raspberry pi pico lcd display factory

LCD screens are useful and found in many parts of our life. At the train station, parking meter, vending machines communicating brief messages on how we interact with the machine they are connected to. LCD screens are a fun way to communicate information in Raspberry Pi Pico projects and other Raspberry Pi Projects. They have a big bright screen which can display text, numbers and characters across a 16 x 2 screen. The 16 refers to 16 characters across the screen, and the 2 represents the number of rows we have. We can get LCD screens with 20x2, 20x4 and many other configurations, but 16x2 is the most common.

In this tutorial, we will learn how to connect an LCD screen, an HD44780, to a Raspberry Pi Pico via the I2C interface using the attached I2C backpack, then we will install a MicroPython library via the Thonny editor and learn how to use it to write text to the display, control the cursor and the backlight.

2. Import four librariesof pre-written code. The first two are from the Machine library and they enable us to use I2C and GPIO pins. Next we import the sleep function from Time enabling us to pause the code. Finally we import the I2C library to interact with the LCD screen.from machine import I2C, Pin

3. Create an objecti2c to communicate with the LCD screen over the I2C protocol. Here we are using I2C channel 0, which maps SDA to GP0 and SCL to GP1.i2c = I2C(0, sda=Pin(0), scl=Pin(1), freq=400000)

5. Create an objectlcdto set up the I2C connection for the library. It tells the library what I2C pins we are using, set via the i2c object, the address of our screen, set via I2C_ADDRand finally it sets that we have a screen with two rows and 16 columns.lcd = I2cLcd(i2c, I2C_ADDR, 2, 16)

6. Create a loopto continually run the code, the first line in the loop will print the I2C address of our display to Thonny’s Python Shell.while True:

8. Write two lines of textto the screen. The first will print “I2C Address:” followed by the address stored inside the I2C_ADDR object. Then insert a new line character “\n” and then write another line saying “Tom’s Hardware" (or whatever you want it to say). Pause for two seconds to allow time to read the text.lcd.putstr("I2C Address:"+str(I2C_ADDR)+"\n")

9. Clear the screenbefore repeating the previous section of code, but this time we display the I2C address of the LCD display using its hex value. The PCF8574T chip used in the I2C backpack has two address, 0x20 and 0x27 and it is useful to know which it is using, especially if we are using multiple I2C devices as they may cause a clash on the bus.lcd.clear()

12. Turn the backlight back onand then hide the cursor. Sometimes, a flashing cursor can detract from the information we are trying to communicate.lcd.backlight_on()

13. Create a for loopthat will print the number 0 to 19 on the LCD screen. Note that there is a 0.4 second delay before we delete the value and replace it with the next. We have to delete the text as overwriting the text will make it look garbled.for i in range(20):

Save and runyour code. As with any Python script in Thonny, Click on File >> Saveand save the file to your Raspberry Pi Pico. We recommend calling it i2c_lcd_test.py. When ready, click on the Green play buttonto start the code and watch as the test runs on the screen.

In this tutorial Tony Goodhew explains how to use the basic graphics procedures which are included in the display driver, and for the ambitious makers out there he also provides examples for advanced shapes and graphics!

All the other graphical and text objects we would like to display can be built from this single pixel instruction; such as lines, circles, rectangles, triangles and text strings at different sizes.

This is all carried out with code. Display manufacturers usually supply some of these procedures/methods but leave the rest up to the end user to construct.

The third line here imports the Framebuffer library which includes several very useful routines to draw objects on the display. The garbage collection library, gc, has also been imported so that we can check how much memory is available.

The following methods draw shapes (such as those above) onto the FrameBuffer. They only become visible to the user once the lcd.show() instruction is executed.

If c is not given, get the colour value of the specified pixel – useful for collision detection in a game. If c is given, set the specified pixel to the given colour.

Draw a line from a set of coordinates using the given colour and a thickness of 1 pixel. The line method draws the line up to a second set of coordinates whereas the hline and vline methods draw horizontal and vertical lines respectively up to a given length.

Draw a rectangle at the given location, size and colour. The rect method draws only a 1-pixel outline whereas the fill_rect method draws both the outline and interior.

Write text to the FrameBuffer using the coordinates as the upper-left corner of the text. The colour of the text can be defined by the optional argument but is otherwise a default value of 1. All characters have dimensions of 8x8 pixels and there is currently no way to change the font.

Draw another FrameBuffer on top of the current one at the given coordinates. If key is specified then it should be a colour integer and the corresponding colour will be considered transparent: all pixels with that colour value will not be drawn.

Each program contains the screen driver code, sets up the buttons/joystick (if applicable), sets the width and height variables, loads the essential libraries, defines the colour (R, G, B) and clear (c) procedures, then displays some colour checking text like this:

Using lcd.fill_rect, fill the whole screen green and then fill the middle of the screen black, leaving a 10 pixel border. Put red 10-pixel squares in each corner.

Draw diagonal lines in blue across the screen from opposite corners and a yellow, filled square, 21 pixel wide, near the centre. Draw an orange outline diamond touching the centre points of the sides of the square.

Draw a dark grey rectangle in the centre of the screen. Draw 500 white pixels inside the square, none touching the edge. (Random was explained in the previous display tutorial.)

This is routine is very complicated. It splits the original triangle into two with a horizontal line and then fills them in. If you uncomment all the # lcd.show() lines and sleep instructions it will slow right down and you can see it working (unfortunately, the 2” display needs such a large buffer that there is not enough memory for the filled triangles code):

For the imports we added the math library as this is needed for Sin and Cos in graph plotting. The random library has also been imported, for the randomly generated triangles. These are followed by the basic LCD board setup we covered earlier.

