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Raspberry pi 3 model b board description. What is Raspberry Pi? What you need to run Raspberry PI

Somehow, quite suddenly, the third version of the Raspberry Pi came out.
I took it and bought it.
In short - a thing! I’m writing the review partly directly from it, the performance is very pleasant and does not cause a strong desire to stick the keyboard and mouse into my main, quite good PC Core i5 4.5 GHz with an SSD.
Not short - please, under the cat.

The board was purchased impulsively, after prolonged suffering in an attempt to somehow use the Orange Pi One. But the idea itself interested me, although practical applications I don’t really see it for myself yet; it’s not Arduino, which allowed me to put together a couple of childhood dreams. But learning new things is fun too.
And then the Raspberry Pi 3 was rolled out, which must work exemplary, because it popularizes the very idea of ​​ARM-scarf. Well, I bought it, despite the rather high price (and in general, the Raspberry Pi 2 was sold for about that much, you can’t really buy it at the promised $35).
I don’t give up on Orange Pi One either, they promise one of these days new version Armbian with video core driver support. But let's see. So far, everything is bad.

New model specifications:

SoC: Broadcom BCM2837
CPU: 4× ARM Cortex-A53, 1.2GHz
GPU: Broadcom VideoCore IV
RAM: 1GB LPDDR2 (900 MHz)
Net: 10/100 Ethernet, 2.4GHz 802.11n wireless
Bluetooth: Bluetooth 4.1 Classic, Bluetooth Low Energy
Storage device: microSD
GPIO: 40-pin
Ports: HDMI, 3.5mm audio-video, 4× USB 2.0, Ethernet, Camera Serial Interface (CSI), Display Serial Interface (DSI)

As you can see, the difference from model 2 is new processor 64 bits, wireless network and Bluetooth. Not bad.
Mechanical dimensions are identical to model 2, all housings will fit.

I don’t know how to run benchmarks on Linux, so here are excerpts from the official magazine.
CPU:

3D graphics:


GPIO performance:


Power consumption.
I checked this easily, by connecting through the Doctor. Don't lie:

Let's consider iron

So. I bought it from a Czech online store and it was delivered to Prague from Ceske Budejovice (the birthplace of Budweiser, yes) the next day. I love Czech mail.
They were packed well, the original box was wrapped in bubble wrap and placed in another shipping box. Although this is unnecessary, I’m even 2.5" hard disks in a paper envelope (!) they arrived normally.


Inside is the scarf itself in an antistatic bag and a boring certification sheet.


The box is almost similar in size to the Orange Pi box.


And the scarves themselves are comparable in size.


Here it is, the new Broadcom BCM2837 processor:


USB is implemented with a built-in hub, which is not very good. A wired network also hangs on it.


On the bottom side we have a power input (convenient micro-USB, not a poor coaxial connector), full-size HDMI, and a combined analog audio-video output in the form of a 3.5mm jack.


Right 4 USB port and 10/100 megabit wired network.


Below is a single chip random access memory, volume 1GB. I would like to see 2GB, but to be honest, I was never able to fill the memory to swap during real use.
The memory does not heat up, we do not need a heatsink on the bottom of the board.


There is also a microSD slot.


The “glass” on top is our new wireless adapter.


Microscopic antenna on top of the board.
But the signal level is normal, comparable to, say, a smartphone.


After turning it on, I was glad that the processor did not get particularly hot. But I was not happy for long; under intense load, the temperature rose vigorously, and it became uncomfortable to touch with a finger. He sighed, rummaged around in the box with radio components and stuck on a small aluminum radiator. Subsequently, it was not possible to heat the temperature above 71 degrees.

Software

The operating system is installed simply to disgrace.
Download the image, write with the program.


, I chose the main one supported by the manufacturer - Raspbian. It looks quite nice, is stable and supports all the basic functions. Apart from Bluetooth - it has been honestly announced that it is not yet supported, the board is completely new.
After the system boots, open the console and create a password for root:
sudo passwd
Next, let's configure the system.
sudo raspi-config


Here we are interested in the following points:
1 - expands the partition to the entire memory card.
5 - you can configure the language and keyboard layout. I left English.
9 - disable overscan (black fields on the monitor), select the allocation of RAM for the GPU, enable the I2C bus for connecting sensors.

Next we update the packages:
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade
After setup, reboot. Most likely, everything will work fine, Malinka is smart and selects the desired monitor resolution via HDMI.
Actually, that's all. The system is ready for use.

Everything works fine, windows are dragged without lags and ladders, as was the case on the Orange Pi.
There is also enough memory. 5 tabs in the browser with a bunch of graphics and built-in Minecraft in the window - no problem at all. Almost half of the RAM is free.
(Minecraft doesn't take a screenshot for some reason. But it's there. :3)
It doesn't feel like it, of course. modern system with SSD, but something at the level of low-power Core2 with hard drive, or BayTrail on eMMC. But you can really use it as a desktop, nothing critical.


