Raspberry Pi Foundation

Raspberry Pi Foundation
Formation May 2009 (2009-05)
Founder David Braben, Jack Lang, Pete Lomas, Alan Mycroft, Robert Mullins, Eben Upton[1][2]
Registration no. 1129409
Legal status Charity
Headquarters Cambridge, United Kingdom[3]
Products Raspberry Pi
Fields Computer science
Chairman
 David Cleevely
Main organ
 Board of trustees
Revenue (2013)
£2,019,972
Expenses (2013) £1,863,901
Mission "To further the advancement of education of adults and children, particularly in the field of computers, computer science and related subjects."
Website www.raspberrypi.org

The Raspberry Pi Foundation is a charity founded in 2009 to promote the study of basic computer science in schools, and is responsible for developing a single-board computer called the Raspberry Pi, the UK's best-selling PC of all time.

Foundation

The foundation created the line of low-cost Raspberry Pi micro-computers, which have sold millions of units.

The Raspberry Pi Foundation is a charitable organization registered with the Charity Commission for England and Wales.[3] The board of trustees was assembled by 2008[1][4] and the Raspberry Pi Foundation was founded as a registered charity in May 2009 in Caldecote, Cambridgeshire, UK.[3] The Foundation is supported by the University of Cambridge Computer Laboratory and Broadcom.[2] Its aim is to "promote the study of computer science and related topics, especially at school level, and to put the fun back into learning computing."[5] Project co-founder Eben Upton is a former academic, currently employed by Broadcom as a system-on-chip architect and associate technical director.[6] Components, albeit in small numbers, were able to be sourced from suppliers, due to the charitable status of the organization.[4]

History

When the declining of numbers and skills of students applying for Computer Science became a concern for a team that included Eben Upton, Rob Mullins, Jack Lang and Alan Mycroft at the University of Cambridge’s Computer Laboratory in 2006, a need for a tiny and affordable computer came to their minds. Several versions of the early Raspberry Pi prototypes were designed but were very limited by the high cost and low power processors for mobile devices at that time.[7]

In 2008, the team started a collaboration with Pete Lomas, MD of Norcott Technologies and David Braben, the co-author of the seminal BBC micro game Elite, and formed the Raspberry Pi Foundation. Three years later, the Raspberry Pi Model B was born and it had sold over two million units within in two years of mass production.[7]

Founders and current leadership

[T]he lack of programmable hardware for children – the sort of hardware we used to have in the 1980s – is undermining the supply of eighteen-year-olds who know how to program, so that's a problem for universities, and then it's undermining the supply of 21 year olds who know how to program, and that's causing problems for industry.

“
”

Co-founder Eben Upton in 2012[6]

The original founders of the organization includes

The organization is made of two parts. The engineering and trading activities are overseen by Raspberry Pi (Trading) Ltd and its founder and CEO Eben Upton. Lance Howarth took over the charitable and educational part from Eben and became the Foundation CEO in 2013.[8]

Trustees

As of 31 December 2015, the foundation has 7[9] Trustees:

Early expectations

The Foundation expected that children would program using Scratch and that the input/output functionality would be used to control external devices. Additionally, the low power requirement facilitates battery-powered usage in robots, while the video capabilities have led to interest in use as a home media centre.[10]

Education fund

In April 2014, the foundation announced a £1 million education fund to support projects that enhance the understanding of computing and to promote the use of technology in other subjects, particularly STEM and creative arts for children.[11] They offer to provide up to 50% of the total projected costs to successful applicants.[12]

In October 2011, the logo was selected from a number submitted from open competition. A shortlist of six was drawn up, with the final judging taking several days. The chosen design was based on a buckyball.[13]

Raspberry Pi

Raspberry Pi Model-B Beta
Main article: Raspberry Pi

In 2011, the Raspberry Pi Foundation developed a single-board computer named the Raspberry Pi. The Foundation's goal was to offer two versions, priced at US$25 and $35 (plus local taxes). The Foundation started accepting orders for the higher priced model on 29 February 2012.[14] The Raspberry Pi is intended to stimulate the teaching of computer science in schools.[15][16][17][18][19]

Raspberry Pi Zero

In 2015 the foundation unveiled the Raspberry Pi Zero. This little machine cut the form factor of the Raspberry pi in half and reduced the price by a factor of five. For $5 you get a 1Ghz, Single-core CPU, 512MB RAM, Mini HDMI and USB ports, Micro USB power, HAT-compatible 40-pin header as well as Composite video and reset headers . Much like the original Raspberry Pi the zero's release pushed the limits of computer affordability. As a fully functioning Linux system the Raspberry Pi Zero's 1 GHz processor is comparable to the middle of the road for the Intel Pentium 3 architecture (450 MHz to 1.4 GHz), a standard in 2000. This low price and minimal form factor promises to inspire embedded electronics in all manner of consumer products.

References

  1. 1 2 Brookes, Tim (24 February 2012). "Raspberry Pi – A Credit-Card Sized ARM Computer – Yours For Only $25". MakeUseOf. Retrieved 29 February 2012.
  2. 1 2 Mullins, Robert (2012). "Robert Mullins: Raspberry Pi". University of Cambridge. Retrieved 29 February 2012.
  3. 1 2 3 "1129409 - Raspberry Pi Foundation". Charity Commission for England and Wales. 6 June 2011.
  4. 1 2 Vilches, Jose (22 May 2012). "Interview with Raspberry's Founder Eben Upton". TechSpot. Retrieved 19 June 2012.
  5. ↑ "Raspberry Pi Foundation". Raspberry Pi Foundation. Retrieved 2 July 2011.
  6. 1 2 Halfacree, Gareth (March 1, 2012). "Raspberry Pi interview: Eben Upton reveals all". Linux User & Developer. Retrieved March 12, 2012.
  7. 1 2 "About Us". Raspberry Pi Foundation. Retrieved 24 April 2014.
  8. ↑ "Welcome Lance!". Raspberry Pi Foundation. Retrieved 24 April 2013.
  9. ↑ "Raspberry Pi Foundation Trustees Report" (PDF). 31 December 2015.
  10. ↑ Robert Mullins, Co-Founder, Raspberry Pi Foundation, Unboxes Raspberry Pi. Element 14 community. Premier Farnell. February 28, 2012. Retrieved March 12, 2012.
  11. ↑ "ANNOUNCING OUR MILLION-POUND EDUCATION CHARITY FUND". Raspberry Pi Foundation. Retrieved 26 April 2014.
  12. ↑ "EDUCATION FUND". Raspberry Pi Foundation. Retrieved 26 April 2014.
  13. ↑ Humphries, Matthew. "Raspberry Pi selects a very clever logo". geek.com. Retrieved 11 October 2011.
  14. ↑ Richard Lawler, 29 February 2012, Raspberry Pi credit-card sized Linux PCs are on sale now, $25 Model A gets a RAM bump, Engadget
  15. ↑ Raspberry Pi: Cheat Sheet
  16. ↑ "FAQs". Raspberry Pi Foundation. Retrieved 6 October 2011.
  17. ↑ Cellan-Jones, Rory (5 May 2011). "A £15 computer to inspire young programmers". BBC News.
  18. ↑ Price, Peter (3 June 2011). "Can a £15 computer solve the programming gap?". BBC Click. Retrieved 2 July 2011.
  19. ↑ Bush, Steve (25 May 2011). "Dongle computer lets kids discover programming on a TV". Electronics Weekly. Retrieved 11 July 2011.
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