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Geeks Corner

ODROID C2 Looks Like The Best Alternative To Raspberry Pi 3

Raspberry Pi 3 is a credit -card sized powerful and low cost mini computer. If you have not gone through its specifications yet, check out our previous post on Raspberry Pi 3 Specifications and Features. Assuming you know of it, I surely believe you are interested in Raspberry Pi 3, isn’t? Wait, ODROID C2, is an alternative to Raspberry Pi 3 that is released in March 2016 and offers more power and in the same price range. There is a long debate about ODROID C2 putting Raspberry Pi 3 on the ropes. Let us see.

ODROID C2 vs raspberry pi 3

By March 2016 the project Raspberry Pi Foundation has completed 4 years. In this short time it has managed to put into the market more than 8 million Raspberry Pi (and 10 Million Raspberry Pi sales completed by September 2016). It is true that this minicomputer is the most popular and has a huge community behind. But this doesn;t mean they are the only ones present. This article brings to light ODROID C2 which one such minicomputer which could dethrone Raspberry Pi 3 in the near future.

ODROID C2 is the product of a company called Hardkernel. This is the company behind many electronic components from boards to camera modules or adapters. It’s C2 board is a worthy rival for the Raspberry Pi 3 and has even surpassed it in some sections.

Features of ODROID C2

At the heart of ODROID C2 is a Amlogic S905 SoC with a quad – core ARM Cortex A53 CPU. Though the BCM2837 of Raspberry Pi 3 has the same quad core processor, its clock speed of 1.2GHz is lower compared to the 2GHz clock speed in ODROID C2.

Even in the section of memory, the Hardkernels’ ODROID C2 scores better with 2GB of DDR3 RAM. While in Raspberry Pi 3 there is only 1GB DDR2 RAM which disappointed many enthusiasts at its launch itself. This is because users have started to exploit the minicomputer more and the 1GB DDR2 RAM is no longer sufficient.

odroid c2 vs raspberry pi 3

Another point where the ODROID C2 leads the Raspberry Pi 3 is the Gigabit Ethernet port. However, the lack of integrated Bluetooth and WiFi connectivity is a negative for the ODROID C2. Hence you will have to keep using those USB Adaptors to get your board up and connect to the network.

Price and additional features

There are other like the HDMI port that supports 4K signal, built-in analog to digital convertor. ODROID C2 can run the Ubutu 16.04 or the Android Lollipop operating system. Despite all these additional features and many other boards posing as Pi killers, the fact that the ODROID C2 offers all this at a price of only $ 15 more is quite interesting. While the Raspberry Pi 3 costs $ 35, the C2 costs $ 50.

So which board will you prefer to buy? Raspberry Pi 3? or ODROID C2? Before you make up your mind, here’s one last important point. The Raspberry Pi Foundation has a vast online community with many developers working on it world-wide. We have previously collected several Raspberry Pi FAQs to help you get started right away.

In case you are a beginner you might want to consider the fact that the Hardkernal’s prototyping community is yet to build. Though the company looks ambitious to increase it with several other boards in the line-up the support you get right away is questionable. But if you are experienced using the Raspberry Pi 3 then there’s no reason why you shouldn’t get a ODROID C2 at the earliest and help build the community.

Image Credits: Hardkernal

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Geeks Corner

Raspberry Pi 3 Specs & Features: Everything You Need To Know

The official new Raspberry Pi 3 is more powerful than ever. It maintains the same form factor and prices $ 35. This device improves in several aspects than its predecessors. Showing us some of the new improvements in performance and especially in the connectivity section.

10 million Raspberry pi model: Raspberry Pi FAQ, Raspberry Pi 3

To date , there have been more than 10 Million Raspberry Pi Sales completed in all its versions. The highlight here is that of these 10 Million Raspberry Pi’s more than 3 million units are Raspberry Pi 2. It’s successor, Raspberry Pi 3 with additional features to further capitalise on this makers revolution.