Launched Quake III, works perfectly on maximum settings, ~90FPS.

Out of the box we also have a decent browser with hardware video acceleration. YouTube plays without problems.


However, I’m more familiar with Firefox, so I rolled out its Iceweasel fork.
sudo apt-get install iceweasel
Video is not decoded by hardware, YouTube is watchable up to 480p. But all the plugins are from Windows versions work great.


Let's test it throughput networks.
With wired everything is fine:


But Wi-Fi output is somehow not enough:


I do not know why. I turned the board and the router this way and that way - there was no difference.
I think the reason is some dampness of the software. So it's an n-standard adapter.

As for video playback, everything is standard for ARM and hardware decoders.
Everything is played, except for h264hi10p - anime is traditionally in flight, a software decoder cannot handle this. But normal people shouldn’t worry about this, yes.
Surprisingly, there is no player out of the box that would play files by simply double-clicking.
There is a console omxplayer, but such usability is beyond my understanding.
For more or less comfortable viewing video you need to install Kodi:


But this is not a “click-to-click player”, but a media center shell.
In principle, it's okay. But everything plays perfectly: subtitles, tracks are switched.

GIPO and radio destruction

Of course, people buy this not as a replacement for a desktop, but for all sorts of cool things that cannot be done on a PC or are not rational.
Let's poke at GPIO!
To begin with, I will connect the BMP180 pressure-temperature sensor. It is 3.3 volts, so it connects quite directly.


Installing the software:
sudo apt-get install python-smbus sudo apt-get install i2c-tools
Scan the I2C bus:
sudo i2cdetect -y 1


I have not only BMP180 there (more on that later), but the point is that the device addresses should be visible. BMP180 is 0x77. If you see it, great.
Next we use the library from Adafruit:

sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install git build-essential python-dev python-smbus git clone https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_Python_BMP.git cd Adafruit_Python_BMP sudo python setup.py install
And we run:
cd examples sudo python simpletest.py


Works! No more difficult than Arduino.
Next, let's connect an LCD display via I2C, for example.
Please note: Raspberry Pi is not compatible with 5 volt voltage; the display and other 5 volt devices must be connected via a logic level converter.
A cheap thing on Ali:



With a slight movement of the hand, copy-paste the example from Adafruit in:

import smbus import time import Adafruit_BMP.BMP085 as BMP085 from time import sleep, strftime from datetime import datetime sensor = BMP085.BMP085() # Define some device parameters I2C_ADDR = 0x3f # I2C device address LCD_WIDTH = 20 # Maximum characters per line # Define some device constants LCD_CHR = 1 # Mode - Sending data LCD_CMD = 0 # Mode - Sending command LCD_LINE_1 = 0x80 # LCD RAM address for the 1st line LCD_LINE_2 = 0xC0 # LCD RAM address for the 2nd line LCD_LINE_3 = 0x94 # LCD RAM address for the 3rd line LCD_LINE_4 = 0xD4 # LCD RAM address for the 4th line LCD_BACKLIGHT = 0x08 # On #LCD_BACKLIGHT = 0x00 # Off ENABLE = 0b00000100 # Enable bit # Timing constants E_PULSE = 0.0005 E_DELAY = 0.0005 #Open I2C interface #bus = smbus.SM Bus(0 ) # Rev 1 Pi uses 0 bus = smbus.SMBus(1) # Rev 2 Pi uses 1 def lcd_init(): # Initialise display lcd_byte(0x33,LCD_CMD) # 110011 Initialise lcd_byte(0x32,LCD_CMD) # 110010 Initialise lcd_byte(0x06 ,LCD_CMD) # 000110 Cursor move direction lcd_byte(0x0C,LCD_CMD) # 001100 Display On,Cursor Off, Blink Off lcd_byte(0x28,LCD_CMD) # 101000 Data length, number of lines, font size lcd_byte(0x01,LCD_CMD) # 000001 Clear display time.sleep(E_DELAY) def lcd_byte(bits, mode): # Send byte to data pins # bits = the data # mode = 1 for data # 0 for command bits_high = mode | (bits & 0xF0) | LCD_BACKLIGHT bits_low = mode | ((bits<<4) & 0xF0) | LCD_BACKLIGHT # High bits bus.write_byte(I2C_ADDR, bits_high) lcd_toggle_enable(bits_high) # Low bits bus.write_byte(I2C_ADDR, bits_low) lcd_toggle_enable(bits_low) def lcd_toggle_enable(bits): # Toggle enable time.sleep(E_DELAY) bus.write_byte(I2C_ADDR, (bits | ENABLE)) time.sleep(E_PULSE) bus.write_byte(I2C_ADDR,(bits & ~ENABLE)) time.sleep(E_DELAY) def lcd_string(message,line): # Send string to display message = message.ljust(LCD_WIDTH," ") lcd_byte(line, LCD_CMD) for i in range(LCD_WIDTH): lcd_byte(ord(message[i]),LCD_CHR) def main(): # Main program block # Initialise display lcd_init() while True: # Send some test lcd_string("Hello, сайт",LCD_LINE_1) lcd_string((datetime.now().strftime("%b %d %H:%M:%S ")),LCD_LINE_2) lcd_string("Temp = {0:0.2f} *C".format(sensor.read_temperature()),LCD_LINE_3) lcd_string("Pressure = {0:0.0f} Pa".format(sensor.read_pressure()),LCD_LINE_4) time.sleep(0.5) if __name__ == "__main__": try: main() except KeyboardInterrupt: pass finally: lcd_byte(0x01, LCD_CMD)


