Pi-Division is a project of netwolf.ch and onebus.ch initiated by extended demands of the exhibitions at the Schule für Gestaltung Bern und Biel (SfGBB) in the field of multimedia presentation.
In the first decade of this century, multimedia contributions were rather rare and the equipment was switched on and off by a member of the exhibition team, the house or technical service. However, as digital content grew, so did the need for automation and so in 2009 the first shaky test runs began with Mac Mini and iMacs and the digital signage PopCorn player. The limitations in MacOs as well as the rather rigid scheduling settings of the PopCorn kept presenting the exhibition team with greater challenges - and so a new and inexpensive way of presentation and automation possibilities opened up with the RaspberryPi B in 2012. Of course, the first B model still had its performance weaknesses and thus only slowly found its way into the equipment pool. However, this changed with the follow-up version 2 B in 2015 and when the third version saw the light of day in 2016, the direction of travel was clear.
Overwhelmed by the possibilities of the single-board computer and surprised with ever new tasks, a whole jumble of script collections arose from individual scripts, which sometimes differed more, sometimes less. Often, the computers were simply upgraded or set up anew. The result was a collection of differently programmed devices that were very difficult to maintain. When the desire arose to install a school guidance system and an infowall with either web or video content, the desire for a uniform solution manifested itself. In close cooperation, the requirements for uniform script collections were discussed and implemented. ISO images for video and web players were created. During those meetings in 2019, the name "Pi Division" was mentioned for the first time.
Soon, however, it was clear that fixing the device to either web or video-based content, while providing a way to easily maintain the devices, ultimately did not meet the evolving needs. Again, systems were upgraded and, while unified, multiple systems were created. When OMX player support was dropped with Raspberry OS Bullseye, the decision was made for a new unified control script collection.