We’re big geeks when it comes to Raspberry Pi, the small education-focused single-board computers which have beaten the odds to become the third highest selling general-purpose computer ever built. Those are some pretty impressive stats, but it doesn’t mean that Raspberry Pi isn’t sometimes confusing for beginners.
That is where the Raspad, a portable Raspberry Pi tablet, comes into play. Promising to lower the barrier to entry for creating customized projects, it’s a simple tablet computer that gives you access to all the Raspberry Pi ports you need, along with a simple tablet interface so you can start programming from anywhere. “Raspad is a Raspberry Pi Tablet for makers’ creative ideas,” a spokesperson told Digital Trends. “Every ‘maker’ deserves a personal tablet for developing purposes.”
Raspad boasts a chunky 10.1-inch touchscreen design with stereo speakers. While it’s certainly not the prettiest tablet around, it promises to deliver on its goal of giving Raspberry Pi enthusiasts the opportunity to program a project from anywhere at any time, serving as a mobile workstation. For beginners, there is a graphical user interface (GUI) and a pack sensor kits to explore. It comes with easy visual programming software, a series of hardware kits for building, and an intuitive tutorial book full of projects to gain inspiration. For more advanced users, there is the opportunity to switch out motherboards and connect with other hardware such as Arduino.
So far, the project has exceeded its funding goal significantly, with 906 backers (and counting) pledging funds hoping to see this become a reality. As always, we recommend caution when it comes to pledging money for a crowdfunded project that doesn’t yet exist. However, Raspad is confident it can deliver.
“Raspad has finished the final tests already,” the spokesperson continued. “We had a trial production in the last month. Now, we are preparing for mass production, at the same time we are crowdfunding at Kickstarter.”
If you are interested in getting your hands on Raspad, you can pledge on the project’s Kickstarter page, where $189 will go toward a finished unit. Other price options come with a sensor kit and even, for $735, a robot arm and vision camera kit. Shipping is set to take place in May. After that, it should just be a matter of getting building!
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