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Microsoft’s Raspberry Pi Simulator: a Fully Open Source Prototyping Tool

By on August 12, 2017
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Microsoft has released an early version of a free, open-source Raspberry Pi simulator that can be accessed right through a web browser. Using Microsoft’s Azure cloud computing platform the simulator allows users to code an emulated Raspberry Pi using Javascript.

The simulator has three areas:

  • Assembly area, that displays the emulated project board.
  • Coding area
  • Integrated console window, that displays the output of the code.

Right now the simulator is rather basic and features a simulated board (similar to a Raspberry Pi 2 or 3) connected to a BME280 temperature, humidity, and pressure sensor and an LED. Microsoft has said it has plans to add additional sensors, inputs, and outputs to the simulator in the future.

The source code is already available through GitHub so it may only be matter of time before the open source community starts adding its own sensors, components, and other functions to the project ahead of Microsoft.

Users will need a Microsoft Azure account to take full advantage of the simulator. Right now the setup process is far from straightforward but Microsoft has provided an online guide to help with the process.

About Luca Ruggeri