BobbyW

Hey everyone - hoping to get some advice before I start trawling the web for resources.

Been a bit bored with this whole lockdown thing. Was cleaning out a bit because, ya know, time, and found a Raspberry pi 3B I had forgotten about. (Was gonna use it in an old arcade machine)

Was thinking of using it to rig up a custom RC car. Although a truck would probs be better. A little project to pass the time. But the pi 3B is kinda biiiig although I'm pretty keen for this side project now.

Is the pi3B too big or should I fiddle around with it anyway? Other option is getting an Arduino or a smaller pi but since I already have the pi 3B I don't feel like spending the extra cash.

I'm also not much of a coder (I say not much but I mean I'm not a coder AT ALL) So if anyone could provide some pre-written code resources for RC I would be eternally grateful.

Also if I'm in the wrong section of the forum just lemme know and I'll post elsewhere

Thanks so much!

Bobby

Roelof

The Arduino comes with different processors but is able to do most standard things like reading inputs, controling outputs, do some calculations an even controll displays.

The Pi is a small computer with even a video out controler, als it also has several I/O ports for most stuff it is overkill.

BobbyW

Thanks Roelof! I just kinda have the pi already so I thought I could use it. But maybe I should just scrap the pi idea and get an arduino instead.

TurnNBurn

Yeah, I too would suggest the Arduino platform - there are several models available, depending on what you want to do with it, but if you are going to interact with servos, etc., an Uno, or similar board with the standard Arduino pin out will allow you to attach any hats specific to what you want to accomplish with your project.

like Roelaf mentioned, the Pi is more like a full blown mini computer. Arduino devices pretty much just have a micro-controller with enough programmable memory to upload a simple program that runs in an infinite loop on boot up, looks for specific events that you program in that loop, and responds accordingly to the state of the IO pins as needed.

There are tons of resources available for Arduino - check out sites like Adafruit, Sparkfun, or other similar sites, who not only sell the hardware, but have a lot of resources of their own.

BobbyW

Hey TurnNBurn, this is awesome advice thanks so much! I'm no coder. I can edit stuff easily enough though so I'm sure I'll be able to find a "default" program or something like that.

Really appreciate you all taking the time to help out! Thanks again

GerryH

iTrader: (26)

Regardless of which one you use, you're going to need to learn some programming. Arduino uses C. The Pi has more flexibility, but it seems that Python is the most common language. I have both, but usually use the Arduino for most projects because it seems to have a much better library of functions and I typically only need simple stuff. The Pi is a full blown computer, running Linux so if you need wifi connectivity or bluetooth, that stuff is already built in.

What are you trying to do?