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Feel like I’m missing out on something, what are they good for?
Fun.
Plus it would have been a really good computer a decade or so ago.
Bought one about a year ago. It's still sitting in the spare room doing nothing.
Probably says more about my procrastination than how fun / useful a Pi is though...
Plus, I don't really know what to do with it. Originally (as a Linux user anyway) I was just going to hook up a keyboard, mouse and monitor and have a play. Thought about a media player, CCTV 'hub', console emulator, but none of those 'grabbed' me enough to get started with the thing.
You don't need one, but....
I use one for a weather station:
A Maplins weather station sits in the garden and the Pi feeds to to Weather Underground:
http://www.wunderground.com/personal-weather-station/dashboard?ID=ISTIRLIN11#current
I then installed pywws (Python) using the guide on this website:
http://www.weather.dragontail.co.uk/index.php?page=station_setup
I use a second for a Kodi/media centre.
Need to rebuild this but it allows us to watch movies off of a USB / iplayer etc.
I am also going to install a retro-gaming package. My son also uses it for Scratch.
(One Pi, multiple SD cards).
Probably better to have an application for it then buy one rather than just buy one and wait for inspiration. I'm trying to learn Python at the moment and have an SD card with a media player installed on it.
Edit - you can read back issues of the MagPi magazine online for free, that might give you an idea why you need one.
Use mine as an openVPN server to let me have access to my lab. This has allowed me to give up carrying 4kg of Dell inspiron around Europe. Works exceptionally well indeed. I’d like another to run the weather station and a third to run a OneDrive/Dropbox type NAS that I could also sync to from abroad.
I have one primarily as a media server - it is running OSMC which is fantastic.
It also serves as a web server running Apache, Wordpress, PHP and MySQL.
Not bad for £30!
I'm thinking of repurposing mine to act as an airprint server, just need to find a how-to guide and a Linux driver for my brother laser.
@mrjmt you'll find Linux drivers for your Brother but the last time I checked they were x86 based architectures only, no ARM support. I had the same idea, but was planning on setting up CUPS on the PI and using it as a print server for our Brother Laser DCP-7055.
You can't run a full version of Windows on the Raspberry Pi. There's some kind of Windows Internet of Things controlling OS, if it's possible to load printer drivers on that, I have no clue.
I bought one about four years ago and have used it only a couple of times.
It was the wrong choice really as my interest is physical computing so I bought an Arduino UNO which is much better for driving stuff via I/O.
There's a few things which make the Raspi special.
1) It's a full-blown PC in a form factor the size of the credit card, which makes it both versatile and really, really cool. And it costs thirty quid.
2) It's got header pins to connect it to external 'stuff,' be that lights or sensors or whatever.
3) There are any number of similar devices, but Raspi was one of the first and as such has a massive community supporting it, from software to project ideas to hardware add-ons and toys you can add to it.
I really should do more with mine. A new and improved one has just been released, which I got my hands on earlier this week. It's time I had a project.
You don’t need one, but….
I use one for a weather station:
A Maplins weather station sits in the garden and the Pi feeds to to Weather Underground:
http://www.wunderground.com/personal-weather-station/dashboard?ID=ISTIRLIN11#current
Same here. https://www.wunderground.com/personal-weather-station/dashboard?ID=ISCOTTIS5
I also use Rainmeter and created a skin that pulls the xml feed from Wunderground and displays it on my desktop
Do the weather station instruments and websites produce forecasts, or is it just observations and history?
Probably not, I recently bought one just so that I am familiar with a the pi as a SBC. It's by no means the only SBC not is it the best choice for many applications but it has such great support it's a useful platform to know about.bif it wasn't for this "professional learning requirements" I would not have bought one.
[i]derek_starship wrote:[/i]
It was the wrong choice really as my interest is physical computing so I bought an Arduino UNO which is much better for driving stuff via I/O.
A RPi works fine for physical computing and driving stiff via I/O - it's what I mostly do with mine, not sure what you think the difficulty in doing that is! There's one in
(far easier to do audio with an RPi, not to mention the processing required to automatically sync the jaw).
Also currently have one running as a LAMP server for testing our current project - it's just a cheap portable Linux box in that respect.
I found the Pi over complicated, mainly because it runs on Linux. If you like all that geeky command line stuff it's fine. If you want to drive some hardware, use an Arduino (as mentioned above).
My Pi is recording the air temperature outside the garage, and sending the result to a webpage. The Arduino has measured oil consumption (central heating) and pea velocity.
