Raspberry Pi
- Thread starter DDJ2011
- Start date
fritz42_male
Senior Member
As I understand it you have to get them either off RS Components or Farnell and good luck with that as I doubt if they will have stock for a while.
richard_hobkinson
New Member
I managed to get an order into Farnell. Have been advised that delivery is forecast for 23rd April. I am not holding my breath! I only hope that the device lives-up to expectations set by the Trust.
I still think this would be a better educational bridge from the PICAXE... http://www.circuitgizmos.com/products/cgmmstick1/cgmmstick1.shtml.
I ordered one from Farnell, delivery April. It looked as if Farnell and RS didn't take them seriously when they said there will be a HUGE demand for this! It took until lunch time to get anywhere on the Farnell site.
If this goes like they hope they will be everywhere by the end of the year and shops like W H Smiths will be selling SD cards for them like they were selling Spectrum games in the 80s.
I suppose the X series of PicAxes could connect to the I2C bus as a slave and handle the low level IO. Connecting an M2 device as a master could also work if the Pi was the slave but that seems a strange way of working.
Chris
If this goes like they hope they will be everywhere by the end of the year and shops like W H Smiths will be selling SD cards for them like they were selling Spectrum games in the 80s.
I suppose the X series of PicAxes could connect to the I2C bus as a slave and handle the low level IO. Connecting an M2 device as a master could also work if the Pi was the slave but that seems a strange way of working.
Chris
hippy
Ex-Staff (retired)
The easy way is to treat it like any other PC; plug an AXE027 in and use serial to communicate with a PICAXE.
hippy
Ex-Staff (retired)
@ MFB : whatever is on www.circuitgizmos.com I can't see it from my PC using any browser. Is it the right URL ? If so I guess it's trying to do something my ISP / firewall is blocking.
cravenhaven
Senior Member
Works for me OK using Chrome and ie.
http:// www.circuitgizmos.com/ products/ cgmmstick1/ cgmmstick1.shtml
cravenhaven
Senior Member
Double post
Some cases are available on ebay already -
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Custom-case-Raspberry-Pi-Model-B-professional-Recycled-/290677470826?pt=UK_Computing_DesktopComponents_RL&hash=item43adba366a
T.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Custom-case-Raspberry-Pi-Model-B-professional-Recycled-/290677470826?pt=UK_Computing_DesktopComponents_RL&hash=item43adba366a
T.
Hippy, I was also using Chrome to look at the mmstick. This is one of the growing family of Maximite compatible products. This open source 'standard' seemed to be going off in all sorts of directions last year but has since settled down again. The family is based on a BASIC interpreter that supports FP maths, graphics, SD card and a wide range of interface standards (e.g. I2C, SPI, 1-wire). Its a bit like running a BBC at 80MHz with a 32-bit bus and mass storage.
Forgot to mention that the latest version of MMBasic has Defined Subroutines. These are a modern programming feature that allow you to define a subroutine and call it (with arguments) just as if it was a command built into the language. This is an important programming feature that makes it easer to build and distribute library functions like the Arduino groups.
permelec, Its just another case of horses-for-courses. The Maximite uses a more expensive PIC32 to provide microcomputer (rather than microcontroller) features. MMBasic has over 46,000 lines of code, of which about 40,000 are devoted to functions like USB, SD card and full screen editor. The Maximite is therefore not competition for the PICAXE but (unlike the Raspberry Pi) represents a linear progression for more complex applications.
richard_hobkinson
New Member
This may be of interest for interfacing with RPi using Python : http://www.pymcu.com/overview.html
It comes from RPi forum here : http://www.raspberrypi.org/forum/educational-applications/pymcu-python-controlled-hardware-io-board
Or any Linux/Windows(?) system come to that.
It comes from RPi forum here : http://www.raspberrypi.org/forum/educational-applications/pymcu-python-controlled-hardware-io-board
Or any Linux/Windows(?) system come to that.
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...one assumes your delivery date has slipped with the rest of us. Mine is now 'early May'.I've ordered mine from Farnell and it comes a with a free T-ShirtDelivery is late March'12. Had to order a HDMI-DVI convertor to run it on my monitor.
Texy
lbenson
Senior Member
>What will you all be doing with your R-Pi blobs when you get them?
Web cam control, home automation, TV set-top box with XBMC and the like, Network Attached Storage (NAS). That's just me--lots can be done with a moderately powered general-purpose computer for $25-35US. Except for the TV, I expect most of my uses to be headless.
Web cam control, home automation, TV set-top box with XBMC and the like, Network Attached Storage (NAS). That's just me--lots can be done with a moderately powered general-purpose computer for $25-35US. Except for the TV, I expect most of my uses to be headless.
That's the crunch question from what I see (or fleetingly read some weeks ago) - the Pi isn't focussed on digital/analogue/SPI/I2C/RS232 I/O and it seems more the "Hello World" programming/taking the working programs/games supplied and tweaking the software to see what can be done.
What interfacing do they have that the PICAXE community would find compelling?
What interfacing do they have that the PICAXE community would find compelling?
lbenson
Senior Member
>What interfacing do they have that the PICAXE community would find compelling?
"Compelling"--I guess the question would be "compelling to whom and for what?" I find that access to the internet from the picaxe is compelling--I've already used an NSLU2, WL-520gU, WL-500gPv2, Dockstar, and WR-703N--all as "little computers", not for their intended use as routers or NAS devices. The Pi was designed as a "little computer", and has more computing power than any of them (except the Dockstar, which lacks, as they all do, the Pi's graphics capability).
