The Raspberry Pi is a low-cost credit-card sized single-board computer. The Raspberry Pi was created in the UK by the Raspberry Pi Foundation. The Raspberry Pi Foundation's goal is to "advance the education of adults and children, particularly in the field of computers, computer science and related subjects."
image:./Raspberry_Pi_2_Model_B_v1.1_top_new.jpg[alt="Raspberry Pi 2 Model B"]
[NOTE]
.Remember
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A mote is a node but a node is not always a mote!
image:./arduino-connect-pi.jpg[alt="Raspberry Pi and Arduino"]
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=== Install Raspberry Pi
==== Step 1: Download Raspbian
https://www.raspberrypi.org/downloads/raspbian/[Download] the Raspbian disc image - Choose Raspbian Lite
[NOTE]
.Why Raspbian Lite?
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Because it is a lightweight version of the Raspbian and it doesn’t have a graphical user interface installed.
This means that it doesn’t have any unnecessary software installed that we don’t need for our projects, so this makes it the perfect solution for future automation projects.
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==== Step 2: Unzip the file
- Windows users, you’ll want 7-Zip.
- Linux users will use the appropriately named Unzip.
==== Step 3: Write the disc image to your microSD card
Next, pop your microSD card into your computer and write the disc image to it. You’ll need a specific program to do this:
- Windows users, your answer is https://sourceforge.net/projects/win32diskimager/[Win32 Disk Imager].
- Linux people, https://www.balena.io/etcher/[Etcher – which also works on Windows – is what the Raspberry Pi Foundation recommends.]
The process of actually writing the image will be slightly different across these programs, but it’s pretty self-explanatory no matter what you’re using.
- Each of these programs will have you select the destination (make sure you’ve picked your microSD card!) and the disc image (the unzipped Raspbian file).
- Choose, double-check, and then hit the button to write.
$serial->sendMessage("Hello from my PHP script, say hi back!");
$serial->deviceClose();
echo "I've sended a message! \n\r";
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==== NodeJS
[NOTE]
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Read the writing carefully on your Raspberry Pi circuit board to confirm it indicates something like “Raspberry Pi 4 Model B” or “Raspberry Pi 2 Model B”. If in doubt, run the following command in the terminal:
$ uname -m
If the result returned starts with **“armv6”**, you are running a Raspberry Pi based on the older ARMv6 chipset and the next Node.js installation step **will not work**; otherwise, you are ready for the next step.