The Disruptive Pi

This is the first post in a series dedicated to the disruptive power of the Raspberry Pi.

I believe the RasPi will change everything. Writing this is about being part of that disruption and helping it along the way. In part it is also about highlighting and sharing some cool things we did at GCP Labs, the R&D department at my company Nemesol.

Why Raspberry Pi

The Raspberry Pi Foundation has some very nice goals, which is a big reason the RasPi has been so successful and why I believe it is so disruptive:

Goals

• Access: Make computing available to anyone.
• Education: Teach kids how to program.

To accomplish both, Raspberry Pi needed to be versatile and affordable. It had to run a desktop. It has to work — flawlessly — or kids will stop programming.

Why it matters

Because the Raspberry Pi is both versatile and affordable it can often replace existing hardware solutions without heavy hardware tweaking. The RasPi is programmable by a wide pool of developers — you can run a proper Linux distro on it. At GCP Labs we were web programmers, not hardware people.

We first went deep into hardware before the RasPi with BeagleBoards, IGEP boards, and even looked at our own board. There was always some part that was hard. BeagleBone improved things, and BeagleBone Black was another step — but the Raspberry Pi had something the others did not: the Raspberry Pi Foundation.

The Foundation ensured stability and working software. They created excellent drivers — the work on the camera module drivers and API was (and remains) amazing. That made the RasPi the best platform.

When to use Raspberry Pi

Use cases

• Low‑power computing: Needs a low‑power, tiny but capable computer.
• Modern Linux stack: Must run on a current Linux distribution.
• Fitting the form factor: The enclosure allows a Raspberry Pi or compute module.

Background

At GCP Labs we built camera hardware for our RaksaCam cameras. We started with expensive IP cameras paired with BeagleBone computers. Later we moved to Raspberry Pi + Camera Module systems at roughly one‑tenth the previous cost — with better image quality and overall outcomes. Two Raspberry Pis plus our RaksaCam cloud combined images into a single wide panorama.

The repercussions in the camera market were just around the corner. There are many places where a Raspberry Pi + Camera Module can replace old expensive equipment while improving quality immensely.

Disruption has needs

For the RasPi to be truly disruptive, it must meet certain requirements. Otherwise customized hardware may still win.

Need 1: Reliability

This is where we felt GCP Labs could help push the RasPi forward.

GCP Raspberry Pi Hardware Watchdog

The Raspberry Pi SoC has a solid watchdog, but if you use USB devices that require resetting, there is no way to programmatically cut power to USB from the 5V rail. We designed our own hardware watchdog.

Our business logic pulsed a GPIO pin to reset the watchdog timer. If the watchdog did not receive a pulse in approximately one minute, it would time out and power the Raspberry Pi off for a few milliseconds.

With this watchdog, we could ensure the Pi would power off if our business logic got stuck.

Technical details were planned for a follow-up DIY post. We also considered selling the device if there was interest.

Read-only root

As many know, the SD card can be corrupted if power is cut unexpectedly. To avoid corruption when the watchdog powers the device down, we configured a read-only root filesystem. With no writes, there is no corruption.

In a follow-up we described turning a Raspbian card read-only (various guides exist; pick one that matches your current Raspberry Pi OS).

Need 2: Scalability

What scales

Scalability comes from being inexpensive, low‑power, and low‑heat. We spoke with electronics manufacturers about Raspberry Pi versus a custom device. The answer was consistent: if your volume is under ~10k units/year and Raspberry Pi works for you, don’t bother with custom — Raspberry Pi is more cost‑effective.

Need 3: Availability

Availability was — and remains — excellent. Major distributors typically kept large quantities in stock.

Key takeaways

• Raspberry Pi lowers barriers with a capable, affordable, Linux‑based platform.
• Reliability is achievable with a hardware watchdog and read‑only root.
• Great for sub‑10k volumes where custom hardware rarely wins on cost/time.

Future

The future looked bright for the Raspberry Pi, and much of that optimism has since been validated. We may be heading toward a world where people can swap the “brains” of their home robots and appliances because so many run on a RasPi or a compatible compute module.

Do send interesting links about production uses of Raspberry Pi changing the world. You can find me on X (formerly Twitter) @markusvilhelm.