Let's launch:
sudo python /home/pi/Desktop/lcd_i2c.py
And we get the output from the sensor to the display.


Well, something like this.
I'm happy with the new toy, I'll figure out how to use it in the future.
Thank you for attention. I'm planning to buy +76 Add to favorites I liked the review +69 +135

The Raspberry PI 3 is a single board computer the size of a bank card. Like a regular computer, it has peripherals and interfaces. It allows you to perform many of the functions available on powerful desktop systems. It practically performs all the functions of a computer and even more. Raspberry has great graphics capabilities and can be used as a platform for developing gaming applications. On the other hand, it can be used to develop measurement and robotic systems using sensors and actuators.

From this article you will learn:

Welcome to the pages of my blog kip-world! Gridin Semyon is with you. Friends, I often experience delays in publishing articles. So please excuse me.

I finally got to the very root of my resource. This is what I started everything for. 1.5 years have passed.

I am writing these lines on my favorite topic - single-board computers and the Raspberry PI in particular. I ordered the board itself from . Just on November 11th, at that time there was a holiday in honor of shopping and there were crazy discounts in the Chinese store.

So, I took the opportunity...

How many potential possibilities does this thing contain? Unfortunately, it’s not very popular in Russia. I dug through so much information. Most of it is in English.

Now I’m at such a level that I understand everything in general terms. I am going to expand and deepen this knowledge.

Let's start with a description...

Description of Raspberry PI

A miniature and silent computer capable of communicating with the outside world using a GPIO input/output system. His abilities are limited only by your knowledge and imagination.

What applications can there be on Raspberry PI 3:

  • Home server for data storage;
  • Bitcoin Mining;
  • Robot controlled by WI-FI or with machine vision
  • Game console or slot machine;
  • Home weather station;
  • Tablet;
  • Security system with facial recognition;
  • "Smart House;

You can assemble any automation on this machine. Build any robot.

The most important criteria for any automation system are as follows:

  • Drawing up the main algorithm and using libraries;
  • Taking into account the speed of the operation processing cycle;
  • Taking into account the sampling and polling speed of analog signals;
  • Availability of network connection;

Let's start with the main technical characteristics:

SoCBroadcom BCM2837
CPUARM Cortex-A53 (4 cores)
GPUBroadcom VideoCore IV
RAM1GB LDDR2
Built-in adapters10/100Mbit Ethernet, Bluetooth 4.1 LE, Wi-Fi 802.11n
Ports4xUSB 2.0, HDMI, 3.5mm audio output, 40-pin GPIO, Camera Serial Interface (CSI), Display Serial Interface (DSI)
MicroSD card slot

What comments can I add from all of the above?

The main operating system is Linux. The OS is registered on a microSD flash drive and inserted into the appropriate slot.

And if your operating system crashes, then it’s okay. You can re-record at any time.

The main processor architecture is ARM Cortex-A53. What does this mean? About the fact that we can flash one of many operating systems:

  1. Raspbian (a Debian derivative tailored for Raspberry). By the way, this operating system is used in hosting servers
  2. Raspberry PI Desktop
  3. UBUNTU Mate
  4. Snappy UBUNTU Core
  5. Windows 10 IOT
  6. LIBREELEC
  7. PINET
  8. RISCOS
  9. Weather station

To start learning, I suggest trying out Raspbian. You must first understand how to use the Linux OS in general.

The following interfaces are available for Raspberry:

  • UART (Serial);
  • I²C/TWI;
  • SPI with selector between two devices;
  • Ethernet 10/100 Mbit with output to a standard 8P8C socket (RJ45);
  • Wi-Fi 802.11n and Bluetooth 4.1 provided by the Broadcom BCM43438 chip;

Regarding the power supply of a single board computer. There is a micro-USB on board that accepts 5 Volts. Can be powered via PINs. But it is best to connect a 5 V power adapter with an output current of 2 A. This way, there will be enough power capacity for the devices that you will connect to USB.

So he is able to perform mainly only narrow tasks - local ones. In general, it is interesting to use the RPI + Arduino combination directly. I always wanted to try it.

What you need to run Raspberry PI

To get started you will need:

  1. The minicomputer board itself;
  2. A set of copper radiators (I highly recommend it if you want your raspberries to work longer);
  3. Any body (not necessary, but desirable);
  4. Power supply 5 V at 2.5 A;
  5. microSD memory card with a minimum capacity of 8 GB;

Then we need peripherals to work, basically like a regular computer.

