Have you thought about turning your computer into a mini-server which performs a task around the clock or runs a specific job on demand? In this case, a laptop loses its portability, and a desktop PC continually produces noise. Anyway, any background task conflicts with the foreground applications.
Now imagine a computer which is cheap, consumes almost no electricity, and fits into a pocket.
That’s exactly what the Raspberry Kit is! The kit is based on the Raspberry Pi single board computer and includes all necessary to get your up-and-running Linux system in a matter of minutes.
Educational Computer on Linux
At the heart of this kit is Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+, the card-sized computer. You’ll find the components you might expect from a customary PC on the board: CPU, RAM, HDMI connector, four USB ports, Ethernet, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth.
What’s unusual is the 40 pins of the pins for general purpose input/output (GPIO for short). They are used for connections with peripherals to interact with the outside world. That is, actuators, sensors, and anything working with electric signals.
The operating system is flashed on the microSD card. Raspberry Pi uses its own Linux distributive called Raspbian. If you are not familiar with Linux, don’t be afraid. This kit is an excellent chance to learn it. Connect the board to a computer display or TV and plug the power. Few seconds after that, the computer starts in a graphical mode which is similar to casual Windows or macOS.
Messing data or configuration is not a problem: the image flashed on the SD card can be recovered in a few minutes. Try again and go on after that.
What’s Inside
Besides the original Raspberry Pi, we put all the necessary accessories for the quickstart: a microSD card with the Raspbian OS, powerful wall adapter, wires to connect your monitor or TV.
To avoid raw component hassles, we made an electronic cloud. There you’ll find four buttons, and a dozen of yellow and blue LEDs. The cloud firmly fits the GPIO pin headers, and you control its elements directly from the program code.
The kit is shipped in a lovely box. It might be a nice gift for a young 14 y/o programmer or web-developer of any age.
What You Learn
Colorful book inside the kit will help to dive in. It contains a minimum of theory and a maximum of practice.
The beginning of the book tells Linux basics. You’ll learn how to start the computer, configure Wi-Fi, set up the screen resolution, meet the file system and terminal.
Then, fifteen projects take place. They teach how to program with Python, develop web applications, and build a media center for home cinema. The experiments are accompanied by illustrations and screenshots, well-commented code samples and tasks for self-study.
Here’s the list of the projects:
An introduction to Python
LEDs
Blink
Button
Conditional expressions
Controlling the LEDs
Light management panel
Massive optimization
Making a server
Landing page
Internet light
Feedback
Weather widget
Movie theater
Scheduling and autostart
What’s Then
Various microcontrollers can work in tandem with Raspberry Pi. Notably, Arduino and Iskra. Use them in conjunction to build smart home elements, gaming consoles, CNC machines, and 3D printers.
Package Contents
Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+ computer
microSD with Raspbian OS
GPIO Cloud board
Book (64 pages)
Enclosure
Wall adapter 3 A with USB out
USB cable A—Micro-USB
HDMI cable
Ethernet cable