Also Read: Everything You Need To Know About Raspberry Pi

Features and innovations of the Raspberry Pi 3

Celebrating the fourth anniversary in February 2016, the Raspberry Pi 3 is announced to be more powerful and promising than ever. But the best part is the price is still affordable at $ 35 (we’ll see how it has changed).

Raspberry Pi 3 Review

Among the most important features of the Raspberry Pi 3 is the new processor. It is an ARM Cortex A53 processor with 1.2GHz quad core 64 – bit. According to their data, it has a yield 10 times higher than the original Raspberry Pi. And also 50% more than the Raspberry Pi 2, the previous model. The increase in these numbers means a lot and you can experience the performance upgrade only while working on it.

Raspberry Pi 3 finally comes with integrated Bluetooth 4.1 and WiFi

The Raspberry Pi 3 Model B fulfils the dream of many users who have been longing for this feature for years. That is for a direct integration of Wifi and Bluetooth connectiviy directly into the motherboard. Until now we had to use a USB wireless adapter or directly, use cable to Ethernet port.

Also Read: 7 Questions Stopping You From Getting Started With Raspberry Pi

Well it’s all over, the Raspberry Pi 3 has Bluetooth 4.1 (low energy consumption) and integrated 802.11n WiFi, without any additional accessories.

Despite these changes, they have managed to maintain the same size and shape as we have seen in previous generations of Raspberry Pi. The only change is in the position of some LEDs to make room for the antenna.

Price and Availability: Raspberry Pi 3

All the other features and ports are maintained similar to the Raspberry Pi 2. These include a microSD slot, USB, Ethernet, etc. The Raspberry Pi Foundation has also made it clear that they will not abandon production of previous models.

As we said at the beginning, the Raspberry Pi 3 has a price of $ 35, exactly the same as the Pi 2 and can be purchased right now for INR 2899.

Also Read: Odroid c2 looks like the best alternative to Raspberry Pi 3

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Geeks Corner PC Guides

Differences Between A Microprocessor and Microcontroller

Microprocessor and microcontroller are both designed to perform complicated operations with digital data. The main difference is a microprocessor is typically used as part of a larger computer system and a microcontroller is used alone as a small, self-contained computer system.

What is a Microprocessor?

A microprocessor is generally known as the “brain” of a computer. It consists of large number of transistors which function as switches. Using various combinations of these transistors, the microprocessor performs organizational tasks and math operations with data. A microprocessor is packaged as a single integrated circuit, and this requires a large number of external components to function, such as memory, timing circuits, and input / output devices.

What is a Microcontroller?

The micro-controller includes a processor similar in function to a microprocessor. However, a microcontroller IC also includes memory, timing circuits, power control circuits, and input / output connections. Because of the autonomous nature of a microcontroller requires only a few external components to be fully functional. Compared to microprocessors, microcontrollers are smaller in size and have fewer connector pins. In one of our articles, we have explained a lot more about the need of a microcontroller, check that out too.

Parameter Differences between Microprocessor and Microcontroller

Now you have already developed an understanding of how different these two terms are from each. However, its strange that even people who are working in the electronics field mess up with these words time to time. So, in order to make you well acquainted with the differences between microprocessor and microcontroller here’s a comparison of few important parameters.

Performance:

Despite the number of external components, a microprocessor is capable of high speeds and can handle, or process, a large amount of data at one time. Microprocessors operate in the gigahertz range. This means 1 billion processing cycles per second. This translates into millions of complex data operations every second. Some data – size, most current microprocessors are in 32-bit to 128-bit interval. Because of these results factors that microprocessors are mainly used in computers.

The self-containment of microcontrollers make them ideal choices for small electronic devices such as coffee machines and electronic toys. Generally, microcontrollers are pre-programmed when they are included or embedded in the electronic devices. Comparatively, most microcontrollers operates in the megahertz range. This means 1 million processing cycles per second. For data – size, most microcontrollers fall into 8-bit to 32-bit range.

Size

A microprocessor is often much larger than a microcontroller. A microprocessor typically has a width, length and height of about 30x30x3 mm. And a microcontroller typically has dimensions of about 7X7X3 mm. 