  1. Monitor or TV with HDMI output;
  2. Keyboard;
  3. Mouse;

If you have a VGA monitor, no problem, switch to HDMI using a special converter.

We will talk to you about installation and first use later, when the raspberry finally arrives at my home.

To implement various Raspberry software functions mainly . You can write in Java. There is also a very childish object-oriented programming language called Scratch.

It can also be used for Raspberry, quite realistically.

Examples of projects with raspberries

What can you do with Raspberry PI 3? And a lot of things, a lot. There are just a lot of examples of implementation.

I will post mostly English-language videos, since they are the most informative::

1 GameBoy on Raspberry PI Zero


Or alternatively:

And the second part:

2 Quadcopter on RPI

3 “Smart” home on RPI

4 Full-fledged “home” server

5 Luxurious video recorder for the car

This is just a small part of what I listed. Unfortunately mostly in English.

Best regards, Gridin Semyon

The Raspberry Pi minicomputer continues to get better and better every year. Typically, commercial products receive updates because the company sees it as a profit.

But with the Paspberry Pi Fundation and Pi 3 the situation is completely different. Firstly, it is a charitable organization. The Paspbery Pi single board computer is even cheaper than the new PS4 game console. The purpose of this company is education and creating culture, not making billions.

The Paspberry Pi 3 is an almost perfect upgrade to the Pi 2. If we compare the raspberry pi 2 and pi 3, we get more power, built-in Wifi and Bluetooth. And most importantly - without increasing the price. It has all the components we wanted and nothing extra. Let's do a short review of the Raspbery Pi 3.

When you first look at the Raspberry Pi 3, you won't feel a rush of excitement. It looks almost the same as the old version, but with... no, even side by side they look almost the same.

Several small PCB components have been moved. They were moved a little to accommodate the Wifi antenna. But this is such a minor change that it is almost unnoticeable. The connectors remain the same as in the previous model, which means that the housings from previous models remain relevant.

In the small box with the computer, in addition to a thin board with a Raspberry Pi 3, as always, there are small instructions for use and configuration. There's no power cord, and no memory card unless you order one separately. You definitely need a memory card because this device does not have its own secure data storage.

As usual, you can use the same power cable (MicroUSB) and the same memory cards (MicroSD) as most Android smartphones. For a device that should scare all technophobes, this is quite normal.

New opportunities

One of the most important points of the Raspberry Pi 3 is its increased power, as well as support for wifi and Bluetooth. These are the two things that we used to have to connect to USB to make a small home media player or a small media center.

Raspberry Pi is intended primarily for people who want to learn how to program. But this little pocket computer won't turn you into Donnie Carmack in three weeks. Textbooks and books are still very much needed.

What draws thousands of people to the Raspberry Pi are the hundreds of already completed projects whose code you can use and modify to improve your programming skills. You can use a very large number of projects developed by others. You will also get great pleasure by assembling your own minicomputer.

How to start?

Alas, everything is not as simple as with an Android smartphone. You are buying a bare Pi board, without a memory card. First you need to write the operating system image to the memory card.

The Raspberry Foundation website explains everything in great detail so that it can be understood by beginners, students and teachers who want to start developing their own projects. There are even ready-made memory cards with Openelec and OSMC recorded, as well as new versions of the XBMC media center. With minimal effort, you can turn your Raspberry Pi into an ultra-low-cost media center in 30 minutes.

Linux

The official OS of Raspberry PI is Raspbian, based on Linux, or rather Debian. Despite the presence of a graphical interface, here more actions are done through the terminal. But if you are not yet well versed in Linux, then the official website has enough tutorials on this topic and you can master everything.

Another interesting thing is Noobs. These are a few files that need to be written to a memory card, they allow you to automatically install Raspbian and almost everything else you need, including additional software, an office suite and even Minecraft.

It also comes standard with a browser called Epiphany, and while it's not as fast as a laptop or tablet, it's noticeably faster than a Raspberry Pi 2. You can use the Raspberry Pi 3 as an inexpensive personal computer. And it will test your patience much less than any other Pi up to this point. If you notice a slowdown, it means you are trying to do several things at once. The browser works quite quickly, we see a white page only for a moment, then the content is loaded. It can already be used.

The Raspberry Pi 3 has all the necessary ports. As before, there are four USB inputs, which is more than in some laptops, an Ethernet port and an HDMI connector for connecting to a TV or monitor. And now it’s also possible to connect additional controllers, mice and keyboards via Wifi and Bluetooth. For true Pi geeks there are GPIO and camera connectors.

Major improvements

Perhaps the most important improvement is power. But when you just look at the numbers, the difference may not be very noticeable. The Raspberry Pi 2 has a Qualcomm 900GHz quad-core processor, 1GB of RAM, and a VideoCore IV GPU. The new version also has a quad-core processor, but this time it’s 1.2 GHz on a BCM2837 chip, also 1 GB of RAM and a VideoCore IV GPU.

