pi, based on the Minecraft: Pocket Edition version for smartphones and tablets

The download was first made available officially and for free on February 12, 2013 from the game blog, as version 0.1.1 alpha, along with instructions to run it on Raspbian Wheezy

One of the main features of this release was being able to interact with the game programmatically, with the intention of motivating children to learn how to program

May 25, 2013, the foundation reported that work was under way on a version of the Wayland graphics server for Raspberry Pi, to replace the X-window system

This change would achieve smoothness by using the desktop's graphical interface, as processing would be done by the GPU video core and not the CPU, without interfering with 3D rendering

June 3, 2013, was launched on the foundation's website for download by the NOOBS (New Out of Box Software) application, a utility that makes it easy to install different operating systems for Raspberry Pi

It is distributed as a zip file that is copied unzipped to an SD card of 4 gb or more, and once the board is booted with the card for the first time, a menu appears in which you can install one of the different distributions in the free space of the memory card, or access the internet with the integrated Arora browser

Later if desired, you can access this menu by pressing the shift key during boot to reinstall the operating system, choose another one, or edit the config file.txt

NOOBS contains the general GNU/Linux distributions Raspbian, Arch Linux ARM and Pidora; distributions for mediacenter with Kodi Openelec and RaspBMC; and the Risc OS 5 operating system

September 26, 2013, an official version of Oracle Java JDK ARM with hardware floating-point support was added to Raspbian repositories, offering much more performance than the openJDK ARM version already in place so far and more application support

It was also announced that this version of Oracle Java JDK would be included within the distribution in future versions of Raspbian

Operating systems

List of operating systems that work, have been ported, or are in the process of being ported to Raspberry Pi:

• Complete operating systems
  • AROS
  • GNU/Linux for ARM processor
    • Android​
    • Arch Linux ARM
    • Debian Whezzy Soft-Float, Debian version without hardware floating point support
    • DietPi, lightweight Raspbian based distribution and easy menu setup
    • Firefox OS
    • Gentoo Linux​
    • Google Chromium OS
    • Kali Linux
    • Manjaro Linux Arch based Linux distribution, with 64 bit, 32 bit and ARM architectures
    • Open webOS
    • PiBang LinuxRaspbian derived Linux distribution with different desktop and applications
    • Pidora Fedora Remix version optimized
    • QtonPi linux distribution with a cross platform application framework based on Qt framework
    • RaspbianDebian Wheezy version for ARMv6 with hardware floating-point support
    • Slackware ARM also known as ARMedslack
    • Ubuntu MATE
    • Void Linux
    • Parrot SecOS
  • Plan 9 from Bell Labs
  • RISC OS 52​
  • Unix
    • FreeBSD
    • NetBSD
  • Windows
    • Windows 10
    • Windows CE
• Lightweight multipurpose distributions
  • DietPi best light distribution for the Raspberry pi
  • Minibian Raspbian based light distribution
  • Moebius Debian-based ARM HF lightweight distribution that uses the Raspbian repository and fits on a 1GB SD card, uses few services and is optimized to use low memory
  • Squeezed Arm Puppy a version of Puppy Linux (Puppi) for ARMv6 (sap6) specifically for Raspberry Pi
• Single purpose light distributions
  • Instant WebKiosk operating system with only one browser
  • IPFire
  • Micro Elastix open source solution for unified communications
  • OpenELEC
  • LibreELEC
  • OSMC distribution to make a media center with the Raspberry Pi
  • Raspbmc Distribution (discontinued)
  • Xbian is a small, fast and lightweight distribution to make a media center with the Raspberry Pi