Anyone interested in IoT and robotics would have seen boards such as Arduino and Raspberry Pi. What are they? Competitors? Or friends?
Most often they are perceived as analogues, or competing hardware platforms. So what should you use for your project-Raspberry Pi or Arduino? Let’s figure them out.
The first thing you should pay attention to is that the Raspberry Pi is a full-featured single board computer while Arduino is very difficult to call a computer.
Though there are a large number of hardware, the two most common devices are Arduino and Raspberry Pi. They became quite popular among students and professionals, as well as programmers for amateurs and novices. Every board has its advantages and disadvantages, and professionals know exactly what to use and when to turn to another board. But programmers who just start making projects frequently get troubled by choosing between them and trying to make an essential decision-which board to research and use for their projects.
Here are the Topics which will be covered in this article
Arduino
Arduino is a hardware platform with three main functions composed of a microcontroller.
- Prototype hardware framework
- Arduino language,
- Integrated development environment (IDE) and libraries.
The code can be written and executed in a manner which interprets its constant software. The Arduino board’s main feature is interaction with secondary devices and sensors, making it suitable for projects that need minimal complexity and that only operate on a sensor or manual input.
Raspberry Pi
Despite the credit card’s size, the Raspberry Pi is a fully featured computer because it has memory, a graphics card and a processor. They run on their own operating system. The boards were established alongside developing countries by the Raspberry Pi Foundation to encourage basic computer science education in schools. While the boards were intended for training only, they became more popular than anticipated and were used in high-tech applications such as robotics, media players, emulators and even server hosting. The board is designed for various programming languages such as Scratch, Python, Java, etc.
Difference between Arduino and Raspberry Pi
There are many differences between these two, from them we will cover the below topics
1. Performance
- Arduino has a microcontroller operating at a frequency of 16 MHz and having 32KB of permanent memory and 2KB of RAM.
- Arduino does not support multitasking, although in some cases multitasking on the Arduino can be emulated.
- Raspberry Pi has a 64-bit processor operating at a frequency of 1.2 GHz, and 1 GB of RAM (Depends on the Version). The amount of permanent memory depends on the amount of microSD card installed.
- Raspberry Pi supports multitasking.
- The clock speed of the Raspberry Pi is 40 times faster than the Arduino. An even bigger difference in RAM: the Raspberry Pi has 128,000 times more RAM than the Arduino. Just do not rush to draw conclusions on these two very different characteristics.
2. Simplicity
- It may seem that the Raspberry Pi is superior to the Arduino. But this superiority is more likely in software. For purely hardware projects, the Arduino is much better suited. Arduino has this advantage due to its simplicity.
- The Arduino is better than the Raspberry Pi and can read analog signals in real time. This flexibility allows the Arduino to work with virtually any kind of sensor or chip.
- The Raspberry Pi is not so flexible, for example, additional hardware is required to read analog sensors.
3. Input/Output
- The I / O pins on your single board computer allow it to communicate with other devices connected to it.
- Raspberry Pi (Model 2) has 17 pins
- Arduino (Uno) board has 20 pins.
4. Network
- The Raspberry Pi has a built-in Ethernet port that provides easy access to any network and requires virtually no configuration. It is also easy to make wireless Internet on the Raspberry Pi: buy a USB adapter for WiFi and install the appropriate driver.
- You can even use Raspberry Pi to create a virtual private network or as a print server.
- Unfortunately, the Arduino system is not adapted for network operation without additional modifications.
- You will need an additional circuit equipped with an Ethernet port, you will also need to connect some cables and write the necessary code to make it work.
- In general, this is quite complicated work, so some companies release Arduino platforms with already built-in Ethernet functionality.
5. Power Consumption
- Raspberry Pi board requires a 5V continuous power supply and may not work perfectly when powered by batteries.
- Arduino can run smoothly with the battery due to its low power requirements.
- Although power consumption may vary with the number of connected devices.
6. Popularity and Cost
- Both Arduino and Raspberry Pi boards have gained recognition from a large number of people from around the world.
- Due to their high popularity, Arduino and Raspberry Pi boards are easily available for purchase.
- For comparison, the Arduino is much cheaper than the Raspberry Pi boards due to limited capabilities. Cost may increase with high-end boards.
Conclusion
So which of the two technologies is right for you? There is no definite answer since it depends on a specific project.
When is it better to choose an Arduino? This should be done if your main task is to read sensor data, change values on the engine or other devices. Given the Arduino’s power requirements and the ease of maintenance of this system, the device can be operated on and off without interfering with its operation.
When is it best to stay at the Raspberry Pi? This is done when solving such tasks that it would be logical to carry out on a personal computer. The Raspberry Pi simplifies workflow management in different situations: if you connect to the Internet to read or write data, play some kind of media information or connect to an external display.
