In my previous posts we have seen how a Raspberry Pi Zero W can be useful for many funny projects. We have used it to realize a media center, setup a web server to support your personal blog, or control a stepper motor for your first robotics project.
But not all people know that there is an amazing alternative from Raspberry Pi Foundation that enriches low range hardware with a more powerful low cost PI: Raspberry PI 3 Model A+.
Main difference between Raspberry Pi Zero and Pi 3 model A+ reside in its CPU: Raspberry PI 3 Model A+ integrates a 4 core Cortex-A53 (ARMv8) 64-bit SoC @ 1.4 GHz. This allows RPI 3 Model A+ to better answer to projects which require more CPU power. Moreover, the single USB 2.0 port helps with those projects requiring higher I/O throughput (like OctoPI project to control 3D printers).
At the end, RPI 3 A+ is more similar to PI 3 Model B. A+ have less RAM (512 MB compared with 1GB for B), less USB ports (1 compared with 4) and misses of Ethernet ports, having only WiFi (2,4 and 5 GHz) and Bluetooth. Raspberry PI 3 Model A+ also uses less power compared to PI 3 Model B (350 mA compared to 500mA) and is cheaper.
RPI 3 A+ also embed a standard 40-pi GPIO header to interface external world. It has been launched in 2018.
So, Raspberry PI 3 Model A+ hardware features are summarized below:
To make Raspberry PI 3 Model A+ working, you will need to have also te following accessories:
Remember the importance of the correct Power Supply and microSD performance class (their impact is described on improving Raspberry PI performances article).
Once acquired, the next step could be installing Raspberry PI OS Lite, or installing Raspbery PI OS Desktop or alternative ligth operating systems like DietPI.
Below a projects list you can try with this board. You can setup all Pi Zero projects with the same procedures plus a number or addicting cool projects. Find more in peppe8o Home Page.
Enjoy!
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