What gets in the way of your Raspberry Pi project?

Hi Christopher,

Interesting topic, I feel the Pi is very usable now (after so many iterations). From my perspective, the Pi 3B+ is a great all-round platform. The Pi 4 introduces a few small issues, for instance, the power requirements are a bit harder to fulfill, and the registers changed and so not all code is compatible. However, these are small things. My list is small (although I can come up with a very long list of improvements, I don't think they are significant, so these are just three that I think are worth highlighting.

1. A decent GPIO library for C, or an article on how we should do it with C at good speed.. There is WiringPi, but it's not seen much attention in recent years. I still use my own I2C library, but I can do that, others might not be able to.

2. A power supply with a cable longer than 1.5 metres, or with a figure-8 mains connector so that we can extend it ourselves with a replacement mains cable. I can't be buying a trailing mains extension cable for each Pi. None of the options on the Farnell website solve this problem for me.

3. Better, refreshed pinout diagrams. Some of the current ones are not very good. Also, worth showing how to wire a USB UART connector to the Pi, so people can troubleshoot their network issues if the Pi isn't connected to a keyboard/monitor. I don't or extremely rarely have any Pi's connected to a keyboard/monitor so I have no comments in that area.

Similar experience for me. The easiest SBC to get running.

The biggest "not in the way", I think, is how easy it is to  Get started with a new board or SD Card.

The process of

• flashing the OS to an SD,
• configuring access and wireless before the board is running
• then have the raspi-config utility to complete the setup and have a stable start point

has turned into an action that's easy to perform, without need of external components like a temporary keyboard, screen, mouse, wired cable, serial cable, ...

I also find it easier to search information for Pi questions.
I don't know if it is search engine optimisation or continuous updates of the documentation, but I often get results that reply to now, instead of having to assess if instructions are still applicable.

shabaz said:

A decent GPIO library for C, or an article on how we should do it with C at good speed.. There is WiringPi, but it's not seen much attention in recent years. I still use my own I2C library, but I can do that, others might not be able to.

I don't often hear of people using C on the Pi, majority use Python, perhaps that's why GPIO libraries in C are not getting much attention?

shabaz said:

Better, refreshed pinout diagrams. Some of the current ones are not very good

What's missing from them?

Obviously stock is one issue that is more frequently getting in the way. I spotted this on Twitter... www.raspberrypi.com/.../

cstanton said:

well right now it's obviously the availability (or lack) of it, but we can't address that right now, so let's focus on what we do with it when we have one.

BigG said:

I spotted this on Twitter.

Thanks for the update though

cstanton said:

I don't often hear of people using C on the Pi

there are. It's not often a subject for posts here, but I'm trying to make a difference: Sound and Vibration Measurement: MCC172 DAQ Hat for Raspberry Pi - C development: /technologies/test-and-measurement/b/blog/posts/sound-and-vibration-measurement-mcc172-daq-hat-for-raspberry-pi---c-development

WiringPi isn't receiving attention because there were many commercial users who wanted the WiringPi author's time and harrassed him and didn't stick to the license rules, according to the WiringPi page. I believe there's definitely demand but requires more resources than an individual to create and maintain such a library - in some ways similar to BeagleBone, I wrote a C GPIO library but I don't have the resources to maintain it.

Regarding pinout diagrams, some don't show which pin is which, because they don't show the Pi. I know that pin 2 is at the corner of the Pi, but it's not clear (the Pi has a square pad, but impossible to see when it is in a case). (Really this is a fault of the silkscreen, but since we can't change that, the pinout diagrams should accommodate). Also, most of the pinout diagrams are upside-down (with the Ethernet and USB connectors facing you (but when you're wiring up a project, the last thing you want is those cables coming toward you - the Pi would be either in landscape, or with the Ethernet+USB connectors facing away). It sounds minor but it's really irritating because trying to count out the pins upside-down and not getting left-to-right pins mixed up either, is just a risk (I created my own right-way oriented pinout diagram as a result, and don't use the ones on the Internet). Mine doesn't meet all needs either, it's a bit simple, but meets 90% of my needs:

