Awesome sauce. I wonder if they plan to make it modular like the folks over at Project Ara from Google ATAP. That would be a total hit with the Maker community.
Like the RPi compute module?
Raspberry Pi Zero: the $5 computer
281–290 of 521 posts
Re: Raspberry Pi Zero: the $5 computer
#282I'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…
Google for PC/104 its exactly what you're looking for although its aimed at industrial control users (and unfortunately priced accordingly)
Of course if you could guarantee a production run of 5 million then a contemporary PC/104 board could probably cost as little as a ras-pi.
Note that there's PC/104 the concept and form factor, and another concept with the same name was a 104 pin header that was vaguely a PC/AT bus. After all, S-100 can do almost anything so an extra 4 pins shouldn't hurt anything LOL. Anyway my point is if you find references to the 80s era 286-AT level of performance bus, don't worry for a decade there's been stackable PCI equivalents and all that.
Something to think about WRT "limited" PC/104 bus speed is its not like spec-ing gamer graphics cards... if the purpose of the bus is to connect a 4 kilosamples/sec 12 bit A/D converter, even something as slow as RS-232 would not be a limiting factor, for example.
Re: Raspberry Pi Zero: the $5 computer
#283Earlier quoted context omitted.
I meant Chinese clones. Arduino is Open Hardware, it's perfectly legal (that's kind of a point of Open Hardware movement). It's equivalent in form and function to the genuine Arduino made in Italy.
Do you have a link? I was just about to get started on a project and getting a $2 Arduino would be great for tinkering
Just a little bit more:
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Best-prices-UNO-R3-MEGA328P-f...
But if you are not planning on using shields you can get arduino mini for ~$1.3 or nano for ~$1.8
Re: Raspberry Pi Zero: the $5 computer
#284Too bad they didn't include camera module connector (CSI). Low-latency hardware-encoded h264 stream from camera is one of the most cool features in RPi platform. The Zero would be great e.g. for FPV fying folks, if it supported camera module. (USB cameras aren't answer here, as they typically don't have low-latency hw-encoding.)
Re: Raspberry Pi Zero: the $5 computer
#285Earlier quoted context omitted.
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.
> 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. I assume you mean in Brazil? Books and very expensive in Chile, compared to other things. And I believe it's because they are heavily taxed. I don't know about magazines, though.
Yes, I meant Brazil.
Re: Raspberry Pi Zero: the $5 computer
#286I'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…
What's this stack for? I'd be very surprised if it beat PC hardware + GPU for MIPS or FLOPS per $ or watt.
Re: Raspberry Pi Zero: the $5 computer
#287What I would like to know more about is how to power these gadgets. Say I want a sensor that sends data to a server. Do I need to plug it into a power outlet? Can I run it off a battery for a significant amount of time (months)? Can I use solar power? How much power does WiFi consume, or should I look into Bluetooth or ZigBee?
Re: Raspberry Pi Zero: the $5 computer
#288Next awesome step would be RPi with integrated wifi/bluetooth, and it would become ultimate IoT/embedded development platform. Such step would increase price, I know, but AFAIK, most people are almost always buying either wifi or bluetooth dongles anyway. All in all, RPi ables to deliver exciting, rather (for me) unexpected and most importantly great and user-friendly products.
Wifi is a game changer IMO. I've just found out about esp8266, and its a mini revolution on the Arduino world.
Wait for this ;)
http://hackaday.com/2015/11/06/the-latest-best-wifi-module-h...
Re: Raspberry Pi Zero: the $5 computer
#289I immediately ordered one. It does not have a camera port though, I hoped there were ways to operate the camera through the GPIO but could not find anything.
It's possible to connect HDMI display to GPIO pins[1]. Maybe similar technique is also possible with CSI camera connector?
Re: Raspberry Pi Zero: the $5 computer
#290Earlier quoted context omitted.
That raises the CE certification costs considerably.
but if they make like a B2 model + WIFI and just add 10$ to the unit price. That would cover it.
Highly unlikely. For a market as immense as the USA that is way too high. For small markets it'll never pay the labor and local-FCC-equivalent certification costs. There would be tradeoffs and other problems; some countries are very locked down and unamused at the idea of someone telling their wifi they are in Japan despite being somewhere else thus enabling unusual power and freq limitations. Small countries and markets would be discriminated against, likely never getting a pi legally shipped to them, an intentionally avoiding serving poor people is kind of counter to most of the politics and rhetoric of the group.
There is a compromise of putting a port on the thing where a locally puchased wifi dongle could be installed. The port would have to provide power and be fast enough to be wifi usable. It would be really nice if that port were popular. The Pi People seem to like community building and a USA distributor could bundle a USA FCC certified wifi adapter with every board, just plug it in. That port is called the USB port. So the solution to various implementation problems devolves into the current situation.