We had Andy from Southend Tech in the studio today speaking about the Raspberry Pi computer, coding in schools plus an event taking place this Sunday at The Hive in Southend.
The Pi is a cheap (around £30 for the unit itself) computer which requires just a keyboard, monitor and mouse in order to function as a simple e-mail/web machine – It does not run Windows, but the operating system is free and features a similar environment to most PCs. With no fans, it’s silent and runs off a simple “wall-wart” power supply.
It has a sound output, 4 USB ports and a network port. They also have a number of input/output pins which can be used to control external equipment such as motors, lights or even security equipment – the limitation is just your imagination!
Andy also mentioned Astro Pi, a project that enabled youngsters to write their own code and have it sent up to the International Space Station and then receive the results back – just like a real space scientist!
Raspberry Pi Jam at the Hive, Southend SS2 6EX this Sunday 10am-5pm including solder skills, learn coding, Minecraft and a range of other activities… and best of all, it’s FREE!
Southend Tech is on Facebook here … and you can find out more about the Raspberry Pi “Jam” on their website here.
