Would You Like Some Raspberry Pi?

What Type of Raspberry Pi?

Let's examine the Raspberry Pi in more detail; it comes in a number of varieties. Today, we'll examine two Raspberry Pi models: the Pico, a microcontroller that can operate the stepper motor of a 3D printer, and the Pi 4, a single-board computer that runs the online game-friendly Ubuntu LTS 22.04 "Jammy Jellyfish" operating system.

What products are suitable for Raspberry Pi? The answer is that it depends on what you are trying to accomplish. For instance, a Pico is a realistic option if all you want to do is control a touch screen. However, if you want to build a smart mirror, go with a Pi 4. What is going on here? Why one and not the other, you ask? Okay, I'll admit it all depends on the application. The former is better suited for modest electronic projects, while the latter can manage electronic systems.

How do you choose which Pi to pair with which projects? Utilize the Pico if you want to control an automatic irrigation system for some St. Augustine Datil pepper plants, but employ the Pi 4 if you want to use OctoPrint to hack a 3D printer. Nevertheless, whether you like a Pico or a Raspberry Pi 4, there is a Pi for everyone.

 

What is the Raspberry Pi Pico?

So, what exactly is the Raspberry Pi Pico, and what makes it so amazing? Think System on a Chip, but a little bit more complex than that. Simply put, the Pico is a microcontroller more powerful than the Apollo 11 Command Module landed on the moon. Specifically design to take input from sensors, actuators, and transducers to control devices such as stepper motors, touch screen displays, and LEDs.

It’s a gateway to embedded system design for beginners, here is a list of the things you’ll need: a computer, MicroPython, and a few electronic components to get you started. Not only is it easy for the novice but it’s also great for experienced users who design from scratch. With minimum overhead, simple to program, and a low cost point. You can quickly create a concept with little effort before going to market.

The amazing part is that it's about the size of a stick of Wriggle's chewing gum. However, it packs quite a punch, not to mention that it is standalone, in other words no need for an Operating System, and with 10 lines of code or less, you're off to races designing machines to build physical objects for the Thingiverse.

 

What Types of Machines Can You Build?

Build a six-degree-of-freedom robot arm using the Pico. Create the robot path and investigating machine learning using Dijkstra's excellent algorithm. After defining the problem, load the data and unleash the power of Python SciPy (Scientific Python) running on the Pico's Arm Cortex-M0+ Dual-cores clocking in at 133MHZ.

For example, if you wanted to use NumPy to compile data from an IoT (Internet of Things) device into a multidimensional array object, the pandas (Python Data Analysis library) could extrapolate that data, and the Pico could render it graphically on a display of your choice. Almost anything you can imagine is possible with it, including creating an algorithm to determine the quickest route for a vacuum robot to clean the carpet.

A quick internet search will plant the SEEED for the Latest Open Tech project, such as a weather station capable of controlling the irrigation system of a container garden. As a result, when the soil becomes dry, a moisture sensor sends a signal to the Pico, which activates a solenoid and our plants are watered.

What About The Raspberry Pi 4?

Wait, you mentioned the Raspberry Pi 4 and implied it was at the opposite end of the spectrum. Yes, I am getting there, so let's see, if the Pico can handle motor motion control and monitoring the states of micro switches and thermocouples. What exactly can you do with a Raspberry Pi 4 that you cannot with a Pico? Now that we have asked the right question, the answer is the Pi 4 is a small form factor single-board computer with a Linux operating system.

It might be more enjoyable to create a portable Kali Linux exploitation kit for capture the flag games than to simply install Linux, which is not very thrilling. If this doesn’t appeals to you, another choice is to share content with loved ones using a portable streaming server for your digital media. If none of those options is for you, maybe a submersible probe with a GoPro does the job of mapping the bottom of a riverbed.

What Can The Raspberry Pi 4 Do, That The Pico Can't?

A tad larger than a deck of cards, it’s capable of playing video at 60 frames per second on a 4K monitor, wirelessly interfacing peripherals such as (a mouse, keyboard, etc.), and connecting to the internet via blazing Gigabit Ethernet over Wi-Fi. Additionally, it is capable of functioning as a standalone VPN, web, or game server.

With a small footprint, the Raspberry Pi 4 is quite powerful for a single-board computer; this enables small and cost-effective technology designs. This is a fantastic starting point to see code in action for STEM programs aiming to introduce programming ideas to children without the complexity of higher-level concepts.

Although both Raspberry Pi’s have advantages, computing power is where the road splits and begins with the Pi 4 running media servers as Personal Area Netflix, 3D printing now becomes additive manufacturing, intelligent devices and sensors at the edge together with Sparkplug B MQTT, and a Unified Name Space using Industrial Internet of Things. Starts the transformation to Industry 4.0!

 

Would You Like a Slice or The Whole Pi? 

Following our examination of the Raspberry Pi family, and depending on your project's requirements and the amount of computing required. You should utilize either a microcontroller for controlling movement of a stepper motor or a microcomputer for 4K online video gaming. So whether you want a slice, or the whole Pi. Just have some Raspberry Pi.

By: Edward Brown