But the increase in power is not limited to frequency numbers. Raspberry Pi 2 uses an older Cortex-A7 processor. Smartphones with this processor are the slowest in the world. In comparison, the Pi 3 has a Cortex-A53, and this processor is used in entry-level and mid-range smartphones. Also the Pi now supports 64 bit.

The GPU frequency is also increased from 250 MHz to 400 MHz, and the RAM from 450 MHz to 900 MHz. Since Linux is used here instead of Android, the performance is even more noticeable.

Gaming on Raspberry Pi

The best way to see how the Raspberry Pi 3's performance has improved is to try running some games. For classic N64 games from the EmulationStation, performance has improved significantly compared to the previous generation Paspberry Pi.

The most significant change is that The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, which barely ran on the Raspberry Pi, now runs more or less well, with only minor framerate drops. Yes, in 2016 we are trying to launch games from 1996. But do not forget that emulation requires ten times more resources than the original machine.

Raspberry Pi 3 is definitely an improved version of the previous one and that's a good thing. For many, it was disappointing that when using the same class of GPU, it still only supports 1080p video, and not 4k. If you want 4k, then you need the NVIDIA Shield, not the Raspberry Pi 3.

Raspberry Pi for coding

In fact, the Raspberry Pi is designed only for learning programming. Lots of people learning programming buy the Pi. This won't teach you how to program in C instantly. But it will help train your mind to think like a programmer.

conclusions

These days there are many computers printed on a single board. Some of them are really intended for serious developers. Others are simply copies of the Raspberry Pi.

But no other board provides the same capabilities as the Raspberry Pi. The amazingly low cost of hardware, mountains of online support and documentation, a huge number of projects from other developers, all this perfectly explains its enormous popularity. It is much better than any Android smartphone and also better than Raspberry Pi 2.

Today the Raspberry Pi single-board microcomputer celebrates its fourth birthday, and along with our best wishes, we're excited to announce our newest board. Almost exactly a year after the release of the Raspberry Pi 2, say hello to the new Raspberry Pi 3, model B. The new board is the first 64-bit Raspberry Pi, and it comes with built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.

Aimed not just at being a desktop replacement, but at being used in embedded projects, the Pi 3 was intentionally designed as an evolution rather than a revolutionary twist on the Raspberry Pi platform. Which makes a lot of sense.

Raspberry Pi 3 Model B - Specifications

  • Dual-core 64-bit ARM Cortex A53 processor clocked at 1.2 GHz
  • Almost 50% faster than Raspberry Pi 2
  • 802.11n wireless connection via Wi-Fi
  • Bluetooth 4.1 (including Bluetooth Low Energy)
  • 400MHz VideoCore IV multimedia
  • 1GB LPDDR2-900 SDRAM (i.e. 900MHz)
  • Price $35
New Raspberry Pi 3, Model B.

Considering that more than 8 million Raspberry Pi boards have been sold to date, continuity and maintaining communication with previous modifications of the microcomputer is an important point for the company. This is a lot of users and training materials. In fact, this policy of continuity and maintaining connections with previous modifications was one of the points emphasized by Eben Upton, founder of the Raspberry Pi company. Note that this policy is the driving force behind many of the design decisions that go into the board.

Raspberry Pi 3 is fast.

Externally, the new board looks almost the same as its predecessor. But despite the fact that the price has remained the same - the board still costs $35 - there have been many changes inside it. The ARM v7 architecture of the Raspberry Pi 2 model is a thing of the past: the new board is the first 64-bit Raspberry Pi, with a 64-bit quad-core ARM Cortex A53 processor clocked at 1.2 GHz.

And this makes the new BCM2837 chip more than 50% faster than the Raspberry Pi 2, and almost ten times faster than the original Model B. Although such performance does come at a cost: the new Raspberry Pi 3 costs one and a half times more power than the old Raspberry Pi 2.

However, the Raspberry Pi 3 appears to have crossed the performance threshold. Even though the 1GB of onboard RAM that the Raspberry Pi 2 gave us hasn't increased, the new microcomputer appears to be "good enough" to replace a desktop PC in almost all cases and situations .
The BCM2837 chip that powers the new mini-computer is a direct evolution of the BCM2836 chip that was used in the Raspberry Pi 2 and the BCN2835 that was used in the original Raspberry Pi Zero.

BCM2837, dual-core 64-bit ARM Cortex A53 processor.

The company regards continuity and inextricable connection between board modifications as a vital component of its products.

Raspberry Pi 3 has network connections.

Perhaps the biggest change is that the new Raspberry Pi 3 comes with both built-in Wi-Fi and built-in Bluetooth 4.1. This means that the new model will support Bluetooth “Classic” and, even more usefully, Bluetooth LE. This makes the new Raspberry Pi not just a desktop replacement, but also an excellent hub for the emerging Internet of devices.