[i]richmars wrote:[/i]
I found the Pi over complicated, mainly because it runs on Linux. If you like all that geeky command line stuff it’s fine. If you want to drive some hardware, use an Arduino (as mentioned above).
Hmm, using the geeky Arduino commands instead!
So how is
<span class="kw1">void</span> <span class="kw3">setup</span><span class="br0">(</span><span class="br0">)</span> <span class="br0">{</span>
<span class="kw1">pinMode</span><span class="br0">(</span>LED_BUILTIN<span class="sy0">,</span> <span class="kw2">OUTPUT</span><span class="br0">)</span><span class="sy0">;</span>
<span class="br0">}</span>
<span class="kw1">void</span> <span class="kw3">loop</span><span class="br0">(</span><span class="br0">)</span> <span class="br0">{</span>
<span class="kw1">digitalWrite</span><span class="br0">(</span>LED_BUILTIN<span class="sy0">,</span> <span class="kw2">HIGH</span><span class="br0">)</span><span class="sy0">;</span>
<span class="kw1">delay</span><span class="br0">(</span><span class="nu0">1000</span><span class="br0">)</span><span class="sy0">;</span>
<span class="kw1">digitalWrite</span><span class="br0">(</span>LED_BUILTIN<span class="sy0">,</span> <span class="kw2">LOW</span><span class="br0">)</span><span class="sy0">;</span>
<span class="kw1">delay</span><span class="br0">(</span><span class="nu0">1000</span><span class="br0">)</span><span class="sy0">;</span>
}hugely less geeky than:
echo "18" > /sys/class/gpio/export
echo "out" > /sys/class/gpio/gpio18/direction
while true
do
echo "1" > /sys/class/gpio/gpio18/value
sleep 1
echo "0" > /sys/class/gpio/gpio18/value
sleep 1
doneAn RPi is just as complicated as you make it
edit: oh FFS this forum - that first bit looks fine even when I edit it and after clicking on clear formatting!
Left STW forum mess for posterity - the Arduino code should be (after C&P via an editor which works to fix it):
void setup() {
pinMode(LED_BUILTIN, OUTPUT);
}
void loop() {
digitalWrite(LED_BUILTIN, HIGH);
delay(1000);
digitalWrite(LED_BUILTIN, LOW);
delay(1000);
}The difference is that on the arduino that is all you need. That'll do the job and keep doing it. On the pi that code runs in an environment that you need to set up. There's often a whole load of other parameters that need to be set. It might be simple stuff if you know computers but its still much more complicated. I use both and with the pi I'm cutting and pasting code that I don't full understand, setting parameters using online guides which I don't fully understand how they work. On an arduino I can program from scratch and on simpler projects I understated every line of the code. Even trickier projects still only have a little bit of unintelligible cut n paste. For me is many, many times simpler to use an arduino.
I've got three in our house by the beach that monitor air and water temperatures and PV power production, switch lights on and off, motion camera and fully control the (all electric) heating with remote access.
I started off just seeing what all the fuss was about and it just grew from there - if never touched Linux before that point.
Lots of ideas, thanks for the replies.
Thinking maybe media server and/or CCTV thing to replace our aging Synology which sort of exists as an external hard drive these days.
May just pick one up and see where it leads me...
The geeky stuff is when you turn it on, and get about 3 screen loads of Linux stuff, which I guess some people get excited about, but if you know nothing about computers would make you run a mile.
I've been using computers to drive hardware since the ZX80, and would pick an Arduino every time. Sure, if you want a media server, a Pi is better, but to drive a few LED's an Arduino is, I think better.
The difference is that on the arduino that is all you need. That’ll do the job and keep doing it. On the pi that code runs in an environment that you need to set up.
Whilst there's a good deal of crossover, they're different tools for different jobs. You might as well argue why a Dremmel is better than a pillar drill.
EDIT: basically, what he ^^ just said.
And of course, they aren't mutually exclusive either. I've seen projects with a cluster of Arduinos all controlled by a central Pi. That's pretty cool.
[i]nickjb wrote:[/i]
The difference is that on the arduino that is all you need. That’ll do the job and keep doing it. On the pi that code runs in an environment that you need to set up.
Looks like there's also stuff you need to set up to use an Arduino https://www.arduino.cc/en/Guide/HomePage - setting up a RPi to get to the stage where you can just type in the above isn't any more involved than that (and then you don't need any sort of IDE on anything else to program it).
