Raspberry Pi

The Raspberry Pi is a series of single-board computers. They are low-cost, high-performance and the size of a credit card. The Raspberry Pi was developed in the UK by the Raspberry Pi Foundation. The Raspberry Pi Foundation's goal is to "advance the education of adults and children, particularly in the field of computers, computer science and related subjects."^[1] Many people have used Raspberry Pis to make things like cameras, video game consoles, robots, web servers and media centres.

Raspberry Pi 4 B

Raspberry Pi Zero, a small version that costs US$5

Versions

There are lots of different versions of the Raspberry Pi, and each has different features.

All of the versions use a Broadcom 'system on a chip' (SoC) which contains an ARM-compatible central processing unit (CPU), random-access memory (RAM) and a graphics processing unit (GPU).

All versions use an SD card or MicroSD card for the operating system and file storage. They also have a 40-pin General-Purpose Input/Output (GPIO) connector, which can be used for controlling other electronics.

Some versions of the Raspberry Pi have an ethernet connector for connecting to the internet. Some versions can also use Wi-Fi to connect to the internet.

The Raspberry Pi comes in three different sizes. The 'standard' size is used for all Model B versions, and is 85.6 mm x 56.5 mm (3.370 in × 2.224 in). The 'compact' size is used for all Model A versions, and is 65 mm × 56.5 mm (2.56 in × 2.22 in). The 'zero' size is used for all Raspberry Pi Zero versions, and is 65 mm × 30 mm (2.56 in × 1.18 in).^[2]

Raspberry Pi Versions^[3]

Version	Model	Size	Processor	Memory	USB ports	Ethernet	WiFi and Bluetooth	Year Released	Price (USD)
Raspberry Pi	B	Standard	700 MHz 1-core	512 MB	2	Yes	No	2012	N/A
	A				1	No		2013	N/A
	B+				4	Yes		2014	$25
	A+	Compact			1	No			$20
Raspberry Pi 2	B	Standard	900 MHz 4-core	1 GB	4	Yes	No	2015	$35
Raspberry Pi Zero	Zero	Zero	1000 MHz 1-core	512 MB	1	No	No	2015	$5
	Zero W						Yes	2017	$10
Raspberry Pi 3	B	Standard	1200 MHz 4-core	1 GB	4	Yes	Yes	2016	$35
	A+	Compact	1400 MHz 4-core	512 MB	1	No		2018	$25
	B+	Standard		1 GB	4	Yes		2018	$35
Raspberry Pi 4	B (1 GB)	Standard	1500 MHz 4-core	1 GB	2xUSB2, 2xUSB3	Yes	Yes	2019	N/A
	B (2 GB)			2 GB					$35
	B (4 GB)			4 GB					$55
	B (8 GB)			8 GB				2020	$75

Features

• The Raspberry Pi uses the ARM processor architecture, which is also used by many modern mobile phones^[source?].
• An operating system can be installed using the Raspberry Pi Imager, or by copying operating system 'images' to an SD card.^[4]
• Add-on boards called 'HATs' (Hardware Attached on Top)^[5] can be used to give a Raspberry Pi more features, such as LED lights, extra sensors and Power over Ethernet (PoE).^[6]