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Pi vs BeagleBone-Black

Former Member

So, just over a year on from the initial availability of the R-Pi and the new BeagleBone Black is upon us.  They've obviously taken a leaf out of the RPF's playbook and produced a cost reduced version at a price only marginally above the Pi.

 

I find it interesting that the compromises are very different, for example there's a proper PMIC and the ethernet is not troubled by being connected to USB, however the on-board HDMI seems less capable.

 

Other differences are in the documentation, I'm currently viewing the pcb gerbers for the beaglebone..  Have yet to see any sign of those for the R-Pi a year later. There's even an up to date devicetree capable kernel too.

 

Technology has also moved on somewhat, we get a 1GHz Cortex A8 which is better than the Pi, along with various other stuff and lots more GPIO's too.

 

Ok, so it's clear that I like the look of the new beaglebone, and given the price I'm likely to put any further R-Pi plans on hold until I have a chance to play with this. It's also making things like the Olinuxino-maxi I bought recently look very slow/expensive while still being cheaper than the similarly specced Olinuxino-A13

 

Some details of the beaglebone-black here http://circuitco.com/support/index.php?title=BeagleBoneBlack

 

What do the rest of you think ?   I don't expect this to displace the Pi anytime soon, but I expect it to be very attractive to those people who don't simply want to put XBMC on it and duct tape it to the back of the TV..

  • Morgaine Dinova wrote:

     

    The engineers seem to be very reasonable people, like all engineers everywhere.

    I've met many engineers, both reasonable and unreasonable.  My experience is that the more competent an engineer is, the more reasonable and more humble.  Less competent engineers in my experience often compensate by being belligerent and unreasonable.

     

    I heard a great old saying for the first time yesterday: "I'd like to buy him for what he's worth and sell him for what he thinks he's worth."

  • It seems that you have had a bad experience with something related to Cambridge.  Fair enough.

     

    I would just like to reiterate an earlier remark that I made on the topic:

    Stupidity doesn't correlate with geography.

     

    It would be useful if you could provide some additional details.  The blanket aspersions against Cambridge as a whole are unconvincing.

  • John Beetem wrote:

     

    Morgaine Dinova wrote:

     

    The engineers seem to be very reasonable people, like all engineers everywhere.

    I've met many engineers, both reasonable and unreasonable.  My experience is that the more competent an engineer is, the more reasonable and more humble.

     

    This hooks directly into the well-studied phenomenon that "The more you know, the more you realize that you don't know."  I started doubting myself in the second year of the PhD, about a million years ago (the first year was fun).  After years of additional experience, I now know that I know almost nothing.  Only the totally stupid think that they understand much of anything.  (And it's quite hilarious.)

     

    What it comes down to is the following:  Reality is extremely complicated, and if you think that your intellect has allowed you to grasp much of it then you're deluded, for the simple reason that human IQ is tightly bounded.  Sorry to those who think otherwise, but you don't have an order of magnitude more than anyone else.  If you think that you do then it probably indicates that you have an order of magnitude less.

     

    Given this state of affairs, the pragmatic engineer (is there any other kind?) takes what's available and runs with it.  We have some problems, let's solve them.  We have some set of understandings [X], let's use them to try to figure out WTF is wrong with something that is failing.  If [X] doesn't cover it, it this a problem?  Hell no, it just means that we have to extend our set of understandings.  Great, it rains almost every day (UK), extending our understanding is something that we can do regularly instead of going out and frollicking in the wet.

     

    I'm being a bit ornamental just to avoid forum boredom, but it's a reality.  There is little purpose in us being here in our brief stay on the planet other than to help civilization advance.  Advancement is only accomplished by acknowleding the current faults and finding remedies, and that's what engineers do.  Engineers++.


  • that's what engineers do

    That, and issue release notes.

  • coder27 wrote:

    that's what engineers do

     

    That, and issue release notes.

     

    And requirements specs, and technical reference manuals, and a multitude of process documents. image

     

    The demands of process can be pretty annoying but they're part and parcel of doing complex things, and if the engineer didn't do those boring things as well, civilization wouldn't be advancing much.  In the long-term view, bringing humanity down from the trees and out of cold caves and on our way to the stars is a very worthy professional undertaking, worth enduring some occasional paperwork.

