Choosing Between Arduino and Raspberry Pi: A Beginner’s Guide

Reference Source | Strange Thinking

Arduino and Raspberry Pi are two types of development boards that electronic and embedded engineers are quite familiar with, and they are also popular choices for many beginners.

Which one should you choose, Arduino or Raspberry Pi?

Raspberry Pi was invented in the UK. Inventor Eben Upton and his colleagues at the Cambridge University Computer Laboratory designed this affordable and easily modifiable computer development board to better attract students and improve students’ computer skills, aiming to enhance hands-on abilities.

(Image Source: http://www.adafruit.com)

As teaching tools, both Arduino and Raspberry Pi are very suitable for beginners. However, upon closer analysis, they still have some obvious differences.

Arduino is essentially a type of microcontroller, similar to a module in a computer, designed to solve single problems.

On the other hand, Raspberry Pi is a type of microprocessor. As a microprocessor, Raspberry Pi functions like a complete mini computer.

By carefully analyzing the hardware and software differences between these two development boards, one can clearly feel the differences in their practical project applications.

Although in appearance, both Raspberry Pi and Arduino are quite similar in size and lightweight, the parameter configurations show that they have very distinct differences.

The clock speed and memory of Raspberry Pi 2 are significantly higher than those of Arduino. Raspberry Pi can be seen as a fully independent computer, capable of running Linux and Windows 10 operating systems, supporting WIFI connections and multitasking. Although performance still lags behind a real PC, data shows that it has comprehensively surpassed Arduino.

Raspberry Pi’s powerful computing capabilities, along with the Linux or Windows system it runs, not only allows it to connect with other electronic components but also enables development in popular programming languages like Python, Java, C/C++. Therefore, when it comes to developing features that require high computational power, Raspberry Pi is a more suitable choice.

In terms of software applications, Raspberry Pi is indeed slightly superior, while in hardware connections, Arduino takes the lead.

Compared to Raspberry Pi, Arduino has a significant advantage in the ease of use of various sensors or chips. Arduino can read sensors without any additional hardware support. Just like in the image below, the LED board displaying patterns can connect directly to Arduino without any conversion.

Additionally, Arduino provides a very good programming environment, allowing direct code writing to execute commands. In contrast, Raspberry Pi needs to install an operating system and a code library to control GPIO pins (for hardware connections) to control the hardware. What takes hours on Raspberry Pi can be easily achieved on Arduino with just a few lines of code.

Arduino is not designed to run operating systems and software, so it is plug-and-play for sensors and hardware. On the other hand, for Raspberry Pi, before using sensors, you need to install the matching drivers and write programs to control the hardware.

Raspberry Pi excels in software execution, but Arduino is equally impressive in hardware projects; the two are not in competition but rather complementary.

In practical applications, Raspberry Pi acts as the brain of the project, responsible for issuing and distributing commands. Arduino, on the other hand, functions as the hands or muscles of the project, directly managing the operation control of sensors. Together, they achieve better results.

Arduino is suitable for driving hardware, receiving sensor models, and other hardware control tasks. Raspberry Pi acts as a control center, guiding Arduino to switch hardware while executing other tasks simultaneously.

There is no superiority between Arduino and Raspberry Pi; both have their unique advantages and characteristics.

Overall, Arduino is simpler to operate, making it more suitable for beginner makers, or for projects that focus more on sensor usage and hardware-related tasks. Raspberry Pi, on the other hand, is better suited for those with a certain programming foundation or projects that rely on various software ecosystems.

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