Plotting Sine and Cosine curves requires quite a bit of complicated mathematics, using the math library, but it demonstrates the use of single pixels:

In the centre of the screen display a ‘bull’s eye’ circular target with a ‘gold’ centre, 4 other colours and scores 10, 8, 6, 4 and 2 written in the appropriate positions.

You may have noticed that on some screens the text is very small and difficult to read. In a following tutorial will add an extra font, with more characters, which we can display in different sizes.

This article was written by Tony Goodhew. Tony is a retired teacher of computing who starting writing code back in 1968 when it was called programming - he started with FORTRAN IV on an IBM 1130! An active Raspberry Pi community member, his main interests now are coding in MicroPython, travelling and photography.

Doyou forgot to water your plants?What if your plant was able to text you when it needed water?This project will use aRaspberry Pi Pico W boardalong with aPimoroni Grow HAT Minito make this a reality!

MicroPythonwill be used to develop the code that runs on the Raspberry Pi Pico W board."MicroPython is a lean and efficient implementation of thePython 3programming language..."

We"ll be using theRaspberry Pi Pico W boardas the main development board in this project. The board is based on theRaspberry Pi RP2040 microcontroller (MCU), which contains a dual-coreArm Cortex-M0+processor. The board is also equipped with anInfineon CYW43439chip that is used for 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi communications and contains aArm Cortex-M3processor.

APimoroni Grow HAT Mini- which has an on-boardLTR559 light and proximity sensorand a 0.96" 160x80 pixel IPS LCD display with ST7735R LCD controller.The Grow HAT Mini also contains a piezo buzzer and buttons, however thesefeatureswillnotbe used in this project.

Details of actuators(outputs):The ST7735R LCD controller has anSPIinterface, that allows a MCU to control the pixels displayed on the LCD screen. The screen will be used to display a name tag and status of the board"s Wi-Fi connection.

Solder male headers onto your Raspberry Pi Pico W board. See The MagPi"s"How to solder GPIO pin headers to Raspberry Pi Pico" guidefor more details on soldering pin headers to the Raspberry Pi Pico W board.

ThePimoroni Grow HAT Miniincluded with thePimoroni Grow Kitis intended to be used with a normalRaspberry Pi board. We will need to create an adapter board using anAdafruit Perma-Proto HAT for Pi Mini Kit - No EEPROMboard to connect the Grow HAT Mini to the Raspberry Pi Pico W board.

Solder theGPIO Header for Raspberry Pi A+/B+/Pi 2/Pi 3/Pi 4/Zero - 2x20 Female Headerincluded with the Perma-Proto HAT to the top of the board. Then solder twoAdafruit 20-pin 0.1" Female Headersto the board in the position displayed in the diagram below.

After this, 10 wires will need to be soldered for the Pico W to use the Grow Hat Mini"s built-in SPI LCD display, I2C light sensor, and moisture sensor connector. Please use the diagram and tables below to solder the wires into the appropriate locations.

Then, plug in theRaspberry Pi GPIO Male Header - 2x20, with the longer pins facing down, into the2x20 Female Headerwe soldered earlier to the top - this will give us extra height for stacking the Grow HAT mini.

While holding the whitebootbutton on the Pico W board, plug in a micro USB B cable to the board and then plug the other end of the cable to your computer. If done correctly, a newRPI-RP2boot volume will appear on your computer:

TheThonny IDEwill be used to upload code to the Raspberry Pico W board. Download the operating system (OS) specific version of Thonny fromthe Thonny home pagefor your computer. At the time of writing this guide Thonny3.3.13was the latest release.

Twilio"s Programmable SMS APIwill be used to send an SMS text message from the board to your phone. You will need to create and setup aTwilioaccount to use this API.

The Account SID, Auth Token, and Twilio phone number will be used to send an SMS message from the board, by sending an HTTP POST request to the Twilio"Messages list resource URI":https://api.twilio.com/2010-04-01/Accounts/{AccountSid}/Messages.json

Adriver for the ST7735R LCD controller,that will use theMicroPython SPI classandPin classto control the ST7735R LCD controller over SPI. It will also use theMicroPython FrameBuffer classto handle drawing operations and buffer pixel data before transferring the pixel data to the LCD display over SPI.

ATwilioClient Python classto handle interactions with the Twilio SMS API. The class will useMicroPython"s urequests moduleto send an HTTP POST request to Twilio.

The MicroPython code used in this project can be found onGitHub. You can download it usinggit:git clone https://github.com/ArmDeveloperEcosystem/smart-plant-example-for-pico-w.git

4. While pressing theshiftkey on your keyboard, select all the files in the"This computer"section. Then right click and selectUpload to /to upload the files to the Pico W board.

This project usedMicroPythonon an Arm Cortex-M0+ based Raspberry Pi Pico W board with a Pimoroni Grow HAT Mini to monitor soil moisture and light sensor values.

The board"s built-in Wi-Fi capabilities were then used to send SMS messages to your phone via Twilio"s Programmable SMS API based on the time of day and sensor values.This gave your plant a personality!

Soldering additional wires to use the Pimoroni Grow HAT Mini"s buttons, piezo buzzer, remaining two moisture sensors, and water pump connectors. Followed by updating the MicroPython application to use the additional hardware features.

These instructions are extremely terse, and Linux-based only. For detailed steps, instructions for other platforms, and just in general, we recommend you see Raspberry Pi Pico C/C++ SDK.

In this tutorial, we will learn Interfacing of 16×2 LCD Display with Raspberry Pi Pico. An LCD is an electronic display module that uses liquid crystal technology to produce a visible image. The 16×2 LCD display is a very basic module commonly used in electronic circuit applications. The 16×2 translates 16 characters per line in 2 such lines. In this LCD each character is displayed in a 5×8 pixel matrix.

