I have a question about 3D scanning devices: Why aren't they easier to access? Today a project by Thomas Megel made the rest of the handheld smart device universe look silly by comparison. With OpenScan project software, Raspberry Pi, and the Pi camera v2.1, Megel created a budget-friendly 3D-scanning system that's able to capture highly accurate 10-micron 3D scans with relative ease.
Google Creative Lab this week revealed a project called Alto. Alto by Google Creative Lab is a "teachable object using the Coral USB Accelerator." It's made to allow users to get a very basic handle on machine learning in a way that's adaptable to hardware projects of all sorts. The code and template for this project are all free for access.
Today the first Raspberry Pi microcontroller was released for approximately $4 USD. This device is the Raspberry Pi Pico, built on RP2040, a "brand-new chip" developed at Raspberry Pi. This device bridges the gap between the still relatively heavyweight computation handled by the Raspberry Pi proper, and the computing that should be handled by a much lower power microcontroller. Today Raspberry Pi began rolling forth into the microcontroller universe.
There have been a lot of retro projects and products over the years, especially on crowdfunding platforms, that try to bring the past forward to the present. A few of those let you actually relive that past as it was back then, but even fewer actually let you use technologies and objects long gone. That is one of the things that makes this "LimaTek Diskmaster" project intriguing and, to be honest, hilarious as it tries to cram a feature-length film inside an ancient 3.5-inch floppy disk.
The Raspberry Pi 4 is arguably the most powerful iteration of the popular single-board computer or SBC. The Raspberry Pi Foundation definitely turned it up to 11 with the memory options, ports, and processor, making the tiny computer a more viable desktop alternative. Unlike more established desktops, however, the RPi 4 might have some problem keeping its cool under prolonged heavy loads. For that purpose, the RPi Foundation has, at long last, launched an official fan that easily integrates into the official case for the Raspberry Pi 4.
One of the big challenges during the global pandemic has been finding enough space and computers for entire families to work and learn from home. One of the least expensive ways to acquire another basic desktop PC has been the Raspberry Pi. However, having to build a desktop using the developer board isn't for everyone.
The Raspberry Pi single-board computers or SBCs have long been the darling of makers and tinkerers because of their size and their price. The RPis, however, have also served as the foundation of more formal products that take advantage of the platform more than just the package. For these types of uses, The Raspberry Pi Foundations has provided smaller but also less featured Compute Modules and the latest version based on the RPi 4 shrinks that size down even further with one important consequence.
So you've got a kid who wants to learn how computers work. Or you're an individual that likes to fiddle around with electronics and want to make it count with a kit that'll teach you what all the plugging and playing means. That's what this device delivers. That's what CrowPi2 was made for - discovering not only how computer parts fit together and function, but how computer code makes the whole thing run.
The Raspberry Pi opened up a whole new world of DIY projects but it has ironically been more difficult to actually produce a "normal" RPi-powered computer that doesn't look like a Frankensteined contraption. There are, of course, some kits that let you easily assemble a Raspberry Pi desktop, laptop, or even tablet, but those look more like things you'd rather leave at home than be caught dead using it outside. It's for that exact use case that CutiePi was born and now the ready-to-use RPi Tablet has launched on Kickstarter to bring all that to everyone willing to take the risk.
Raspberry Pi has upgraded its flagship board, with the Raspberry Pi 4 now coming in an 8GB RAM flavor for those who need more memory. Still unexpectedly affordable, the new Raspberry Pi 4 8GB comes less than a year after the company launched the fourth-generation model, during which time it says there have been almost 3 million sales.
Raspberry Pi has added a new camera to its range of computer modules, with the 12.3-megapixel shooter promising to bring high quality photography to the hobbyist favorite. While it's not Raspberry Pi's first camera add-on, this latest version promises to deliver images that are a step above its predecessors.
The Raspberry Pi is one of those small yet brilliant ideas that changed the world. Thanks to its low footprint, its small size, and especially its affordable price, the RPi gave birth not just to a new market but also to a new maker culture. Times have changed, however, and so have the price of components, which is why the RPi Foundation is making a welcome but somewhat odd price cut in time for its eighth birthday.