$5 Raspberry Pi boards power ventilators in COVID-19 fight

The Raspberry Pi Foundation is stepping up production of its Zero single-core boards to help combat the coronavirus. The Pi Zero will be used to power ventilators that have seen a huge surge in demand since the onset of the pandemic. Raspberry CEO and founder Eben Upton says it is the first time a Raspberry device will be used in medical equipment.

Hospitals are turning to Raspberry boards for the same reasons as 30 million tech hobbyists have since the company's inception in 2012: They are inexpensive and portable. In fact, the Pi Zero at $5 is the cheapest, lowest-powered board in the Raspberry lineup. The relatively modest demands of ventilator systems make the Pi Zero a perfectly suitable choice.

Another reason hospitals are choosing the Pi Zero is the company's ability to produce them quickly. Pi-powered ventilators have not yet been tested in the United States. But a medical team in Colombia is designing a Pi-based model using easily obtainable mechanical parts such as car valves. After completion of testing on animals, they will perform their first tests on humans. Sales of Raspberry Pis are soaring. Some 1.75 million boards were sold the first quarter of the year. The Raspberry Foundation plans to manufacture a quarter million Pi units in the second quarter.

Read more at Tech Xplore

Image Credit: Rapsberry

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