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The Raspberry Pi

us Offline Lynn LeFey

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The Raspberry Pi
on: March 07, 2013, 07:32:53 PM
I thought this device deserved it's own thread, so I figured I'd start one.

The discussion started in this thread:
http://forum.multitool.org/index.php/topic,43380.msg699760.html#msg699760

Right... So...

You have this cute little computer. What kind of inexpensive peripherals are available to make it a 'real' computer?

Also, the link to the Raspberry Pi site.
http://www.raspberrypi.org/
« Last Edit: March 07, 2013, 07:34:28 PM by Lynn LeFey »


fr Offline Whoey

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Re: The Raspberry Pi
Reply #1 on: March 07, 2013, 08:12:26 PM
i'd like to start this derailing by talking about my media center PC...









j/k :rofl:

looked at picking up a RPi (Type B Single Board Computer 512MB) wasn't sure if I need anything else to get started?
The difficult we do immediately, the impossible takes a little longer.


gb Offline Jamie_M

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Re: The Raspberry Pi
Reply #2 on: March 07, 2013, 09:31:53 PM
wasn't sure if I need anything else to get started?
They don't come with a power supply, but it's a micro USB connection so widely available. Other than that you'll just need an SD card for the OS and your input devices and it's pretty much ready to go.


us Offline Lynn LeFey

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Re: The Raspberry Pi
Reply #3 on: March 07, 2013, 10:38:44 PM
SD cards are getting kind of ridiculously cheap, and running a build of Linux doesn't take up much RAM or processing power.

I looked at a few video options, and it seems a small 7" screen goes at under $100 these days. That's still a little pricey for what's essentially a toy. Still looking for cheap I/O options, but i don't think the system would be assembled much under $150, and that puts it in the same price range as a Kindle Fire, which IS a complete system.

Grant mentioned these as something like an alternative to the OLPC, an inexpensive and widely available computer to put in the hands of everyone.

There's also a rumored (maybe exists now?) $35 tablet from India.
EDIT: Seems it DOES exist, but checking on-line shows me that it's around $120 to get one to the U.S.
« Last Edit: March 07, 2013, 10:43:13 PM by Lynn LeFey »


fr Offline Whoey

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Re: The Raspberry Pi
Reply #4 on: March 08, 2013, 12:00:49 PM
I just realized that... I have a few old 1/2gb SD cards which have been retired from my DSLR, which has a 32gb card in it now. Also seems the powersupply for my nexus 7 meets the 5v 2a requirement, and has a usb socket for a microusb to usb cable to plug into...

maybe I should get one of their enclosures too...
The difficult we do immediately, the impossible takes a little longer.


au Offline mvyrmnd

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Re: The Raspberry Pi
Reply #5 on: March 08, 2013, 12:36:07 PM
I'm using one for a geocache. Runs off solar, hosts a website and tied to a USB powered wifi hotspot. Cacher turns it on, logs their find on the hosted page which is saved to the sd card :)

The guts:



The cache:

« Last Edit: March 08, 2013, 12:37:51 PM by mvyrmnd »
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ca Offline 16VGTIDave

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Re: The Raspberry Pi
Reply #6 on: March 09, 2013, 03:23:31 PM
I have one that I'm setting up for my home / office phone system using RasPBX. It is going to pay for itself in a matter of months as it is replacing an old tower that is consuming electricity like it was free.

I had an old powered USB hub and a spare 16GB SD card. Ordered an enclosure with a set of heatsinks for less than $10, and a 1m USB cable for $3, off of fleabay. Borrowed a monitor from the car DVD player and a spare keyboard for the initial setup. It is now running "headless" with a web interface for all management. It has been running since early January without making any noise and no discernible heat. That is amazing.

I'm now thinking of where else I could use these neat little machines. Out in my un-heated workshop? As a home automation / security system controller? In the kitchen?


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gb Offline Cupboard

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Re: The Raspberry Pi
Reply #7 on: March 09, 2013, 07:08:29 PM
I've been a bit of a cop out with mine, it's just hung off the back of my TV. The TV is powering it, and with RaspBMC it functions as quite a nice little HTPC. Control via my phone or laptop.


us Offline Lynn LeFey

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Re: The Raspberry Pi
Reply #8 on: March 09, 2013, 08:39:55 PM
Control via my phone...

(Sigh) yeah... I have to admit, that's pretty cool.

