Setting up the Raspberry Pi Zero

While the Raspberry Pi Zero is a powerful computer, you'll need some additional hardware to access this capability. Here are the items that you'll need for this chapter's projects:

• A Raspberry Pi Zero
• A micro USB cable and power supply to provide power to the board
• A display with an HDMI video input
• A keyboard, a mouse, and a powered USB hub
• A microSD card – with at least 4 GB capacity
• A microSD card writer
• Another computer that is connected to the Internet
• A WLAN USB dongle
• A 40x2 pin connector strip

Before you get started, let's get familiar with the Raspberry Pi Zero. Here is an image of the hardware:

Note that the GPIO pin male headers are not pre-soldered to the board; you'll want to do that. You can buy these at most online electronics retailers. You should also become familiar with the various connections on the board. Here, you can see the Raspberry Pi Zero with the connector soldered and the connections labeled for your information: