Small-board computers (SBCs) are getting more and more powerful. The Raspberry Pi 3 (RPi3), which just came out in February of this year, is a case in point. This latest in the Rasp Pi line now has four cores running at 1200MHz with 1GB of RAM and on-board WiFi and Bluetooth. If you need even more power in a small computer, however, you are not left wanting. In this issue, we look at three SBCs with more cores, more memory, more ports, and more possibilities.
Small-board computers (SBCs) are getting more and more powerful. The Raspberry Pi 3 (RPi3), which just came out in February of this year, is a case in point. This latest in the Rasp Pi line now has four cores running at 1200MHz with 1GB of RAM and on-board WiFi and Bluetooth. If you need even more power in a small computer, however, you are not left wanting. In this issue, we look at three SBCs with more cores, more memory, more ports, and more possibilities. Check out our articles on the CubieTruck and on the HiKey and Banana Pi M3 boards to see how they perform and whether they could be suitable for any of your projects.
To help you use the new built-in WiFi and Bluetooth on the RPi3, we show you how to set up Bluetooth quickly through a GUI and make several modifications to the Raspbian system to get it running smoothly. We also look at how Bluetooth works, how to control it, and how to initiate pairing. If you still have boards without WiFi, you don't have to do without. Although you can use a dongle to implement WiFi, you can also incorporate an appropriate microprocessor into your project. Here, we look at two projects that use the ESP8266 to bring WiFi capability to a Steampunk-inspired presentation clicker and a Rasp Pi with an air quality sensor.
The popular Arduino SBCs are useful alone or as a part of a larger project. One author in this issue uses the Arduino with an LCD shield to provide feedback from a Rasp Pi running headless – that is, without an attached monitor. We also take a look at Scratch-like graphical languages that run on Arduinos.
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The Odroid-C2 and the Pine A64+ are among recent newcomers to the single-board computer market. Benchmarks show how these two boards compare with the Raspberry Pis 2 and 3.
Our cover says "Boards Galore!", and we're not kidding. Last issue, we reviewed the LeMaker HiKey and the Banana Pi M3. This issue we add the Odroid-C2, Pine A64+, LeMaker Guitar, BBC micro:bit, and C.H.I.P. Each of these small-board computers (SBCs) have strengths and weaknesses, so you have to understand the needs of your project to choose wisely.
The Raspberry Pi 3 comes with Bluetooth capability already on board, making it possible for every user to take advantage of this wireless technology.
A switched and programmable electrical plug lets you start the Raspberry Pi at predefined times, saving power consumption, and a little Python code keeps you independent of the manufacturer's cloud infrastructure.
The Raspberry Pi 3 changes the game with its fast, 64-bit CPU and support for WiFi and Bluetooth.
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