Raspberry Pi Pico which was released a few months ago requires some LCD Display in engineering applications. Here we will go through the LCD Display details and features. The LCD Display is based on HD44780 Driver. There are I2C versions and non-I2C versions of LCD Display. We will take both of these LCDs as an example and interface with Raspberry Pi Pico. We will write MicroPython Code for Interfacing 16×2 LCD Display with Raspberry Pi Pico.

16×2 LCD is named so because it has 16 Columns and 2 Rows. So, it will have (16×2=32) 32 characters in total and each character will be made of 5×8 Pixel Dots. A Single character with all its Pixels is shown in the below picture.

Each character has (5×8=40) 40 Pixels and for 32 Characters we will have (32×40) 1280 Pixels. Further, the LCD should also be instructed about the Position of the Pixels. Hence it will be a complicated task to handle everything with the help of a microcontroller. Hence the LCD uses an interface IC like HD44780. This IC is mounted on the backside of the LCD Module. You can check the HD44780 Datasheet for more information.

The function of this IC is to get the Commands and Data from the MCU and process them to display meaningful information on LCD Screen. The LCD operating Voltage is 4.7V to 5.3V & the Current consumption is 1mA without a backlight. It can work on both 8-bit and 4-bit mode

There are two section pins on the whole 16×2 LCD module. Some of them are data pins and some are command pins. Somehow, every pin has a role in controlling a single pixel on the display.

This display incorporates an I2C interface that requires only 2 pins on a microcontroller to the interface. The I2C interface is a daughter board attached to the back of the LCD module. The I2C address for these displays is either 0x3F or 0x27.

The adapter has an 8-Bit I/O Expander chip PCF8574. This chip converts the I2C data from a microcontroller into the parallel data required by the LCD display. There is a small trimpot to make fine adjustments to the contrast of the display. In addition, there is a jumper on the board that supplies power to the backlight.

Now, let us interface the 16×2 LCD Display with Raspberry Pi Pico. You can use Fritzing Software to draw the Schematic. You can assemble the circuit on breadboard as shown in the image below.

Connect the pin 1, 5 & 16 of LCD to GND of Raspberry Pi Pico. Similarly, connect the Pin 2 & 15 of LCD to 5V Pin, i.e Vbus of Raspberry Pi Pico. Connect the Pin 4, 6, 11, 12, 13, 14 of LCD Display to Raspberry Pi Pico GP16, GP17, GP18, GP19, GP20, GP21 Pin.

Raspberry Pi Pico supports MicroPython Program for interfacing 16×2 LCD Display. You can either use Thonny IDE or uPyCraft IDE for running the MicroPython Code.

The above code is valid for 16×2 LCD Display without any I2C Module. The PCF8574 I2C or SMBus module simplifies the above connection. Instead of using so many wiring, you can use this IC Module and convert the data output lines just to 2 pins.

Hence the LCD Display becomes an I2C Display with an I2C address of 0x27. The connection between the Raspberry Pi Pico and I2C LCD is very simples as shown below in the schematic.

Connect the LCD VCC & GND Pin to Raspberry Pi Pico 5V & GND Pin respectively. Connect the SDA & SCL pin of LCD to Raspberry Pi Pico GP8 & GP9 respectively.

Raspberry Pi (single-board computers (SBCs) developed in the United Kingdom by the Raspberry Pi Foundation in association with Broadcom.computer science in schools and in developing countries.target market for uses such as robotics. It is widely used in many areas, such as for weather monitoring,HDMI and USB standards.

After the release of the second board type, the Raspberry Pi Foundation set up a new entity, named Raspberry Pi Trading, and installed Eben Upton as CEO, with the responsibility of developing technology.Sony factory in Pencoed, Wales,

There are three series of Raspberry Pi, and several generations of each have been released. Raspberry Pi SBCs feature a Broadcom system on a chip (SoC) with an integrated ARM-compatible central processing unit (CPU) and on-chip graphics processing unit (GPU), while Raspberry Pi Pico has a RP2040 system on chip with an integrated ARM-compatible central processing unit (CPU).

In 2014, the Foundation released a board with an improved design, Raspberry Pi Model B+. These first generation boards feature ARM11 processors, are approximately credit-card sized and represent the standard mainline form-factor. Improved A+ and B models were released within a year. A "Compute Module" was released in April 2014 for embedded applications.

The Raspberry Pi 2 was released in February 2015 and initially featured a 900 MHz 32-bit quad-core ARM Cortex-A7 processor with 1 GB RAM. Revision 1.2 featured a 900 MHz 64-bit quad-core ARM Cortex-A53 processor (the same as that in the Raspberry Pi 3 Model B, but underclocked to 900 MHz).

The Raspberry Pi 3 Model B was released in February 2016 with a 1.2 GHz 64-bit quad core ARM Cortex-A53 processor, on-board 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and USB boot capabilities.

On Pi Day 2018, the Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+ was launched with a faster 1.4 GHz processor, a three-times faster gigabit Ethernet (throughput limited to ca. 300 Mbit/s by the internal USB 2.0 connection), and 2.4 / 5 GHz dual-band 802.11ac Wi-Fi (100 Mbit/s).Power over Ethernet (PoE) (with the add-on PoE HAT), USB boot and network boot (an SD card is no longer required).

The Raspberry Pi 4 Model B was released in June 2019ARM Cortex-A72 processor, on-board 802.11ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5, full gigabit Ethernet (throughput not limited), two USB 2.0 ports, two USB 3.0 ports, 1–8 GB of RAM, and dual-monitor support via a pair of micro HDMI (HDMI Type D) ports for up to 4K resolution. The version with 1 GB RAM has been abandoned and the prices of the 2 GB version have been reduced. The 8 GB version has a revised circuit board. The Pi 4 is also powered via a USB-C port, enabling additional power to be provided to downstream peripherals, when used with an appropriate PSU. But the Pi can only be operated with 5 volts and not 9 or 12 volts like other mini computers of this class. The initial Raspberry Pi 4 board has a design flaw where third-party e-marked USB cables, such as those used on Apple MacBooks, incorrectly identify it and refuse to provide power.Tom"s Hardware tested 14 different cables and found that 11 of them turned on and powered the Pi without issue.C0. The manufacturer is now using this chip for the Pi 4 B and Pi 400. However, the tack frequency of the Pi 4 B was not increased in the factory.