Circuit

A microprocessor includes only the digital logic circuit. A microcontroller contains digital electronic circuits and analog circuits.

Speed

The microprocessors operate at a speed (clock frequency) much higher than a microcontroller. A typical microprocessor has a clock frequency of 1GHz, but a typical microcontroller has a clock frequency of only 20 MHz.

Price

Microprocessors are much more expensive than microcontrollers. A microprocessor average price is about $ 70.00. However, the microcontroller costs much less and has an average price of about $ 1.20.

Applications

A microprocessor is most often used for design of computers, such as laptops and desktops. But microcontrollers are most often used in the design of household appliances, automotive electronics and industrial control equipment.

Image Credits: TheEmbeddedGuy

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Geeks Corner

Arduino ESLOV: Why You Should Support Arduino’s Crowdsourcing

The Arduino ESLOV IoT Invention kit is a simple plug-and-play toolkit. It is specifically designed keeping in mind the requirements of Internet of Things (IoT) devices.

Arduino ESLOV simplifies the entire process of deploying an Internet-connected devices network, making it possible for almost anyone (even without programming and hardware knowledge) to build connected devices.

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It’s almost completely easy, there’s no soldering or complicated programming involved. Due to this, the entire focus can be set on the required device than all these time-consuming aspects.

So, if you are yet to get yourself into the IoT niche, ESLOV could be the best starting point for you to gain hands-on experience with electronics.

You must have already checked out the prices of various modules Arduino ESLOV kit in our previous post if you haven’t go check it first or you can also check them out on the official Kickstarter page.

If you are already convinced, select the reward model you like and support them or else continue reading to know more about the Arduino ESLOV.

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ESLOV will help you build your gadgets in minutes!

The Arduino team, on their Kickstarter page, describes building your IoT project is as easy as following three simple steps.

All you have to do is make up your mind on what you want to build, identify the modules required and start building with below steps.

  1. Connecting ESLOV modules: Once you have identified the required modules, connect them using cables or mount them on the ESLOV Wireless and Motion hub and plug this into your PC.
  2. ESLOV’s visual code editor: The next step is to make use of the visual code editor. The editor automatically recognizes and displays the connected modules on the screen. Now all you have to do is to sketch connections between the modules to program and bring the project to life.
  3. Publish your projects on Arduino Cloud: Arduino cloud now helps you access your project using the internet from anywhere in the world (including your phone). All you have to do is to publish your project into the Arduino cloud. And control it with the click of your mouse or a touch on your phone.

If you have already been using the Arduino Editor, you can program the ESLOV modules as well using the provided libraries.

This can help you make the modules perform customized actions, or enhance the hub functionality, or vary and check on the communication protocols, and the possibilities are endless.

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Technical Specifications of Arduino ESLOV Kit

You might have already understood that the brain of this project is the ESLOV Wireless & Motion Hub. It is composed of the following parts.

[table caption=”Arduino ESLOV Wireless and Motion Hub Specifications” width=”650″ colwidth=”30|80″ colalign=”left|right”]
MCU,Microchip SAMD21 ARM Cortex-M0+ micro-controller @ 48 MHz with 32KB RAM and 256 KB flash
Connectivity,Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n
USB,1x Micro USB port
Sensor,1 Motion sensor
Connector,5-pin ESLOV connector(I2C protocol) plus a multifunction pin for wake up with IRQ and discovery
[/table]

The Arduino ESLOV modules with dimensions 2.5 x 2.5cm are based on the Atmega ATmega328P MCU and will have to be connected to the ESLOV hub. In their Kickstarter campaign, Arduino has promised to provide 25 different modules.

Arduino ESLOV kit Modules

Image Credits: Kickstarter

Now that you like this post, you might well be interested in checking out similar articles like these as well:

  1. Intel Edison: Why It Should Be Your Next Single Board Computer
  2. Success Story: 10 Million Raspberry Pi models sold!!
  3. A Glimpse Into The World Of The Microcontroller
Categories
Geeks Corner

ESLOV IoT Invention Kit Is Arduino’s Grand Entry Into IoT Market

Arduino has been doing a great job in encouraging engineers, technicians, and enthusiasts to develop projects that have influenced the maker revolution we are currently living in.

