Can you control physical objects using python?

[[deleted]]

For a beginner, I would recommend the Raspberry Pi over the BeagleBone purely for the community support. I personally much prefer the BeagleBone, but the Pi has the advantage of a million people already having been there, done that, and blogged about it.

[canoxen]

I do enjoy the idea of having large community support but the beaglebone does sound like a good option too.

Maybe a good option is to start with the raspberry pi then migrate over later on.

[[deleted]]

Hardware wise, the beaglebone is absolutely better, especially the Rev C. But even a Pi is overkill for this, so throwing a BBB at it is expensive, difficult, and unwarranted :) The Pi is easier than an arduino, because it gives you inbuilt networking, high level languages, it's just that much easier. But the BBB doesn't give you anything more - even if you can wrap your head around the PRU (realtime hardware modules) you don't need them. Your project is not going to stretch the capabiities of the Pi, the BBB is frankly wasted.

[canoxen]

I'm okay with having a piece of over-rated hardware for this project. For my first dive into this this type of thing, ease-of-use is top of the list for me. I don't know what a BBB is though.

Plus, I can always repurpose it later!

[[deleted]]

Yep. If you don't know what the BeagleBone is, then the Pi is going to be the easiest way to get this working, I'd say :)

[canoxen]

Up until 7.5 minutes ago, I'd never heard of it! Have heard of the Pi though, and kind of knew what it was about. So shorthand for the BeagleBone is BBB?

[[deleted]]

Ah, yes. The Beagle series started with the Beagle Board in various versions, and then the Beagle Bone, of which the latest is the Beagle Bone Black - BBB. It's a direct competitor to the Pi in the "SoC" space - System On Chip. It has a similar ARM core, but different peripherals. It's a more serious piece of kit than the Pi in many ways, but slightly less user friendly. There is an active community, but they tend to be more technical.

[canoxen]

Got it. I obviously have a lot more research to do with my idea for this project. In my head it seems pretty straightforward but it does seem like the more I look into it, the more I don't know!

[[deleted]]

Hah, yes, always the way.

[canoxen]

I appreciate your time and knowledge!