Note: The elves at Pi Towers are all taking next week off to spend some time with their families, andthis blog will be quiet for the week. We’ll be back at the start of January. Happy holidays!
Happy 25th of December, everybody!
If you’re one of the many who woke up this morning to find some Raspberry Pi goodies under your tree, congratulations.
Now you’ve unpacked the Pi, confirmed it to indeed be roughly the size of a credit card, and confused a less tech-savvy loved one by telling them “This is a computer!”, you may be wondering to do with it next…and that’s where we come in.
The Raspberry Pi can be used to create no end of wonderful things, includingrobots, musical instruments , virtual pets ,stop motion cameras, and much more.
It willalso help you to learn programming, allow you toplay games, offer the chance to explore space , and automate your home.
Not quite like this…
So many awesome things.
But how do you do any of them!? Well…
1. OS me no questions and I’ll tell you no lies.
Awful pun. I’m sorry.
You’ll need to make sure you have the latest Raspbian operating system (OS) on your Pi. You may have been given an SD with Rasbian pre-installed but if not, head to ourdownloads page to get it.
2. Start me up
ALL THE POWER!
You’ll need to plug yourPi into a monitor (your TV will do), keyboard and mouse in order to get started. You’ll also need a good-quality power supply providing at least 2A.
We’ve some great instructions within ourhelp pages to get you up and running. And if you’re still stuck, ourforum has loads of information and is full of helpful people. Feel free to join and ask a question, and search previous topics for advice.
3. So how do I build a robot then?!
With tinsel and tape and bows and…
Excellent question. But if you’ve never tried to code before, you may want to start with something a little smaller…likeScratchorSonic Pi, or a physical build such as theParent Detectoror aBurping Jelly Baby.
You may also want to check out some great project books such as Carrie Anne’s Adventures in Raspberry Pi or any of The MagPi Magazine Essentials Guides and Project Books .
You’ll find a lot more suggestions in our Christmas Shopping List.
4. More, more, more!
You’ll find more projects on ourresources pages, along with some brilliant inspirational builds on our YouTube channel andblog. Or simply search for Raspberry Pi online. We’ve an amazing community of makers who share their code and builds for all to use, and now you’re one of us…WELCOME!
