If you are into machine programming or are looking to learn programming languages like python and Scratch, you have probably heard about Raspberry Pi. These are small – often credit-card sized computers- that you can plug into a smart device like a computer, and usually used in machine programming related courses. The Raspberry Pi was created by the RPF (Raspberry Pi Foundation) in the United Kingdom. The company achieved major commercial success with sales of about 5 million in 2015, raising to 30 million in 2019.
If you are looking to explore computing, and do all the things you wanted to from a traditional computer, you can with a Raspberry Pi, from browsing the internet to playing games. You can use Raspberry Pi to develop hardware projects or do home automation, a result you find many organizations using it. Today, it’s used everywhere from weather stations to music machines and even infra-red computers, or by kids to learn how to program. We will be taking a look at how it all works below.
The initial models of Raspeberry Pi were manufactured by the RPF until the third model where the model was manufactured by Eben Upton after becoming the CEO. Pi’s, however, were created by companies like Sony and other companies from Japan and China.
The Different Raspberry Pi models Till Now
The Raspberry Pi since its release has undergone numerous revolutionary changes. Thus it has led to the release of various models. The following are the models released:
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First-generation Raspberry Models
This was the first model of Raspberry Pi released in February 2012. The first model released was model b followed by the cheaper model A. It has released an improved version of this model (Raspberry Pi model B+) in 2014.
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Second generation Raspberry Models
The second generation consisted of a model called Raspberry Pi zero. It was released in November 2015. It consisted of a small-sized Input and output and general-purpose input or output (GPIO) capabilities.
Then it underwent further improvement and released Raspberry Pi W. Raspberry W was a game-changer with features like Bluetooth and WIFI incorporated in it. It was released in 2017. Then a year later they dropped a yet another improved model called Raspberry Pi WH in which had a GPIO header incorporated on it.
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Third generation Raspberry Models
The third generation consisted of a model called Raspberry Pi 3 Model B. The model was released in the summer of June 2016. The Raspberry Pi 3 Model B had a processor of the quad-core with had a processing ability of 1.2 Gigahertz 64 bit. It later came to an improved version of it with which was 0.2 gigahertz faster. It was released two years before the release of its predecessor. It contained features like having a Power over Ethernet, a fast gigabit Ethernet, a network boot, USB boot, etc.
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Fourth generation Raspberry Models
The fourth-generation consisted of a model called Raspberry Pi 4 Model B. It was released in 2019 and it's the one in which is currently used to this day. Its processor is quad-core and it has a speed of 1.5 Gigahertz.
It also has a gigabit Ethernet, WIFI, and Bluetooth. There are two USB ports and dual monitor in which supports resolution up to 4k quality and without forgetting an HDMI port. It also has a secondary USB port in which can be used as a secondary source of power provision to its connected devices.
How to connect Wi-Fi to your Raspberry Pi?
In connecting WIFI to Raspberry Pi it requires setting it up through command lines. Here are the steps that you need to follow when setting up WIFI to Raspberry Pi.
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Go to the Raspberry command line
In the Raspberry command line type the following command
sudo raspi –config
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Select the Network option. After that, you will see the Wi-Fi option that you need to select.
Now you will need to move to the installation. You'll need to know the following:
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The country you are setting up the network from
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The SSID of the network
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The paraphrase of the network
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Obtaining the Wi-Fi network details
Here you'll need to scan first the Wi-Fi networks. Thus for this to happen, you'll need the following command
sudo wlist wlan0 scan
Now you’ll need to check out the following information
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ESSID: ‘’testing’’ will be the name of the network
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'IE: IEEE 802.11i/WPA2 Version 1' will be the authentication used. In this, it's WPA2, which replaces WPA. It’s more secure and this guide will help you know how to access it. If you don’t know the password, you may want to take a look at the back of the router – where the password is generally pasted.
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Adding the Wi-Fi network details to the Raspberry Pi
First, you'll need to type in the following command
wpa-supplicant
The above command will open up the configuration file in nano. Then you’ll type the next command on the command line
sudo nano /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf
At the bottom of the file add the following command
network={
ssid="testing"
psk="testingPassword"
}
The above lines are how you'll configure the password in ASCII format. Alternatively, you can use a 32-bit hexadecimal number to configure the password
Now you'll need to generate the PSK. And for that, you'll need to type this command first.
wpa_passphrase
then type this command
network={
ssid="testing"
#psk="testingPassword"
psk=131e1e221f6e06e3911a2d11ff2fac9182665c004de85300f9cac208a6a80531
}
Now the above command will generate a psk password and SSID. It's also important to note that to keep your file safe you'll need to delete the wpa-supplicant command.
Now lastly save the file by pressing Ctrl and X command keys, then Y, finally press Enter command key.
Reconfigure the interface with wpa_cli -i wlan0 reconfigure.
Not that you can verify if it has successfully connected using the ifconfig wlan0 command. If the inet addr command has an address on it.
Raspberry Pi has connected to the network. If not, check if the data entered on your password and ESSID are correct.
The Relevance of Raspberry Pi
Raspberry Pi has been one of the foundations of machine programming. It, machines together with Arduino, have taken a further step in creating life to through programming them and have played part in the industrial revolution and continue to play part till this day.
