Raspberry Pi Detailed Notes
Introduction to Raspberry Pi
The Raspberry Pi is a low-cost, credit-card-sized computer developed by the Raspberry Pi Foundation in the UK.
Its purpose is to promote the teaching of basic computer science in schools and developing countries. It is widely
used in IoT, robotics, automation, and AI projects. Various models include Raspberry Pi Zero, 3B+, 4, and Pico.
Compared to microcontrollers such as Arduino, Raspberry Pi is a complete mini-computer with OS support.
Raspberry Pi Board: Hardware Layout and Pinouts
Key components on the board: Broadcom SoC (CPU + GPU), RAM, HDMI port, USB ports, Ethernet, Camera
interface (CSI), Display interface (DSI), microSD slot, audio jack, and 40-pin GPIO header. The GPIO header
includes power pins (3.3V, 5V), ground pins, general-purpose I/O pins, and communication interfaces (I2C, SPI,
UART).
Operating Systems on Raspberry Pi
The default operating system is Raspberry Pi OS (formerly Raspbian). Other supported OS include Ubuntu,
Windows 10 IoT Core, RetroPie (gaming), LibreELEC (media center), and Kali Linux (security). OS installation is
done using Raspberry Pi Imager or Balena Etcher. The boot process begins from the microSD card which
contains the OS.
Configuring Raspberry Pi
Steps: Insert microSD card, connect power, HDMI display, keyboard, and mouse. During first boot, configure
language, region, Wi-Fi, and password. Update the system with 'sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade'. Enable
interfaces such as SSH, I2C, SPI, Camera via 'raspi-config' utility.
Programming Raspberry Pi
The Raspberry Pi supports multiple programming languages including Python, C, C++, Java, and Node.js. Python
is most popular for GPIO access. Example program: blinking an LED using the RPi.GPIO library. Other projects
include controlling sensors, motors, and displays.
Connecting Raspberry Pi via SSH
SSH allows remote terminal access. Enable SSH through 'raspi-config'. Connect from another computer using
'ssh pi@'. Default login: username 'pi' and password 'raspberry' (should be changed for security).
Remote Access Tools
Remote access can be achieved through VNC Viewer (desktop access), PuTTY (Windows SSH client),
MobaXterm, Termius, or Xrdp for RDP protocol. SSH is text-based while VNC and RDP provide full graphical
access.
Interfacing DHT Sensor with Raspberry Pi
The DHT11/DHT22 sensors measure temperature and humidity. Connect data pin to GPIO and use Python
libraries such as Adafruit_DHT to read values. Example program prints temperature in Celsius and humidity
percentage.
Raspberry Pi as Webserver
Raspberry Pi can host a webserver using Apache, Nginx, or lightweight frameworks like Flask. Example: A Flask
app displaying 'Hello, Raspberry Pi Webserver!' accessible at http://:5000.
Raspberry Pi Camera
The Pi Camera connects via CSI port. Enable using 'raspi-config'. Capture images with 'raspistill -o image.jpg' and
record video with 'raspivid -o video.h264 -t 10000'. Python 'picamera' library allows programmatic control.
Image & Video Processing using Pi
Install OpenCV for advanced image and video processing. Example: capturing frames from Pi camera and
converting to grayscale in real-time. Applications include face detection, object tracking, and computer vision
projects.
