Raspberry Pi 3

Written by Ben Friedman, August 12th, 2016

You're looking for a computer, a versatile computer. Oh, and it need to be small, embeddable and customizable. Hmmm what comes to mind...

For us, it's a no brainer, we choose the Raspberry Pi, a developer friendly platform for just about anything! It's a fantastic teaching tool, a great prototyping board, and a wonderful way to learn and work with embedded systems.

The latest and greatest, the Raspberry Pi 3 is easily the best option. It's feature packed, sporting 4 USB ports, an ethernet port, an HDMI port, Bluetooth and 802.11n Wireless capabilities. The last addition of a wireless card renders a stock board capable of being interacted remotely for the first time. Now you can simply SSH in or even turn your Pi into a remotely accessible web server!

So what would you end up doing with such a computer? Well, you may decide to try building your very own watering system! Or maybe even an automated coffee pot? Perhaps you're even curious about building your own drone. Just about anything you can think of involving a small programmable device can be achieved with a raspberry pi.

If you happen to own an Arduino or other microcontroller, you can hook it up to your Raspberry Pi and create a very nifty little dynamically adjustable system. Over the air you would be able to send a request from a mobile application or web interface and watch as your installation responds accordingly.

For those that aren't as interested in using the Pi for extravagant projects there's something a little more practical. An ultralight computer. For about $100 you can buy a touch screen and other necessary components to turn your Raspberry Pi into your very own mini laptop. If you have a power supply with you it's even possible to place and run a raspberry pi for quite some time off the grid. Personally I have run mine off of a small powerpack for my phone, which was quite convenient as well, requiring no additional purchases on my part.

If you're wondering about how to get started with your very own idea using a Raspberry Pi go check out these videos. Additionally there's a wealth of other blogs and articles talking about the achievements they've made with their custom installations using Raspberry Pi. Perhaps you'll make and write about one yourself, we'd love to see it someday!

Questions? Corrections? Concerns? Contact us at inquiries@axolsoft.com