Pi 3 compatibility

Submitted by cleric boomer on Mon, 02/29/2016 - 09:56

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Hi PiBorg

With the announcement of the Pi 3, I have the expected question.

Is DiddyBorg and all your boards compatible with the Pi 3.

I am assuming so, within reason, as the new Pi appears to be basically the same as the pi2. With the added built-in WiFi and BT.

Cheers

Chris

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piborg

Mon, 02/29/2016 - 10:51

We will be getting our hands on some Raspberry Pi 3s to test with this week, but we are bit busy with the upcoming Raspberry Pi birthday party at the weekend.

As far as we can tell all of our existing products including DiddyBorg should be compatible.

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piborg

Thu, 03/03/2016 - 13:14

We have done some testing and DiddyBorg works perfectly with the Raspberry Pi 3.

The onboard Bluetooth works with a PS3 controller as well, meaning no USB dongle is necessary :)

joetunn@googlem...

Sat, 03/05/2016 - 22:09

Great stuff. Any advice on how to set up the PS3 controller with the pi3? I'm not sure which steps I need to drop/change

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piborg

Mon, 03/07/2016 - 11:21

Download the latest version of Jessie and then you can simply follow the instructions for installing with Jessie here:
https://www.piborg.org/rpi-ps3-help

Basically we no longer need the bluetooth package since an alternative is already installed now which is compatible with the onboard Bluetooth module.

cleric boomer

Mon, 02/29/2016 - 13:44

Please forgive the daft questions, apart from building the DiddyBorg, and my wishlist I posted. I have not had anything to do with electronics for 30 years, probably almost everything I know (apart from the basics) is out of date, or been proved wrong.

Would the Pi Zero be able to run the DiddyBorg?

Thank you

Chris

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piborg

Mon, 02/29/2016 - 14:26

Yes, a Raspberry Pi Zero is capable of controlling DiddyBorg.
All you will need is to connect the first six pins for the GPIO header so you have something to connect the comms / power cables to.

You will want a USB adapter if you are using a Bluetooth or WiFi dongle for remote control.
Also the Raspberry Pi Camera is not supported by the Zero, so no ball chasing :)

lars_the_bear

Tue, 03/01/2016 - 08:54

Perhaps you could use a USB camera instead? But I do wonder about the Pi Zero -- sure you save a few quid, but is it worth it? It looks like you even have to solder on your own GPIO header.

cleric boomer

Tue, 03/01/2016 - 09:31

Hi Lars, PiBorg

It was mire a thought, with what I would like the final result to do the Pi2 or Pi3 is going to be the way to go.

Especially with the software for moving around the building and taking various readings.
Nevermind the fun stuff like sounds and actions that will make it seem intelligent.

So just seeing what options are available

Thanks for the input though, keep it coming

Cheers

Chris

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sigpaw@hotmail.com

Wed, 03/09/2016 - 04:21

Even though the Pi 3 is mechanically and electrically compatible. It may not be the best choice. There are reports of the Pi 3 getting pretty hot while under load. See this for instance: http://www.tweaktown.com/news/50893/raspberry-pi-3-gets-seriously-hot-cl...

My Pi 3 is in the mail, set to arrive tomorrow. Recent reports have me shopping for a small heat sink as well as considering the purchase of one of these: http://www.digikey.co.uk/product-search/en?mpart=F16EA-03LLC%20%2FE&vend...

Although at $8 US, it's 1/5th the cost ot the Pi 3 in the first place. I'll probably put my Pi 2 in my Diddy and swap the Pi 3 into my Pi 7" display system.

Just say'in...

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piborg

Wed, 03/09/2016 - 14:28

After doing some further reading it sounds like the board in question may have been faulty or not quite running to spec:
http://makezine.com/2016/03/02/raspberry-pi-3-not-halt-catch-fire/

Put simply the SoC is designed in such a way that it can monitor its own temperature.
If this gets too hot or the power to the SoC gets too low then the SoC starts running at a lower clock speed so that it can cool down / save power.

Since DiddyBorg is entirely open cooling should be fine.
In fact the airflow caused by him moving around should lower the temperature of the chips slightly anyway.
The Perspex on DiddyBorg should be fine around a reasonably hot Raspberry Pi, the air gap will be more than enough.

The truth is there was a lot of scaremongering a couple of years back that the Raspberry Pi gets "too hot to touch".
These statements were completely ignoring the fact that the maximum temperature the SoC is designed to run at is 85°C, which is too hot to touch.

I think most people would be surprised how hot the inside of a typical PC actually gets.
The North-bridge on your average motherboard in particular has a small heat sink and is far too hot to touch when in operation.

For reference I have had a small fan like you are looking at pointed directly at the SoC on a B+ for experimentation.
It did make a difference according to the internal readings of about 10°C or so from memory.
I also tried a small heat-sink but did not notice much difference in temperatures without any airflow.

As Cleric says ModMyPi sell heat-sinks which will fit the Raspberry Pi if you are still concerned:
https://www.modmypi.com/search/?search=heat%20sink
A heat-sink on its own will not do too much, but a fan / heat-sink pair should be better than just the fan.

cleric boomer

Wed, 03/09/2016 - 08:42

Hi Sigpaw,

I have been watching the official Raspberry Pi forums about the Pi 3, and I am aware of the higher temperatures that it reaches during even "normal" operation.

I actually already have a heat sink from the purchase of the pi 2. Modmypi sell them as part of a set.
They also sell them individually.

I don't think that the DiddyBorg will be affected by the increase in temperature, but hopefully PiBorg will be able to confirm that. Hopefully the materials the DiddyBorg will not be affected (warping or other distortion).
When you think about cooling the DiddyBorg is basically open to the elements, and airflow should not be restricted.

Pi3 is the preferred option due to the built in wireless access and Bluetooth.

Purchasing a Pi3 is something that will happen in the future, I have too many parts to get for the beast and getting it working first.

Chris

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sigpaw@hotmail.com

Sun, 03/13/2016 - 02:21

My Pi 3 arrived last Wednesday. I had a minor set back getting it to boot initially, but once I grabbed the 02-26 version of Jessie it came right up.

Under normal load while surfing the net, etc it doesn't even appear to get warm. So I guess I got a good one. According to the benchmarks it is faster, but in normal operation I don't sense a noticeable difference. It *IS* nice to have WiFi and Bluetooth built-in. I put it on the back of my 7" official Pi display and am using it as my primary development system. I put my old Pi 2 B in Diddy. AM VERY happy with both thus far.

:-D

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