Raspberry Pi Official Magazine #152

Editor Lucy Hattersley Lucy is trying to coax a virtual environment with a swapfile to install a frankly ludicrously large model and is loving every minute of it. rpimag.co Artificial intelligence is at the heart of the modern tech industry. Through cyclical processes of training and inference, this remarkable technology helps us understand masses of data, make decisions much faster and at scale (if not necessarily better), and make our devices smarter and more intuitive. The engineers at Raspberry Pi have been busy helping our favourite computer get ready for this remarkable new generation of technology. Alongside a bulkier 16GB Raspberry Pi 5 model with extra RAM to contain larger AI models, we have custom accelerator hardware like AI HAT+ and Raspberry Pi AI Camera with Sony IMX500 Intelligent Vision…

Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 – the deep embedded version of Raspberry Pi 4 – has a new, sturdy, update that enables it to operate in extreme temperature environments. Raspberry Pi computers have been deployed in a wide array of challenging environments, ranging from desert robots (rpimag.co/deserteye) to an Antarctic ice camera (rpimag.co/antarcticpicam). Now, a number of Compute Module 4 variants come with an extended temperature range of -40°C to +85°C, ideal for handling applications in more extreme indoor and outdoor environments. Our products need to perform flawlessly in harsh environments “Our products need to perform flawlessly in harsh environments,” says Eben Upton, Raspberry Pi CEO and co-founder, even when “subject to extremes of temperature or pressure, or running unattended for years on end in remote or inaccessible locations.” The…

The very first Raspberry Pi had a composite video output, and all models with a 40-pin header have a display parallel interface (DPI) output. With some external components, DPI can be converted to VGA or RGB/SCART video. Those analogue interfaces are still in demand for retro media and gaming. Raspberry Pi 5 was a big step up in processing power, but unlike previous models, its DPI block didn't support interlaced video (which isn't really part of the DPI standard), so it couldn't send full-resolution RGB to a CRT television. Until now. Early TV systems worked by scanning the image from (usually) left to right, top to bottom. There were tradeoffs between frame rate, resolution, and radio bandwidth demands. With interlace, the frame is divided into odd and even lines. The…

RP2350 is Raspberry Pi's latest high-performance, secure microcontroller, offering unparalleled levels of processing and flexibility at its very affordable price point. Now that rapid assembly of RP2350-based boards is available from JLCPCB, prototyping and initial production of your designs is straightforward and speedy. Before users submit a design to JLC, we're asking that they do the following: • Read and follow our RP2350 hardware design guide here: rpimag.co/rp2350hwdesign • Use the Abracon ABM8-272-T3 12MHz crystal oscillator: rpimag.co/ABM8 • If using the on-chip SMPS, use the custom Abracon polarised inductor: rpimag.co/AOTA • Familiarise themselves with the RP2350 datasheet including chip errata: rpimag.co/rp2350datasheet This is to help ensure the designs will function well across temperature and process variations. We also provide a helpful reference design in KiCad format (rpimag.co/minikicad, direct download). We're…

Maker Adam is an Apple software specialist who focuses on interaction design, animations, gestures, and reverse engineering. rpimag.co/mclarencarplay How to trick the car into thinking his Raspberry Pi was an iPhone In a scenario that is somewhat outside our own range of experience, software engineer and car enthusiast Adam Bell recently became the brand-new owner of a McLaren 720S. The car is resplendent in McLaren Orange and “amazing in every single way… except for the lack of CarPlay”, having launched (in 2017) just before the in-car entertainment system became prevalent. Despite being the very proud owner of a supercar (and sufficiently skilful to handle the corkscrew at Laguna Seca), Adam missed the way CarPlay automatically connects and streams audio wirelessly from his iPhone, especially as he drives the car on…

Makers Finland-based software engineers Michael and Marcos regard firmware as their bread and butter. inputlabs.io Software engineers Michael Przybilski and Marcos Diaz set up Input Labs in late 2022 with a mission of enabling “people with disabilities such as arthritis, who have difficulties holding and operating traditional pointing devices, such as computer mice, to comfortably work with computers”. Now based at the renowned Maria 01 startup campus near Helsinki, Input Labs’ founders are passionate about open-source hardware and the mutually supportive communities that help drive innovation and improvements. A year into their journey, Marcos and Michael announced a 3D-printable version of a traditional gaming controller that “enables the user to aim comfortably, with two hands, while making the interaction with the computer very precise”. Alpakka v0, their two-handed reference design…