First Thoughts

I got a new Raspberry pi 2 (model b) about a week ago. It is a pretty cool device with a lot of potential. I played around with it for a bit and here are my first thoughts:

To start with its construction, it has all the necessary ports such as the USB, HDMI for display and other ports. For more info on the ports visit: https://www.raspberrypi.org/products/raspberry-pi-2-model-b/

Operating System Installation

The microSD memory card from the kit comes pre-installed with NOOBS and Raspbian.

To install with NOOBS, just plug in the memory card into the slot, connect the Pi to the display through HDMI, either a mouse or a keyboard or both to the Pi though the USB ports, and finally connect the micro USB power source. When the Pi starts, a pop up window appears with the operating systems available through NOOBS. Select the operating system which you need (Raspbian in my case) and hit install. It takes about 15-20 minutes and it automatically restarts and boots into the new operating system. We can also dual boot the Pi just like any other computer. If you are interested to do so, there are many tutorials available on the web. An example, http://www.howtogeek.com/173101/how-to-enjoy-dead-simple-raspberry-pi-setup-with-noobs/

Just to try out a new operating system, I installed Windows 10 for IOT. If you wish to install it, the step by step guide is available at http://ms-iot.github.io/content/en-US/win10/RPI.htm

However, for my case I reverted back to Raspbian as Windows 10 did not receive favorable reviews especially for developers. The review I referred to is from here.

If you do not have a display for the Pi we can still communicate with the device using your laptop. I currently use VNC server and VNC viewer for the communication purpose though the initial set up requires a display.

I also found this tutorial and also this which might help.

Chapter 6 from Virlos Manual: Python Intro

This chapter is about running your python programs on your Pi. It starts with the familiar ‘Hello World’ program and continue with other python programming constructs such as loops, classes, lists, dictionaries.

I have prior experience with Python 3.4 and I found the chapter easy to understand and code onto.

If you would like to view my prior project in python please visit my Github page GitHub Link

I have done a few challenges (5 to be precise) from the website http://www.pythonchallenge.com/ which is a great place to improve your python skills.

Chapter 7 from Virlos Manual: Play with Pi

This chapter from the manual is the section from where the actual action starts. This chapter gives some basic info about electronic circuits such as an open circuit, closes circuit, diodes, resistance and other necessary components and then proceeds to explain the 40-pin black header on the Pi board.

It is the connector which can be controlled by the code we write. Specific pins are explained and then the exercises commence which deal about controlling the pins.

Before you do the exercise you need to connect the circuit on the breadboard and then connect it to the Pi. To connect to the Pi, you can either use the male-to-female jumper wires (not available in the kit) or the 40 pin female-female GPIO ribbon cable and a T Shape 40 Pin Cobbler Breakout kit (available in the kit).

After everything is ready and set, the exercises deal with blinking an LED through python, setting a GPIO pin as an output pin and later as an input through both terminal and also through python code, using the push-button switch in the process. The only thing that’s common in both the methods is that you need to be a super user.

One particular thing I missed when making a pin as input is that I forgot to connect the 3.3V source(pin 1) to the circuit and it took a while to resolve.

Overall, I’m excited to work on the raspberry pi and this this has been been a good first experience for me.

Thank you.