Arduino vs Raspberry pi

The Arduino vs Raspberry Pi debate has caused a bit of confusion to beginners on what these 2 little devices actually do. They are both pretty cheap, the same size, and to the untrained eye, look very similar. However they are very different. The Raspberry Pi is a mini-computer, running a Linux operating system, and the Arduino is a microcontroller, without the typical OS style you may be used to. The Arduino and Raspberry Pi may look quite similar – they’re both cute little circuit boards with some chips and pins on them – but they are in fact very different devices. The Arduino is in fact a micro-controller; not a mini-computer. A micro-controller is just a small part of what makes a computer, and only provides a subset of the functionality of the Rapsberry Pi.

Arduino

The Arduino Uno

The Arduino is a programmable microcontroller. The only functionality is what YOU program it to have. It is designed to read data from sensors, compute the data, and either send the data to a PC (or raspberry Pi), or output them to LEDs or LCD screens you have attached and programmed. By controlling relays, you can control high powered components via relays and control motors.

The Arduino is used in many different types of projects, like from musical applications and interactive art exhibitions, to robotics and gaming gadgets. There are quite a few different types of boards for different projects

Raspberry Pi

Raspberry Pi Model B

The Raspberry Pi is on the opposite end – it features a fully fledged operating system loaded on an SD card. It also has audio out, HDMI and RCA video output and an Ethernet port. This allows you to use your Raspberry Pi as a computer, complete with internet browsing, games and more. Plug in your keyboard, mouse and monitor, and you have an amazingly cheap computer.

What’s The Difference?

The Arduino and Raspberry Pi may look quite similar – they’re both cute little circuit boards with some chips and pins on them – but they are in fact very different devices. The Arduino is in fact a micro-controller; not a mini-computer. A micro-controller is just a small part of what makes a computer, and only provides a subset of the functionality of the Rapsberry Pi.

Although the Arduino can be programmed with small C-like applications, it cannot run a full scale “operating system” and certainly won’t be replacing your media center anytime soon. The Raspberry Pi on the other hand, is a computer. If you’re reading this site, I’m just going to assume you know what that means.

The Raspberry Pi projects are more software based than hardware based. As it is simply a Linux computer, most projects are based around software hacks, media centres and graphics/sound and multimedia. It can however do some simple hardware control with the GPIO pins.