Raspberry Pi is a UK Non Profit with the goal of creating a new generation of computer programmers. Observing how the UK Tech Industry was kickstarted by the availability in the 1980s of relatively cheap, very programmable computers such as the ZX81, the Commodore and the BBC Micro, the Raspberry Pi Foundation designed a £15/$25 computer which encourages the user to play and to learn. Although intended for schools, it has also been adopted by hackers and geeks, and a whole ecosystem of software and hardware is being built around the Pi. With a million boards now sold, the goal of the Foundation is well underway.

Introduction 1CHAPTER 1Computer-Controlled Slot Car Racing 3Obtaining a Slot Car Racer 4Hacking Your Slot Car Racer 4Testing Your Slot Car Racer Hack 6Getting the Player Input 7Making the Joystick Buttons 7Boxing It Up 12Joystick Testing 16The Software 18The Game 20Over to You 27CHAPTER 2Facebook-Enabled Roto-Sketch 29The Concept 30Rotary Encoder Types 30The Encoder Output 31Posting to Facebook 40Using Flickr 40The Final Roto-Sketch Program 44Creating a Symmetrical Pattern 50Over to You 56CHAPTER 3The Pendulum Pi, a Harmonograph 59The Concept 61The Hall Effect 61Enter the Arduino 63Putting It Together 64Smooth Swinging 69Electronics 71Programming the Arduino 76The Final Arduino Code 81Programming the Pi 89Using the Pendulum Pi 94Over to You 96APPENDIX AGetting Your Raspberry Pi Up and Running 97The Operating System 98Getting the OS on an SD Card 99Premade Cards 99Creating Your Own SD Card 100Connecting Your Raspberry Pi 104Connecting a Display 106Connecting via HDMI 107Connecting via DVI 107Connecting via VGA 109Connecting via Composite 109Connecting to a Network 110Booting the Operating System 111Powering Up! 113The Boot Process 114Starting the Graphical Desktop 114Starting a Terminal under X 115Troubleshooting 115Common Problems 115No Lights Come On 115Only the Red Light Comes On 116No Monitor Output 116Intermittent Problems 116Power Problems 116If You Need More Help 117Let the Fun Begin! 118APPENDIX BIntroductory Software Project: The Insult Generator119Running Your First Python Program 120Saving Your Program 123Generating an Insult 126Variables 126Strings 127Lists 127Functions 128Insult Your Friends by Name! 129Conditional Behaviour 131Create a Stream of Insults! 131Making Your Own Functions 131Creating Loops 132for Loop 133while Statement 134Putting It All Together 135