Oolite Bulletins

The Raspberry Pi was launched today with an announcement on their website at 6am GMT this morning. http://www.raspberrypi.org/

It was on my Christmas pressie list - but alas - perhaps an Easter Egg instead?

Add to that:

- a low cost USB to relay / serial port device (so a lot cheaper than the £99 versions available online)
- PyUSB to allow Python to control the USB port
- some advice from someone who has done it
- a decent reference source (better than this one)
- a device to convert a voltage into an input to the USB so it can be read

and you could then control anything from this Raspberry Pi. Just like we used to with a Sinclair ZX80 / ZX81.

Anyone else remember controlling a model train set from a home micro? Or be shown a neighbours all-singing-and-all-dancing home security system, all controlled from a home micro? This is how I got from electronics into computers, back in the days of the TRS-80 and the RML 380Z.

It is such a shame that home computers were something you did something with, whereas now they are just something you play games on. I'd like to see the Raspberry Pi spawn a new generation of inventors. A cheap PC that can monitor and control anything: from the Xmas lights to a factory.

All I need to know is: will Oolite run on it?

I think it should be bundled with it, to be honest.

Selezen wrote:

All I need to know is: will Oolite run on it?

I think it should be bundled with it, to be honest.

You know I just can't see that happening somehow

SandJ wrote:

Add to that:

- a low cost USB to relay / serial port device (so a lot cheaper than the £99 versions available online)
- PyUSB to allow Python to control the USB port
- some advice from someone who has done it
- a decent reference source (better than this one)
- a device to convert a voltage into an input to the USB so it can be read

and you could then control anything from this Raspberry Pi.

Have a look at their blog. There's a rather nice GPIO breakout board that looks as though it could do all that without any USB device.

Personally, I want to get a version of Oolite running on it ASAP. Then on it's permanently plugged into my tellybox.

See technical info on the Raspberry Pi FAQ.

Raspberry Oolite Pi sounds like a wonderful idea - would have to rewrite the graphics engine to use OpenGL ES v2.0 (and only 256MB)

I thought the Model A and Model B was a nice touch.

Update: 20th February seems to be an important date now.

Raspberry Pi

Fingers and toes crossed - I want one for Easter!

SandJ wrote:

It is such a shame that home computers were something you did something with, whereas now they are just something you play games on. I'd like to see the Raspberry Pi spawn a new generation of inventors. A cheap PC that can monitor and control anything: from the Xmas lights to a factory.

Isn't that what arduino is for?

At last! A machine with a fixed and known specification! As well as running distro's of Linux it also runs RISCOS (although I'm completely unsure of the detail) - it should soon once again be possible to create instruction code that executes from !boot without a whopping great GUI consuming the lion share of processor ticks...

maik wrote:

SandJ wrote:

I'd like to see the Raspberry Pi spawn a new generation of inventors. A cheap PC that can monitor and control anything: from the Xmas lights to a factory.

Isn't that what arduino is for?

I had not heard of the Ardiono (homepage, wikipedia) before your post today. Yet this evening I attended a British Computer Society event where a professor demonstrated a home monitoring and management system that used one in conjunction with an Android-based controller and external video footage via smartphone.

Life will get exciting as we move to an Internet of Things world.

SandJ wrote:

maik wrote:

SandJ wrote:

I'd like to see the Raspberry Pi spawn a new generation of inventors. A cheap PC that can monitor and control anything: from the Xmas lights to a factory.

Isn't that what arduino is for?

I had not heard of the Ardiono (homepage, wikipedia) before your post today.

Seems I follow too many nerdy news sites that mention this kind of stuff