1) What is it?
- A $35 computer originally designed with the intention of being a teaching tool for computer science in schools.
- It has been designed to be cheap, accessible, and compatible which is why it is credited with helping lower the barrier to entry of computers.
- Newest version (Model B – Rev 2) has a 700 MHz CPU (Over-clocking easily done) and 512 MB of RAM.
- Has HDMI (1080p Capable) for video/audio or VGA video and 3.5 mm audio jacks for universal compatibility.
- 100 Mb/s Ethernet, 2 x USB 2.0.
- Operating system runs off the SD card.
2) where to get it?
- Creatron (http://www.creatroninc.com/) is the best place in Toronto to buy it.
- Adafruit (http://www.adafruit.com/) is the best online.
3) how to set it up
- Install the operating system on a SD card.You need a computer with an SD card reader to write to the card.
- http://www.raspberrypi.org/downloads (Main release is Raspbian a.k.a. Wheeszy which is an optimized version of Debian)
- http://elinux.org/RPi_Distributions#Available_Distributions (List of all the distributions )
4) What you can do with it once it is setup
- Run most things that you would expect to run with Linux.
- Run a Server
- XBMC!
- Cobbler (who needs Arduino) allows you to connect to sensors, servos, motors, etc…
5) How to extend it and why it is cool for us
- Gives us a portable platform on which we can build the game and the video output to the display.
Interesting Links:
http://elinux.org/RPi_Distributions#Available_Distributions – Complete list of all available distributions that are currently available for the Raspberry Pi
http://elinux.org/RPi_Easy_SD_Card_Setup – Resources on how to install distributions on your SD Card
http://www.themagpi.com/ – Raspberry Pi Enthusiast Magazine
http://adafruit.com/products/914 – Cool Raspberry Pi Cobbler Projects
http://www.cosm.com – On-line database service allowing developers to connect sensor-derived data on the web.
http://elinux.org/RPi_Tutorials
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