CIE Components in Electronics
The Raspberry Pi is a basic computer that was created to help children and beginners understand and develop programming. By connecting a Raspberry Pi to a monitor or TV and keyboard, computer programmers can use the device to develop new programmes, games and apps, enabling the board to then handle many of the tasks traditionally performed by a PC, such as Internet browsing.
The issue over compliance involves testing the boards to ensure that they do not generate unacceptable levels of electromagnetic noise and has resulted in around 2000 of the computers sitting on warehouse shelves in the UK.
This testing is required for a gadget to get the CE (European Conformity) mark, which means it meets shared standards of safety.
According to the Raspberry Pi organisation the two distributors of the device in the UK, RS Components and element14/Premier Farnell, were “not willing” to ship the products until they had the CE mark and while their opinion about testing “differs from our view” said it respected their right to halt delivery while testing was done.
The organisation said it was working to get the mark so the first batch of machines, and future shipments, could be sent out to customers quickly. However, no firm date was given for when the machines would be delivered.
Currently, rival devices such as the Beagleboard can be delivered to UK customers without undergoing the CE testing.
