Arduino/Raspberry Pi

Hi All.

Does anyone have any experience using either of the above in a photographic mode (eg timer; trigger - light/sound/movement)

If so which model would be bestm and what did you create


regards
Bernard

Bernard,
The Arduino is more suited to that kind of task - it's more "low level".
The Pi is running Linux and is closer to a desktop.
Does really depend on your needs...

Have a look at the TriggerTrap website where they have an open source Arduino project that started them off
https://triggertrap.com/products/triggertrap-shield-for-arduino/

Not that I've used these personally. I spend most of my working life with micro controllers and ARM development! Very occasionally do some stuff at home, but am always happy to give advice

Matt

Thanks for the link Matt.

As I've now retired and it's getting on for 40years since I did any programming (8088 assembler) I thought I'd rekindle an interest and these devices looked like a way of getting back 'in'.

Do I need to have a separate device for every project, in which case it looks potentially expensive.

The alternative was to use a PIC, but put off by the extra kit for programming it.

regards
Bernard

Hi Bernard,

I've used both (although not for photo related applications). They both have access to General Purpose I/O (GPIO) pins through IDC type pins allowing connections using ribbon cables. Various interface boards are available for both allowing them to drive relays/switches/LEDs etc.

The Raspberry PI runs Linux and has access to GPIO through the Python langauge (and probably many others). It will also run a version of RISC OS and can give GPIO access through BBC BASIC. For each application you'd be able to simply run the relevant code and attach a suitable control board to the IDC pins (although I suspect you might need a keyboard, mouse & monitor to do so easily).

The Arduino also has access to GPIO through it's langauge and is probably better as a stand-alone device for this sort of thing. Programming it takes a few seconds through USB - the board includes it's own programmer. For different applications you probably want to re-program it and connect the right ribbon cable to it - or for a more elaborate project, program it with multiple applications

The Arduino comes as a board and includes the ATMEL chip. You are supposed to be able to buy just the chips separately and swap them in/out of the board if you prefer.

I'd go with the Arduino because as Matt says it works on a lower level and will simply start running when it powers up. All the PIC boards I've seen need RS232 ports to program - a pain these days and there's more support for Arduino on the web (it is supposed to be an open standard).

John.

(Sorry I missed the replies on this...)

If you've been used to 8088 assembler I would stick with Atmel microcontrollers. The PIC are Harvard architecture and can be a real pain!

Atmel USB programming pods are really cheap off eBay. Think I paid £1.80 for mine. You'll need a compiler & programmer - but there are plenty of GCC-based distributions. Personally I used a command-line based Mac OS X build that worked a treat.

The Atmel ATmega & ATtiny series can be hooked up with their 6-pin or 10-pin programming connector to the USB pod. Many of the microcontrollers are still available in DIP packages (though more are QFP these days).

Do be aware that the 8088 is just a CPU, but the ATmega/ATtiny are complete controllers with serial ports, I2C, SPI, counter/timers, oscillators etc all built in!

The Arduino will give you a kick start into Atmel CPUs with a complete environment that you can then fork off into chip-based development later

I built the electronics in this Portal gun replica - originally based on this starting project. Customised and running sounds off a microSD 4GB card! More innards and work in progress photos here, and especially here.

ELM Chan's site is worth rootling through for some source info on Atmel projects.

Hope that gives you some starting points!
Matt

Thanks John/Matt for the advise. The Arduino it is then.

I'm interested in interfacing with the outside world so the GPIO is a minimum requirement.

I've been trying to get to grips with C (and some of its many variants, C++; C#) but whilst I can get the PC to do things on the screen (albeit often less effiently than Excel) I can't get anywhere with comms in C.

So moreoften than not I use proprietry programmes which almost do everything I want.

regards
Bernard

Bernard,
You'll need to stick to plain C for Arduino
There are plenty of examples and tutorials for it, e.g. http://arduino.cc/en/Tutorial/HomePage
Matt

Happy with plain C - I was commenting on the limitation I have with getting a PC to communicate with the outside world (ie no GPIO, no RS232(mine), no parallel port, just USB).

regards
Bernard

Ah! Yes, PCs can be a pain. I've spent most of my working life with comms etc. On an aside, if you want to do anything at all with a PC then the FTDI chips and cables are cool. They provide DLLs that can enable you to do basic GPIO functions and/or serial. (We use them for creating manufacturing test equipment for our hardware ) http://www.ftdichip.com/Products/Cables.htm
Matt