CrowPi is an educational tool based on Raspberry Pi, designed to help people learn electronics, programming, and basic computer science. CrowPi was first released on Kickstarter in May 2018 and won a very successful campaign. The initial users spoke highly of CrowPi and left several good reviews.
The success of CrowPi is based on the popularity of Raspberry Pi and on the unique advantages of the product itself, such as the compact development board, the neat and portable case, the step-by-step tutorials, and the affordable price.
As we all know, computer science and programming are now regarded as essential abilities for 21st-century students and are becoming a key component of many curriculums, even in primary schools. And when we combine computer science and programming with electronics, we can build many useful devices both for industrial applications and for use in our daily life. Some examples of modern applications for IT are: running a weather station, PIR automatic lighting, line tracking robot car, vehicle radar, and so on.
By mastering knowledge, and these skills, today's kids can be better prepared for a future in which AI, lOT, big data, and robotics dominate the world.
CrowPi Diagram
CrowPi is equipped with a 7-inch HD touchscreen along with a camera. All the regular components used in DIY electronics are packed into the CrowPi development board, such as LCD, LED matrix, buzzer, light sensor, PIR sensor, ultrasonic sensor, IR sensor, etc.
CrowPi Kit
CrowPi is sold as two different kits depending on your needs: the basic kit, and the advanced kit. The charger specification is 12v 3A. The only difference is that the CrowPi advanced kit has more accessories, including Raspberry Pi 4 Model B, Bluetooth keyboard and mouse, earphones, gamepads, and heat sink. If you’ve already had a Raspberry Pi 4B board, the basic kit is good for you.
If you have never used Raspberry Pi before, we’d recommend you the advanced kit.
CrowPi Function
The main purpose of CrowPi is to work as an educational tool. We can use it as a small computer to learn basic computer science and practice programming. We can also carry out many electronic experiments with CrowPi. What’s more interesting, we can play Nintendo games and build our own games.
Get to know Raspberry Pi 4B Hardware
Raspberry Pi is the most popular pocket-sized computer. It has been used all over the world to complete tremendous projects. Raspberry Pi 4B is the latest version. Before we get hands-on with CrowPi, we should master the basic knowledge of Raspberry Pi hardware.
Learn Basic Computer Science
As a small and affordable computer, Raspberry Pi is not as powerful as our Desktop computers or notebooks. However, it can deal with most of the regular requirements for basic computer science.
Use CrowPi as a Computer
Set Up RetroPie and Play Nintendo Games
Surf On the Internet
Watch Videos
Listen to Music
Edit Documents
Send and Receive Emails
Take Photos
Practice Scratch and Python
Scratch and Python are very popular programming languages for beginners. All of our lessons are written based on these two languages.
CrowPi Python Lesson 1- Using the buzzer as an alert notification
Create Your Own Python Games
CrowPi Scratch Lesson 2- Controlling the Buzzer Using a Button
Create Your Own Scratch Games
Build Electronic Projects
You can start by using only a few components, such as the sound sensor and buzzer to build a noisy alarm system. After you’re getting skillful, you can complete a more complicated project, such as activating the LCD and LED segment displays, LED matrixes, buzzers, or vibration motors at the same time with an NFC card.
Python Lesson7- Detect Room Temperature and Humidity Using HDT11 Sensor
Python Lesson 14- Controlling the 8x8 Matrix LED
NFC Trigger System
Build Automatic Fire Alarming and Extinguishing System
Play Minecraft with CrowPi
Minecraft Pi edition comes with a revised feature set and support for multiple programming languages. You can start by building structures in the traditional Minecraft way, but once you’ve got to grips with the in-game features, there’s an opportunity to break open the code and use the programming language to manipulate things in the game world. You’ll be learning new skills through Minecraft!
Customer Testimonial
We also sent CrowPi to a professional engineer to collect their feedback. The initial customers are Kickstarter backers. Raspberry Pi's official magazine RagPi71 also discussed the benefits of CrowPi as a laptop or portable hacking station.
Larry McElhiney
"Thank you very much for your all-encompassing update regarding issues! In addition, I had many of the button tops which decided to hide from sight inside the case, necessitating the removal of the board to find them. Overall, a nicely-done design which will be a wonderful presentation tool!"
Jörg Tragert
"Received mine last week. It works perfectly. My 13-year-old son went through the lessons and learned much more in 3 nights than I in 3 years buying lots of components separately, losing parts over time, searching for drivers, etc. You delivered much more than I expected! Best pi project ever!" which will be a wonderful presentation tool!"
Robert L ODonnell
"WOW, color me impressed. This project totally met its (rather steep) promises. Well built, well documented. I am probably going to buy another at full retail price now because both my kids love it! Thank you for the awesome project. As an aside, the delivery date to the US was wishful thinking. It stopped in LA for a couple of days but arrived complete and in good shape. Kudos on shipping!"
Michael van Es
“How proud I was yesterday to present the CrowPi to my children and friends! I’ve mounted the PI on the board and WOW! Nice WORKING Python scripts already on the desktop folder, very good explained in the documentation. Happy to be a part of the early adapters of this product: I foresee many interests from school AND parents, I’ll promote you as much as I can!”
www.raspberrypi-spy.co.uk
“It’s functional and has lots of potential to either help someone learn new skills or aid in the development of Pi projects. I can see myself using it to develop new blog tutorials on the sofa rather than having to set up on my desk upstairs”.
www.pimylifeup.com
“Overall the CrowPi is a great device that is fantastic for those who are just getting started with the Raspberry Pi or are interested in STEM education. It proves itself as a good platform thanks to its large amount of inbuilt sensors, buttons, and output devices.”
