Raspberry PI: Linux computer for $35!

BopNiblets

PrzemoF wrote: »

Looks like my plans to make a HD video shooting from a high flying kite will have to wait.... :mad:

Wait, why? The Rasperry Pi doesn't have a video camera... ?

GreenWolfe

BopNiblets wrote: »

Wait, why? The Rasperry Pi doesn't have a video camera... ?

There is a connector for one, afaik they're planning to release a camera module for sale at some point in the future. If you look at this illustration, it's the CSI camera connector.

BopNiblets

Oh cool, didn't realise, probably works out cheaper than sticking one of those GoPros on the kite!

joshrogan

Does anyone know what the cheapest HDMI monitor on the market is right now?

PrzemoF

BopNiblets wrote: »

Wait, why? The Rasperry Pi doesn't have a video camera... ?

The USB connection is all I need... I hope the arch distro will have some support for uvc compatible cameras.

Johnboy1951

Some updated info from yesterday - March 13

RS had this to say ....

Just to let you know that we now have in excess of 200,000 registrations of interest. This was still growing at 10 per minute yesterday!

http://www.raspberrypi.org/archives/826

docentore

preordered one from farnell.

Dispatch date:
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.
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July 2012

PrzemoF

Any info if the ethernet card (chip/connection/whatever) supports wake-on-lan?

Redisle

The Ethernet is connected to the USB controller so it would depend more on if the SOC supports wake from USB I would imagine. However considering the amount of power this thing uses (Less than 2W idle I believe) I don't think you would ever need to turn it off! WOL could however be useful in a battery powered setup.

Just working out if it uses 2W idle (I think it uses less) it would cost about ~2.60 in electricity to leave it running 24 hours a day for the entire year. Obviously not accounting for the efficiency of the power supply or external peripherals but you get the idea.

pickarooney

I don't understand the philosophy of this - how is it going to help schoolchildren get into programming exactly?

PrzemoF

I think it's the same idea as OLPC. And it's much easier to mess with a 30 euro box and do something that might break it, compared to a 1500 euro PC that is your main PC.

From http://www.raspberrypi.org/about :

"Something had changed the way kids were interacting with computers. A number of problems were identified: the colonisation of the ICT curriculum with lessons on using Word and Excel, or writing webpages; the end of the dot-com boom; and the rise of the home PC and games console to replace the Amigas, BBC Micros, Spectrum ZX and Commodore 64 machines that people of an earlier generation learned to program on. There isn’t much any small group of people can do to address problems like an inadequate school curriculum or the end of a financial bubble. But we felt that we could try to do something about the situation where computers had become so expensive and arcane that programming experimentation on them had to be forbidden by parents; and to find a platform that, like those old home computers, could boot into a programming environment."

Johnboy1951

pickarooney wrote: »

I don't understand the philosophy of this - how is it going to help schoolchildren get into programming exactly?

There will be educational additions especially for the purpose by the time it is introduced into schools.

One way to look at it is this : ..... use it to control something physical as an example .... maybe a motor, or several motors ..... use them to move a robot ..... change the code and alter the behaviour .....

Also of course for creating software for display purposes, such as games ...... write code to create simple games and output to the TV ..... maybe something like snake ... and move on from there ......

So give a kid such a system ..... with no worries about damage or losing data .... and let their imagination rule .....

pickarooney

PrzemoF wrote: »

I think it's the same idea as OLPC. And it's much easier to mess with a 30 euro box and do something that might break it, compared to a 1500 euro PC that is your main PC.

From http://www.raspberrypi.org/about :

"Something had changed the way kids were interacting with computers. A number of problems were identified: the colonisation of the ICT curriculum with lessons on using Word and Excel, or writing webpages; the end of the dot-com boom; and the rise of the home PC and games console to replace the Amigas, BBC Micros, Spectrum ZX and Commodore 64 machines that people of an earlier generation learned to program on. There isn’t much any small group of people can do to address problems like an inadequate school curriculum or the end of a financial bubble. But we felt that we could try to do something about the situation where computers had become so expensive and arcane that programming experimentation on them had to be forbidden by parents; and to find a platform that, like those old home computers, could boot into a programming environment."

Computers have become expensive and arcane? The complete opposite is true. There are any number of used PCs knocking about for next to nothing and programming is simpler to understand now than it ever has been. I kind of like the idea of kids building robots with these but I just don't see where they're going to find teachers with the knowledge and interest to facilitate that.

GreenWolfe

pickarooney wrote: »

Computers have become expensive and arcane? The complete opposite is true. There are any number of used PCs knocking about for next to nothing and programming is simpler to understand now than it ever has been. I kind of like the idea of kids building robots with these but I just don't see where they're going to find teachers with the knowledge and interest to facilitate that.