The Raspberry Pi 400 was released in November 2020. A modern example of a keyboard computer, it features 4 GB of LPDDR4 RAM on a custom board derived from the existing Raspberry Pi 4 combined with a keyboard in a single case. The case was derived from that of the Raspberry Pi Keyboard.

A Raspberry Pi Zero with smaller size and reduced input/output (I/O) and general-purpose input/output (GPIO) capabilities was released in November 2015 for US$5.

On 28 October 2021, the Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W was launched, a version of the Zero W with a system in a package (SiP) designed by Raspberry Pi and based on the Raspberry Pi 3.

Raspberry Pi Pico was released in January 2021 with a retail price of $4.microcontroller chip; the RP2040, which was designed by Raspberry Pi in the UK.flash memory. It is programmable in MicroPython, CircuitPython, C and Rust. The Raspberry Pi Foundation has partnered with Adafruit, Pimoroni, Arduino and SparkFun to build accessories for Raspberry Pi Pico and variety of other boards using RP2040 Silicon Platform.physical computing, similar in concept to an Arduino.

On 30 June 2022, the Raspberry Pi Pico W was launched, a version of the Pico with 802.11n Wi-Fi capability, for US$6. The CYW43439 wireless chip in the Pico W also supports Bluetooth, but the capability was not enabled at launch.

As of 4 May 2021, the Foundation is committed to manufacture most Pi models until at least January 2026. Even the 1 GB Pi 4B can still be specially-ordered.

The Raspberry Pi hardware has evolved through several versions that feature variations in the type of the central processing unit, amount of memory capacity, networking support, and peripheral-device support.

This block diagram describes models B, B+, A and A+. The Pi Zero models are similar, but lack the Ethernet and USB hub components. The Ethernet adapter is internally connected to an additional USB port. In Model A, A+, and the Pi Zero, the USB port is connected directly to the system on a chip (SoC). On the Pi 1 Model B+ and later models the USB/Ethernet chip contains a five-port USB hub, of which four ports are available, while the Pi 1 Model B only provides two. On the Pi Zero, the USB port is also connected directly to the SoC, but it uses a micro USB (OTG) port. Unlike all other Pi models, the 40 pin GPIO connector is omitted on the Pi Zero, with solderable through-holes only in the pin locations. The Pi Zero WH remedies this.

Processor speed ranges from 700 MHz to 1.4 GHz for the Pi 3 Model B+ or 1.5 GHz for the Pi 4; on-board memory ranges from 256 MB to 8 GB random-access memory (RAM), with only the Raspberry Pi 4 having more than 1 GB. Secure Digital (SD) cards in MicroSDHC form factor (SDHC on early models) are used to store the operating system and program memory, however some models also come with onboard eMMC storageSSD storage for its operating system.USB ports. For video output, HDMI and composite video are supported, with a standard 3.5 mm tip-ring-sleeve jack for audio output. Lower-level output is provided by a number of GPIO pins, which support common protocols like I²C. The B-models have an 8P8C Ethernet port and the Pi 3, Pi 4 and Pi Zero W have on-board Wi-Fi 802.11n and Bluetooth.

The Broadcom BCM2835 SoC used in the first generation Raspberry PiMHz 32-bit ARM1176JZF-S processor, VideoCore IV graphics processing unit (GPU),cache of 16 KB and a level 2 (L2) cache of 128 KB. The level 2 cache is used primarily by the GPU. The SoC is stacked underneath the RAM chip, so only its edge is visible. The ARM1176JZ(F)-S is the same CPU used in the original iPhone,clock rate, and mated with a much faster GPU.

The earlier V1.1 model of the Raspberry Pi 2 used a Broadcom BCM2836 SoC with a 900 MHz 32-bit, quad-core ARM Cortex-A7 processor, with 256 KB shared L2 cache.64-bit quad-core ARM Cortex-A53 processor,underclocked (by default) to the same 900 MHz CPU clock speed as the V1.1. The BCM2836 SoC is no longer in production as of late 2016.

The Raspberry Pi 3 Model B uses a Broadcom BCM2837 SoC with a 1.2 GHz 64-bit quad-core ARM Cortex-A53 processor, with 512 KB shared L2 cache. The Model A+ and B+ are 1.4 GHz

The Raspberry Pi 4 uses a Broadcom BCM2711 SoC with a 1.5 GHz (later models: 1.8 GHz) 64-bit quad-core ARM Cortex-A72 processor, with 1 MB shared L2 cache.interrupt controller poorly suited for virtualisation, the interrupt controller on this SoC is compatible with the ARM Generic Interrupt Controller (GIC) architecture 2.0, providing hardware support for interrupt distribution when using ARM virtualisation capabilities.

The Raspberry Pi Zero and Zero W use the same Broadcom BCM2835 SoC as the first generation Raspberry Pi, although now running at 1 GHz CPU clock speed.

The Raspberry Pi Zero W 2 uses the RP3A0-AU CPU, a 1 GHz 64 bit ARM Cortex A53, on 512MB of SDRAM. Documentation states this "system-on-package" is a Broadcom BCM2710A1 package, using a BCM2837 Broadcom chip as core, which is an ARM v8 quad-core. The Raspberry Pi 3 also uses the BCM2837, but clocked at 1.2 GHz.

