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Raspberry Pi Zero: the $5 computer

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Re: Raspberry Pi Zero: the $5 computer

#261

Post by girishso »

atmosx wrote: post #255
girishso wrote: post #178

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Two years after buying mine, I put the pi to a good use only last week! Now I am using it as ad-blocker thanks to http://pi-hole.net/ , works like a charm. I ported the web interface for pi-hole to Go single executable ( https://github.com/girishso/pi-hole-web ) Now looking for something interesting to do on my second pi! Edit: Added pi-hole-web link.

How much RAM does it take? I mean if it runs with less than 250 MB of free RAM I can deploy this right away, without using a dedicated RPi (I have 2 RPis on my network, the one is doing some heavy lifting, the other one has many cycles to spare).

Not much, currently it's using 1.6% RAM of 512MB. Even CPU usage seems negligible. After all, it's just acting as a DNS server, only resolving the DNS queries.. not to mention blocking the ad domains!

Re: Raspberry Pi Zero: the $5 computer

#262

Post by pi-rat »

geofft wrote: post #219
Tepix wrote: post #208

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can think of plenty of interesting projects¹ where the Zero is perfect as-is. However, you can just add WiFi or Ethernet via USB if you need it. Remember, on the first Raspberry Pi, the Ethernet port was connected via USB internally, too. ¹ One example https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1985705009/piplay-deskc...

This one has micro-USB ports, which mean the usual slim USB wifi interfaces will need a cable. Are there micro-USB wifi interfaces? (Is it even possible to make a similar form-factor interface that fits mostly inside a micro-USB plug?)

Nano OTG adapters help a bit, but they're not perfect. :/

[1]: http://www.dx.com/p/multifunctional-micro-usb-male-to-usb-2-...

Re: Raspberry Pi Zero: the $5 computer

#263

Post by k__ »

girishso wrote: post #258
k__ wrote: post #185

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I know what you mean. I have a Tessel here (Nodejs base micro controller) and never used it...

Didn't know about Tessel, the plug and play modules look very tempting!

Yes, everything works out of the box with npm install. It's really nice.

But I have no idea what I should do with it, haha

Re: Raspberry Pi Zero: the $5 computer

#264

Post by i386081 »

StavrosK wrote: post #176
TeMPOraL wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At this price point, for many projects it doesn't matter; you can now use Raspberry Pi as a throwaway SOC for powering little stuff. I wouldn't, for example, put an $35 RPi 2 in charge of a bunch of sensors over my doors, but with $5 RPi it is an option. EDIT: And given the power, you can start offloading computation on what would otherwise be "dumb" control/data acquisition units. Hell, with that much compute you ca…

The only case where it matters for me is that this runs Linux, which means that I'll have an extra computer to secure against intruders. An Arduino can't do as much damage to the rest of the network if it gets hacked.

Don't plug an ethernet adapter or wifi dongle into your Raspberry Pi Zero if that's your problem.

Re: Raspberry Pi Zero: the $5 computer

#265

Post by Natanael_L »

mschuster91 wrote: post #240

I'd like an updated Compute Module. Given how small the Pi Zero is, it should be doable to fit it inside the layout and with the connectors of a MiniPCIe board (though, of course not with the pinout). Also, the compute module has support for USB Slave mode but there is no documentation for this - I'd like to see some expansion in this area as well. Or choosing of a CPU with a MII interface to allow real GBit or, heck…

Same here. What I'm fantasizing about is a kit with a set of compute modules in a "tower stack" with a power supply, with horizontally oriented boards stacked on the height, with all compute modules connected to ports in the tower.

And you could choose where the pin-outs leads - either straight out to connect to some electronics on the outside, or straight down to a router in the bottom.

Then you could dedicate some pins on all boards to link to the router, making for a small compact HPC setup (easy to ventilate too) and connect stuff like per-module LED rows for module status info and whatever else you might like.

Bonus point for a "split" tower with modules on both sides, folding down like some toolboxes do: https://www.howdentools.com/data/howden/ul/1406847600/140933...

Re: Raspberry Pi Zero: the $5 computer

#266

Post by forinti »

pjc50 wrote: post #247
privong wrote: post #193

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I suspect it's due to the combination of low sales volumes and import taxes. Here in Chile, Pi B's are around $50–60. Though to be fair, traditional PCs and laptops are more expensive than in the US (but not 2x as expensive).

I know Brazil has prohibitive import duties on electronics, does this also apply to Chile?

But books, magazines, etc. don't pay taxes. That's why this free Rpi with MagPi #40 is awesome: you don't have to pay taxes at all.

Re: Raspberry Pi Zero: the $5 computer

#267

Post by StavrosK »

TeMPOraL wrote: post #233
StavrosK wrote: post #230

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Great, I'll give it a shot tomorrow. I also have a mini-ecosystem of Python scripts to communicate with the sensors over serial and to read values, etc. I'll post that as well.

Great! :). Will be refreshing /new/ tomorrow.

Hmm, it looks like I open-sourced most of it a while ago (way to go, past me!):

https://github.com/skorokithakis/ArduiRC

I'll write up the details, but this is a good chunk of it.

Re: Raspberry Pi Zero: the $5 computer

#268

Post by StavrosK »

i386081 wrote: post #264
StavrosK wrote: post #176

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The only case where it matters for me is that this runs Linux, which means that I'll have an extra computer to secure against intruders. An Arduino can't do as much damage to the rest of the network if it gets hacked.

Don't plug an ethernet adapter or wifi dongle into your Raspberry Pi Zero if that's your problem.

How would it communicate?

Re: Raspberry Pi Zero: the $5 computer

#269

Post by sklogic »

Tepix wrote: post #213
sklogic wrote: post #195

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's easy to imagine multiple simple designs. You can couple it with an ESP2866, for example, using a number of attinys to access their analog inputs, or with a CAN-SPI head collecting data from multiple sensors, processing and then reporting through an ESP2866.

The ESP8266 is quite slow, network wise. You could hook up the sensors to the Pi Zero directly using the GPIO ports and use a cheap USB WiFi adapter to upload the data.

I guess it would be harder to power an USB WiFi adapter. And it's not going to be cheaper than ESP2866.

Re: Raspberry Pi Zero: the $5 computer

#270

Post by [deleted] »

pjc50 wrote: post #247
privong wrote: post #193

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I suspect it's due to the combination of low sales volumes and import taxes. Here in Chile, Pi B's are around $50–60. Though to be fair, traditional PCs and laptops are more expensive than in the US (but not 2x as expensive).

I know Brazil has prohibitive import duties on electronics, does this also apply to Chile?

[deleted]
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