Raspberry 6.283185307 Zero

AKA a second post on the Raspberry Pi Zero.

It’s been two months since the release of the $5 Raspberry Pi Zero, and I still haven’t been able to buy any. As I discussed in my prior blog about it, there is plenty of discussion around the fact that, out of the box, it’s not real useful without adding enough accessories to make it as expensive as any other Pi model. I certainly understand that point, but here’s another way of looking at it.

If you want to learn software, buy one of the other Pi models. If you want to learn about hardware design, buy the Pi Zero and download some CAD software. Then go online and get the Pi Zero dimensions and start designing accessories for it. You can start with one of the many open source Pi Zero accessory designs, or come up with your own. Don’t look at it as a system that’s missing too many parts. Look at it as a base for a different type of learning.

One of the scariest things about designing a plug-in/on board for a bigger computer is the possibility of a mistake that will fry the expensive board. With the Pi Zero, you’re risking $5.

Like I said, I still don’t have one, but I’ve drawn up my for Pi Zero accessory:

It will plug right on to a Zero as a rechargeable Li-Poly power supply. Not at all a complex circuit, but it’s only the first in a series. As a small board, it doesn’t cost much to get fabbed, so for about the price of one PCB sized to fit the bigger Pi boards, I can get two of these.

Next, I’ll design a motor driver, and then possibly an IMU, or sensor board.

Duane Benson
If you have your Pi calculate Pi, would that Pi be Pi enough for Pi?

http://blog.screamingcircuits.com/

Raspberry Pi — What’s It All Mean?

What would you do with a computer that costs $5?

First, let me explain a bit. The Raspberry Pi, if you don’t know, is a small, inexpensive single board computer designed by the non-profit Raspberry Pi foundation in England. Its mission is to make computer-related education less expensive and more accessible to the masses. As a next step in that mission, it just introduced the Raspberry Pi Zero, with an MSRP of $5. So, you can buy a Big Mac, or a Pi Zero. You could buy some peanut butter, jelly and a loaf of bread, eat that for the next five lunches, and buy five Pi Zeros.

Now some folks have complained that it’s not very useful on its own. It needs a wall bug power supply, a micro SD card, a few cables, and a USB hub to connect a keyboard and mouse to.

That’s true, if you want to use it as a full PC workstation, which you can. It runs the “Raspian” distribution of Linux. But, I don’t think that’s where the greatest potential for this thing lies. No, I wouldn’t use this as a workstation. It’s biggest potential, in my opinion, is as an inexpensive embedded controller.

It has I2C, SPI, and RS232 pins available, as well as plenty of GPIO. Attach a small daughter card with accelerometer, gyro, magnetometer, and GPS, and you’ve got a nice drone auto pilot. Attach a few sensors and a cell phone module, and you’ve got a remote data logger. What would you do with one of these?

Duane Benson
Little Jack Horner couldn’t get a plum out of this pi.

http://blog.screamingcircuits.com/