Raspberry Pi !

[DanielJ]

As a 'complete' single board "computer", of miniature proportions, these are a lot of fun to use for various electronic projects. Plus theres so much literature plus sensor options to link up, a lot of possibilities. From simple to quite complex projects.

I've used these to build a complete CarPC (Media Centre) setup, Home CCTV system, TV streaming/HDD recording box, etc.....

I was contemplating using One with a tilt sensor, GSM & GPS modules, to create a fully featured bike alarm / tracker system..... ?

Anyone else had a dabble?

 

[JoshAFJ]

I've always wanted to mess with one of these. My buddy has one set up as an entertainment system kind of like a Chromecast or a Roku. Has all kinds of streaming stuff set up on it as well as Netflix and all that jazz. It also has a ton of old school games on it too.

Ever since I saw it I've wanted to grab a few and play around with them.

 

[DanielJ]

Hey Josh! Cheers for the response...

Yeah, for media centres, the Pi has been a very popular option, with decent features onboard, such as the USB / Bluetooth / WIFI for connectivity, HDMI Port, Stereo sound, etc.
Plus SO compact you could literally gaffer tape a Pi to the back of the TV! (Although a nice little case is a more reliable option).

They are so diverse, I'd say the limitation can be only the imagination. Plus they are cheap to pickup too. Now up to the Raspberry Pi 3 !

Also the Linux Distros, you can often pickup a custom Distro made specifically for one purpose, such as the Media Streaming system mentioned, or a CCTV system, etc.
You just throw the image onto the SD Card and slot it in then power on! Can literally be that simple.

So you don't even need to get your hands that dirty with Linux and the Shell, alot can be driven from the menus (and custom made Distros available on the internet).

Perhaps an interest over the cold season, when you aren't out on your bike as much!

 

[JoshAFJ]

Indeed. I haven't pulled the trigger on one yet, but I really want to. I currently have an Amazon Fire Stick, but his setup was much better. And he did have a nifty little case for it.

 

[DanielJ]

Yeah would be educational (as well as practical).

That's the other beauty of these (whatever project its used for), you can easily add more peripherals, or even change the media software, for a different Distro, to add greater capabilities.

One of my work colleagues integrated one into an Airsoft helmet, to both track his GPS paths while playing Airsoft games, but also it was feeding a custom Fan he installed into the Helmet, to stop it misting up............

 

[MotoMisc]

Rasp Pi and Arduions are fun to mess around with =)

 

[DanielJ]

Arduino's are another option, yeah. Although perhaps a little more specialized?

There's fully featured AUTOPILOT systems based on the Arduino platform, that will self-fly an R/C Plane several miles or further, with Waypoints, Loiter etc! Turn a conventional R/C Plane into a Fully featured DRONE !! Can also set any attached Camera to take video / photos at certain points too...

All plotted (programmed) using Google Maps!! Click where to send it, and it could even self takeoff too. COOL !!

I almost went for the Arduino AUTOPILOT, but threw my funds into FPV and Quads instead.

 

[MotoMisc]

Arduino's are another option, yeah. Although perhaps a little more specialized?

There's fully featured AUTOPILOT systems based on the Arduino platform, that will self-fly an R/C Plane several miles or further, with Waypoints, Loiter etc! Turn a conventional R/C Plane into a Fully featured DRONE !! Can also set any attached Camera to take video / photos at certain points too...

All plotted (programmed) using Google Maps!! Click where to send it, and it could even self takeoff too. COOL !!

I almost went for the Arduino AUTOPILOT, but threw my funds into FPV and Quads instead.

Yeah, they are abit more tailored for specific purposes. but the cool thing about them is the build it yourself from start, if you want wifi, bluetooth, radiosignal, smokesensors etc it's all its own module you make your own pcb cards and code =)