For interfacing to the picaxe, the Pi has serial, I2C, and GPIOs. For interfacing to the rest of the world, SPI, ethernet and USB.
I was able to order mine today, after the long wait. I would still say that the WR-703N is a nice, cheap device for interfacing a picaxe to the internet, with wifi built in.
"Compelling"--I guess the question would be "compelling to whom and for what?" I find that access to the internet from the picaxe is compelling--I've already used an NSLU2, WL-520gU, WL-500gPv2, Dockstar, and WR-703N--all as "little computers", not for their intended use as routers or NAS devices. The Pi was designed as a "little computer", and has more computing power than any of them (except the Dockstar, which lacks, as they all do, the Pi's graphics capability).
For interfacing to the picaxe, the Pi has serial, I2C, and GPIOs. For interfacing to the rest of the world, SPI, ethernet and USB.
I was able to order mine today, after the long wait. I would still say that the WR-703N is a nice, cheap device for interfacing a picaxe to the internet, with wifi built in.
If anyone actually plans programming on the RPi, what compiler is the current favourite?
I've seen many options on the RPi website/Forum but no single IDE/Compiler seems to be able to make use of all the IO.
... and a couple of videos I saw on downloading one 'good' compiler (can't remember , not Python) showed it to be a complicated nightmare.
What was the reason for the delivery delay?
The RS Rep told me one story which I find hard to believe, but will keep to myself to save any blushes
I've seen many options on the RPi website/Forum but no single IDE/Compiler seems to be able to make use of all the IO.
... and a couple of videos I saw on downloading one 'good' compiler (can't remember , not Python) showed it to be a complicated nightmare.
What was the reason for the delivery delay?
The RS Rep told me one story which I find hard to believe, but will keep to myself to save any blushes
hippy
Ex-Staff (retired)
Their best use may be in being smart peripherals for a PICAXE, delivering things which the PICAXE doesn't support or are cheaper to implement than doing it other ways, or more flexible in doing that. The main things I can see are -
Providing composite or HDMI display ( no VGA ).
Providing an LCD / touch interface ( not supported yet ).
Providing a network connection ( wired or Wi-Fi ).
Providing interfacing to a USB device.
Being a computation engine.
Being a data logger or large add-on memory.
Being an MP3 player.
Providing text to speech output.
It's just a small and fairly cheap PC in hardware terms so I suspect the hackers it will appeal to are those who will find it easier or cheaper to use than hacking desktop PC's, routers and the like to achieve things.
It's a shame it doesn't support USB device mode because that would make a neat datalogger; just plug it into a PC and it would look like a USB memory stick with the log files ready to copy and paste.
It's also unfortunate it doesn't support being powered from a PC or TV's USB's port without risking damage; the power requirements are quite demanding with some issues still to be resolved.
The biggest problems at the moment are IMO - getting hold of one, resolving power issues if they occur, needing to know what you are doing and limited help if you don't know.
Probably C/C++ at present but it's really too early to say what will be best; there's still work to be done and knowledge exposed in how to do things with the board.
Decided they couldn't manufacture in UK so had to find another assembler.
PCB track found to be missing, had to change PCB design.
Clock crystal chosen not readily available in quantity and had to be re-sourced.
Wrong ethernet jack fitted; had to be sent back, removed and replaced.
Belatedly discovered it needed to be CE certified before public sales could commence and having to do all that CE certification requires.
Licensees not able to start manufacturing on launch day.
Nothing that can't afflict any project.
Now that we have Pi threads, maybe we can also include Maximite topics. At least this low cost 32-bit microcomputer has the advantage of using the same language as the PICAXE but with floating point maths and support for USB, VGA and SD Cards. If Maximite topics are discouraged, then lets keep a level playing field and not mention the Pi.
Cheers hippy.
"Nothing that can't afflict any project."
- some of the above is really amateur (if true).
A track missing? That's a kiddy mistake
"Belatedly discovered it needed to be CE certified before public sales" - oh dear oh dear. That sort of stuff should have been discussed while they were doing the Business Plan!
Incredible. It all sounds very Sinclair.
Some of the other things tie up with other stories I've heard.
Needless to say, "couldn't" should be qualified with "Couldn't for the price".
I was really asking which compiler 'by name'. There are a number of C and C-alikes that would work but I've yet to find one which can take advantages of all the hardware facilities. With full support this could make a terrific low-cost SBC in hundreds of apps.
Anyway, there we go. I wish them every success. It looks terrific but I suspect it'll be out-done soon and probably with a compiler ready-to-roll.
"Nothing that can't afflict any project."
- some of the above is really amateur (if true).
A track missing? That's a kiddy mistake
"Belatedly discovered it needed to be CE certified before public sales" - oh dear oh dear. That sort of stuff should have been discussed while they were doing the Business Plan!
Incredible. It all sounds very Sinclair.
Some of the other things tie up with other stories I've heard.
Needless to say, "couldn't" should be qualified with "Couldn't for the price".
I was really asking which compiler 'by name'. There are a number of C and C-alikes that would work but I've yet to find one which can take advantages of all the hardware facilities. With full support this could make a terrific low-cost SBC in hundreds of apps.
Anyway, there we go. I wish them every success. It looks terrific but I suspect it'll be out-done soon and probably with a compiler ready-to-roll.