If you haven’t yet understood why Arduino has played a significant role in the past few years, you should first check out this article of ours.

Arduino Team now wants to go further specifically targeting the Internet of Things (IoT) niche with the ESLOV IoT kit that allows you to develop different hardware solutions for various scenarios

Called as the ESLOV IoT Invention Kit, it is a kind of LEGO Mindstorms, but of a completely different format. The idea is to connect all kinds of sensors together to work together and allow us to have all kinds of benefits, which can be leveraged from IoT.

ESLOV IoT: Modular solutions tailored for IoT

The system offers a bunch of sensors such as GPS receivers, distance sensor infrared light sensor, humidity and temperature sensor, air quality sensor, mini display OLED, a module with a button/switch, another with a servo and even one with a relay.

Each sensor has an ATmega328P processor, the same as we have in the Arduino Uno, and to work with these creations also have a WiFi hub that allows us to control the entire process.

This video demonstrates the simplicity with which you can build your IoT project with Arduino ESLOV IoT Invention kit.

Project leaders have launched this through Kickstarter, the first crowdsourcing project from Arduino LLC and offer different levels of kits with fewer or greater number of sensors.

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The price for the basic kit is $ 99 (Hub, WiFi, button, buzzer and LED), while the “Pro” with all 22 modules(as mentioned in this article) in total along with the hub sells for $ 499.

There are also various plans in between and beyond this price. There is an intermediate kit for $ 249, and all of them will be available in July 2017 if the funding target is exceeded as expected.

Image Credits: Arduino Blog

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Geeks Corner Technologies

Not All Flash Memories Are Same Here’s Why

Flash memories are part of our daily lives, and surely, we have one or several around us. But we really know less about questions like what exactly flash memory is? What is the difference between SD and SSD? all these questions and many others will be answered in this article, where we will explain in a simple way, what is a Flash memory and why all flash memories are not same.

Flash Memory – The Basic Definition

Flash memory is a derivative of the EEPROM memory. It is designed to make storing large amounts of data in a small space possible, allowing reading and writing in multiple memory locations with the same operation. And all thanks to electrical impulses, which also gives it a high speed operation than the EEPROM type (which acts on a single memory cell at a time)

This type of memory, is based on the use of semiconductors. In addition to being non – volatile and rewritable, it possesses almost all the features of RAM, along with the added advantage that it is non-volatile, meaning, what is stored in this type of flash memory, does not get deleted when you disconnect the device from the PC or the apparatus, unlike RAM.

Flash memories are extremely important, especially in today’s computer world, owing to its low power consumption, portability and size, as well as safety and efficiency; makes them ideal for supporting data and information created with digital cameras, smartphones, audio devices, among other gadgets. Even, they are quite resistant to any blow or fall, which represents a huge improvement over portable mass storage devices of previous generations.

Although all flash memories are reliable storage media with presence across various gadgets, all Flash memories are not the same. There is a significant technological difference among them.

Why All Flash Memories Are Not Same

Named after the internal characteristics similar to corresponding gates exhibited by individual cells, there are two main types of flash memory: NAND-Based, NOR-Based.

Owing to the advantages NAND-Based Flash memories have over NOR-Based ones, our smartphones, flash drives, SSDs have the NAND type in them.

But the NAND Technologies implemented into our devices diverge at two important points: Price and Speed (or technically as SLC and MLC)

NAND Flash Memories: Intel SSD

In a Single Level Cell (SLC) NAND Flash chip, each cell can exist only in either of the two states, 1 or 0, thus storing one bit of information per cell. Due to this, there is increased speed and relatively increased power consumption. This is the technology present in high-end expensive SSDs. These have higher read/write cycles than MLC Flash memory chips, hence occupy larger space and due to the same reason the manufacturing costs are higher compared to a MLC.