I use both and with the pi I’m cutting and pasting code that I don’t full understand, setting parameters using online guides which I don’t fully understand how they work. On an arduino I can program from scratch and on simpler projects I understated every line of the code. Even trickier projects still only have a little bit of unintelligible cut n paste. For me is many, many times simpler to use an arduino.
It probably depends what you're doing, but you can do way more complex stuff with a RPi (and as it gets more complex it becomes relatively a lot easier than with an Arduino) and I suspect you're not comparing like with like as you only do more complex stuff on a RPi. If you're doing simple stuff though it really isn't that difficult - is the code I posted above impossible to understand? TBH it depends what you're used to though - I had to look up the Arduino code as I'm not familiar with it, whilst the RPi code is stuff I've used.
[i]richmars wrote:[/i]
The geeky stuff is when you turn it on, and get about 3 screen loads of Linux stuff, which I guess some people get excited about, but if you know nothing about computers would make you run a mile.
<shrug> I never see that as I use them headless. But honestly, you just ignore it, even people who know what it all means ignore it most of the time - I'd include myself in that category and I don't think I've ever paid any attention to all of that on a RPi where it just works if you're using a standard distro. It seems a somewhat strange reason for rejecting a RPi when it makes no fundamental difference to usage.
<span style="font-size: 0.8rem;">I’ve been using computers to drive hardware since the ZX80, and would pick an Arduino every time. Sure, if you want a media server, a Pi is better, but to drive a few LED’s an Arduino is, I think better.</span>
Maybe - but as posted above, it's dead simple to drive a few LEDs from a RPi if that's all you want to do. In any case, your two sentences there appear to be contradictory - you wouldn't pick an Arduino for a media server, and there are a whole host of other applications where a RPi makes a lot more sense - anything involving audio or web stuff (where as mentioned above you can run a full web server environment) just to pick a couple of examples.
Sure, I get the point of Arduinos and that they're simple to use for simple applications, but you can do a lot more with a RPi (FWIW I've done stuff with microcontrollers far more basic than you get on an Arduino and those have their place too).
[i]Cougar wrote:[/i]
And of course, they aren’t mutually exclusive either. I’ve seen projects with a cluster of Arduinos all controlled by a central Pi. That’s pretty cool.
I'm curious what those projects are - the ones I've seen combining the two seem to either be using the Arduinos to do things you can actually do with a RPi (but people don't realise you can, like controlling multiple RC servos), or for stuff which an Arduino is overkill for (eg sensing analogue values).
The reason people will be using arduinos in those projects is because its simpler for them. The arduino is ludicrously easy to interface with hardware. Maybe you can do those things on a pi and maybe that's easy for you but the arduino excels at it and lots of people find it much easier to use (not better, cougar 🙂 )
As for using it when its overkill, absolutely. I even use them to flash an led as is easier than knocking up a 555 and way more flexible. I just put one in as a speed controller for windmill on a crazy golf course. Just a square wave but it took no time to build, I can accurately tweak the speed from my laptop and once set up it'll just power up and run first time every time.
I knew someone would ask, and I'm racking my brains to remember as it was some time ago. I think it was a case of scale - you've only got so many GPIO pins on a Pi, but if you can trigger a bunch of Arduinos from one then you've got a LOT more I/O options.
A purely hypothetical example I've just made up - controlling an escape room. You could have dedicated Arduinos controlling individual puzzles, but a Pi running centrally that knows when a puzzle has been solved and can affect another somewhere else. Maybe.
[i]nickjb wrote:[/i]
The arduino is ludicrously easy to interface with hardware.
As is a RPi! The thing is, if you''ve already got a RPi, then using an Arduino to control servos (when that can be done directly by the RPi) is adding complexity, not making it simpler.
As fir using it when its overkill, absolutely. I even use them to flash an led as is easier than knocking up a 555 and way more flexible. I just put one in as a speed controller for windmill on a crazy golf course. Just a square wave but it took no time to build, I can accurately tweak the speed from my laptop and once set up it’ll just power up and run first time every time.
Sure, overkill is fine - I do lots of things with an RPi that it's overkill for and I could do with a £1 microcontroller (and before RPi I did things with a microcontroller* which could easily have been done with a dedicated circuit)!
* have never used an Arduino, but have microcontrollers which are the same as used in Arduinos which I code in C.
