Raspberry Pi Foundation

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.

Raspberry Pi Foundation
FormationMay 2009 (2009-05)
FoundersDavid Braben, Jack Lang, Pete Lomas, Alan Mycroft, Robert Mullins, Eben Upton[1][2]
Registration no.1129409
Legal statusCharity
HeadquartersCambridge, United Kingdom[3]
ProductsRaspberry Pi
FieldsComputer science
Chairman
David Cleevely
Main organ
Board of trustees [4]
Revenue (2018)
£31,454,406 [5]
Staff (2019)
135 [6]
Websitewww.raspberrypi.org

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][7] and the Raspberry Pi Foundation was founded as a registered charity in May 2009 in Caldecote, Cambridgeshire, UK.[3] In 2016, The Foundation moved its headquarters to Station Road, Cambridge, Cambridge.[8] 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."[9] Project co-founder Eben Upton is a former academic, currently employed by Broadcom as a system-on-chip architect and associate technical director.[10] Components, albeit in small numbers, were able to be sourced from suppliers, due to the charitable status of the organization.[7]

History

When the decline in 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.[11]

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 two years of mass production.[11]

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[10]

The original founders of the organization includes

  • Eben Upton
  • Rob Mullins: senior lecturer in the Computer Laboratory at the University of Cambridge
  • Jack Lang: affiliated lecturer at the Computer Laboratory and the founder of Electronic Share Information Ltd
  • Alan Mycroft: professor of computing in the Computer Laboratory and co-founder the European Association for Programming Languages and Systems
  • Pete Lomas: director of engineering at Norcott Technologies
  • David Braben: CEO of Frontier Developments and co-writer of the 1984 game Elite

In early 2013 the organization split into two parts: Raspberry Pi Foundation which is responsible for the charitable and educational activities; and Raspberry Pi (Trading) Ltd responsible for the engineering and trading activities.[12] Raspberry Pi (Trading) Ltd is a wholly owned subsidiary of Raspberry Pi Foundation, with the money earned from sales of Raspberry Pi products being used to fund the charitable work of the Foundation. Eben Upton was initially CEO of both divisions, but in September 2013 Lance Howarth became CEO of the Raspberry Pi Foundation,[12] with Eben Upton remaining as CEO of Raspberry Pi (Trading) Ltd. Philip Colligan took over from Lance Howarth as CEO of Raspberry Pi Foundation in July 2015.[13][14]

Trustees

As of 31 December 2015, the foundation has 7[15] Trustees:

  • Jack Lang (trustee and company secretary)
  • David Braben
  • David Cleevely (Chairman)
  • Sherry Coutu (angel investor, Canadian but now Cambridge-based)
  • Louis Glass (corporate lawyer; partner at Olswang)
  • Pete Lomas
  • Chris Mairs (chief scientist at Metaswitch Networks)

The Board of Trustees is elected by and supported by the Members of the Foundation, with Members serving in a voluntary role and coming from a range of backgrounds.[4]

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.[16]

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.[17] They offer to provide up to 50% of the total projected costs to successful applicants.[18] Carrie Anne Philbin is the Director of Education.

In October 2011, the logo was selected from a number submitted from open competition.[19] A shortlist of six was drawn up, with the final judging taking several days. The chosen design was created by Paul Beech[20] and based on a buckyball.[21]

Magazines

The Raspberry Pi Foundation publishes four magazines. The MagPi is the official magazine of the Raspberry Pi.[22] Hello World is a "computing and digital making" magazine and was first published in January 2017.[23] Wireframe, launched in November 2018, is a magazine about videogames and videogame development.

From February 2019 The Raspberry Pi Foundation took over the publication of Custom PC - a UK-based computer magazine.