While operating at 700 MHz by default, the first generation Raspberry Pi provided a real-world performance roughly equivalent to 0.041 GFLOPS.Pentium II of 1997–99. The GPU provides 1 Gpixel/s or 1.5 Gtexel/s of graphics processing or 24 GFLOPS of general purpose computing performance. The graphical capabilities of the Raspberry Pi are roughly equivalent to the performance of the Xbox of 2001.

Raspberry Pi 2 V1.1 included a quad-core Cortex-A7 CPU running at 900 MHz and 1 GB RAM. It was described as 4–6 times more powerful than its predecessor. The GPU was identical to the original.

Most Raspberry Pi systems-on-chip could be overclocked to 800 MHz, and some to 1000 MHz. There are reports the Raspberry Pi 2 can be similarly overclocked, in extreme cases, even to 1500 MHz (discarding all safety features and over-voltage limitations). In Raspberry Pi OS the overclocking options on boot can be made by a software command running "sudo raspi-config" without voiding the warranty.temperature reaches 85 °C (185 °F), but it is possible to override automatic over-voltage and overclocking settings (voiding the warranty); an appropriately sized heat sink is needed to protect the chip from serious overheating.

The CPU of the first and second generation Raspberry Pi board did not require cooling with a heat sink or fan, even when overclocked, but the Raspberry Pi 3 may generate more heat when overclocked.

The early designs of the Raspberry Pi Model A and B boards included only 256 MB of random access memory (RAM). Of this, the early beta Model B boards allocated 128 MB to the GPU by default, leaving only 128 MB for the CPU.framebuffer, and was likely to fail for any video or 3D. 128 MB was for heavy 3D processing, possibly also with video decoding.Nokia 701 uses 128 MB for the Broadcom VideoCore IV.

The later Model B with 512 MB RAM, was released on 15 October 2012 and was initially released with new standard memory split files (arm256_start.elf, arm384_start.elf, arm496_start.elf) with 256 MB, 384 MB, and 496 MB CPU RAM, and with 256 MB, 128 MB, and 16 MB video RAM, respectively. But about one week later, the foundation released a new version of start.elf that could read a new entry in config.txt (gpu_mem=xx) and could dynamically assign an amount of RAM (from 16 to 256 MB in 8 MB steps) to the GPU, obsoleting the older method of splitting memory, and a single start.elf worked the same for 256 MB and 512 MB Raspberry Pis.

The Model A, A+ and Pi Zero have no Ethernet circuitry and are commonly connected to a network using an external user-supplied USB Ethernet or Wi-Fi adapter. On the Model B and B+ the Ethernet port is provided by a built-in USB Ethernet adapter using the SMSC LAN9514 chip.802.11n (150 Mbit/s) and Bluetooth 4.1 (24 Mbit/s) based on the Broadcom BCM43438 FullMAC chip with no official support for monitor mode (though it was implemented through unofficial firmware patchingIEEE 802.11b/g/n/ac WiFi, Bluetooth 4.2, and Gigabit Ethernet (limited to approximately 300 Mbit/s by the USB 2.0 bus between it and the SoC). The Raspberry Pi 4 has full gigabit Ethernet (throughput is not limited as it is not funnelled via the USB chip.)

Raspberry Pi models with a newer chipset can boot from USB mass storage, such as from a flash drive. Booting from USB mass storage is not available in the original Raspberry Pi models, the Raspberry Pi Zero, the Raspberry Pi Pico, the Raspberry Pi 2 A models, and the Raspberry Pi 2 B models with versions lower than 1.2.

Although often pre-configured to operate as a headless computer, the Raspberry Pi may also optionally be operated with any generic USB computer keyboard and mouse.

Although the Raspberry Pi 3 does not have H.265 decoding hardware, the CPU is more powerful than its predecessors, potentially fast enough to allow the decoding of H.265-encoded videos in software.

The Raspberry Pis can also generate 576i and 480i composite video signals, as used on old-style (CRT) TV screens and less-expensive monitors through standard connectors – either RCA or 3.5 mm phono connector depending on model. The television signal standards supported are PAL-B/G/H/I/D, PAL-M, PAL-N, NTSC and NTSC-J.

Raspberry Pi 1 Models A+ and B+, Pi 2 Model B, Pi 3 Models A+, B and B+, Pi 4, and Pi Zero, Zero W, Zero WH and Zero W 2 have the same 40-pin pinout called J8 header.

Models A and B provide GPIO access to the ACT status LED using GPIO 16. Models A+ and B+ provide GPIO access to the ACT status LED using GPIO 47, and the power status LED using GPIO 35.

Various operating systems for the Raspberry Pi can be installed on a MicroSD or SD card, depending on the board and available adapters; seen here is the MicroSD slot located on the bottom of a Raspberry Pi 2 board.

The Raspberry Pi Foundation provides Raspberry Pi OS (formerly called Raspbian), a Debian-based Linux distribution for download, as well as third-party Ubuntu, Windows 10 IoT Core, RISC OS, LibreELEC (specialised media centre distribution)Kodi media centre and classroom management.Python and Scratch as the main programming languages, with support for many other languages.firmware is closed source, while unofficial open source is available.seL4 is also supported.

Broadcom VCOS – Proprietary operating system which includes an abstraction layer designed to integrate with existing kernels, such as ThreadX (which is used on the VideoCore4 processor), providing drivers and middleware for application development. In the case of the Raspberry Pi, this includes an application to start the ARM processor(s) and provide the publicly documented API over a mailbox interface, serving as its firmware. An incomplete source of a Linux port of VCOS is available as part of the reference graphics driver published by Broadcom.

Ultibo Core – OS-less unikerel Run Time Library based on Free Pascal. Lazarus IDE (Windows with 3rd party ports to Linux and MacOS). Most Pi models supported.