Flash Memories: basic-ssd-diagram block diagram

Additionally, the memory controller present in a SSD is far more superior to the micro-controller present in Flash drives or SD cards (usually containing small amounts of RAM and ROM). Here are a few functions that are performed by a typical SSD controller:

  • Wear leveling
  • Bad block mapping
  • Error-correcting code (ECC)
  • Read scrubbing and read disturb management
  • Read and write caching
  • Garbage collection
  • Encryption
  • Over-Provisioning

Flash Memories: SSD Controller Block Diagram

Whereas in most Multi Layer Cells (MLCs), there can be four possible states per cell due to which the information stored in each cell is lot higher. So, there is a decrease in the overall number of transistors required to store similar amount of data and hence lower manufacturing costs. However, the flip side is that MLC (and even TLC) have lower data speeds and increased chance of errors along with less endurance. The controller accompanying MLC chips usually have lesser functions based on where it is being employed. The market now is flooded with these MLC and TLC SSDs.

On the other hand, the eMMC NAND chips have far lower speeds and are less resistant to wear and hence data loss is a serious issue in these NAND flash memory types. Also the functionality of controllers is far less compared to the one in an SSD NAND. Hence these can be integrated to the NAND chips which result in the smaller form factor of USB Flash Drives and SD cards. To compare, the read/write speeds of the eMMC storage is far lower than that of a Samsung 960 PRO PCIe SSD.

Here is an excellent visualisation of NAND Flash memory chips and associated technologies well explained by Steve Burke of the Gamers Nexus channel.

Image Credits: Cactus Technologies, TechnoMag

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Geeks Corner

Intel Edison: Why It Should Be Your Next Single Board Computer

Whether you are an expert or a beginner in building prototypes with small powerful computing boards, it’s always good to take time and choose the best module to get started.

Today, in this post we present to you the Intel Edison Compute Module and try and convince you to start developing using this high-performance module if you haven’t done that already.

With the dimensions of 35.5 x 25 x 3.9mm, similar to that of a postage stamp Intel Edison has attracted quite a lot of enthusiasts of the IoT and wearables community since its release in 2014.

It’s not only the tiny size that gets everyone craving but also the low power consuming powerful core best suited for rapid prototyping.

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Intel Edison Module – Specifications

Intel Edison with its Intel Atom 22nm dual-core 500 MHz processor and the Intel Quark System on Chip (SoC) running at 100MHz outclass any other modules available.

In addition, it has a 1GB DDR3 memory, 4GB eMMC flash storage, excellent connectivity (integrated Wi-Fi and Bluetooth) and supports 40 GPIOs with several possibilities of configuration in a 70-pin Hirose connector.Intel Edison Module Block Diagram

Intel Edison Block Diagram

All this comes with extremely low power consumption, as is the main characteristic of the Intel Edison. There’s some icing on the cake too: Intel has developed two extension boards specifically for the Edison module. These are the Mini Breakout Board and the Arduino Board for Edison.

Intel Edison Module and Breakout Board

The Mini Breakout board provides easy access to GPIOs and has the same small form factor of the Intel Edison module. And the Arduino Breakout broad is for using Edison with shields designed for Arduino.

These shields are simply interfacing boards that extend the functionality of the master board. A lot of such shields are available for Arduino boards meaning all of those can be used to add extra features.

Intel Edison Module and Arduino Breakout Board

The Intel Edison platform runs Arduino and C/C++ with support for Node.js, Python, RTOS and visual programming tools coming soon, as announced by Intel.

For enthusiasts particularly indulged in wearables, Intel IoT Analytics contains valuable resources to collect and analyze sensory data from the Intel Edison for analysis and future manipulation.

Image Credits: HackerBoards, Flickr

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Geeks Corner

Raspberry Pi FAQ: Everything You Need To Get Started

Mini PCs are always a good option to enjoy the full power of a computer, in a compact size. We can use these for several purposes, as a content server connected to the TV and, of course, for computing and research use. Raspberry Pi is one of the most popular products for these purposes, both in terms of its affordable prices and plethora of options.

