Single-Board Computer (SBC)

A new alternative to the Raspberry Pi has been presented. Called the Kimχ Micro, the Raspberry Pi Zero-sized micro SBC has a quad-core processor and a mPCIe slot for adding PCIe cards.

A new expansion board promises to make it easier to utilise the Raspberry Pi for STEM learning. Called the Micro:bit STEM for Lab kit, the expansion board provides a simple way to connect multiple sensors and an OLED display to the Raspberry Pi.

The Raspberry Pi 4 is the most powerful single-board computer (SBC) released by the Raspberry Pi Foundation to date, and it got even more powerful recently with the introduction of the new 8 GB variant. We’ve got our hands on the new Pi and paired it with one of the most popular cases custom built for it, the Argon ONE, to find out if it could make for a reasonable desktop computing solution.

With the NanoSound One, you can transform the Raspberry Pi into a versatile audio system with an integrated Hi-Fi DAC. The NanoSound One supports multiroom, Spotify and Tidal among other music streaming services.

NexDock has announced its next laptop dock, the NexDock Touch. As its name implies, the NexDock Touch has a touchscreen, which is contained within a 1080p and 14-inch IPS display. The NexDock Touch features a 60 Wh battery, a host of ports and four speakers. The laptop dock is available to order for US$249 will ship at the end of August.

A new project transforms the humble Raspberry Pi into a simple and affordable surveillance camera system. Using just a Raspberry Pi, Python, a motion detector and a Raspberry Pi camera, the project can email you photos if you are away from your home whenever it detects motion.

Along with the recent launch of the new 8 GB variant of the Raspberry Pi 4, the Raspberry Pi foundation also decided to give its customized Linux variant a new name. Raspbian is now known as Raspberry Pi OS going forward and brings with it a new 64-bit beta variant designed to take full advantage of the RAM upgrade.

The well-known manufacturer Akasa has released several new cases for the Raspberry Pi. These should offer particularly good cooling and ensure stable performance without resorting to using active cooling solutions.

Raspberry Pi Foundation has announced the immediate availability of a new 8 GB variant of its popular Raspberry Pi 4 SBC. The new board will be its most expensive yet at US$75, but it will help to extend the usefulness and usability of the board in a wide range of applications.

The Udoo X86 II is a new alternative to the popular Raspberry Pi. The single-board computer (SBC) has been designed using an Arduino Leonardo-compatible platform and has a quad-core X86 processor.

A new project can transform the humble Raspberry Pi into a media center in a rather simple manner. The Pi can access both locally stored data and data stored in the cloud.

A new project turns the Raspberry Pi into a control centre for smart home gadgets. The project supports both IKEA smart lighting and Home Assistant.

The NVIDIA Jetson Xavier NX is a particularly powerful single-board computer; well beyond the capabilities of Raspberry Pi 4 Model B. The board boasts special AI acceleration and is available to order for US$399.

Asus has launched a new alternative to the Raspberry Pi. Called the Tinker Edge R, the single-board computer is well suited for AI applications thanks to its powerful components.

Hardkernel has released an updated version of the Odroid Go Advance, its portable games console. Called the Black Edition, the unit adds USB C charging, L2/R2 charging and Wi-Fi connectivity while retaining a 10-pin GPIO header.

A new alternative to the Raspberry Pi is now available. The Banana Pi BPI-F2P also allows the connection of external devices, but it has a different focus than the popular Raspberry Pi.

The wait is over. Thanks to RetroPie, the latest Raspberry Pi can now be easily utilised as a retro console. The new version not only provides compatibility with the Raspberry Pi 4, but also offers numerous improvements for other models.

Based on the Sony IMX477, the Raspberry Pi High Quality Camera Module is a big upgrade over the existing Raspberry Pi Camera Module. Featuring interchangeable lenses, a back-focus adjustment ring and a tripod mount, the 12.3 MP camera retails for US$50.00.

Combining a Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+ and off-the-shelf parts, the project requires no 3D printing or soldering. Suitable even for beginners, the resulting unit can deliver weather forecasts on its easy to read ePaper display.

As reported last week, sales of the Raspberry Pi are current going gangbusters due to COVID-19. One cool and simple project that you can set up with your new found time and your new Raspberry Pi 4, Pi 3 or other compatible SBC is join the fight against COVID-19 by joining the Fold for Covid project using balenaEtcher, a balena OS image and a microSD card.

Hardkernel has introduced a new single-board computer and a compelling alternative to the Raspberry Pi. The ODROID-C4 should convince with its affordable price and high computing power.

Based around a Raspberry Pi Zero W, a community project has transformed the popular single-board computer into a compact weather station. Comparatively easy and inexpensive to create, the system can be wall-mounted and features a 2.8-inch touchscreen display.

A new operating system for the Raspberry Pi is available. This should trigger nostalgic feelings among numerous users and is visually reminiscent of Windows XP and also supports old software with various emulators.

A new project has transformed the Raspberry Pi into a thermal imaging camera. Using the housing of a discarded microwave detector, the Apollo Pi Thermal Camera is based around a Raspberry Pi Zero W, a 1.3-inch display and a Thermal Camera Breakout.

Based on the desk terminal from Fallout 4, the project features a 3.5-inch display and a 3D printed case. The result looks great, in our opinion.