Alpine Linux – a Linux distribution based on musl and BusyBox, "designed for power users who appreciate security, simplicity and resource efficiency".

Slackware ARM – version 13.37 and later runs on the Raspberry Pi without modification.graphical user interface, Slackware"s default user environment is the textual shell / command line interface.Fluxbox window manager running under the X Window System requires an additional 48 MB of RAM.

Stratodesk – The NoTouch OS converts Raspberry Pis into managed thin clients. NoTouch can be pre-installed on Raspberry Pis from ViewSonic, NComputing. and ClearCube and self-installed for do-it-yourself projects.

Raspberry Pi can use a VideoCore IV GPU via a binary blob, which is loaded into the GPU at boot time from the SD-card, and additional software, that initially was closed source.OpenMax, OpenGL ES or OpenVG), which in turn call an open source driver inside the Linux kernel, which then calls the closed source VideoCore IV GPU driver code. The API of the kernel driver is specific for these closed libraries. Video applications use OpenMAX, OpenGL ES and OpenVG, which both in turn use EGL. OpenMAX and EGL use the open source kernel driver in turn.

The Raspberry Pi Foundation first announced it was working on a Vulkan driver in February 2020.Quake 3 at 100 frames per second on a 3B+ was revealed by a graphics engineer who had been working on it as a hobby project on 20 June.

The official firmware is a freely redistributablebinary blob, that is proprietary software.Linux kernel, with patches to remove the dependency on the mailbox interface being responsive. It is known to work on Raspberry Pi 1, 2 and 3, as well as some variants of Raspberry Pi Zero.

C/C++ Interpreter Ch – Released 3 January 2017, C/C++ interpreter Ch and Embedded Ch are released free for non-commercial use for Raspberry Pi, ChIDE is also included for the beginners to learn C/C++.

Julia – an interactive and cross-platform programming language/environment, that runs on the Pi 1 and later.Visual Studio Code, are available. See also Pi-specific GitHub repository JuliaBerry.

LiveCode – an educational RAD IDE descended from HyperCard using English-like language to write event-handlers for WYSIWYG widgets runnable on desktop, mobile and Raspberry Pi platforms.

Scratch – a cross-platform teaching IDE using visual blocks that stack like Lego, originally developed by MIT"s Life Long Kindergarten group. The Pi version is very heavily optimised

TensorFlow – an artificial intelligence framework developed by Google. The Raspberry Pi Foundation worked with Google to simplify the installation process through pre-built binaries.

Gertboard – A Raspberry Pi Foundation sanctioned device, designed for educational purposes, that expands the Raspberry Pi"s GPIO pins to allow interface with and control of LEDs, switches, analogue signals, sensors and other devices. It also includes an optional Arduino compatible controller to interface with the Pi.

Camera – On 14 May 2013, the foundation and the distributors RS Components & Premier Farnell/Element 14 launched the Raspberry Pi camera board alongside a firmware update to accommodate it.flexible flat cable that plugs into the CSI connector which is located between the Ethernet and HDMI ports. In Raspbian, the user must enable the use of the camera board by running Raspi-config and selecting the camera option. The camera module costs €20 in Europe (9 September 2013).OmniVision OV5647 image sensor and can produce 1080p, 720p and 640x480p video. The dimensions are 25 mm × 20 mm × 9 mm.

Infrared Camera – In October 2013, the foundation announced that they would begin producing a camera module without an infrared filter, called the Pi NoIR.

Official Display – On 8 September 2015, The foundation and the distributors RS Components & Premier Farnell/Element 14 launched the Raspberry Pi Touch Display

HAT (Hardware Attached on Top) expansion boards – Together with the Model B+, inspired by the Arduino shield boards, the interface for HAT boards was devised by the Raspberry Pi Foundation. Each HAT board carries a small EEPROM (typically a CAT24C32WI-GT3)

In February 2015, a switched-mode power supply chip, designated U16, of the Raspberry Pi 2 Model B version 1.1 (the initially released version) was found to be vulnerable to flashes of light,xenon camera flashes and greenlaser pointers. The U16 chip has WL-CSP packaging, which exposes the bare silicon die. The Raspberry Pi Foundation blog recommended covering U16 with opaque material (such as Sugru or Blu-Tak) or putting the Raspberry Pi 2 in a case.

Technology writer Glyn Moody described the project in May 2011 as a "potential ITPRO.Ian Livingstone suggested that the BBC could be involved in building support for the device, possibly branding it as the BBC Nano.The Centre for Computing History strongly supports the Raspberry Pi project, feeling that it could "usher in a new era".ARM"s CEO Warren East at an event in Cambridge outlining Google"s ideas to improve UK science and technology education.

In October 2012, the Raspberry Pi won T3"s Innovation of the Year award,Mark Pesce cited a (borrowed) Raspberry Pi as the inspiration for his ambient device project MooresCloud.British Computer Society reacted to the announcement of enhanced specifications by stating, "it"s definitely something we"ll want to sink our teeth into."

The Raspberry Pi community was described by Jamie Ayre of FOSS software company AdaCore as one of the most exciting parts of the project.fanzine around the platform called Raspberry Jam events have been held across the UK and around the world.

In 2014, the Raspberry Pi Foundation hired a number of its community members including ex-teachers and software developers to launch a set of free learning resources for its website.

In 2018, NASA launched the JPL Open Source Rover Project, which is a scaled down version of Curiosity rover and uses a Raspberry Pi as the control module, to encourage students and hobbyists to get involved in mechanical, software, electronics, and robotics engineering.

There are a number of developers and applications that are using the Raspberry Pi for home automation. These programmers are making an effort to modify the Raspberry Pi into a cost-affordable solution in energy monitoring and power consumption. Because of the relatively low cost of the Raspberry Pi, this has become a popular and economical alternative to the more expensive commercial solutions.

