Arduino and Raspberry Pi

[Dave Lehnert]

Kinda interested in exploring Arduino and/ or Raspberry Pi.
Anyone have experience with them and what one would be better to start with?
Any forums, books etc.....that helped you get started?

[Michael Weber]

I purchased an Arduino a couple months back. Pretty amazing what you can do with them. There are CNC machines using Arduino for control. I got mine on impulse to use to control stepper motors for use with a router lift. Got a nice stepper off eBay as well as a controller really cheap. Played around making the motor work but haven't messed with putting it on the router lift. Maybe some day. I actually got an Arduino knockoff. There are lots of them available, and Arduino is actually okay with that. The programming is subset of C++ and kind of fiddly as far as syntax.

[John McClanahan]

It depends on what you want to do. The Raspberry Pi is a computer, and needs an OS to boot from. An Arduino is a microprocessor, and runs a script program. Now you know everything I know about this.


John

[Dan Hintz]

What do you want to do with it?

The Pi is great if you're a Linux user. The Arduino is a step closer to bare metal programming, and it would be my choice if I was trying to automate something (though I'm an embedded programmer by trade, so take that with an appropriately-sized grain of salt).

[Alan Rutherford]

I agree with all the above. I built my first computer before there were PC's and am writing this on a former Windows PC now running Linux. I'm more of a programmer than a systems guy and have a couple of Arduino's but have done very little with them. I'd get more out of an RPi.

https://www.raspberrypi.org/
http://arduino.cc/
http://makezine.com/2013/04/14/47-ra...ur-next-build/
http://makezine.com/category/electro...ino/#guideList

[Scott Shepherd]

They are cheap, start with an Arduino, see if you like it and if it does what you want. It's very easy to get started with them. If you find you want to get more complex, go with the Pi. There are a lot more things available for the Arduino than the Pi right now, but that's slowly changing. The Pi will take a little more time to get going, as mentioned, it's a full linux computer. If you want to add some features to it, you'll need to learn a few linux commands to do that.

There are loads of online resources for learning both. Get one and get going!

[Phil Stone]

I have worked with both, but they serve very different niches. I've used an Arduino to turn an old keyboard volume pedal into an expression pedal (sends OSC commands over USB to a laptop). Arduinos are wonderful for embedded use; the language used to program them is fairly simple, and a nice development environment is available for free for them.

RPis are fully functional Linux computers. They can do almost everything a desktop computer can do, if you add on the right parts. If you don't know Linux, expect a steep learning curve. Other than that, they're an amazing value.

[David Bassett]

It really does depend on what you want to accomplish. What is the specific project, or skill!, you are interested in exploring?

The biggest strength of both platforms is the incredible communities that have grown around them providing resources & infrastructure you can use. Arduino targeted physical control, e.g. blinking LEDs, positioning servos, or reading simple sensors, and tried to make it accessible for artists. R-Pi targeted education and teaching programming to primary & middle school students, with a few hooks for attaching hardware. Both platforms have expanded well beyond the initial plans with enthusiasts contributing code, hardware designs, projects, & tutorials. That said, I suggest making your choice with the original goals in mind. If you want a controller, go with Arduino. If you want a cheap computer / internet device* you can program, go with Raspberry Pi. Or, maybe even better, find a project write-up that inspires you and start with the platform and specific hardware it uses.

* yes, you can get internet interface libraries for Arduino, but that's not its strength. R-Pi was designed to be fully connected from the beginning.

** Re: "linux is hard", so "R-Pi is scary". If you're going to hack the kernel, yes it will take some (considerable) study. However, if you will just be a user of the packaged OS software (start with Raspian, unless your specific project calls for something else,) it won't be any harder adapting than changing from one version of Windows to another. Yes, everything is a little different, but everything is still there and works about the same way. You can figure it out!

[Dave Lehnert]

Thanks for all the info.
What do I want to do with it? I just want to explore and learn.
Sounds like Arduino will be more to my liking. Easier to get started.
I see a lot of kits for sale for prices all over the map. Can anyone point to a kit that is a good value but not junk.

[Scott Shepherd]

Dave, it might cost a little more than places like Amazon, but adafruit is a great place to start with the Arduino. You'll find about every sensor, button, switch, and learning tool you'd ever need on that site. Their prices are fair. Not great, but not high either, just fair (in my opinion).