My friend pulled this trick recently, and I felt like a Neanderthal staring at fire for the first time.


au Offline PTRSAK

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Re: The Raspberry Pi
Reply #9 on: March 09, 2013, 10:51:12 PM
I haven't done anything with mine yet.  I was so pissed off with RS when it arrived. I put my name down pre-order and they kept sending "Coming soon" emails for about three months, then FINALLY sent me an "Invitation" to buy one and a password to get into the online store... I ordered one AND paid my money to RS Components and THEN it was another couple of months while they sent me "Your order is nearly at the top of the list" emails.
FINALLY I got an email saying "Your order has shipped"...

I happened to mention this to a work colleague and he said "Oh yeah, they are cool... I bought one a couple of weeks ago."
WTF?.. Where from??
Oh, you just order them from RS Components, they sent it "Next Day"
I STILL hadn't received mine at this stage. and when it did eventually turn up it was the 256MB version and the guy from work had got a 512MB.

RS Components?  More like BS components.  I was so gutted that I threw it in the junk drawer in the kitchen and haven't looked at it since.
</rant>


au Offline mvyrmnd

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Re: The Raspberry Pi
Reply #10 on: March 10, 2013, 12:12:01 AM
I haven't done anything with mine yet.  I was so pissed off with RS when it arrived. I put my name down pre-order and they kept sending "Coming soon" emails for about three months, then FINALLY sent me an "Invitation" to buy one and a password to get into the online store... I ordered one AND paid my money to RS Components and THEN it was another couple of months while they sent me "Your order is nearly at the top of the list" emails.
FINALLY I got an email saying "Your order has shipped"...

I happened to mention this to a work colleague and he said "Oh yeah, they are cool... I bought one a couple of weeks ago."
WTF?.. Where from??
Oh, you just order them from RS Components, they sent it "Next Day"
I STILL hadn't received mine at this stage. and when it did eventually turn up it was the 256MB version and the guy from work had got a 512MB.

RS Components?  More like BS components.  I was so gutted that I threw it in the junk drawer in the kitchen and haven't looked at it since.
</rant>

I placed my order in July/August and got it at Christmas, from RS.

I never once recieved an email from them.
Just don't say fecal coagulation.  :twak: - Mr. Whippy


ca Offline Grant Lamontagne

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Re: The Raspberry Pi
Reply #11 on: March 10, 2013, 12:33:43 AM
That doesn't sound terribly promising.

There's no excuse for poor customer service these days.

Def

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fr Offline Whoey

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Re: The Raspberry Pi
Reply #12 on: March 10, 2013, 10:43:58 AM
when I looked the other day there was a 1 week lead on the 256mb one, and 2 weeks on the 512mb... plus shipping to europe... guessing I'm looking at least a month from order to deliver...
The difficult we do immediately, the impossible takes a little longer.


au Offline erratic

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Re: The Raspberry Pi
Reply #13 on: March 10, 2013, 12:26:36 PM
I am waiting for my Rev B board to arrive. When it does arrive I'll be adding a few gyros, GPS and ultrasonic sensors and plugging it into this:



The RP will be running Picopter. And because of its non-realtime-ness (unless using PirateOS, which has its own issues), and because I will gladly accept any excuse to build myself more toys I'm building another slightly larger quadcopter that will run off an arduino board.

Fortunately, the more expensive sensors are interchangeable.

In case anyone is interested - the frame is an SK450 which you can pick up for very little money, Turnigy ESCs, Propdrive 28 motors, and in the picture the flight controller is a standard KK2.0 board. You can build one of these for about AU$200, including a cheapo 6ch transmitter such as the Turnigy 9x. Props cost a few bucks for a pack of four and it'll easily lift a camera such as a GoPro.

Kitting it out with GPS and a more advanced flight controller you can make it follow waypoints and return home automatically. Throw even more money at it and you can have a first person view system where you wear goggles and it feels as if you're actually in the cockpit.

As it stands, it flies beautifully, and will hopefully be even better with a more advanced RP or Arduino acting as the flight controller
« Last Edit: March 10, 2013, 12:32:58 PM by erratic »


ca Offline Grant Lamontagne

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Re: The Raspberry Pi
Reply #14 on: March 10, 2013, 12:53:41 PM
That is an awesome rig!

Def

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au Offline PTRSAK

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Re: The Raspberry Pi
Reply #15 on: March 10, 2013, 02:12:12 PM
oh, another poor bloke with SAKs and R/C gear eating up the money...


I have a couple of quads, three or four planks (fixed wing models) and currently 5 Heli's  Trex250 FBL, Trex450, Trex 500PRO, Trex 500 FBL and Trex600.
Who needs a high maintenance woman when you fly R/C Helicopters?



au Offline erratic

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Re: The Raspberry Pi
Reply #16 on: March 10, 2013, 02:34:25 PM
oh, another poor bloke with SAKs and R/C gear eating up the money...

