3 ms·

You can already buy ARM based dev kits from Nvidia, TI etc. They're much more powerful and suited towards that sort of goal (and more expensive). Edit: for eg

by mirsadm 15y ago

You can already buy ARM based dev kits from Nvidia, TI etc. They're much more powerful and suited towards that sort of goal (and more expensive). Edit: for eg http://pandaboard.org/ http://pandaboard.org/

nl 15y ago
Actually, they aren't that much more powerful (although it depends exactly how you measure).
- mirsadm 15y ago
  The difference between the Panda and RasPI is pretty significant (as it should be given the price difference). Per clock the Panda is faster as it is based on the Cortex A9. It is also clocked at 1.2 ghz vs 700mhz for the RasPI. I wouldn't be surprised if it was >2x the speed in single threaded benhmarks.
  - nl 15y ago
    Yes, but by all accounts the GPU on the RasPI is more powerful than the Panda.
swah 15y ago
Those are very cool, but they are "development platforms". I don't want/can't design and produce my own hardware. I want to buy a little box (around 50-100 USD would be still good), attach an USB camera, and with software make an interesting project. In other words: Wifi and Linux (and its drivers) would make a great automation platform (having to connect to AC being the only problem left). For example, I could put one of those in front of my water meter (http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01373/water-meter_1373724c.jpg http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01373/water-mete...), with a little bit of OpenCV software to parse the numbers I could have real-time water usage monitoring. (This just reminded me of Bunnie's Chumby: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chumby http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chumby). If Chumby has died because cellphones haven't left any market to it, it could easily be repurposed to compete with Raspberry PI, it seems.
- joshu 15y ago
  They may be called development platforms but they are really pretty similar to raspberrypi, actually. Maybe some more I/O pins. They are probably as suitable for your project as a raspberrypi, anyway. Btw check out the Pcengine's alix, which is x86 and runs on 5 watts or so. Or the Genesi Efika, which is arm based
- joshu 15y ago
  I actually DO use an alix for home automation, btw. It runs plain unmolested ubuntu.
  - swah 15y ago
    Nice! I'll just leave some links in case anyone wants to see what its like: http://www.wifiproducts.com.au/wifi-mikrotik-webstore/ALIX_Cases-list.aspx http://www.wifiproducts.com.au/wifi-mikrotik-webstore/ALIX_C... http://www.wifiproducts.com.au/wifi-mikrotik-webstore/ALIX_2D3_system_board__3_LAN___1_miniPCI___LX800___256_MB___USB-details.aspx http://www.wifiproducts.com.au/wifi-mikrotik-webstore/ALIX_2...
    - joshu 15y ago
      these folks sell them for a fair bit less: http://myworld.ebay.com/pandorashope/?_trksid=p4340.l2559 http://myworld.ebay.com/pandorashope/?_trksid=p4340.l2559 this is where i got mine, anwyay
- joshu 15y ago
  also check out the beagleboard-xM: http://beagleboard.org/ http://beagleboard.org/

by mirsadm 15y ago

nl 15y ago

Actually, they aren't that much more powerful (although it depends exactly how you measure).

mirsadm 15y ago
The difference between the Panda and RasPI is pretty significant (as it should be given the price difference). Per clock the Panda is faster as it is based on the Cortex A9. It is also clocked at 1.2 ghz vs 700mhz for the RasPI. I wouldn't be surprised if it was >2x the speed in single threaded benhmarks.
- nl 15y ago
  Yes, but by all accounts the GPU on the RasPI is more powerful than the Panda.

swah 15y ago

Those are very cool, but they are "development platforms". I don't want/can't design and produce my own hardware. I want to buy a little box (around 50-100 USD would be still good), attach an USB camera, and with software make an interesting project. In other words: Wifi and Linux (and its drivers) would make a great automation platform (having to connect to AC being the only problem left). For example, I could put one of those in front of my water meter (http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01373/water-meter_1373724c.jpg http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01373/water-mete...), with a little bit of OpenCV software to parse the numbers I could have real-time water usage monitoring. (This just reminded me of Bunnie's Chumby: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chumby http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chumby). If Chumby has died because cellphones haven't left any market to it, it could easily be repurposed to compete with Raspberry PI, it seems.

joshu 15y ago
They may be called development platforms but they are really pretty similar to raspberrypi, actually. Maybe some more I/O pins. They are probably as suitable for your project as a raspberrypi, anyway. Btw check out the Pcengine's alix, which is x86 and runs on 5 watts or so. Or the Genesi Efika, which is arm based
joshu 15y ago
I actually DO use an alix for home automation, btw. It runs plain unmolested ubuntu.
- swah 15y ago
  Nice! I'll just leave some links in case anyone wants to see what its like: http://www.wifiproducts.com.au/wifi-mikrotik-webstore/ALIX_Cases-list.aspx http://www.wifiproducts.com.au/wifi-mikrotik-webstore/ALIX_C... http://www.wifiproducts.com.au/wifi-mikrotik-webstore/ALIX_2D3_system_board__3_LAN___1_miniPCI___LX800___256_MB___USB-details.aspx http://www.wifiproducts.com.au/wifi-mikrotik-webstore/ALIX_2...
  - joshu 15y ago
    these folks sell them for a fair bit less: http://myworld.ebay.com/pandorashope/?_trksid=p4340.l2559 http://myworld.ebay.com/pandorashope/?_trksid=p4340.l2559 this is where i got mine, anwyay
joshu 15y ago
also check out the beagleboard-xM: http://beagleboard.org/ http://beagleboard.org/