Rasberry pi guide for dads
Discussion
Hi forum,
My 10 year old son has decided the thing he wants more in the world is a rasberry pi. I am 10% educated here - I understand kind of what they are, but I’m not sure beyond that!
Is there such a thing as a foolproof kit aimed at kids? I’m sure I could gen up and do this with him, but being selfish - remember the days of sorting drivers, downloading bits and bars and trying to make them all work from DOS / early windows in my youth, and it’s pretty much the last thing I want to do on a weekend now!
I double don’t want to have to spend ages trawling the web before even embarking on a Linux learning curve..
So if I can find something he can be self sufficient on, then I might relent and let him get one. If not, there are a lot of other father son things I’d rather be doing
Thanks in advance..
My 10 year old son has decided the thing he wants more in the world is a rasberry pi. I am 10% educated here - I understand kind of what they are, but I’m not sure beyond that!
Is there such a thing as a foolproof kit aimed at kids? I’m sure I could gen up and do this with him, but being selfish - remember the days of sorting drivers, downloading bits and bars and trying to make them all work from DOS / early windows in my youth, and it’s pretty much the last thing I want to do on a weekend now!
I double don’t want to have to spend ages trawling the web before even embarking on a Linux learning curve..
So if I can find something he can be self sufficient on, then I might relent and let him get one. If not, there are a lot of other father son things I’d rather be doing
Thanks in advance..
skilly1 said:
I am not 13 but can I be your child for the purposes of this? 
Have a look on eBay for a Kano Computer kit (they don't make them new anymore).
Eg https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/115984187356
https://www.laptopmag.com/reviews/laptops/kano-com...
Eg https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/115984187356
https://www.laptopmag.com/reviews/laptops/kano-com...
In the absence of a link for what he actually wants, here you go:
https://thepihut.com/
They're just a cheap computer that runs on an SD card. Like others have said, depending on budget get one and an SSD for him to set up on as the SD cards can fail.
If he's reasonably bright and has internet elsewhere, he'll have no trouble.
This 4B starter kit has everything but the SSD... https://thepihut.com/products/raspberry-pi-starter...
Pi Zeros are much less powerful and typically designed to run specific functions, Picos are primarily for even more specific automation, it is the non-zero and non-pico you're probably wanting.
The starter kit has an SD card that will install the OS however he likes - you won't need to trawlnfor drivers or anything. Personally I'd get the SD, copy it on your PC and keep the original for when he wants to start again...
https://thepihut.com/
They're just a cheap computer that runs on an SD card. Like others have said, depending on budget get one and an SSD for him to set up on as the SD cards can fail.
If he's reasonably bright and has internet elsewhere, he'll have no trouble.
This 4B starter kit has everything but the SSD... https://thepihut.com/products/raspberry-pi-starter...
Pi Zeros are much less powerful and typically designed to run specific functions, Picos are primarily for even more specific automation, it is the non-zero and non-pico you're probably wanting.
The starter kit has an SD card that will install the OS however he likes - you won't need to trawlnfor drivers or anything. Personally I'd get the SD, copy it on your PC and keep the original for when he wants to start again...
Edited by Baldchap on Tuesday 28th November 07:30
Quick question re raspberry Pi pico...
The pico has many GND GPIO pins. I will be using several inputs and outputs, can I connect all my incoming and outgoing grounds to a single ground on the Pico or could that potentially overload the current into that single GND? Am I better off giving each input/output its own GND connection? Are all GNDs connected on the board or are they separate connections to the CPU?
Also as I test things ideally I'd like an oscilloscope to see GPIO hoing high and low etc when I want them to, in the absence of an oscillscope what is the cheapest way to see what is going on (some will be going faster than my multimeter could monitor)?
TIA
The pico has many GND GPIO pins. I will be using several inputs and outputs, can I connect all my incoming and outgoing grounds to a single ground on the Pico or could that potentially overload the current into that single GND? Am I better off giving each input/output its own GND connection? Are all GNDs connected on the board or are they separate connections to the CPU?
Also as I test things ideally I'd like an oscilloscope to see GPIO hoing high and low etc when I want them to, in the absence of an oscillscope what is the cheapest way to see what is going on (some will be going faster than my multimeter could monitor)?
TIA
Ground often go to a plane, and usually they will be commoned together unless there's something odd going on. Unlikely you'll overload anything, but it's usually easier to use multiple wires.
You can check the actual PCB design files if you want to be sure.
For testing a cheap scope of some flavour is usually easiest, they can be very cheap these days.
Otherwise you could think about driving some LEDs as they're a fast reacting way to see a pin state.
You can check the actual PCB design files if you want to be sure.
For testing a cheap scope of some flavour is usually easiest, they can be very cheap these days.
Otherwise you could think about driving some LEDs as they're a fast reacting way to see a pin state.
JoshSm said:
Ground often go to a plane, and usually they will be commoned together unless there's something odd going on. Unlikely you'll overload anything, but it's usually easier to use multiple wires.
You can check the actual PCB design files if you want to be sure.
For testing a cheap scope of some flavour is usually easiest, they can be very cheap these days.
Otherwise you could think about driving some LEDs as they're a fast reacting way to see a pin state.
Many thanks, appreciate your comment.You can check the actual PCB design files if you want to be sure.
For testing a cheap scope of some flavour is usually easiest, they can be very cheap these days.
Otherwise you could think about driving some LEDs as they're a fast reacting way to see a pin state.
I have hankered after a scope for decades... maybe now is the time to get one... Might try getting a second hand 2 or 4 input Tektronix like I used as an apprentice many years ago.
Scarletpimpofnel said:
JoshSm said:
Ground often go to a plane, and usually they will be commoned together unless there's something odd going on. Unlikely you'll overload anything, but it's usually easier to use multiple wires.
You can check the actual PCB design files if you want to be sure.
For testing a cheap scope of some flavour is usually easiest, they can be very cheap these days.
Otherwise you could think about driving some LEDs as they're a fast reacting way to see a pin state.
Many thanks, appreciate your comment.You can check the actual PCB design files if you want to be sure.
For testing a cheap scope of some flavour is usually easiest, they can be very cheap these days.
Otherwise you could think about driving some LEDs as they're a fast reacting way to see a pin state.
I have hankered after a scope for decades... maybe now is the time to get one... Might try getting a second hand 2 or 4 input Tektronix like I used as an apprentice many years ago.
With respective to grounds, for something like dgnd I would use the nearest adjacent gnd but when using an analogue inputs you need to use the correct ground to avoid unwanted noise issues.
Gassing Station | Computers, Gadgets & Stuff | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff