You are a great prospect to do something interesting with a Beaglebone because you have a specific application. I quite agree with you that getting a BBB to blink LEDs or serve web pages is not that exciting---but it probably is a good exercise for familiarizing yourself with the system, especially if you never used Linux or embedded systems like BBB before. Just like flying, you have to start with simple things before you do aerobatics.
Regarding a choice between RPI and BBB, I think people overstate the differences between them. They both run Debian Linux derivatives, and software should port between them just fine. Yes, there may be more software built specifically for RPi, but if you limit yourself to pre-baked software in this way, I don't think there's a lot of novel stuff that can be done with it---most interesting applications involve some sort of porting anyway. As far as I am concerned, both RPi and BBB are interesting but RPi has an older and slower processor that is a little bit of a dead end in terms of architectural support. It also lacks the cool PRU unit, resulting in great flexibility and speed of GPIO on BBB. Finally, the graphics acceleration on RPi is quite proprietary although the BBB situation isn't that great yet, either---although it's expected to improve any time now. On Tue, Jun 3, 2014 at 9:06 AM, Starrkind <[email protected]> wrote: > Dear Community, > > I am new regarding ARM based computers, and also new to Linux. > > Since the RPI came out I am fascinated by the small computers, helping me to > do some stuff or just doing some amazing projects with them. > > Now, there is nothing really useful I could do with such a computer. I don't > need a NAS, I don't need a webserver, nothing to do with it. The only thing > I could think of is a "Upload-BBB", which uploads my Videos on youtube > (since I upload 1 video a day it could be useful). > > But to be honest, every Arduino board or the Rpi would be able to do it. > Other things are to boring. Just seeing the BBB working as a webserver is > too boring. I want to do something very special with my BBB, if I buy one. > Even LED-controlling is to boring for me. > > A dream of myself is building a small flight computer, since I am a glider > pilot. It should be something like a computer working with XCSoar (they > already installed it on Rpi's), plus a system showing me some information, > like a digital variometer or something. > > Since the BBB needs only 2.3 Watts (Rpi needs 3.5??) it would be the first > beginning for my project. > > > I am new to Linux and programming of such computers. I have some basic > programming knowledge, already worked with impactjs. If possible, I would > highly prefer to programm with java, since it would not mean to learn a new > language. > > My friends always tell me to start with a Rpi, because of the huge > community. But I see advantages in the BBB, not just because of the lower > power consumption but also because of the small price for alot of power. > (Cubieboard, UDOO and all that stuff is too expensive for me to start). > > Do you think buying a BBB would be the best solution? Do you think as a > beginner I am able to understand how to use the board? > I am willing to learn. I would start with the Youtube-upload thing and then > probably try to build my flight computer. > > Are there some great projects I have to see? > > Thanks for your advise > > regards > Starr > > -- > For more options, visit http://beagleboard.org/discuss > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "BeagleBoard" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. -- For more options, visit http://beagleboard.org/discuss --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "BeagleBoard" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
