Experiment 1
Raspberry Pi Uno Basics: Understanding the little computer
1. Knowing your board
➢ The Raspberry Pi is a very cheap computer that runs Linux (a popular open-source
operating system), but it also provides a set of General-Purpose Input/Output (GPIO)
pins that allow you to control electronic components for physical computing and
explore the Internet of Things (IoT).
➢ The Raspberry Pi Foundation introduced the first Raspberry Pi in 2012.
➢ It is particularly designed for educational use and intended for Python, a widely used
programming language.
➢ A Raspberry Pi is small, approximately the size of a credit card. It is a single-board
computer (SBC) developed in the United Kingdom by a foundation called Raspberry
Pi Foundation.
➢ There have been five generations of Raspberry Pi models: Pi 1, Pi 2, Pi 3, Pi 4, and Pi
5.
➢ The first generation of Raspberry Pi (Pi 1) was released in 2012 and had two types of
models: Model A and Model B.
➢ The Raspberry Pi can be plugged into a television (TV) or computer monitor and uses
a standard keyboard and mouse for input.
➢ It is user-friendly and can be handled by people of all age groups.
➢ It does everything you would expect a desktop computer to do, including word
processing, browsing the internet, using spreadsheets, playing games, and playing
high-definition (HD) videos.
➢ All models feature a Broadcom system on a chip (SoC), which includes a graphics
processing unit (GPU) (such as VideoCore IV or later versions) and an Advanced RISC
Machine (ARM)-compatible central processing unit (CPU).
➢ The CPU speed ranges from 700 megahertz (MHz) in Pi 1 to 1.5 gigahertz (GHz) in Pi 4,
and up to 2.4 GHz in Raspberry Pi 5.
➢ Onboard random-access memory (RAM) has increased from 256 megabytes (MB) in
Pi 1 to 8 gigabytes (GB) in Pi 4, with Raspberry Pi 5 available in 4 GB and 8 GB variants.
➢ The operating system (OS) is stored on Secure Digital (SD) cards, with modern models
using microSD High-Capacity (microSDHC) or SDHC sizes.
➢ Most boards have one to five Universal Serial Bus (USB) ports, composite video
output, High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) for video, and a 3.5-millimeter
(mm) phone jack for audio. Some models also feature Wi-Fi and Bluetooth
connectivity.
➢ Several generations of Raspberry Pis have been released.
➢ All models feature a Broadcom SoC, with an integrated ARM-compatible CPU and on-
chip GPU.
➢ Processor speeds have improved from 700 MHz in Pi 1 to 1.4 GHz for Pi 3 Model B+,
1.5 GHz for Pi 4, and now 2.4 GHz for Pi 5.
➢ Onboard memory (RAM) ranges from 256 MB to 1 GB in earlier models, with up to 8
GB available on the Pi 4 and Pi 5.
➢ Secure Digital (SD) cards in microSDHC form factor (SDHC on early models) are used
to store the operating system and program memory.
➢ The boards have one to five USB ports. For video output, HDMI and composite video
are supported, with a standard 3.5 mm tip-ring-sleeve (TRS) jack for audio output.
➢ Lower-level output is provided by several GPIO pins, which support common
communication protocols like Inter-Integrated Circuit (I²C).
➢ The B-models have an 8P8C (Ethernet) port, and the Pi 3, Pi Zero W, and later models
have onboard Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity.
➢ The Raspberry Pi 5 introduces significant improvements, including a more powerful
CPU, improved GPU, PCI Express (PCIe) support, dual HDMI ports, and better power
efficiency
Figure 1: Raspberry Pi Pinout
Components and Peripherals
➢ Voltages: Two 5V pins and two 3V3 pins are present on the board, as well as a number of
ground pins (0V). The remaining pins are all general purpose 3V3 pins
➢ A GPIO pin designated as an output pin can be set to high (3V3) or low (0V). A GPIO pin
designated as an input pin can be read as high (3V3) or low (0V).