While it's always been possible to add USB Wi-Fi and Bluetooth adapters to the Raspberry Pi, the elements built into the board itself still make your life a lot easier. Previously, adding third-party USB Wi-Fi and Bluetooth LE adapters cost another $20 on top of the Raspberry Pi price. The fact that the radio chip is now built into the board itself saves you from unnecessary costs, and also eliminates problems of hardware and driver incompatibility.

Almost inevitably, news of the new Raspberry Pi leaked even before the computer itself arrived, with rumors starting to surface almost two weeks before today's official launch. But as with many tech products these days, it was the inevitable filing for certification with the Federal Communications Service that showed the cards, although I'm not sure the company will forgive CPC for so easily allowing people to actually order the board before it even launched. .

According to reviews from the first owners, the new microcomputer really works stably and quickly. Having said that, we note that at the time we tested, the company was still working pretty hard on its Wi-Fi and Bluetooth platform support package, and that support for built-in Bluetooth elements won't be available on launch day - although it will be coming very soon. all new company devices.

We also encountered an issue with the built-in Wi-Fi that only occurred when the new board was running in Headless mode. Ultimately, we determined that it occurs when using the power saving mode on the connection chip. Essentially, the computer would become unresponsive in headless mode if it was only connected to the network via Wi-Fi.

Meanwhile, if you're running your computer in headless mode, don't forget to enable keepalive checking in your SSH client, otherwise you'll run into similar issues.

Review of Raspberry Pi 3 elements.

Apart from the placement of the LED indicators, the new radio chip and the antenna located between the display connector and the GPIO interface block, the new board is very similar to the Raspberry Pi 2 version. However, among the elements of the electronic device there are a number of interesting points worth noting, and which, You may not see it right away.


Front side of Raspberry Pi 3 with Broadcom BCM2837 chip (left center) and SMSC LAN9514 USB/Ethernet controller (right).
The back of the Raspberry Pi 3 board with 1GB LPDDR2-900 SDRAM (center) and BCM43438 transmitter (right, above the SD card slot).

Many manufacturers use prefabricated "plug-in modules" to add wireless power to a device, meaning they can rely on module certification to bring their boards to market. However, the new Raspberry Pi's wireless radio chip is soldered directly onto the board. Although this means that the new microcomputer must be certified by the Federal Communications Service - which greatly increases its initial cost - it is much cheaper in the long run and makes it easier to produce on a large scale. We think the Raspberry Pi 3 release will be big enough that the company has made the right choice.

The Raspberry Pi 2, which is not very camera friendly, had problems with the switching power supply chip (SMPS chip), which turned out to be too photosensitive. A very intense stream of light - for example, when photographing with flash - caused surges in the power supply, causing the computer to reboot. Looking at the shiny BCM43438 radio chip, we can tell that it also lacks any kind of sealing, so perhaps it will have similar problems. However, it is worth noting that the SMPS chip on the new board is securely sealed.

We find another interesting point on the back of the board, right next to the wireless radio chip: it looks like a coreless antenna for a UFL connector, and on a silk stencil next to it the name “J13” appears. You could just see the board's antenna in the image above the folding part of the board, just below the empty pins.

Even though we won't get any support from the company - documenting it would violate the terms of their FCC certification - I can't wait to make my first upgrade by adding a can antenna to the Raspberry Pi. To do this, you can either re-solder the built-in antenna, or use those same empty pads on the back side. We're only a can of Pringle's chips away from a cheap, long-range Wi-Fi antenna.

When Arduino power is not enough, heavy artillery in the form of microcomputers comes to the aid of the maker Raspberry Pi. Most often, “raspberry pies” or “raspberries”, as they are also called, are used in tasks of processing video, audio information and complex communications. In this article we will get acquainted with Raspberry, find out what a microcomputer is, what models are relevant today and how you can use this device in your projects.

Using Raspberry Pi, you can make a smart robot that recognizes its owner or a smart home server transmitting via WiFi or Ethernet. You can connect sensors, motors, relays and more to the microcomputer. Thus, the areas of application of Raspberry and Arduino in DIY projects overlap greatly.

What are single board microcomputers?

A microcomputer is a device that has the architecture of a full-fledged computer, but differs in its size. Today, there are hundreds (!) of different models on the market (including Raspberry clones) from dozens of manufacturers, and this makes the single-board market significantly different from the market for conventional computers, in which all market shares have long been distributed among the leaders.

Microcomputers are most often created for specific tasks; they cannot compete with conventional computers, being inferior to them in power and convenience. But they are cheaper, simpler, compact in size and consume less energy. This makes the microcomputer an important element of mobile automated systems.