Having a weather station in the garden sounds more like a solution to problem that doesn't exist just to find something to do with one...
different tools for different jobs.
hacking the RPi GPIO pins with python can't be any easier/harder than the fake C++ in arduino.
I suspect the RPi to control an Arduino sometimes probably started out as an arduino project (eg monitoring and controlling a fridge temperature), then they decided to add-on fancy web front end. the arduino would need a pricy add-on and some hacking of the network/wifi API. but Pi for web front end is much easier, and serial connection on an arduino is the very first thing one tries out after running blink.ino
I got some of the ebay special arduinos (for the simple pin controlling stuff). prices so cheap that the bundled USB lead would cost you more in the local bargain store! (handy cos they're all miniUSB not microUSB).
And one of every type of Pi (except the zero and the newest one).
They sit in a drawer a lot, but not permanently.
arduinos are great for electronicsy people doing electronicsy things. Pis were built with education in mind and intended for complete beginners so IMHO are better for inexperienced people trying to learn. Once you do, you might discover that precise timings and threading are harder on a pi and switch to arduino, or you might feel you know the pi well enough to work around it.
If you want to connect your arduino device to the internet, especially via WiFi I think you’ll struggle to do that for <£10 (the cost of the pi zeroW) but it is a while since I looked. Certainly it will involve more thinking.
The reality of course is that most normal people have no need for one and want convenience in their life so will buy ready to use products rather than building their own.
You can pick up Arduino closes for a very low price (still more than a blank avr mega I know) so if you need several widgets for your project the same Arduino makes good sense. Also less power hungary etc.
There is a Arduino version using the mini avr chip (or whatever it is called I forget avr's naming) which is especially good for low power situation but where you don't quite want to go design your own board and have a fair bit of plug and play. You can then take the open source board design and incorporate it into your custom design if you want! Perfect.
They each have their strengths, if you want to a LOT of web stuff, or audio/media thats pi world.
If you want to do embedded stuff or run on battery thats arduino (which includes the likes of ESP32/8266, cortex Mx etc).
Usually you start by working our your requirements then pick which one suits. or....in STW fashion, you start with what you have and bodge it to work 😉
OP - the answer to your question applies to a lot of things in life...
Do I need one? Probably not.
Do I want one? Yes. Buy one.
🙂
I am supprised no one has mentioned Motorola or PIC to be honest.
As a relative beginner to this stuff (mechanical engineer, picked up and forgotten matlab and VBA over the years as needed and decided I wanted to learn something in electrical/programmy overlap area) I finally bought a Pi as a bit of swiss army knife to try and learn a few things.
OP- I'd have at least one goal in mind before you buy one otherwise it will probably sit on the shelf. I've made an effort to try and do a little every week. I bought the CamPiJam Edukits as something to keep me going and give me some structure- it's been quite nice to take the time to go back to basics with something and just turn some LEDs on and off, then build from there!
I am surprised no one has mentioned Motorola or PIC to be honest.
Ah the olden days, when you had to program them with 20V on a dedicated programmer (one-shot program too), and write the code in assembler.
Must brush up on my ARM assembler.
Speaking of which, I have an MBED device too somewhere that needs a bit of use. IIRC that's ardiuno compatible formfactor but CPU and RAM like a Pi.
He he. I bought a arm development board a few years ago to learn some ARM baremetal programming. Once I eventually had a linker script, a init ASM ,a startup.c copied stuff from ROM to ran set up all the inerupts I lost interest! I figured now I was this far I could handle the rest if needed.
There are some really interesting SBC available now. Including some with a onboard FPGA and one of the begal boards that has individual 32bit processors running clusters of Io that have direct memory access to the main processor so that you can run some super fast task / control loop on the IO processor and leave the main processor free.
[i]andytherocketeer wrote:[/i]
I am surprised no one has mentioned Motorola or PIC to be honest.
Ah the olden days, when you had to program them with 20V on a dedicated programmer (one-shot program too), and write the code in assembler.
Real men program in machine code 😎
I still have some UV erasable PICs around somewhere - used for developing stuff for programming the non-erasable devices. When I switched from PICs to AVRs it also took me a while to stop using assembler as that was what I was used to (though I did once write code for a PIC in C, it didn't seem to be the normal thing to do).
What is a good, free resource to learn about Raspberry Pis and how to do (very basic) things with them
A quick google throws up many but are there any recommendations?
That's an awkward demo of the perils of trying to be too clever on a forum!