Ever since the Raspberry Pi launched in 2012, it caught the attention of tens of thousands of enthusiasts including engineers, geeks and hobbyists.

But there are still a lot of questions floating around like, What is it exactly? Who created it? Where exactly to buy? And so on. So in this post we cover all such Raspberry Pi FAQ.

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What is a Raspberry Pi?

Actually, this is a tiny credit-card sized development board with dimensions 85 x 54 mm, in which a Broadcom BCM2835 chip with ARM processor up to 1 GHz speed, GPU VideoCore IV is housed along with 512 MB of RAM.

Though initially it was used for teaching children coding, the scope of this device soon came to light and is now being used to build smart devices. Also the scope of this device can be further improved by adding modules, like a touchscreen module, or a camera module.

Raspberry Pi FAQ: Quick Start Guide

Why the name Raspberry Pi?

The word ‘Raspberry’ is finalized looking at various computer companies naming themselves after a fruit like Apple, Apricot Computers, Tangerine Computer Systems etc.

Raspberry Pi FAQ Guide

The word ‘Pi’ is because the team behind the Raspberry Pi actually started working on developing a board that can run Python Programming Language and they further improvised from their goal and ended up designing a general-purpose computer.

Who invented Raspberry Pi?

This certainly is one of the most searched Raspberry Pi FAQ. This project was started by a group of technicians and academics. Currently, Eben Upton is the CEO and project lead and the other starting members are Rob Mulins, Jack Lang, Alan Mycroft, Pete Lomas, and David Braben.

raspberry_pi_founder: Raspberry Pi FAQ

This idea kicked in when they felt a decrease in interest among students on computer science. So, they set out to build a tiny and cheap board easily accessible to students, through which they can learn basic programming.

Is there a difference between the Raspberry Pi models?

Yes, each of the Raspberry Pi models differs from each other in many aspects. The naming could be a little confusing because of the use of two different naming conventions.

The ‘generation’ of the model is indicated as Pi 1, Pi 2 and Pi 3. The Pi 3 is the latest model released in 2016 with the Pi 1 model in 2012 and Pi 2 model in 2015.

10 million Raspberry pi model: Raspberry Pi FAQ

The other convention is the Model A, A+, B and B+. These indicate the features of the model, with B+ being the most powerful and Model A being the least in the line-up. The only other model is the Raspberry Pi Model Zero; this is the $5 microcomputer that can be used for tiny projects.

Where can Raspberry Pi’s be used?

Raspberry Pi can be used by anyone for a wide variety of tasks. A quick Google search can present you with a number of projects you can get started right away with something that interests you.

Here are a few uses of the Raspberry Pi:

  1. Learn (or teach) how to code
  2. Make your own tiny computer
  3. Low cost time lapse photography camera
  4. Multi-room music player

These are just a very few from what’s available all over the Internet. Very soon we will be releasing our Raspberry Pi Project guides to help beginners start smooth. Before that you an check you our previous article dedicated to help our readers identify best resources. It is titled ‘Raspberry Pi Guide: Best Resources To Learn Raspberry Pi Online‘.

How popular are the Raspberry Pi’s?

Since the launch of Raspberry Pi on February 19, 2012 it has been doing great. It is undoubtedly the best selling mini-computer all across the globe. Recently it has completed 10 million sales in September 2016, which is a grand achievement.

Raspberry Pi FAQ : Model B

To celebrate this milestone, the Raspberry Pi team released its own starter kit. Read more about their success story here.

Where can you buy a raspberry pi?

No Raspberry Pi FAQ list ends without this question, you can get your Raspberry Pi from any of the official partners or from third party sellers from Amazon or ebay. If you are looking to buy one now, the most purchased model now is the Raspberry Pi 3 Model B available at $35 (around Rs. 3000).

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This Raspberry Pi FAQ is a collection of most searched queries we found on the Internet, if there is anything more you’d want to know. Write to us in the comments below.

Image Credits: Adafruit, InfoWorld