I recently acquired an Arduino board to delve back into electronics after a hiatus of over 15 years. During my research, I discovered that two of the most prominent platforms for this purpose are Arduino and Raspberry Pi. While there are many others available, I will focus on comparing these two platforms in this article.
Let’s start by examining the Arduino Uno board, which I selected as my example. Please see the image below:
Now, let’s take a look at the Raspberry Pi model B+, as seen in the image below:
At first glance, these two boards may appear quite similar - with their chips, connectors, and screw holes. However, they are actually quite different.
The most significant difference lies in the core components. Arduino is equipped with an 8-bit microcontroller, while Raspberry Pi boasts a 64-bit microprocessor. Additionally, Arduino has only 2 Kilobytes of RAM, whereas Raspberry Pi has a whopping 1GB of RAM, making it 500,000 times more powerful in terms of memory.
When it comes to input/output (I/O) capabilities, Arduino offers a USB-B port for programming and power input, along with a set of I/O pins. On the other hand, Raspberry Pi is far more sophisticated, offering features such as video output, an HDMI port, an SD card port, an audio jack, CSI camera and DSI display ports, 4 USB 2.0 ports for attaching various USB devices, a Gigabit Ethernet jack, wireless LAN, Bluetooth 4.2, and a plethora of I/O pins (GPIO).
Another notable distinction is that Arduino does not have an operating system and can only run programs compiled specifically for the Arduino platform, typically written in C++. In contrast, Raspberry Pi runs an operating system, most commonly Linux, making it essentially a miniature computer compared to the simpler Arduino.
Given these differences, one might assume that Raspberry Pi is substantially more powerful and versatile, making it the obvious choice. However, that is not necessarily the case. Arduino consumes significantly less power, with an idle power usage of approximately 50 mA, while Raspberry Pi requires over 700 mA. Additionally, Arduino provides 20 I/O pins, whereas Raspberry Pi has only 8. Each individual I/O pin on Arduino can drive up to 40mA, while Raspberry Pi GPIO pins can only handle a maximum of 16mA.
Please note that these are researched figures and have not been personally measured by me.
In terms of programming, Raspberry Pi offers the flexibility of using a wide range of programming languages, thanks to its Linux operating system. On the other hand, Arduino is most commonly programmed using C++ or its simplified “Arduino language,” which is based on C++ and includes convenient features for beginners.
Despite this, Arduino is not limited to C++ programming alone. For instance, you can leverage the Johnny Five project to run Node.js code on Arduino, which is quite impressive. Similar tools, such as pyserial and Gobot, provide support for other programming languages.
In my opinion, Arduino is best suited for compiling programs, attaching a battery or power connector, and deploying it for specific tasks, such as interfacing with sensors and other real-world devices. With Arduino, you don’t have to worry about anything beyond your program running on the board. Moreover, some Arduino boards, like the Uno, do not even have built-in networking capabilities.
On the other hand, Raspberry Pi is more akin to a screenless mini-computer that you can program using traditional development tools. It is ideal for applications such as retro gaming platforms or web servers.
In conclusion, while Raspberry Pi may seem like the more powerful option, Arduino offers advantages in terms of power consumption, I/O pins, and ease of deployment for specific projects. Ultimately, the choice between Arduino and Raspberry Pi depends on the specific requirements and goals of your project.
Tags: Arduino, Raspberry Pi, microcontroller, microprocessor, I/O, programming, C++, Linux, power consumption