Page 94 - Programming the Raspberry Pi Getting Started with Python

• Sixteen bidirectional buffered I/O connections
• Jumper-selected 3.3V or 5V operation
• Raspberry Pi I2C and SPI serial connections broken out (caution: unbuffered)
• Raspberry Pi GPIO pins 0 to 7 broken out (caution: unbuffered)
At the time of writing, the board is not supplied with any supporting Python module; however, this
is likely to change, either through efforts of the supplier or the Raspberry Pi community.
RaspiRobotBoard
I have to declare my personal interest in the RaspiRobotBoard, shown in Figure 9-4, because it is a
board I have designed. The focus of this board is firmly on allowing the Raspberry Pi to be used as a
robot controller. For this reason, it has a motor controller that allows you to control the direction of

two motors (usually attached to wheels).

Figure 9-4 The RaspiRobotBoard
Another feature that makes it suitable for use as a robot platform is the voltage regulator that
powers the Raspberry Pi using any source of power between 6V and 9V, such as four AA batteries.
The RaspiRobotBoard also has connectors for two different types of serial port, one of which is
intended to take an adapter board for an ultrasonic range finder module. The board also has a pair of
switch inputs, two LEDs, and another pair of buffered outputs that can be used to drive other LEDs or
low-current loads. This board is used in Chapter 11 to build a small roving robot.
Gertboard
The Gertboard is designed by Gert van Loo of Broadcom and therefore is the most official Raspberry
Pi expansion board (see Figure 9-5).