Skip to main content

Raspberry Pi Zero: the $5 computer


Raspberry Pi Zero: the $5 computer

 

 

Of all the things we do at Raspberry Pi, driving down the cost of computer hardware remains one of the most important. Even in the developed world, a programmable computer is a luxury item for a lot of people, and every extra dollar that we ask someone to spend decreases the chance that they’ll choose to get involved.
The original Raspberry Pi Model B and its successors put a programmable computer within reach of anyone with $20-35 to spend. Since 2012, millions of people have used a Raspberry Pi to get their first experience of programming, but we still meet people for whom cost remains a barrier to entry. At the start of this year, we began work on an even cheaper Raspberry Pi to help these people take the plunge.






Today, I’m pleased to be able to announce the immediate availability of Raspberry Pi Zero, made in Wales and priced at just $5. Zero is a full-fledged member of the Raspberry Pi family, featuring:
  • A Broadcom BCM2835 application processor
    • 1GHz ARM11 core (40% faster than Raspberry Pi 1)
  • 512MB of LPDDR2 SDRAM
  • A micro-SD card slot
  • A mini-HDMI socket for 1080p60 video output
  • Micro-USB sockets for data and power
  • An unpopulated 40-pin GPIO header
    • Identical pinout to Model A+/B+/2B
  • An unpopulated composite video header
  • Our smallest ever form factor, at 65mm x 30mm x 5mm
Raspberry Pi Zero runs Raspbian and all your favourite applications, including Scratch, Minecraft and Sonic Pi. It is available today in the UK from our friends at The Pi Hut and Pimoroni, and in the US from Adafruit and in-store at your local branch of Micro Center. We’ve built several tens of thousands of units so far, and are building more, but we expect demand to outstrip supply for the next little while.
One more thing: because the only thing better than a $5 computer is a free computer, we are giving away a free Raspberry Pi Zero on the front of each copy of the December issue of The MagPi, which arrives in UK stores today. Russell, Rob and the team have been killing themselves putting this together, and we’re very pleased with how it’s turned out. The issue is jam-packed with everything you need to know about Zero, including a heap of project ideas, and an interview with Mike Stimson, who designed the board.













Comments

Popular posts from this blog

PIC 16F877A Microcontroller Based Electronic Lock 16x2LCD 4x3 Keypad

 Circuit Diagram Security is a prime concern in our day-today life. Everyone wants to be as much secure as possible. An access control for doors forms a vital link in a security chain. The microcontroller based digital lock for Doors is an access control system that allows only authorized persons to access a restricted area. An electronic lock or digital lock is a device which has an electronic control assembly attached to it. They are provided with an access control system. This system allows the user to unlock the device with a password. The password is entered by making use of a keypad. The user can also set his password to ensure better protection. The major components include a Keypad, LCD and the controller PIC16F877A. This article describes the making of an electronic code lock using the 16F877A microcontroller. The system is fully controlled by the 8 bit microcontroller 16F877A which has a 8Kbytes of ROM for the program memory. The password is stored in the

Electronic Voting Machine Using 8051 Microcontroller (AT89C51)

  Circuit Electronic voting machine has now replaced the traditional mechanism of voting due to several advantages like security, automatic counting etc. This project presents a way to develop an electronic voting machine which displays the count of votes on a 16x2 LCD interface. A user can get his/her vote register through a set of switches (one for each candidate). After every cast of vote, the subsequent count can be seen on LCD. The circuit uses AT89C51 microcontroller and the code for the project has been written in C. This LCD based electronic voting machine is designed for four candidates. The input part consists of a set of six tactile switches. The switches and 16x2 LCD are interfaced to microcontroller AT89C51 for various operations and displays. The provision of casting votes for the candidates has been provided through four of these switches. These switches are made active high and connected to pins 2-5 (P1^1 – P1^4) of the controller. The remaining two

89C51 Based Digital Thermometer Using DS1820

Introduction The hardware configuration when using multiple 1-Wire temperature sensors like the DS1820 is very simple, as illustrated in the block diagram below. A single-wire bus is used for communication between the microcontroller and the temperature sensor. It is also possible to power the devices direclty via this 1-Wire bus. An almost unlimited number of 1-WireTM devices can be connected to the bus because each device has a unique 64-bit ROM code identifier which is used to address each sensor   Temperature measurement using DS1820 sensor. Use of ‘1-wire’ protocol... Temperature measurement is one of the most common tasks performed by the microcontroller. A DS1820 sensor is used for measurement here. It is capable of measuring temperature in the range of -55 °C to 125 °C with 0.5 °C accuracy. For the purpose of transferring data to the microcontroller, a special type of serial communication called 1-wire is used. Due to a simple and wide use of these sensors, commands us