What can I do with an RPi that I can't do with a laptop + Arduino?

Yes, it is a bit upsetting to be running a temperature sensing app on something with that much horsepower.

The thing that pushed me that way was that I had an Arduino with a wifi shield doing the job, but I had to replace my cable modem and it wanted WPA2 which the shield couldn't handle. I had a Pi that could and that was that. Besides, I like Linux :wink:

I think it would be quite tricky to run a Git server on any Arduino.

I had an Arduino with a wifi shield doing the job

Adding either Ethernet or WiFi to an Arduino tends to push it's cost up higher than a similarly equipped Pi :frowning:
A RPi has ethernet, WiFi, USB Host, SD, and video out built in for $35...

I bought a few ESP8266-12 modules a while ago and I finally took one out of its bag so I could experiment with programming if from the IDE.

I know you can get the modules on a breakout board but I want the smallest possible footprint for one application so I won't comment on the inconvenience of using the module.

It does look like a very cheap and convenient way to create a node that just requires limited functionality - such as reading a sensor,

I guess the reality is that there is a lot of overlap and underlap (if there is such a thing) between all these products. I can see how it would be difficult for a novice to choose between them and s/he will probably start with whatever is recommended by a friend or teacher. And it is only in the edge-cases that the choice really matters.

For example my interest in a very small device is to fit radio control into an 00 Gauge model railway locomotive. However what I learn from doing that might open up other opportunities for using devices where size is not important.

I started this Thread because I was concerned that I may have been overlooking something - but it seems not. Thanks for all the input.

...R

The ESP 8266 devices are brilliant for environmental sensing with WiFi.
I have multiple nodes with BME280, one-wire temperature sensors and OLED, around the house.

OK, I think I've finally hit the Pi point here.

I'm building a little tank robot with an arm on top and a camera a transmitter so I can drive it FPV. There's a 1284P chip that runs the whole main bot and a nano that runs just the arm. The whole thing is designed to be totally agnostic to the communication style. It just takes commands over serial. Right now I've got a ESP8266 set up to get the commands over wifi through a TCP socket and pass them on to the 1284. When I started testing, I was controlling it with an XBox controller hooked up to my computer with all the code written in Python. Everything was going great but I wanted to build a base station for it. I had a Mega and another ESP8266 and a USB host shield so I thought I'd give it a go. It was pretty easy and it works great, but now I have to convert all of my beautiful control code in Python over to C++ to move it to the Mega. I ended up writing a lot of code there. I've already rewritten a bunch of it for the Arduino, but even now I'm still testing new ideas and I tend to find it easier to develop them in Python first. When you're at that tweak it - run it - tweak it - run it - tweak it - run it stage it is just easier to be able to run the code on the same computer you are writing it on and not to have to compile over and over.

So I think the answer is to build my base station on a Pi instead of a Mega. I can do better display that way on a TFT in the base station. I can probably handle a little bit of video stuff. And I can work with the same code in Python that I use on the PC.

So I'm about to start shopping for a Pi. I knew this day would come.

I'm in a similar space. My neighbor bought a $2k scaled WWII boat he wants me to build the controls for i.e., rudder, motor, turret position, turret firing of ball bearings, "radar", etc. All was well within my scope of an arduino head-end- until he mentioned FPV cameras on the turrets. After doing some research, the arduino is only capable of 3-10fps of streaming. After knowing only the tip of arduino coding iceburg, it seems I'll need to learn yet another language.

Delta_G:
So I think the answer is to build my base station on a Pi instead of a Mega.

In that case the obvious advantage of an RPi over a laptop is the smaller size rather than any inherent ability of the RPi.

...R

Robin2:
In that case the obvious advantage of an RPi over a laptop is the smaller size rather than any inherent ability of the RPi.

...R

Absolutely. Really, it's size and cost. If I had an extra old laptop laying around I might use that instead in spite of the size.

travis_farmer:
the Rpi 3, what i have, has WiFi and Bluetooth built in, if that helps.

~Travis

So does the Zero W

travis_farmer:
the Rpi 3, what i have, has WiFi and Bluetooth built in, if that helps.

~Travis

I'm thinking about not going that way though since the wifi range would be limited. If I hook it up with a wifi dongle I can get an antennae and all. Eventually I hope to do LoRa so the wifi need will go away completely.

JMeller:
I'm in a similar space. My neighbor bought a $2k scaled WWII boat he wants me to build the controls for i.e., rudder, motor, turret position, turret firing of ball bearings, "radar", etc. All was well within my scope of an arduino head-end- until he mentioned FPV cameras on the turrets. After doing some research, the arduino is only capable of 3-10fps of streaming. After knowing only the tip of arduino coding iceburg, it seems I'll need to learn yet another language.

This I would like to hear more about.

Hi,
I have at times thought about a Pi, we have used one at work to do logging and nice realtime graph display as a steel wheel was pressed onto an axle. (Talking railway wheel and axle)

We had a mate of my boss do the programming (linux expert) as time was of the essence.
The minicomp that did the job literally blew up because of its industrial environment and filter not fitted to vent fan.

The job was optioned up to Wifi so the need for USB Stick to transfer data was not needed.

All inside a new vented case with just some buttons and industrial keyboard on the outside.

Very easy to mechanically assemble compared to trying to get an over powered laptop to do the job.

If I was going to do a job that needed high end Display, then definitely a Pi, possibly a Arduino to do the I/O interface and monitoring.

Tom.. :slight_smile:

TomGeorge:
(Talking railway wheel and axle)

Nothing trivial, then :slight_smile:

...R

Robin2:
Nothing trivial, then :slight_smile:

...R

The press was 15ft long, and has a major overhead crane to move and position everything.
Plus a decent hydraulic pump.
The data that was logged was position vs applied force.
This helped to make sure the fit was good and the sudden jump in pressure at the end signaled that the wheel was home on the axle.
Tom.. :slight_smile:

@wildbill- avoiding the hijacking of this thread, the neighb is buying from http://www.strikemodels.com/; expected delivery is months from now. The guy builds the ship(s) with custom created 'guns'. My neighbor and I have high expectations for this project. We'll fine tune his before building more for our other neighbors in a pond of WAR. If Robin doesn't mind, I'll return back with a simple blog link (if I find the time and ambition to create one).

What I can see is the Pi like with Arduino, there are so many variations of Pi that have built in what used to be peripherals that there needs to be a site like the choosing accommodation sites.

A site with a parameter search engine.
You just list the peripherals you need, cpu speed, memory, WiFi, Ethernet, RS485, USB etc and it trawls the available open source devices looking for possibly the single board device that will suit your needs.

Tom.. :slight_smile:

Just ordered an RPi 3. We'll see if I can get it to do something. It wasn't expensive, so I guess it wasn't too bad. But I have a feeling it is going to lead to buying a bunch more stuff too and that's never cheap.

I have one connected to my TV (HDMI) I use to play music (the TV has a reasonably good quality sound system).

The second one I have collects data from six 3D printers then tweets status. Which is surprisingly handy. (Made for my local makerspace.)