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.[24] The Raspberry Pi is intended to stimulate the teaching of computer science in schools.[25][26][27][28][29]

Raspberry Pi Zero

In 2015 the foundation unveiled the Raspberry Pi Zero. This version of the microcomputer had a significantly reduced form factor and a lower price, launching at £4/$5. The new model features a 1 GHz, single-core CPU; 512 MiB RAM, USB and mini HDMI ports, micro USB power, and a HAT-compatible 40-pin header as well as composite video and reset headers . 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. The reduced price and smaller form factor encourages use in smaller and embedded projects.

References
  1. Brookes, Tim (24 February 2012). "Raspberry Pi – A Credit-Card Sized ARM Computer – Yours For Only $25". MakeUseOf. Retrieved 29 February 2012.
  2. Mullins, Robert (2012). "Robert Mullins: Raspberry Pi". University of Cambridge. Retrieved 29 February 2012.
  3. "1129409 - Raspberry Pi Foundation". Charity Commission for England and Wales. 6 June 2011.
  4. "Governance - Raspberry Pi". Retrieved 18 July 2017.
  5. "Raspberry Pi Foundation Trustees' Report and Financial Statements 2018" (PDF). Retrieved 8 September 2019.
  6. "Team - Raspberry Pi". Retrieved 8 September 2019.
  7. Vilches, Jose (22 May 2012). "Interview with Raspberry's Founder Eben Upton". TechSpot. Retrieved 19 June 2012.
  8. "Raspberry Pi and JA Kemp move to iconic Station Road HQs". Business Weekly. Business Weekly. Retrieved 17 February 2017.
  9. "Raspberry Pi Foundation". Raspberry Pi Foundation. Retrieved 2 July 2011.
  10. Halfacree, Gareth (March 1, 2012). "Raspberry Pi interview: Eben Upton reveals all". Linux User & Developer. Retrieved March 12, 2012.
  11. "About Us". Raspberry Pi Foundation. Retrieved 24 April 2014.
  12. "Welcome Lance!". Raspberry Pi Foundation. Retrieved 24 April 2014.
  13. "Welcome Philip!". Raspberry Pi Foundation. Retrieved 7 May 2017.
  14. "3. Carrie Anne Philbin, director of education, Raspberry Pi Foundation - The 50 Most Influential Women in UK Tech 2017". www.computerweekly.com. Retrieved 2018-07-28.
  15. "Raspberry Pi Foundation Trustees Report" (PDF). 31 December 2015.
  16. Robert Mullins, Co-Founder, Raspberry Pi Foundation, Unboxes Raspberry Pi. Element 14 community. Premier Farnell. February 28, 2012. Retrieved March 12, 2012.
  17. "ANNOUNCING OUR MILLION-POUND EDUCATION CHARITY FUND". Raspberry Pi Foundation. Retrieved 26 April 2014.
  18. "EDUCATION FUND". Raspberry Pi Foundation. Retrieved 26 April 2014.
  19. "Logo competition". Raspberry Pi Foundation. Retrieved 27 September 2017.
  20. "Logo competition - we have a winner!". Raspberry Pi Foundation. Retrieved 27 September 2017.
  21. Humphries, Matthew. "Raspberry Pi selects a very clever logo". geek.com. Retrieved 11 October 2011.
  22. "About Us - The MagPi Magazine". raspberrypi.org/magpi/. Retrieved 3 July 2018.
  23. "Hello World". Retrieved 3 July 2018.
  24. Richard Lawler, 29 February 2012, Raspberry Pi credit-card sized Linux PCs are on sale now, $25 Model A gets a RAM bump, Engadget
  25. Raspberry Pi: Cheat Sheet Archived 2012-01-06 at the Wayback Machine
  26. "FAQs". Raspberry Pi Foundation. Retrieved 6 October 2011.
  27. Cellan-Jones, Rory (5 May 2011). "A £15 computer to inspire young programmers". BBC News.
  28. Price, Peter (3 June 2011). "Can a £15 computer solve the programming gap?". BBC Click. Retrieved 2 July 2011.
  29. Bush, Steve (25 May 2011). "Dongle computer lets kids discover programming on a TV". Electronics Weekly. Retrieved 11 July 2011.
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