Monday, December 30, 2013

Raspberry Pi /BrickPi Setup

I backed the BrickPI project on Kickstarter as I thought it was a great way to expand the robotics experimentation and capabilities that kids and others might use to grow technology in the world. The Raspberry Pi was a great little computer, and I set one up as an AirPlay device for awhile in the kitchen. I need a better case/mount for it, so that one is currently on my desk until I build/figure something out. I got the Brick PI just before Christmas, also placed on my desk.

Until today.

I decided to get this going as I didn’t have anything pressing this morning. I first grabbed the BrickPI, but the instructions in the package pointed me to the web, so I started there. The Assemble The Case instructions had me get the Raspberry PI mounted first.

 

Photo Dec 30, 10 54 39 AM

With that done, I added the posts

Photo Dec 30, 10 57 15 AM

And then the BrickPI to the top.

 

Photo Dec 30, 10 59 22 AM

The ports on the BrickPI (top board) are designed to accept the Lego Mindstorm connectors. In this case, because the project was so popular, they added 8 connectors on the top, which is far beyond the 4 that the Mindstorm comes with. This is also a (slightly) less heavy device.

Photo Dec 30, 10 59 26 AM

Finally, the top piece which semi-protects the devices and gets them in a place where they can be easily mounted to the Lego sets.

Photo Dec 30, 11 01 39 AM

Photo Dec 30, 11 01 32 AM

Whoops, almost forgot the power cord. This would have been easier to mount before putting the top on, but I managed to get it installed.

Photo Dec 30, 11 03 48 AM

The next step is the get an SD card with the binary images that will boot the Raspberry PI and allow you to control it. I downloaded the image and the a utility to install it on the card, and now need a card. I managed to find one that

I followed the instructions here, and downloaded the formatter for my card. It’s a little scary to format your drives, but I felt fairly confident I had the right one. I have been doing this awhile and I double checked my drive letter before I clicked anything.

The card got formatted and it’s in the Pi. Now I just need to figure out power.

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