Raspberry Pi Cookbook

If you’ve started to work with Raspberry Pi, you know that Raspberry Pi’s capabilities are continually expanding. The fourth edition of this popular cookbook provides more than 200 hands-on recipes (complete with code) that show you how to run this tiny low-cost computer with Linux, program it with Python, hook it up to sensors and motors, and use it with the internet of things (IoT). This new edition includes new chapters on the Raspberry Pi Pico and machine learning with the Raspberry Pi.

These easy-to-use recipes will show you, step-by-step, how to:

• Set up your Raspberry Pi and connect to a network
• Work with its Linux-based operating system
• Program your Raspberry Pi with Python
• Give your Pi “eyes” with computer vision
• Recognize objects from video and sounds using machine learning
• Control hardware through the GPIO connector
• Use your Raspberry Pi to run different types of motors
• Work with switches, keypads, and other digital inputs
• Use sensors to measure temperature, light, and distance
• Connect to IoT devices in various ways and automate your home
• Use the Raspberry Pi Pico microcontroller board with your Raspberry Pi

Launched in 2011, the Raspberry Pi has found a role both as a very low-cost Linux-based computer and as a platform for embedded computing. It has proven popular with educators and hobbyists alike.

As of this writing, more than 40 million Raspberry Pis have been sold. The Raspberry Pi 4 with an option of 8 GB of memory makes the Raspberry Pi more than powerful enough to use as a replacement for a desktop computer, and the Pi 400 with its built-in keyboard makes a very capable replacement for a desktop computer.

The availability of open source Linux software for internet browsing, email, office suites, and photo editing is set to make the Raspberry Pi even more popular.

Even the latest Raspberry Pi 4 and Pi 400 still includes the general-purpose input/output (GPIO) pins that allow the hobbyist to add their own electronic contraptions to the Raspberry Pi.

This edition has been thoroughly updated to encompass the new models of Raspberry Pi, as well as the many changes and improvements to its Raspberry Pi OS. In particular you will find new chapters on:

• Machine Learning
• Raspberry Pi Pico and Pico W

This book is designed so that you can read it linearly, as you would a regular book, or access recipes at random. You can search the table of contents or index for the recipe that you want and then jump directly to it. If the recipe requires you to know about other things, it will refer you to other recipes, rather like a cookbook might refer you to base sauces before showing you how to cook something fancier.

The world of Raspberry Pi moves quickly. With a large, active community, new interface boards and software libraries are being developed all the time. In addition to examples that use specific interface boards or software, the book also covers basic principles so that you can have a better understanding of how to use new technologies that come along as the Raspberry Pi ecosystem develops.

As you would expect, a large body of code (mostly Python programs) accompanies the book. These programs are all open source and available on GitHub. For most of the software-based recipes, all you need is a Raspberry Pi. I recommend a Raspberry Pi 3 or 4 model B. When it comes to recipes that involve making your own hardware to interface with the Raspberry Pi, I have tried to make good use of ready-made modules as well as solderless breadboard and jumper wires to avoid the need for soldering.

If you want to make breadboard-based projects more durable, I suggest using prototyping boards with the same layout as a half-size breadboard, such as those from Adafruit and elsewhere, so that the design can easily be transferred to a soldered solution.

About the Author

Simon Monk has a degree in Cybernetics and Computer Science and a PhD in Software Engineering. After spending many years in software and co-founding the mobile software company Momote, he now divides his time between writing books about electronics and programming and helping to run MonkMakes (monkmakes.com), a business he started with his wife Linda, designing electronic kits and accessories for the Raspberry Pi, BBC micro:bit and general electronics.