Also has anyone noticed, the text on the Pi Pico is upside down too, when you orientate that correctly : ) 

shabaz said:

Regarding pinout diagrams, some don't show which pin is which,

Okay, I ask because I maintain:
/products/raspberry-pi/w/documents/4317/raspberry-pi-4-model-b-default-gpio-pinout-with-poe-header 
And I'm always open to adjustments/improvements :) 

I hadn't considered making one for the Pico, not having one on hand hampered that one

shabaz said:

2. A power supply with a cable longer than 1.5 metres, or with a figure-8 mains connector so that we can extend it ourselves with a replacement mains cable. I can't be buying a trailing mains extension cable for each Pi. None of the options on the Farnell website solve this problem for me.

Powering the Pi 4 is still an issue. I need to power it with a 5A or so Mean Well power supply which also powers the other electronics from my project.

A Pi 4 can draw 3A, which is too much for the pin headers and I also did not find a suitable USB-C power cable with 18 AWG wires. The only option is to buy the official power supply, cut off the wire and throw away the electronics.

See also this thread: community.element14.com/.../exploring-alternate-methods-for-providing-dc-power-to-raspberry-pi

Tuning the WABAC machine ( refer to https://rockyandbullwinkle.fandom.com/wiki/WABAC_machine)  to Raspberry Pi 2, mine sat idle for quite awhile after power up, and eventually was turned into a retrogame system. The retrogame system is still serving that purpose for Raspberry Pi Jams and cold rainy days.  I didnt know what else to do with it. I wasnt familar with Raspbian, Linux, python, scratch, etc. 

A big thing that helped me moving forward with Raspberry Pi projects were Road Tests and Project 14 .   I certainly would have never attempted or been motivated enough to invest in high risk RPi projects ( like facial recognition) had I not had a deadline, my community reputation at stake, and some portion of hardware provided to help ease the investments of getting started.  There is a huge learning curve moving from controllers like Arduino to RPi. Seeing proven examples in the E14 community with code & HW help alot. 

Along that same thought process, the Arduino IDE has the Example Libraries included with the tool. Those examples are so convenient and critical for a successful kickoff when trying a new piece of application hardware. I'll save a copy of those examples and then modify them to get familiar with a device before integrating into my application. It becomes a piece of test code if the project stops working.

For Raspberry Pi, I need to surf the web for similar applications and advice. It's taken awhile, but I'm getting better at a basic feel for python. When starting a build, I then have to do a research project to try and find python libraries for the what I think I want to do.  I particularly find i2C difficult to deal, and need a library created specifically for each device.  

The free download Beginners Guides are fantastic for learning. You gotta surf and know what to look for to find them tho. https://www.dbooks.org/raspberry-pi-beginners-guide-191204773x/

To summarize, to do a RPi project takes alot of front end research, gathering of links, githubs, libraries, etc whereas with an Arduino, the IDE becomes my example guide, and it also has a fantastic coding reference guide, just one click away.   

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What help is needed:  One particular RPi project that I want to get started with is a switchable RC/autonomous car to use for inspiring others to build & code. 

This RC car was already hacked using an Arduino to interface the RC controls to the chassis steering and motor  , /challenges-projects/project14/radiocontrol/b/blog/posts/rc-toy-hack---rc-car-rescue-restore-recycle-retrofit.  I replaced the Arduino with a Raspberry Pi Pico. 

The next step for this RC car ( which I've been talking about for almost a year ) is replace the Arduino/Raspberry Pi Pico with a Raspberry Pi for selectable manual RC or autonomous control.  

I'm software-impaired. Each functional device in this build is a self contained research project to me. I'm both impatient to find published example solutions in lingo that I can understand and build from, but also get hung up if I don't understand the details. The project will involve camera(s), object detection, numerous i2C sensors, I2C motor driver, i2C servo driver, discrete sensors, discrete IO, multiple servos, { maybe even LIDAR from Summer of Sensors :-)  ??   }    

A super-fine helpful tool would be like an Arduino IDE example selection, where I could call up each device type with example code and application notes, applicable python libraries, etc.. all in one place.