Single Board Computers – Raspberry Pi vs BeagleBone vs Arduino

You can do multiple things with a Single Board Computer (SBC). There are plenty of DIY projects that can keep you busy for weeks. A single-board computer contains all the things a computer needs to function. All of these items, including processor, RAM, and input/output slots, are designed on a single board that you can hook to a TV or use it as such.

What are Single Board Computers

A Single Board Computer is a complete computer built on a single circuit board – with a microprocessor, memory, input/output, and other features required of a functional computer.

Raspberry Pi vs BeagleBone vs Arduino

There are many SBCs out there in the market. I have narrowed down the items to Raspberry Pi, Beaglebone and Arduino. The following post will help you understand which best is for you.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Raspberry Pi

Available at low cost – around USD 30 only. It is a tiny board that has several advantages over the other two (BeagleBone and Aurdino). For example, you can use the HDMI port to plug the SBC into a TV and view the output on the monitor. There are plenty of USB ports that you can use with anything. You can add an external keyboard and mouse to the computer. You can also use a printer with a USB port.

It has an Ethernet port built onto the board. This helps you to connect to the Internet with an Ethernet wire and hook up your computer or project with an existing LAN or WAN.

Since the operating system runs from an SD card, you can simply change the cards to change the operating systems. Though there are not many mainstream operating systems that can run off an SD card, you can switch between Linux and Android, for example.

Coming to the disadvantages of Raspberry Pi, I do not see many. I know an NGO that has been successfully using Raspberry Pi to teach programming to street kids so that they can lead a good life. The only disadvantage of Raspberry Pi is that it has limited options for interacting with external sensors. So you may have to work a little extra if you create things like remote control of house lighting etc.

Read: Differences between Raspberry Pi A+ and Raspberry Pi B+.

Advantages and Disadvantages of BeagleBone

There are not as many advantages as swapping operating systems in BeagleBone. The memory and operating system come preloaded with BeagleBone. The onboard operating system is Linux, but you can add your own by connecting it to a computer.

Another advantage of BeagleBone over Raspberry Pi is that the former can interact with many external sensors and hence can be used as a central thing in creating an Internet of Things or any of the many projects you can undertake using BeagleBone.

Coming to disadvantages, there are not many USB ports, so you are a little limited with the number of external devices you can use with BeagleBone. Also, video encoding is lacking so you may not see proper images when you connect BeagleBone to a TV.

Read: Windows IoT Core vs Raspbian – Which is better?

Advantages and Disadvantages of Arduino

Priced around USD 25, this is one of the cheapest SBCs available in the market. There are not many issues with Arduino except that it is a very basic board and it takes a while before users can actually get adjusted to it. The main problem is that one doesn’t find a graphic interface so trying to create projects is a bit clumsy as the user will have to remember commands.

On the plus side, the popularity of Arduino has prompted several people to write a comprehensive tutorial, help, and documentation for the board. There are several DIY projects available for Arduino so that you understand how it works and gets on later to your projects.

I invite your comments on this subject.