I think it's just that there are loads of programming frameworks out there. It might just be a bit overwhelming for which language to pick if you wanted to learn from the very beginning. I quite like the approach here. By producing the educational materials in Python, they'll get children (and others too) getting the basics of a langauge learned. By the time they learn more and hit the limits of what a low-spec ARM computer can do with Python, they can then start learning more complicated languages and try to get more raw power out of it.

While learning to program may be part of a course with the RPi, I think the trustees of the project are looking to people who are interested in learning for themselves. They're trying hard to recreate the spirit of the Commodore 64/Sinclair ZX81 etc with this. Computers went from (by necessity) something you had to program yourself to make them vaguely useful, to black boxes that are just used and never understood.

As you said, used PC's are everywhere, and they're cheap. But imo administration costs are the downside of just roping together a bunch of old PC's and setting them up. It would be unlikely that each used machine is exactly the same spec, so more time goes into preparing a suitable OS image that will suit all of them.

Imagine if a kid completely messes up the OS on a bog-standard used PC, you're looking at a few hours until you're up and running again. With the Pi, just image the SD card if the OS gets borked, and carry on learning - imaging an SD card will take about 10 minutes.

Johnboy1951

pickarooney wrote: »

Computers have become expensive and arcane? The complete opposite is true. There are any number of used PCs knocking about for next to nothing and programming is simpler to understand now than it ever has been.

the costs of introducing maybe 50 or 100 cast-off PCs into a school environment would far outstrip the cost of working with the Pi ... hopefully the schools will be able to tap into all those used monitors that are being dumped ...... although I must admit to not having come across many amongst all the used PCs I handle.

I kind of like the idea of kids building robots with these but I just don't see where they're going to find teachers with the knowledge and interest to facilitate that.

Lots of schools have computer facilities already .... and it is high time that the teachers who are supposed to be computer literate learn about programming too ....... well you did say it is much easier now, so there is no reason the teachers cannot learn along .......

GreenWolfe

OSI wrote: »

So it's being delayed AGAIN! due to compliance certification issues:

Very interesting blog on that from Element 14 - http://www.element14.com/community/people/PeteL/blog/2012/03/29/spikes-in-the-ether-emc-and-compliance

Looks like the board isn't quite perfect, they're mainly having trouble with the HDMI ports. The port is being overdriven, and the cable they picked in their pre-compliance tests isn't helping apparently.

d31b0y

\o/

Dear customer,
Having successfully passed its CE compliance testing, we can now confirm that your Raspberry Pi will be delivered in the week commencing 21/05/2012.
We'd like to thank you once again for your patience - by offering you 15% off your next online order over EUR 65. Simply enter the following code when you reach the checkout:
XXXXXXX
Prepare for your Raspberry Pi
Get ready for your Raspberry Pi by downloading all the software you need. To get started, visit our download centre.
If you have any further questions, please visit our FAQ page on element14 for more information.
Once again, thank you for being patient. We hope you’ll enjoy the limitless computing potential and enjoyment the Raspberry Pi offers.
Farnell element14

d31b0y

Awww

That 15 percent will come in handy once they become fully available eh?

Mine is 04/06/2012

Yeah the 15% will come in handy alright.

BopNiblets

I got "end of June" email from Farnell/element14, woo!

Stuxnet

delivered the week starting 25/may they said for me !!

TheDoc

Stuxnet wrote: »

delivered the week starting 25/may they said for me !!

Sameas the above

Khannie

Bleugh. I stuck with the RS boat, on the grounds that I registered very shortly after 6am. Still nothing. My friend has Q3 working on his. I can't wait to see it.

niallb

NoDrama wrote: »

Mine is 04/06/2012

Yeah the 15% will come in handy alright.

Me too!

Johnboy1951

Later? LATER????????

Now! NOW!

d31b0y

I am metaphorically wetting my pants with excitement.

PrzemoF

Keep us updated!

GreenWolfe

OSI wrote: »

So far not great. Can't get the damn thing to boot :mad:

I've tried both the official Debian and Arch builds and neither will boot. Very frustrating when you have a slow ass SD card that you have to write to every time you want to try again.

I got mine working through composite video first, then HDMI output worked.

Johnboy1951

OSI wrote: »

I finally got it working with Arch thru HDMI, although its over scanning so I'll have to fix that. It's also not picking up a DHCP address but I always end up hard configuring networking anyway.

It's worth noting that as its getting it's power from USB it doesn't have much to spare, so my wireless keyboard/mice wouldn't work.

from where are you supplying power?

is there not a connection for external power supply?

BopNiblets

I'd like to know if you got a bundle with the Raspi or parts separately and the Raspi on it's own?
Like, what comes in the box? Cheers!