Raspberry Pi Forever

I have a number of (3) Raspberry PIs - 2x4B(4GB) + 1x3B+(1GB). I am into robotics and I’m a programmer by profession. My favourite language is Java (which I work with and in) and I love maker robotics. This is a new and exciting era that we live in which anyone can do things that would have been unthinkable just a few years ago. I welcome questions about PIs in general (OS, languages, AI, robotics, etc), programming and approaches to programming (not the same thing). I am a professional and hobbyist alike. Hope to hear from you all.

Example questions might be:

  • What Linux choices work best (on various versions of the PI)?
  • How can I develop robotics projects in Java?
  • What doesn’t work (on various versions of the PI)?
  • Can I set up Kodi and a NAS on a PI simultaneously and how?
  • Can I use an Arduino and a PI in concert and how?

I am here to help the community and move technology for makers into the future. Thanks to Core Electronics for having me here.

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Welcome QEM, thanks for your introduction! There’s often a Raspberry Pi question or two on the forum, if I run into something out of my league then I’ll @tag you in.

QEM,

While the Pi is a general purpose computer I’d separate your functions a bit. Kodi and a NAS might go on one device once you get them set up and stable, but development of robot stuff should be separate.
The Pi environment generally uses Python and as a programmer you could learn that fairly easily, but I see pages of results to a ‘raspberry pi java robot’ search.
As for Linux distributions, unless you have a flavor you work with already, start with Raspbian, since that’s where most of the examples and support are.

It’s all about having a go, so pick one thing e.g. configure Samba (for Windows shares) and add an external HDD on Raspbian and you basically have a NAS.

The ‘cost of changing’ is generally just having another SD card and burning the disk image on it.

Dave

Sorry David, this was not a series of questions.

I have Kodi and NAS setup already. Pi4J will be used to program my project because Java is excellent and Python is not. Sorry Python developers, but I have no desire to learn or use Python when it is not necessary.

As to operating systems for PIs, I have tried most of them and can provide recommendations in terms of use case. For example, in robots, use NOOBS, set up keyboard and wi-fi, and select Raspbian with NO GUI INTERFACE. Username: pi, password: raspberry. This version of Linux is very very lightweight and perfect for robotics work.

For those interested in NAS, Core Electronics has some excellent hardware to build a very powerful compact NAS solution.

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QEM,
Sorry I misunderstood. Good to know you’ve got right into the Pi.

Dave

Dave

No problem. The web causes misunderstandings.

I’m also into Arduino (C based). Search for FidoBot to see my other posts.

Best Regards

Quantum Electric Monk

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You can try to flash Berryboot to an SD card! There are greater choices of supported distros there! just make sure you are connected via ethernet!