The Paper

This website accompanies the academic paper Broad-scale Applications of the Raspberry Pi: A Review and Guide for Biologists (Jolles, 2021), published in Methods in Ecology and Evolution, {: .label .label-green }Open Access, available here.

The Raspberry Pi as a research tool

The field of Biology has seen tremendous technological progress in recent years, fuelled by the exponential growth in processing power and high-level computing, and the rise of global information sharing.

Low-cost single-board computers are predicted to be one of the key technological advancements to further revolutionise this field. So far, however an overview of current uptake of these devices and a general guide to help researchers integrate them in their work has been missing.

To help researchers (further) integrate Raspberry Pi’s in their work, in this paper I provide a review of existing applications across the biological domain. This shows that already a hugely diverse range of applications of the Raspberry Pi exists, aiding biologists in the lab, the field, and in the classroom.

I also provide guidelines, recommendations, and considerations about using the Raspberry Pi, including setting-up and configuration, networking, power solutions, media recording, using electronic sensors and controllers, and data storage and transferring. This dedicated accompanying website provides further step-by-step tutorials.

I believe low-cost micro-computers like the Raspberry Pi are a powerful tool that can help transform research and democratise science. I hope that my paper and this website will help scientists with their work to thereby ultimately lead to new scientific advances, from the micro- to the macro-scale.

A compilation of Raspberry Pi applications, ranging from plant phenotyping, and smart birdfeeders, to ecosystem monitoring, and operant learning devices. For the associated articles, see the figure caption in the paper.

Citing

If you find any of the material on this website useful, please share the word. You can cite the paper as follows:

@article{Jolles20201
      title = {Broad-scale Applications of the Raspberry Pi: A Review and Guide for Biologists},
      author = {Jolles, Jolle W.},
      journal = {Methods in Ecology and Evolution},
      keywords = {raspberry pi, automation, data logging, electronics, single-board computer, technology, tools},
      year = {2021}
      doi = {https://doi.org/10.1111/2041-210X.13652}
}

Acknowledgements

This work would not have been possible without financial support from the Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung, the Zukunfstkolleg, Institute for Advanced Study at the University of Konstanz, and the Dr. J.L. Dobberke Foundation. I also thank the Raspberry Pi Foundation for developing this fantastic device.