The Raspberry Pi is today the most famous member of the family of single-board microcomputers. This is a fairly cheap and affordable entry-level board that can be purchased from many online stores. Asian manufacturers have created a large number of clones (Orange Pi, Banana Pi and others) that can be used in their projects. And another very important advantage of “raspberry” is the huge community of developers involved in the development of architecture and software. Many books, tutorials, operating systems and convenient tools have been published that make it much easier for beginners to get started with the system. Therefore, it is recommended to start working with this microcontroller for those who have already become “small” with Arduino.

What is Raspberry Pi?

The Raspberry Pi is an inexpensive, credit card-sized computer that attaches to a PC monitor or TV and uses a standard keyboard and mouse. Externally, the computer is a small four-layer printed circuit board with USB, HDMI and other connectors, a Micro SD slot, and a GPIO pin strip. The case, memory card, keyboard, mouse, monitor, power supply must be purchased additionally.

With the help of “raspberry” you can learn to program in Scratch and Python. Initially, the microcomputer was developed for use in teaching in schools and universities, so there are many software packages for it and even a special operating system for children.

A key feature of Raspberry is the ability to connect external devices to it and control them using various software packages (the most popular is Python). All kinds of sensors, LEDs, motors, relays and other electronic components can be connected via GPIO pins in the same way as with Arduino. Therefore, we can significantly expand the functionality of a microcomputer by creating workstations from it for each specific project.

The history of Raspberry

The developer of the device is the British company Raspberry Pi Foundation. The first sample was presented by David Braben in May 2011. The start of production of the first batch of model B dates back to January 2012. Since then, the computer has been upgraded every year, and more advanced computers have gone on sale.

Model release history:

  • February 29, 2012 – start of sales of Model B.
  • December 14, 2012 – production of the Raspberry Pi “A” model begins.
  • July 14, 2014 – release of the third version of Raspberry Pi “B+”.
  • February 2, 2015 – Raspberry Pi “2B” released.
  • November 26, 2015 - release of a new Raspberry Pi Zero microcomputer equipped with an unmounted GPIO connector.
  • February 29, 2016 – release of the Raspberry Pi 3 model, featuring a 64-bit processor, WI-FI and Bluetooth.
  • February 28, 2017 – an upgraded version of Raspberry Pi Zero W with WI-FI and Bluetooth.

Raspberry Pi model A+ board pinout

Model A+ is a budget version of the Raspberry Pi board. The device was released in 2014 to replace the original Model A. The board is shown in the figure below.

Unlike the previous model, A+ has the following characteristics:

  • A large number of GPIO outputs - now there are 40 of them.
  • Micro SD connector.
  • Reduced Energy Consumption - Linear voltage regulators have been replaced with switching regulators, saving energy.
  • Improved audio system – the board has a separate power supply with a reduced noise level.
  • Reduced form factor - composite audio output, built-in 3.5 mm audio output, mounting holes, USB connector located on the edge of the board.

The pinout is shown in the figure

1, 17 contacts – power supply 3.3 V.

2, 4 pins – supply voltage 5 V. Connected directly to the input voltage of the board.

3 – SDA output (one of the I2C pins on the board).

5 – SCl (also one of the I2C outputs on the board).

6, 9, 14, 20, 25,30, 34, 39 – Earth. All ground contacts are connected, you can use any output that is closer to the remaining elements.

8 – TXD, one of 2 UART outputs, responsible for data transfer. UART pins are usually used to interconnect Arduino and Raspberry Pi. It is important to connect the boards correctly since the Pi is powered at 3.3V and the Arduino at 5V.

10 – RXD, output for UART, responsible for receiving data.

11, 13, 15, 16, 18, 22, 29, 3, 32, 33, 36, 37 – reserved contacts.

12 – PCM_C pin, which is used in conjunction with a special PWM method. Provides direct memory access.

19, 38 – MOSI contacts.

21, 35 – MISO contacts.

23, 40 – SCLK contacts.

24, 26 – CS0 and CS1 outputs.

27,28 – ID_SD, reserved for I2C communication with non-volatile memory.

The Raspberry Pi Model A+ board is used in projects where low power consumption is important and where an Ethernet interface is not required.

Raspberry Pi 3 model B board

Raspberry Pi model B is the most common board. Compared to its predecessor, the Pi 2 Model B features a 64-bit ARM Cortex-A53 processor and built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. The board has 1 GB of RAM, which is shared with the graphics system. There are many ways to use the board - they can be used to create game consoles, security systems, tablets and other electronic devices.

There is a 3.5 mm jack for connecting headphones and speakers. There are also 4 USB outputs to which you can connect peripherals. Connection of various modules is carried out through 15-pin slots:

  • DSI – intended for connecting a display;
  • CSI-2 – connecting a camera via the MIPI interface.

The following outputs are used for low-level interfaces:

  • General purpose – 40 I/O ports;
  • UART;
  • Power and ground inputs.

Ethernet, Wi-Fi 802.11n and Bluetooth 4.1 interfaces are used for communication. The board uses a microSD card with the operating system installed on it as a hard drive. It is better to use a memory card with a capacity of 8 GB. Raspberry Pi model B uses the Linux operating system.

