Single Board Computers

Benjamin Rittgers

What are single board computers?

• Small format computers that occupy a single circuit board
• Mainly used for programming microcontrols or teaching programmming.
• Small and protable: can integrate it into electronics projects.
• There are a lot of these boards now.

History of Raspberry Pi

• An early example is the Arduino
• An interface to prototype Atmel microcontroller projects.
• Inspried lots of clones.
• Sold world-wide
• Internet spurred popularity

All Single Board Computers

1. Affordable price: some are more afforable than others
2. Flexible platform: Expansion via capes, shield, hats
3. A variety of uses & projects
4. User freedom

Affordability

• Range from $5.00 to $200 - Yes $5
• Raspberry Pi Zero is $5.00 - a stripped down version of the Raspberry Pi which is generally unavailable
• More money gets more power & more features
• Runs on lower-end technology - but the newer ones are full computers
• Not latest & greatest, but very functional
• Supported by a volunteer community (magpi)

Flexibility

1. Open platform = build how you want it
   • Several operating systems can be installed usually Linux
   • The Raspberry Pi 2 can run Ubuntu and Windows 10 - sort of.
2. Uses free and open source software
3. Software runs off SD card or built in flash memory
4. Some boards can be used like a standard personal computer
5. But you can do it yourself = do what you want
6. portable - not hard to move & carry

Many Usesi of the Raspberry Pi

1. Personal computer
2. File server
3. Media server
4. Automation & robotics
5. Connect to camera
6. Digital picture frame
7. Game console with classic games
8. Radio and communications
9. LAMP server
10. Wi-Fi rounter

Freedom of the Raspberry Pi

1. Made in UK
2. Not proprietary - less restrictions
3. Open source software - you can adapt it for what you want
4. Free and easy to download software
5. Has standard ports: RCA & HDMI, USB; receives power from a micro USB phone charger.
6. Reliable design for long time use
7. GPIO allows use of home built peripherals - NOW WITH MORE PINS.

Different Models of the Raspberry Pi Explained

What Accessories Do I Need?

1. Micro USB power cord
2. SD cards for operating system
3. Ethernet cable or USB wireless adapter for Internet - Some boards including the Raspberry Pi 3 have built in W-Fi
4. Keyboard, mouse, display monitor/TV (optional if you want to run a headless server)
5. Protective case (optional, but recomended.)
6. Real time clock, powered USB hub, and electronic components for projects.

Cost of a Working System - Rasperry Pi

• Depends on whether or not you use parts you already have (keyboard, mouse, TV, and SD card.)
• Depends on what extras you use
• Douglas W. Jones, U of Iowa Dept. of Computer Science, spent $142.25 to get system working.
• Raspberry Pi itself costs $25 or $40 depending on if you get an A model or a B model

Projects

The gateway drug to making is breaking. That is to say, every act of making begins as an act of unmaking.

Cory Doctorow- Author Guest of Honor @ ICON IOWA 2010

LAMP Server

• LAMP stands for Linux, Apache, mySQL, and PHP
• The Raspberry Pi makes a capable webserver.
• This presentation is on a Raspberry Pi LAMP server.

        sudo apt-get update
        sudo ap-get install apache2 php5 mysql-client mysql-server tomcat6 vsftpd
        cd /var/www
        sudo nano index.html
        

The Raspberry Pi Wi-Fi Radio

• Plays Pandora Internet Radio
• Displays the song title, artist, and album

The Raspberry Pi Radio Transmitter.

• Just requires one wire connected to the GPIO
• Uses experimental software from the Imperial College in London

            wget www.icrobotics.co.uk/wiki/images/c/c3/Pifm.tar.gz
            tar -xvf Pifm.tar.gz
            sudo ./pifm sound.wav 89.5
        

The Raspberry Pi WiFi Router

• Just requires a USB Wi-Fi dongle and an Internet connection
• Follow the instructions at the Adafruit website.