[David Bassett]

2nd Adafruit as good people. Check out their blog and tutorials. They seem to *really* want to help people. (In fact they're one of the best places, in the USA, for R-Pi stuff too.)

I think which version of Arduino will be best for you depends on which project, tutorial, or book you'll be following. Get what your first project recommends and then you'll have fewer problems. The basic design is open source and all versions are mostly compatible, but there are little details (extra or fewer features) that cause irritating problems* you'll avoid with exactly what is used for your examples. If you're using a generic guide, I'd start with an official Arduino Uno. It seems like the most common version right now. (*My wife spent hours trying to get a slightly non-standard Arduino to work for a project before she noticed the one line mentioning to change a default setting in the IDE.)

If you want to buy a single kit with all the parts for a series of experiments, you should also check Make's MakerShed. They're (usually) a little more, but they specialize in complete packages and great documentation. (The Make books are a wonderful resource for all things hobbyist.)

You don't say where you are, but another possibility is finding a class or seminar. A local hacker space or school might offer something. I took a two part class at TechShop. We soldered (a fairly non-standard) Arduino-clone together and then used it to control various sensor and output devices. It was a painless overview of all the basics.

[Matt Meiser]

I picked up an Arduino board, Ethernet Shield and Relay Shield, and a project kit with a breadboard, jumpers, etc dirt cheap (probably <$50 for all of it) at a Radio Shack store closing sales. The Arduino was probably around the same as online pricing but I paid pennies on the dollar for the rest. Also got bunch of wire for a couple bucks, some small speakers for $12 and a Bluetooth speaker for my daughter for $35--spent more money at Radio Shack closings than I've spent in the last 10 years there. That was when they were pretending they weren't filing for bankruptcy yet though. Now that the liquidators have taken over the closing stores the deals probably are more typical of store closings.

While I mostly got it to play with, I do have a project in mind to grab some signals off my generator to know its trying to start, running, transfer switch status, etc but I haven't done much with it.

[David B Thornton]

I picked up an Arduino board, Ethernet Shield and Relay Shield, and a project kit with a breadboard, jumpers, etc dirt cheap (probably <$50 for all of it) at a Radio Shack store closing sales. The Arduino was probably around the same as online pricing but I paid pennies on the dollar for the rest. Also got bunch of wire for a couple bucks, some small speakers for $12 and a Bluetooth speaker for my daughter for $35--spent more money at Radio Shack closings than I've spent in the last 10 years there. That was when they were pretending they weren't filing for bankruptcy yet though. Now that the liquidators have taken over the closing stores the deals probably are more typical of store closings.

While I mostly got it to play with, I do have a project in mind to grab some signals off my generator to know its trying to start, running, transfer switch status, etc but I haven't done much with it.

I was just about to post this same thing. I would suggest Arduino and keep an eye out for a local Radioshack that's closing like Matt said. I was able to pick up multiple Arduino boards (Uno, etc.) for 50% off as well as all of the accessories. I now have a large bag with hundreds of dollars of Arduino boards and accessories that I have no use for at the moment. But as soon as I start automating my shop, they will come in handy.

[Steve Rozmiarek]

Question for you guys using these for automation, is there a good place to get relays and such, and what is the first step to learning the system? I obviously know nothing about them to start with.

[David Bassett]

Question for you guys using these for automation, is there a good place to get relays and such, and what is the first step to learning the system? I obviously know nothing about them to start with.

I suspect your biggest source of info would be the robotics crowd and a little extrapolation.

In general, I suggest (again) you start with the Adafruit blog and tutorials. There are more formal, though less current, books from Make that are great. Make Magazine, and their website, cover a wide range of maker activities. Both Arduino and robots have been big recently. (I'd say drones, Raspberry Pi, and the other newer small computer/controller boards, e.g. Beaglebone, are the current hot topics.) Also try Sparkfun. Those should get your research off to a good start. Following links, and searching topics, you find should lead you to more specific sites that are closer to your interests.

PS- Instructibles can be a great resource if you find a project there matching your interests. I've never just browsed them though. Oh, the home CNC crowd might have info relevant to automation too.