Correction - soon to be poor if I continue to do this! :)

And I thought my divorce was costly. At least I am enjoying this, and I can stop anytime. No, really. Honest. Any time!

Quote
I have a couple of quads, three or four planks (fixed wing models) and currently 5 Heli's  Trex250 FBL, Trex450, Trex 500PRO, Trex 500 FBL and Trex600.

Not done any fixed wing stuff, but I have played with a Twister 400 fixed pitch helicopter. It was... challenging, but great fun. The quads appeal because I can actually make them myself from any old bits I've got lying around and fix most crash damage with a bit of duct tape and cable ties. And they're relatively easy to fly.

That said, I'd love to have a go with a few planks. Had a whale of a time a few weeks ago watching people blatting around with big scale EDF models at the local RC flying club.

Quote
Who needs a high maintenance woman when you fly R/C Helicopters?

I have one of those too. You'd think I'd have learned my lesson after the ex, but at least this one is more understanding, and independently financed, so that's a bit of pressure off!


ca Offline Grant Lamontagne

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Re: The Raspberry Pi
Reply #17 on: March 10, 2013, 02:46:59 PM
I love the idea of the quads.  My boss has a Parrot AR Drone that he has told me I'm welcome to use any time, but it seems a bit pricey a toy to take a chance on breaking.   :ahhh

Def
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au Offline erratic

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Re: The Raspberry Pi
Reply #18 on: March 10, 2013, 03:00:06 PM
I love the idea of the quads.  My boss has a Parrot AR Drone that he has told me I'm welcome to use any time, but it seems a bit pricey a toy to take a chance on breaking.   :ahhh

Def

The Parrots are lots of fun, and they're reasonably crash proof - they have pretty aggressive stabilisation and safety features. But as you note they're quite expensive - the quad in my picture cost AU$140 less to get into the air than an AR Drone, and being bigger with more powerful motors can lift more. You can get ready to fly ones for a bit more.

Of course, you lose the nice 'control from your phone features', and accordingly flying will be a bit more involved unless you automate it a bit as I am intending to, but on the other hand, parts are plentiful, cheap and you can mod it to do lots of things. I am presently fighting with my inner sensible side to stop myself buying a motorised gimbal mount for the GoPro...


ca Offline Grant Lamontagne

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Re: The Raspberry Pi
Reply #19 on: March 10, 2013, 03:06:32 PM
Is there a decent kit you could recommend for a quad that would lift a GoPro?  I'm not terribly skilled when it comes to electronics, so anything more than plugging part A into part B is a bit beyond me.

Def
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au Offline erratic

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Re: The Raspberry Pi
Reply #20 on: March 10, 2013, 04:16:43 PM
Is there a decent kit you could recommend for a quad that would lift a GoPro?  I'm not terribly skilled when it comes to electronics, so anything more than plugging part A into part B is a bit beyond me.

Def

Fortunately, plugging things into other things is pretty much all you need to do. No soldering or anything. The hard part is trimming it yourself. That can take a while, but you'll be done in an hour if you're new to it. The KK board that is in my quad at the moment has its own lcd screen which you can use to set it up right on the quad itself, whereas some of the more advanced controllers require you to plug it into a computer to do that.

All the parts that make up the quad in the picture came from Hobbyking, a Hong Kong based site with local warehouses in a number of countries that lots of people have good luck with, but there are some not-so-good stories of people who ended up with missing parts, or broken boxes, so bear that in mind. I've not had any problems with them, but the risk is always there. They've a good enough returns policy, though. There are plenty of other sources for the components, though. RCGroups and Ebay are good places to start.

Anyway, warnings aside - these are the components. Prices are in US dollars:

50w 5A Balance Charger - $17.99
SK450 Frame - $17.99
KK2.0 Board - this is about the most basic flight controller you can get. Doesn't allow for addons like gps, altitude hold, camera gimbal control, but it'll get you in the air to see if quads are for you - $29.99
Turnigy 2200 mAh 3s Battery - $8.99
Turnigy 9X transmitter & receiver combo - $54
NTM Motors - $59.96 (for four)
Turnigy Plush 30A Speed Controllers - $48.76 (for four) note that these are a bit overspecced for the motors, but they were cheaper than the 25A ones, so for future proofing sake and being a cheapskate I went with these.
8045 Right hand props - $2.85 for a pack of four (the spares will always come in handy!)
8045 Left hand props - $2.85

Total, to get you into the air - $243.38 US. A bit more than in my original post, but still less than an AR Drone. I guess prices have gone up a bit since I bought.

