Tiny Raspberry Pi computers were conceived by a British foundation in 2012. They were originally intended for school projects and teaching children about electronics, but their influence has extended far beyond these areas. Today they are used in a wide range of projects and at all levels of education.
Despite being about the size of a credit card, the Raspberry Pi offers features comparable to those of a regular computer. Its versatility lies in the ability to connect to a monitor (VGA or HDMI), keyboard, mouse or USB devices, as well as Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connections. All this makes it very practical and ideal for a wide variety of projects.
Computer the size of a credit card
The Raspberry Pi Foundation platform provides many operating systems. This allows the user to choose the most suitable one for their needs: from turning it into a simple computer or game console to setting up a server for the game Minecraft.
Although it is possible to install various operating systems such as Windows and Linux, the platform recommends using Raspberry Pi OS (or Raspbian), a Linux-based operating system designed for these minicomputers.
Notable features of the Raspberry Pi include a 1.2GHz 64-bit quad-core ARM processor, 4x USB 2.0 ports, 1GB of memory, 1x Ethernet port, and HDMI video output. These features provide significant performance and are suitable for those just starting out in the technology field, such as school projects, and are also affordable and have low power consumption.
Fun fact: each version of the operating system is associated with characters from the saga by default. toy storylike Buzz, Rex, Woody and Jessie.
Inside and outside the classroom
In the education sector, Raspberry Pi boasts of helping to develop specific skills among university students. In particular, it is typically implemented using a constructivist approach that combines the principles of experiential learning with project-based learning (PBL) to make learning more effective.
A project-based approach to learning encourages active student participation. This allows them to develop problem-solving skills using both hardware and free software.
These technologies also have applications outside the classroom, mainly because they facilitate scientific research in fields such as computer science, technology, education and electronics through a variety of applications and projects.
What can we use Raspberry Pi for at home?
Below we list some simple examples showing how to use Raspberry Pi in different projects:
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Server at home. With Raspberry Pi, you can have your own home server for storing and sharing files. Using programs like Nextcloud, you can access your files from anywhere.
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Entertainment Center. If you install Kodi on your Raspberry Pi, you can turn it into a media center that plays movies, music, and videos on your TV, just like a Smart TV.
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Weather station. Connect temperature, humidity, and pressure sensors to your Raspberry Pi and you can create a weather station that displays data on a web page or app.
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Educational Projects: Raspberry Pi is great for learning programming and electronics. You can create everything from robots to games in a practical and adaptable way.
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Safety. If you use webcams and surveillance software, your Raspberry Pi can become a security system. It can send you alerts if it detects motion and record video from security cameras.
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Home automation. Connect lights, thermostats and locks to your Raspberry Pi and you can control them from anywhere using the Internet.
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Robotic projects. Raspberry Pi is ideal for creating robots. You can create everything from little robots that follow a line to drones.
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Personal VPN server. By setting up your Raspberry Pi as a VPN server, you can access the Internet securely from anywhere while protecting your privacy.
In short, Raspberry Pis are inexpensive tools with great potential for developing computer science skills. At the same time, they are necessary for the formation of new knowledge among students by solving real problems.