The Turing Pi Cluster Board turns up to seven Raspberry Pi Compute Modules into a powerful cluster device. The board can not only be used for network storage, but also as a platform for video games.

There have been a lot of unexpected side effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and we can add another to the list. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the Raspberry Pi Foundation has revealed that March saw its second highest number of sales since it launched in 2012.

A community project posted has turned a humble Raspberry Pi into a working Pipboy. Loosely based on the Pipboy 2000 MK VI, the project features a 3.5-inch display, a powerbank and a rotary encoder.

Posted to GitHub, the Mascobot utilises a Raspberry Pi as part of an open-source ventilator. The project uses an Arduino and off the shelf parts, too. Testing is already underway, with human trials planned for the beginning of May.

The BreadBee is a very compact single-board computer that runs Linux. Developed by Daniel Palmer, the BreadBee features 64 MB of RAM, an MStar MSC313E Cortex-A7 SoC, two multi-pin headers and an RJ45 Ethernet port.

Based on the NXP i.MX8M processor, the EMB-2237-AI features an Audio DSP, up to 4 GB of LPDDR4 RAM and 8 GB of storage, along with support for PoE or Google Coral M.2 AI modules. Slightly larger than a Raspberry Pi, the EMB-2237-AI should be well-suited for Edge AI applications.

The simple project should take all over ten minutes to set-up and turns a Raspberry Pi into your very own ad blocker. There is more to it than just blocking ads though, as it also gives you an oversight of your whole network among other features.

A new project has turned the Raspberry Pi into a cheap electric lock. The project uses facial recognition to make it particularly easy to open the door and should also be comparatively easy for beginners to utilize. Also, relatively little material is required.

The PICO-WHU4 is a compact single-board computer with a very powerful processor. Apart from its high performance, the model also includes ports for connecting external sensors and actuators.

A new project turns the Raspberry Pi into a completely portable PC with a display and a slide-out keyboard. Reminiscent of the HTC Dream, Sony VAIO UX or T-Mobile Sidekick, the MutantC_V2 also incorporates a built-in battery.

A community project has turned the Raspberry Pi into a surprisingly practical mini PC. Called the Piputer, the project integrates a battery, keyboard and display.

The Pimoroni PIM486 Enviro is an expansion board for the Raspberry Pi, which has numerous sensors and its own LCD monitor. The HAT ships worldwide.

Fancy turning your Raspberry Pi into an air quality detector with a GUI? Well, now you can with a new project. Utilising an MQ-135 air quality sensor, the project promises to deliver accurate readings, which can be interpreted with an onscreen GUI.

The Raspberry Pi 4 is a powerful SBC, but now you can add an NVMe drive to the Pi Foundation's latest device. Using the Realtek RTL9210 controller, an M.2 NVMe drive can be connected to a Raspberry Pi 4 via one of its USB 3.1 Type-A ports. Better yet, it costs less than US$25 to do.

A new project transforms the Raspberry Pi a doorbell with video functionality. The doorbell can be used as an intercom too. You can then use your phone to communicate with whoever is at your door.

Radxa has introduced new accessories for the Raspberry Pi and the Rock Pi. Designed for those looking to build a NAS on a budget, the Radxa SAT HAT allows you to connect up to four 3.5-inch drives to a Raspberry Pi simultaneously.

The Raspberry Pi 4 is the most powerful Raspberry Pi to date, with it packing enough reserves to be used for machine learning. Now, you can put the popular SBC to use for automatically detected objects using TensorFlow Lite.

With the Wio Terminal, Seeedstudio has created a particularly inexpensive single-board computer that is Arduino, MicroPython and Raspberry Pi-compatible. The Wio Terminal comes with a dedicated display, Bluetooth 5.0 LE and 5G Wi-Fi among other components.

The GHF51 from DFI is a new single-board computer powered by a Ryzen Embedded R1000 APU. Boasting a 12 Watt TDP and integrated Vega graphics, the GHF51 will likely be scores more powerful than the similarly-sized Raspberry Pi. All that power will likely come at a cost, though.

The extremely versatile Raspberry Pi can also serve as the basis for an inexpensive VR headset. The project actually put antiquated technology to good use, too.

The Raspberry Pi Camera Module is a popular accessory not only for the Raspberry Pi, but also for other single-board computers (SBCs). While the IMX219 is only capable of up to 8 MP, one person has found a way to use it to shoot in up to 1,000 FPS.

The French manufacturer Linutop has presented several new PC systems. Based on a Raspberry Pi 4 or an Intel Atom x5-Z8350, the Linutop XS3 and Linutop 6 should suit those looking for a new all-in-one mini PC. All run Linutop OS, a Xubuntu or Raspbian-based OS.

Billed as a simpler way to image your microSD card with Raspbian, the Raspberry Pi Imager is the Pi Foundation's new imaging utility. The Raspberry Pi Imager is available to download now for free on macOS, Windows and Ubuntu.

The Raspberry Pi 4 is pretty powerful by single-board computer (SBC) standards, but what if you could combine up to four of them into one super SBC? Well, IPTerra seems to think that is a good idea and has created the CloverPI for that purpose. Theoretically, the CloverPI is compatible with any SBC that has a 40-pin GPIO.

The Pimoroni Picade Console turns the Raspberry Pi into a particularly convincing retro console. The assembly should be particularly easy and is pretty inexpensive, too.