The quad, as is, will lift about 650 grams. For comparison purposes, a Nikon D5100 DSLR body weighs about 560 grams, and a GoPro 3 (without case) only 74 grams

Also not included is a raised landing gear so the camera clears, or a dedicated mount for the gopro. I tend to tie mine to the frame and move the battery back to counteract the change in centre of gravity, while the landing gear is something I lashed together from bits of carbon fibre and plastic rod. Will do something more professional at some point. You can pick up suitable gear from ebay starting about $12 or so.


ca Offline Grant Lamontagne

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Re: The Raspberry Pi
Reply #21 on: March 10, 2013, 04:54:42 PM
I'm not worried about frame/body parts, landing gear or stuff like that.  I've built enough things around my house, model kits when I was a kid and so on that I can manage that sort of thing.

What type of flight time do you get out of a setup like that?  The Parrot only gets between 12 and 18 minutes.

Def
Leave the dents as they are- let your belongings show their scars as proudly as you do yours.


fr Offline Whoey

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Re: The Raspberry Pi
Reply #22 on: March 10, 2013, 05:02:37 PM
seriously cool toys... makes me wish I had a workshop even more...
The difficult we do immediately, the impossible takes a little longer.


au Offline erratic

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Re: The Raspberry Pi
Reply #23 on: March 10, 2013, 05:28:02 PM

What type of flight time do you get out of a setup like that?  The Parrot only gets between 12 and 18 minutes.

Def

About twelve minutes if you're lucky and don't run full throttle all the time. , With batteries being cheap I carry several, charged and ready to go. The charger can also charge from car batteries.

Remember that the batteries are lithium polymer. They don't go wrong a lot, but it does happen, and when they do they can be quite dangerous - see also the problems that Boeing Dreamliners are having. When in the car I store mine in an airtight old ammo box with non flammable padding to keep them from rattling around.

If one does catch fire it is worth remembering what metals at the fun end of the periodic table do when exposed to water. A powder extinguisher is probably better.


gb Offline Cupboard

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Re: The Raspberry Pi
Reply #24 on: March 10, 2013, 06:02:09 PM
For people still wanting a Pi and having trouble, it's worth noting that CPC have a load of the cheaper Model As in stock, when I got my Model B it arrived quickly and they're doing free shipping at the moment.

RS are usually great with customer service but they usually deal with businesses rather than consumers, CPC are a bit more consumer friendly IMO. We get a lot of stuff from RS at work and when you have a problem it's almost always a case of "no problem, we'll have a replacement with you tomorrow" - you really can't say fairer than that.


fr Offline Whoey

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Re: The Raspberry Pi
Reply #25 on: March 10, 2013, 06:19:53 PM
ironically I discovered RS components via a banner on this site... I bookmarked the Spanish site in case I needed parts for any future projects, and had planned to do an order once I had a nice healthy list of items to get at once, shame it seems to split to a different website for the RPi...

As for other project parts, I only really need a replacement rocker switch for one of our lamps as the existing one is a bit flakey.
The difficult we do immediately, the impossible takes a little longer.


fr Offline Whoey

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Re: The Raspberry Pi
Reply #26 on: March 24, 2013, 11:15:15 AM
The difficult we do immediately, the impossible takes a little longer.


ca Offline Grant Lamontagne

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Re: The Raspberry Pi
Reply #27 on: March 24, 2013, 01:40:28 PM
That is pretty cool!  I'd love to have something like that, although I'd also build in an empty port to carry a multitool.  Just imagine...

Me: "R2- Spirit!"

R2: Whistles happily, compartment pops open, shiny SwissTool Spirit is extended out on mechanical arm

Me: "Thanks R2!"

:D

Def
Leave the dents as they are- let your belongings show their scars as proudly as you do yours.


fr Offline Whoey

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Re: The Raspberry Pi
Reply #28 on: March 24, 2013, 01:51:18 PM
http://www.amazon.com/Star-Interactive-Astromech-Droid-Robot/dp/B001E95SQ2 seems to be his starting point... and it seems to have lots of features to start... a bit small however!
The difficult we do immediately, the impossible takes a little longer.


ca Offline Grant Lamontagne

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Re: The Raspberry Pi
Reply #29 on: March 24, 2013, 02:25:56 PM
I almost bought one like that at Costco a couple of years ago.  :D

Def
Leave the dents as they are- let your belongings show their scars as proudly as you do yours.


 

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