As a parent, if you discover that your children have an affinity for engineering and electronics at a very early age, you have a duty to nourish that passion.
Raspberry Pi computers come as cheap as $5 (the recently launched Raspberry Pi Zero costs that much), but complex kits such as the one currently featured in our store aren’t that expensive, either, despite the great number of additional modules.
The Piper computer kit, which measures 14.7? × 2.9? × 10.5? and tips the scale at 5.2 pounds, is based on the Raspberry Pi 2 mini computer. This is a very capable piece of hardware even on its own, but the added components are the things that make it shine. Piper has included in the wooden computer case an LCD screen, a Lithium battery, a speaker, bread boards, buttons, switches and LED lights. There’s even a screwdriver included in the package, so you can proceed to assembling the computer right after getting it out of the box.
What’s truly great about the Piper Raspberry Pi kit is that it takes an age-appropriate approach to teaching engineering and electronics. Assuming that your kid is 7+ years old, you can get him or her this kit and see how a young person’s curiosity can lead to projects you couldn’t have thought of as an adult.
Minecraft is brought into play in order to make learning engineering even more approachable. Progressing through each of the game’s levels implies connecting different pieces of hardware to the Raspberry Pi. Since there are LED lights, motion sensors, buzzers, buttons and switches to tinker with, there is a great number of ways everything could be interconnected.
To get access to extra levels and sharing capabilities, you’d have to connect the Piper Raspberry Pi kit to a Wi-Fi network. It’s incredible to think that such a low-priced computer has wireless connectivity on top of everything. Come to think of it, this makes perfect sense, since the kit was built to be portable, and even includes a Lithium battery for that purpose. That basically means that kids can move around while playing with this, in case the environment influences their creativity.
In other news, Western Digital has just launched WD PiDrive, a 314GB hard-disk that’s specifically designed for the Raspberry Pi. As this mini computer is extremely cheap, WD’s HDD couldn’t have represented a great addition to it if it weren’t affordable, too. At $46, which is how much this piece of storage costs, Western Digital’s product definitely meets our expectations.
In the next 6 days, you can buy the Piper Raspberry Pi computer kit on Walyou Deals for $239, a 18% discount from the original price of $295. All sales are final, and orders are shipped for free, with deliveries expected to take place between March 25 and 28. Don’t miss this opportunity to teach your kids electronics and engineering in a manner that’s appropriate to their age!
Be social! Follow Walyou on Facebook and Twitter, and read more related stories about the SitePoint Premium lifetime subscription, or the Pay What You Want Hardcore Game Dev Bundle.
