In this course you will use a Raspberry Pi 4 to build a complete network-connected project with sensors and motors and access it from your smartphone. We'll explore all the parts which make this work, so you can use this experience as a foundation for your own projects. We'll use the Raspberry Pi as an "embedded system" (as opposed to a desktop computer) so you're ready to build a Raspberry Pi into your projects as the brains that make it all work. Want to build your own Internet of Things (IoT) device? Home automation? Robotics? This is the class to learn how it all works, to get you building on your own. No experience in embedded systems, programming, or electronics is assumed, and optional bonus sections are provided for those who want a fast start in Python programming, Linux essentials, and basic electronics. The course is divided into four modules to explore each focus area with demontrations and extras along the way: 1) installing and configuring a Raspberry Pi, 2) accessing the Raspberry Pi over the network, 3) programmatically controlling external sensors and motors, and 4) accessing the embedded device through a web interface. After these four modules you'll get started building your own projects right away, and the three follow-on courses in this Coursera specialization dive into each area to really boost your skills and the complexity of your projects. I hope you enjoy all the courses and I hope you take your builds to the next level.
Status: Embedded Systems
Embedded Systems
Status: Application Programming Interface (API)
Application Programming Interface (API)
Course·14 hours
Featured reviews
5.0
·Reviewed Nov 15, 2025
Great overview on how to get started with custom Raspberry Pi project, remote login, and basic Web App
Drew was a very good teacher anticipating all your pitfalls with great empathy. Amazing!
5.0
·Reviewed May 16, 2026
beautiful, difficult at some times, but really worth
4.0
·Reviewed Mar 5, 2025
Really simple and easy for anybody to learn without any prior knowledge.
5.0
·Reviewed Mar 27, 2025
Great overview of the Raspberry Pi
learned several things I wasn't aware of, looking forward to the next courses.
All reviews
Showing: 20 of 20
All Learners
All Stars
Most Helpful
M
Michael
3.0
·Reviewed Nov 5, 2023
I really wish there was a bill of materials for this course. Videos show using different motors and motor shields, but you don't know what will be used until you get to each video.
G
Georg
5.0
·Reviewed Mar 19, 2024
A great course. Covers all that was promised in a practical way, yet without omitting the necessary theoretical background. The course also addresses software design topics, instead of just a quick and dirty hack. The quizzes work, the infrastructure to do the examples on my own raspberry pi also work (quizzes / auto grader and infrastructure are major weaknesses in a lot of Coursera courses I took, they just don't work - this course is proof that it can be done, I hope other content providers notice this). I especially liked the tests built right into the productive code, a very fast way to have a simple verification of the code.
R
Russell
5.0
·Reviewed Apr 3, 2023
I will not give 5 stars very often, but this course deserves it. This is the first course of a specialization and introduced lots of stuff. So it was overwhelming, but I believe subsequent courses in this specialization will take a deeper dive into all this stuff.
Thank you to the professor and to Johns Hopkins and Coursera for providing such a wonderful course on home projects with the Raspberry Pi!
Y
Yukihiro
5.0
·Reviewed Oct 2, 2024
I started this course after completing the UCI IoT Specialization, and found this course quite difficult, which was a bit of a challenge.
This first course is still easy, but the subsequent courses will teach me about electronic boards and hardware prototypes, and I'm looking forward to learning new things.
M
Michael
5.0
·Reviewed Jan 15, 2023
This course gave me the ability to get started with Robotics. There is much more to be learned, but this excellent course gave me the courage to buy my first Raspberry PI and get it working.
I would highly recommend this course.
V
Vincenzo
5.0
·Reviewed Jun 30, 2024
This is one of better courses follows by me, good professor and very clear to explain all of various arguments of the course. Thank you very much prof!
A
Agnieszka
5.0
·Reviewed Jan 1, 2023
I am so happy to join the course. Topic isn't simple, but the way it is presented really encouraged me to dive deeper.
J
James
5.0
·Reviewed Mar 28, 2025
Great overview of the Raspberry Pi
learned several things I wasn't aware of, looking forward to the next courses.
A
Andre
5.0
·Reviewed Nov 16, 2025
Great overview on how to get started with custom Raspberry Pi project, remote login, and basic Web App
M
Michael
5.0
·Reviewed Sep 3, 2024
Drew was a very good teacher anticipating all your pitfalls with great empathy. Amazing!
F
Francisco
5.0
·Reviewed May 18, 2023
El curso es de gran ayuda para el prototipado y el desarrollo de aplicaciones IoT
S
Shreya
5.0
·Reviewed Sep 21, 2023
Highly in-depth, recommended for anyone enthusiastic about electronics.
P
Pablo
5.0
·Reviewed May 17, 2026
beautiful, difficult at some times, but really worth