The device is powered by a 5 V adapter via a USB connector or power outputs. There is no dedicated power switch on the Raspberry Pi; you just need to plug in the power cable to turn on the device.

Raspberry Pi model Zero board

The model Zero series of boards differs from its predecessors in its smaller size. There are 2 types of boards of this type - model Zero and the new version Zero W. The second differs only in the presence of Wi-fi and Bluetooth on board.

Raspberry Zero Specifications:

  • 512 MB RAM;
  • Single-core ARMv6Z ARM1176JZF-S processor with a clock frequency of 1 GHz;
  • Mini HDMI port;
  • 2 micro USB ports, one for connecting to a computer;
  • Wi-Fi 802.11n;
  • Bluetooth 4.1

The location of the outputs and pinouts are shown in the figure. The board features 40 general purpose I/O ports, UART, I2C, SPI, 3.3V and 5V power outputs, and ground. It is important to note that the connector is not soldered and requires DIY installation.

The new Zero W model uses microSD, unlike the older model, which uses miniSD for operation. A flash card is used as a storage medium; its volume must be at least 2 GB. The board is powered using a 5-volt adapter via power pins or a micro-USB input.

Among the disadvantages, we can note the low execution speed compared to Raspberry Pi 3 model B. But compared to B, Zero is smaller in size, which allows it to be used in miniature developments. The Raspberry Pi model Zero is used in the same areas as other computers in this family. The board can be equipped with peripheral devices, a power supply, and a screen. With the help of these microcomputers, video surveillance systems, gaming systems, and household appliances are created. The presence of Wi-Fi and Bluetooth allows you to expand the range of applications. Along with the release of the Raspberry Pi model Zero W, the company introduced a line of computer cases. The cases are equipped with a hole for the GPIO connector and camera installation.

Comparison of Raspberry Pi models

RAM

Model A and Model A+ boards have the smallest amount of memory - only 256 MB. Model B, until October 2012, also had a capacity of 256 MB, after which the volume was increased to 512 MB, like the Model B+. The Raspberry Pi 3 board has the largest memory size, 1 GB.

USB ports

The Model A and Model A+ boards are equipped with one USB 2.0 port, in the Model B version the number of ports is increased to two, and in the Model B+ and Pi 3 to four. The most noticeable changes in the Raspberry Pi Zero are that it now has one Micro USB OTG connector.

Audio outputs

The Raspberry Pi Zero model also differs in this parameter - this board has a 3.5 mm jack, HDMI is replaced with multi-channel HD audio via HDMI.

Memory card format

Models A and B used SD/MMC/SDIO memory cards. All subsequent models use a MicroSD card.

Number of ports

Models A and B are equipped with a 26-pin GPIO connector, in subsequent models this number is increased to 40.

Power consumption

The most energy-efficient device is the Raspberry Pi Zero - it uses only 160 mA. The highest energy consumption is for the Raspberry Pi 3 board (800 mA-2.5 mA, 4 W). The first model A consumes 300 mA (1.5 W), models B, A+, B+ require about 600-700 mA.

Dimensions

The smallest device is Raspberry Pi Zero, its dimensions are 65.0 x 30.0 mm x 5 mm. The A+ model is slightly larger, with dimensions of 65.0 x 56.0 mm x 12 mm. The remaining boards have approximately the same size: 85.0 x 56.0 mm x 17 mm.

Where to buy Raspberry Pi

Due to the huge popularity of Raspberry Pi microcomputers, they can be purchased anywhere in the world in any store. But only 2 European companies are considered official sellers - RS Components and Element 14. Both companies supply minicomputers in different packaging designs, but the products from both suppliers are made in England.

Over time, Chinese analogues appeared that can be bought on AliExpress. The question immediately arises about the authenticity of these gadgets. An analysis of the Chinese and English versions can be carried out by comparing their performance characteristics, processor performance, and memory.

The processor in the original English version works a little faster than the Chinese counterpart, the same goes for RAM. The differences in operation are minimal, from which we can conclude that the Chinese version of the Raspberry Pi is no worse in its operating parameters.

Examples of projects with Raspberry Pi

Controlling a portable weather station. Using Raspberry Pi, you can implement a device that will record all weather data - wind speed, temperature, precipitation. You can program your device to automatically update a website with weather conditions.

Digital photo frame. With Raspberry P you can make your own photo frame and save about half the cost. A photo frame is a media panel that is controlled by a Raspberry P. The frame can be upgraded - it will show not only photographs, but also the date and time, play audio recordings, and show the weather forecast.

Home automation system. If you combine Raspberry Pi with Arduino and Node.js, you can create an effective way to control all the electronic devices in your home. There are many options for operation - automatically turning on and off the light using a light sensor, turning on/off the TV, regulating the temperature in the house.

Using the Raspberry Pi board, you can implement a variety of projects - from musical instruments to cameras and tablets. Moreover, the use of this board can significantly reduce the cost of a homemade device.