  • I heard a great old saying for the first time yesterday: "I'd like to buy him for what he's worth and sell him for what he thinks he's worth."

    Nice saying John.

     

    Mark

  • coder27 wrote:

     

     

    that's what engineers do

     

    That, and issue release notes.

     

    Engineers don't issue release notes, that's the dang marketing folks job, we issue "erratas"

     

    -J

  • coder27 wrote:

     

     

    I can't speak for others,

     

     

    Actually, he saying that his job is "answer(ing) for the fun of it", not that he works on the synopsis USB core.

     

    lol, it took me a long time to figure out what you were trying to say.  I'm not speaking for him, I'm repeating what he already said and I quoted within my post. 

  • In short what i think is , Raspberry Pi has a Awesome User base and Really Awesome Community, it is an amazing platform to learn but doesn't have enough juice when it comes to heavy apps/compiling,etc. Its, heart i.e. the broadcom chipset is really closed source so no datasheets and etc..

     

    where as in contrast if you know basic linux then BBB is really great as it packs the real juice and you can do almost anything using BBB

     

    one last thing is the GPIO's , well that's subjected to your requirements .

  • in reply to gsgill112

    Sorry, but I disagree, Gurinder.
    To me, BBB has a lot - and I mean a lot of advantages for me. But, I stick with the Pi.
    Why? OK Try my (part of) my latest post to Adafruit.
    Then my impression of the community support for the BBB. Basically, agressive, and non-existant. On element14 at the end.

    Yo Adafruit:
    For a project I'm making*, I need a REALLY flexible PSU.

    How about Adafruit making a serious PU, that can take from between 3 - 30

    volts up its jaksy, and produce 3.3/5/12V at something useful like 5 amps.

    I'd suggest SEPIC technology, and I've found a chip from Linear** that seems

    to do the trick.

    Quick back-of-a-***-packet sketch sugests the size of a credit card,

    probably smaller. I reckon it'd flog for about $20-25, maybe less in kit

    form (?). Final Vout to be set by precision resistors, NOT a Pot..If a pot

    (mechanically) fails, then "your Pi is frying tonight".

    Maybe (to save Adafruit's inventory) include the 3 precision resistors in

    the box, so folks can solder in the one they want. Maybe even optionally add

    a LiPo charger to the board....

    I know it's a lot more expensive than buying a cheap Chinese effort from

    e-bay, but I'd have more confidence in the preservation and reliability of

    my seriously expensive electronics (when you're living on benefit, an LDR is

    an investment) if I had a respected name behind my toy.

     

    What do you think? I don't have the resources to design/prototype this (and

    the math is pretty shaky..) But I think Adafruit does.

     

    * Pi, camera (NoIR), PSU, batteries, servo to put an IR Stop filter over the

    camera when it's light, 3G modem, and environmental stuff, stuck in a dummy

    CCTV case, Webserver, Google Drive, bunged in the forest someplace,

    connected to a shedload of tractor batteries, and whatever else I can use

    (solar, wind?  to take piccies like this:

    http://img.yle.fi/uutiset/kainuu/article6948260.ece/ALTERNATES/w960/KERTAK%C3%84YTT%C3%96OIKEUS%21+Valtteri+Mulkahainen+karhunpennut+.jpg

     

    ** http://www.linear.com/product/LTC1871 as a start....

    Client IP: 80.223.255.91

     

    Then, BBB forum:

    Things that makes me reluctant to move from the Pi seems to be the bad posts re. the BBB’a Ångström distribution. I really NEED the I/O the BBB gives for my project, but the OS ‘fight’ seems to be a mishmash from which to choose… Reckon I’ll just wait for the dust to settle.

    Another is the rather ‘formal’ standoffish-ness I detect with the BBB forums and instructions. It’s a bit to me like “Well, if you’re too dumb to use it, go and play with your trainset instead” attitude that some stupidly clever geeks have used that I’ve discovered in my quest for learning.

    As I said, things’ll change I’m sure over time…

    Pi, although limited, it aint the cost (€10 or so more), but the current stability. There’s no “Uncle Ebden” behind this. Nor MagPi, nor……