BeagleBone boards discussion

I've used BeagleBones and Raspberry Pis both personally and professinally.

The last time I used a BeagleBone (Black) professionally was to allow the hole marshalls to switch video sources at the Ryder Cup (golf) in 2023. There were some GPIO buttons and LEDs and they connected over the network to some professional video gear (Panasonic Kairos). They also announced themselves over UDP to a central control application so they could be managed remotely. The main reasons I chose the BBB over a Pi were the barrel-jack power, lack of reliance on SD card, and availability - this was post-Covid when the Pi3 was hard to get.

I've also used the BBB for a .NET on Linux tutorial as everyone can just plug one in via USB and not worry about networking. However, for general stuff I'm probably likely to grab a Pi. I know it'll be easier for the rest of the team to get to grips with.

Personally, I feel that the BeagleBone range and the Pi range are both great, but they are targetted at a completely different audience.

If you are OK with Linux, can write a bit of code (probably Python) and want an easy and well-supported exerience, then the Pi is probably for you. The support from both the community and Raspberry Pi themselves is great.

If someone mentioning device trees doesn't scare you, and you're happy to build Linux from source then the BeagleBones are great. Maybe you were thinking of spinning up a board from the latest (probably TI) processor then the Beagle guys have provided you with a great working example. What an awesome time-saver! A lot of them work for TI, so the boards often feel like a nice engineering sample. They've done an awesome job and given you a huge amount for free, but are not really there to hold your hand. Also, everything is properly open source - with all the positives and negatives that come with that.

I'd love to think I was in the second category, but to be honest I'm nearer the first.

I've used BeagleBones and Raspberry Pis both personally and professinally.

The last time I used a BeagleBone (Black) professionally was to allow the hole marshalls to switch video sources at the Ryder Cup (golf) in 2023. There were some GPIO buttons and LEDs and they connected over the network to some professional video gear (Panasonic Kairos). They also announced themselves over UDP to a central control application so they could be managed remotely. The main reasons I chose the BBB over a Pi were the barrel-jack power, lack of reliance on SD card, and availability - this was post-Covid when the Pi3 was hard to get.

I've also used the BBB for a .NET on Linux tutorial as everyone can just plug one in via USB and not worry about networking. However, for general stuff I'm probably likely to grab a Pi. I know it'll be easier for the rest of the team to get to grips with.

Personally, I feel that the BeagleBone range and the Pi range are both great, but they are targetted at a completely different audience.

If you are OK with Linux, can write a bit of code (probably Python) and want an easy and well-supported exerience, then the Pi is probably for you. The support from both the community and Raspberry Pi themselves is great.

If someone mentioning device trees doesn't scare you, and you're happy to build Linux from source then the BeagleBones are great. Maybe you were thinking of spinning up a board from the latest (probably TI) processor then the Beagle guys have provided you with a great working example. What an awesome time-saver! A lot of them work for TI, so the boards often feel like a nice engineering sample. They've done an awesome job and given you a huge amount for free, but are not really there to hold your hand. Also, everything is properly open source - with all the positives and negatives that come with that.

I'd love to think I was in the second category, but to be honest I'm nearer the first.

Very well written :) I think about the Pi and BB audience similarly. And I'm a member of the first category.