In June 2014, Polish industrial automation manufacturer TECHBASE released ModBerry, an industrial computer based on the Raspberry Pi Compute Module. The device has a number of interfaces, most notably RS-485/232 serial ports, digital and analogue inputs/outputs, CAN and economical 1-Wire buses, all of which are widely used in the automation industry. The design allows the use of the Compute Module in harsh industrial environments, leading to the conclusion that the Raspberry Pi is no longer limited to home and science projects, but can be widely used as an Industrial IoT solution and achieve goals of Industry 4.0.

In March 2018, SUSE announced commercial support for SUSE Linux Enterprise on the Raspberry Pi 3 Model B to support a number of undisclosed customers implementing industrial monitoring with the Raspberry Pi.

In January 2021, TECHBASE announced a Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 cluster for AI accelerator, routing and file server use. The device contains one or more standard Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4s in an industrial DIN rail housing, with some versions containing one or more Coral Edge tensor processing units.

The Organelle is a portable synthesizer, a sampler, a sequencer, and an effects processor designed and assembled by Critter & Guitari. It incorporates a Raspberry Pi computer module running Linux.

OTTO is a digital camera created by Next Thing Co. It incorporates a Raspberry Pi Compute Module. It was successfully crowd-funded in a May 2014 Kickstarter campaign.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, demand increased primarily due to the increase in remote work, but also because of the use of many Raspberry Pi Zeros in ventilators for COVID-19 patients in countries such as Colombia,

A project was launched in December 2014 at an event held by the UK Space Agency. The Astro Pi was an augmented Raspberry Pi that included a sensor hat with a visible light or infrared camera. The Astro Pi competition, called Principia, was officially opened in January and was opened to all primary and secondary school aged children who were residents of the United Kingdom. During his mission, British ESA astronaut Tim Peake deployed the computers on board the International Space Station.

According to Upton, the name "Raspberry Pi" was chosen with "Raspberry" as an ode to a tradition of naming early computer companies after fruit, and "Pi" as a reference to the Python programming language.

In 2006, early concepts of the Raspberry Pi were based on the Atmel ATmega644 microcontroller. Its schematics and PCB layout are publicly available.trustee Eben Upton assembled a group of teachers, academics and computer enthusiasts to devise a computer to inspire children.

19 February 2012 – The first proof of concept SD card image that could be loaded onto an SD card to produce a preliminary operating system is released. The image was based on Debian 6.0 (Squeeze), with the LXDE desktop and the Midori browser, plus various programming tools. The image also runs on QEMU allowing the Raspberry Pi to be emulated on various other platforms.

29 February 2012 – Initial sales commence 29 February 2012web-shops of the two licensed manufacturers selling Raspberry Pi"s within the United Kingdom, Premier Farnell and RS Components, had their websites stalled by heavy web traffic immediately after the launch (RS Components briefly going down completely).

24 August 2012 – Hardware accelerated video (H.264) encoding becomes available after it became known that the existing licence also covered encoding. Formerly it was thought that encoding would be added with the release of the announced camera module.MPEG-2 and Microsoft"s VC-1. Also it was announced that the Pi will implement CEC, enabling it to be controlled with the television"s remote control.

6 September 2012 – Announcement that in future the bulk of Raspberry Pi units would be manufactured in the UK, at Sony"s manufacturing facility in Pencoed, Wales. The Foundation estimated that the plant would produce 30,000 units per month, and would create about 30 new jobs.

17 December 2012 – The Foundation, in collaboration with IndieCity and Velocix, opens the Pi Store, as a "one-stop shop for all your Raspberry Pi (software) needs". Using an application included in Raspbian, users can browse through several categories and download what they want. Software can also be uploaded for moderation and release.

3 June 2013 – "New Out of Box Software" or NOOBS is introduced. This makes the Raspberry Pi easier to use by simplifying the installation of an operating system. Instead of using specific software to prepare an SD card, a file is unzipped and the contents copied over to a FAT formatted (4 GB or bigger) SD card. That card can then be booted on the Raspberry Pi and a choice of six operating systems is presented for installation on the card. The system also contains a recovery partition that allows for the quick restoration of the installed OS, tools to modify the config.txt and an online help button and web browser which directs to the Raspberry Pi Forums.

28 February 2014 – On the day of the second anniversary of the Raspberry Pi, Broadcom, together with the Raspberry Pi foundation, announced the release of full documentation for the VideoCore IV graphics core,

7 April 2014 – The official Raspberry Pi blog announced the Raspberry Pi Compute Module, a device in a 200-pin DDR2 SO-DIMM-configured memory module (though not in any way compatible with such RAM), intended for consumer electronics designers to use as the core of their own products.

14 July 2014 – The official Raspberry Pi blog announced the Raspberry Pi Model B+, "the final evolution of the original Raspberry Pi. For the same price as the original Raspberry Pi model B, but incorporating numerous small improvements people have been asking for".

2 February 2015 – The official Raspberry Pi blog announced the Raspberry Pi 2. Looking like a Model B+, it has a 900 MHz quad-core ARMv7 Cortex-A7 CPU, twice the memory (for a total of 1 GB) and complete compatibility with the original generation of Raspberry Pis.

14 May 2015 – The price of Model B+ was decreased from US$35 to $25, purportedly as a "side effect of the production optimizations" from the Pi 2 development.CHIP, a lower-priced competitor discontinued in April 2017.

26 November 2015 – The Raspberry Pi Foundation launched the Raspberry Pi Zero, the smallest and cheapest member of the Raspberry Pi family yet, at 65 mm × 30 mm, and US$5. The Zero is similar to the Model A+ without camera and LCD connectors, while smaller and uses less power. It was given away with the Raspberry Pi magazine Magpi No. 40 that was distributed in the UK and US that day – the MagPi was sold out at almost every retailer internationally due to the freebie.

