The Raspberry Pi is creating quite a storm of interest. I have just got mine and one of the first things that I wanted to try was to get it talking to an Arduino over USB using Python.
.. and you know what? It proved to be a lot easier than I expected. This is mainly because, after all, despite its diminutive price tag, the Pi is just a Linux box. I got communication working both ways, with the Arduino sending 'Hello Pi' to the Pi and at the same time, testing for a digit coming in. When it receives a digit, it flashes the number of times indicated by the digit.
I'm very impressed with it. I don't however see it as an Arduino replacement, because:
The GPIO pins are 3V and direct from the great big system on a chip. One accidental short and it thats the end of your Pi. No chance of just popping in another ATMega328.
Who want's an embedded controller that takes half a minute to boot Linux?
I think that the Raspberry Pi Foundation's biggest problem will be satisfying demand.
My current project takes way longer than 1 minute to boot.
This because I need a GPS signal and the ethernet to connect.
So for some projects it may not be a problem.
Best regards
Jantje
29 euro's for the ethernet shield on the arduino shop
35$ for the raspberrie pi
that doesn't make much financial difference. This way I can use the arduino for real time stuff and off-load the ethernet load and SD load to the raspberrie
Sounds like a good deal to me (that is except for the additional software stack - being a non Linux person)
I use Puppy linux
It takes 72 seconds to boot to where it is connected and I am usually reading my email .Configured the way i have it it closes in less than 3 seconds.
Puppy Linux is frequently run from a 1Gig memory stick or minature SD card if you want so its bringing the total package size needed down remarkably. In that configuration it loads in about 30 seconds and can be reduced by dropping a lot of unnecessary stuff from the kernel
Squash it all in a hard drive case with a lipo battery ?
The wait to get a Pi though is ridiculous but they just started advertising it way too soon to attract interest and discourage competition I suppose . It will get done better again by someone else very soon
Does the IDE work on the PI? I think the main idea behind the PI is to provide a very cheap computer such that each student can have one. Well, I want my students to program arduinos as well!
What would you prefer the raspberry pi to the beaglebone? I know it is a bit more expensive but you get it delivered on time, you've got direct access to GPIOs pins, they are shields (called capes), and the processor is 20% more powerful.