➢ Processor & RAM: Raspberry based on ARM11 processor. Latest version supports
700MHz processor and 512MB SDRAM. The Central processing unit is the brain of the
raspberry pi board and that is responsible for carrying out the instructions of the computer
through logical and mathematical operations.
➢ Ethernet: The Ethernet port of the raspberry pi is the main gateway for communicating
with additional devices.
➢ The Raspberry Pi Ethernet port is used to plug your home router to access the internet.
➢ USB Ports: It has 2 USB ports. USB port provides current upto 100mA. For connecting devices that
draw current more than 100mA, an external USB powered hub is required.
➢ Ethernet Port: It has standard RJ45 Ethernet port. Connect Ethernet cable or USB wifi adapter to
provide internet connectivity.
➢ HDMI Output: It supports both audio and video output. Connect raspberry Pi to monitor using HDMI
cable.
➢ Composite video Output: Raspberry comes with a composite video output with an RCA jack that
supports both PAL and NTSC video output.
➢ Audio Output: It has 3.5mm audio output jack. This audio jack is used for providing audio output to
old televisions along with RCA jack for video.
➢ GPIO Pins: It has a number of general-purpose input/output pins. These pins are used to connect other
electronic components. For example, you can connect it to the temperature sensor to transmit digital
data.
➢ Display Serial Interface (DSI): DSI interface are used to connect an LCD panel to Raspberry PI.
➢ Cameral Serial Interface(CSI): CSI interface are used to connect a camera module to Raspberry PI.
➢ SD Card slot: Raspberry does not have built in OS and storage. Plug in an SD card loaded with Linux
to SD card slot.
➢ Power Input: Raspberry has a micro USP connector for power input.
➢ Memory: The raspberry pi model A board is designed with 256MB of SDRAM and model B is
designed with 51MB.Raspberry pi is a small size PC compare with other PCs. Normal PCs’ RAM
memory is available in gigabytes. But in raspberry pi board, the RAM memory is available more than
256MB or 512MB.
➢ Status LEDs: Raspberry has 5 status LEDs.
Status LED Function
ACT SD card Access
PWR 3.3V power is present
FDX Full duplex LAN Connected
LNK Link/Network Activity
100 100 Mbit LAN connected
Raspberry PI Interfaces:
➢ It supports SPI, serial and I2C interfaces for data transfer.
➢ Serial : Serial Interface on Raspberry has receive(Rx) and Transmit(Tx) pins for
communication with serial peripherals.
➢ SPI: Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI) is a synchronous serial data protocol used for
communicating with one or more peripheral devices. In an SPI connection, there is one
master device and one or more peripheral devices. There are 5 pins Raspberry for SPI
interface.
o MISO(Master In Slave Out): Master line for sending data to the peripherals.
o MOSI(Master Out Slave In): Slave Line for sending data to the master.
o SCK(Serial Clock): Clock generated by master to synchronize data transmission.
o CE0(Chip Enable 0): To enable or disable devices.
o CE1(Chip Enable 1): To enable or disable devices.
➢ I2C: I2C Interface pins are used to connect hardware modules. I2C interface allows synchronous
data transfer with two pins: SDA(data line) and SCL (Clock Line)
Features of Raspberry PI
➢ Where the system processing is huge. They can process high end programs for applications like Weather
Station, Cloud server, gaming console etc. With 1.2GHz clock speed and 1 GB RAM RASPBERRY PI
can perform all those advanced functions.
➢ RASPBERRY PI 3 has wireless LAN and Bluetooth facility by which you can setup WIFI HOTSPOT
for internet connectivity.
➢ RASPBERRY PI has a dedicated port for connecting touch LCD display which is a feature that
completely omits the need of monitor.
➢ RASPBERRY PI also has dedicated camera port so one can connect camera without any hassle to the
PI board.
➢ RASPBERRY PI also has PWM outputs for application use.
➢ It supports HD steaming
Raspberry Pi
Amrita School of Computing
Dept. of Artificial Intelligence and Data Science
23AID212 -Introduction to IoT
5|Pa ge