29 February 2016 – Raspberry Pi 3 with a BCM2837 1.2 GHz 64-bit quad processor based on the ARMv8 Cortex-A53, with built-in Wi-Fi BCM43438 802.11n 2.4 GHz and Bluetooth 4.1 Low Energy (BLE). Starting with a 32-bit Raspbian version, with a 64-bit version later to come if "there is value in moving to 64-bit mode". In the same announcement it was said that a new BCM2837 based Compute Module was expected to be introduced a few months later.

February 2016 – The Raspberry Pi Foundation announces that they had sold eight million devices (for all models combined), making it the best-selling UK personal computer, ahead of the Amstrad PCW.

25 April 2016 – Raspberry Pi Camera v2.1 announced with 8 Mpixels, in normal and NoIR (can receive IR) versions. The camera uses the Sony IMX219 chip with a resolution of 3280 × 2464. To make use of the new resolution the software has to be updated.

10 October 2016 – NEC Display Solutions announces that select models of commercial displays to be released in early 2017 will incorporate a Raspberry Pi 3 Compute Module.

14 October 2016 – Raspberry Pi Foundation announces their co-operation with NEC Display Solutions. They expect that the Raspberry Pi 3 Compute Module will be available to the general public by the end of 2016.

14 March 2018 – On Pi Day, Raspberry Pi Foundation introduced Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+ with improvements in the Raspberry PI 3B computers performance, updated version of the Broadcom application processor, better wireless Wi-Fi and Bluetooth performance and addition of the 5 GHz band.

2 November 2020 – Raspberry Pi 400 launched. It is a keyboard which incorporates Raspberry Pi 4 into it. GPIO pins of the Raspberry Pi 4 are accessible.

21 January 2021 – Raspberry Pi Pico launched. It is the first microcontroller-class product from Raspberry Pi. It is based on RP2040 Microcontroller developed by Raspberry Pi.

Hattersley, Lucy. "Raspberry Pi 4, 3A+, Zero W – specs, benchmarks & thermal tests". The MagPi magazine. Raspberry Pi Trading Ltd. Retrieved 28 May 2020.

"Ten millionth Raspberry Pi, and a new kit – Raspberry Pi". 8 September 2016. Retrieved 9 September 2016. we"ve beaten our wildest dreams by three orders of magnitude

"Tested: 10+ Raspberry Pi 4 USB-C Cables That Work". Tom"s Hardware. 13 July 2019. Retrieved 21 July 2019. you’ll still need an AC adapter that delivers 5 volts and at least 3 amps of power so, unless you already have one, your best bet might be to buy the official Raspberry Pi 4 power supply, which comes with a built-in cable and goes for $8 to $10.

Upton, Eben (28 October 2021). "New product: Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W on sale now at $15". Raspberry Pi Trading. Retrieved 2 December 2021. Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W uses the same Broadcom BCM2710A1 SoC die as the launch version of Raspberry Pi 3

Halfacree, Gareth (March 2020). "Raspberry Pi 4 now comes with 2GB RAM Minimum". The MagPi. No. 91. Raspberry Pi Press. p. 6. Retrieved 28 May 2020. we say farewell to the 1GB model

Upton, Eben (20 October 2021). "1GB Raspberry Pi 4 makes a comeback". Raspberry Pi Trading. Retrieved 16 November 2021. we are reintroducing the 1GB variant at the $35 price point

Merten, Dr. Maik (14 September 2019). "Raspi-Kernschau – Das Prozessor-Innenleben des Raspberry Pi 4 im Detail" [Raspi-kernel-show – The inner life of the Raspberry Pi 4 processor in detail]. C"t (in German). 2019 (20): 164–169.

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"Pi Screen limited to 1920 by RISC OS:-". RISC OS Open. Retrieved 6 January 2016. 2048 × 1152 monitor is the highest resolution the Pi"s GPU can handle [presumably with non-low frame-rate ..] The monitors screen info confirms the GPU is outputting 2048×1152

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Rockman, Simon (21 February 2012). "Is Raspberry Pi a mid-life crisis?". ZDNet. Retrieved 24 February 2012. Just because young teens led the way in computing in the 1980s doesn"t mean it should, will or can happen again. Those outside the tech age bubble have better things to do.

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"Raspberry Pi • View topic – Raspberry Pi as the successor of BBC Micro". raspberrypi.org. 22 April 2012. Retrieved 12 June 2013. The Foundation trustees tried very hard to get an agreement to use the BBC Micro name, right up to May 2011. /../ Eben touched on the subject a bit during his speech at the Beeb@30 celebration at the beginning of the month

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"New 8-megapixel camera board on sale at $25". 25 April 2016. Retrieved 6 May 2016. both visible-light and infrared cameras based on the Sony IMX219 8-megapixel sensor, at the same low price of $25. They"re available today from our partners RS Components and element14

The Mag Pi Magazine issue 53, Page 10, Raspberry Pi Foundation, On 25 November, it was confirmed that total sales of the Raspberry Pi have now topped 11 million.

Raspberry Pi gets $45M to meet demand for low-cost PCs and IoT, TechCrunch / Natasha Lomas@riptari(twitter), While, in total, the Pi Foundation also said it’s shipping over 42 million (Pi-powered) PCs to more than 100 countries.

Impact Stories: Raspberry Pi, The Index Projewct / Ditte Fiil Ravn, With 43 million computers sold worldwide and 95% of its products exported outside the UK, the globe has grown fond of pocket-sized computers.

One decade, 46 million units: Happy birthday, Raspberry Pi, The Register / Richard Speed, Upton tells us that approximately 46 million units have been manufactured to date.