433Mhz wireless

[Tom Enos]

Thanks to Paul's work on networking via UDP, I have posted a working version that will allow for a wired network of RPI to share a lightshow.

But I was thinking, 433 modules are super cheap, I just ordered 2 pairs of transmitters and receivers for less then $2.00, it was cheaper then 1 transmitter and 2 receivers.

But the RPI has limitations, lightshowpi uses Raspbain which is not a RTOS, so transmitting the signals would be a problem, and you need something at the other end to receive the signals.  $20.00 to $35.00 for a second RPI can add upto a lot of cash for 2-4 remotes.  But arduinos like the mini and nano can be had for $2.00-$4.00 on ebay (even uno clones are less the $5.00), so adding a few 433 modules and an arduino would be less the $10.00 (with an uno, $5.00 with say a nano).  Should we think about doing a version of lightshowpi that would support something like this?  Keeping it low cost and simple is the goal, right?  I have been looking around and I think I can do this for cheap.  I have several arduinos laying around, 2 RPIs, and as I said ordered some 433 modules.  I have also been pricing out a box that would be a complete stand alone remote for the lightshow.  It's about $60, is water tight and connects wired to the RPI over I2C (3 wires and includes on board 5V power supply)  But if I could get the code right, I think it could be made for the same $60.00 or less, but be wireless.  The draw back is that we now add the arduino code to our code base and it is not in python.  But it's only a few sketch that the users would needs to upload to the arduino.

I have also been working on the addressable led strips (been using apa102s).  I also find a limitation there.  5m @ 144 leds is not a problem.  It's at the limit of the B+ I am using for testing.  But I think if we put an arduino in as a go between we could run a lot of these.  WS2812s are the the one that are cheap, but use a single wire, the RPI can't do that with lightshowpi, but and arduino can.  So it would be a cheap addon that would open up some possibilities.

Thoughts?

[Stephen Burning]

Have you looked at the just announced pi zero? It's a raspberry pi that Is $5 dollars. No idea about capabilities though.

[Tom Slick]

Pi Zero, I did not hear about that yet.

On Thu, Nov 26, 2015 at 4:08 AM, Stephen Burning <stephen...@gmail.com> wrote:

Have you looked at the just announced pi zero?  It's a raspberry pi that Is $5 dollars. No idea about capabilities though.

--
http://www.lightshowpi.org/
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to a topic in the Google Groups "LightShow Pi Developers" group.
To unsubscribe from this topic, visit https://groups.google.com/d/topic/lightshowpi-dev/Ju6YudGAkoo/unsubscribe.
To unsubscribe from this group and all its topics, send an email to lightshowpi-d...@googlegroups.com.
To post to this group, send email to lightsh...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/lightshowpi-dev/c9385f9b-6c91-4ca5-bc07-471cbe67e819%40googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.

[Tom Enos]

Looks like it was announced this morning.  1Ghz a11, 512Mb memory.  Not bad.  But for this application it has the same problems.  It would have to be programmed bare metal or would need a RTOS.  But that remote box I was making could become a lightshowpi in a box for about $70

[chris usey]

You mention a wired network, what prevents this from working over WiFi?  Is it stable enough to pull into master?

--
http://www.lightshowpi.org/
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "LightShow Pi Developers" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to lightshowpi-d...@googlegroups.com.

To post to this group, send email to lightsh...@googlegroups.com.

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/lightshowpi-dev/b69ccc3d-f715-4cb4-8b78-0805755346f3%40googlegroups.com.

[Tom Slick]

I think it's ready for master.  The problem with using over wifi is lag.  The serving pi can be on wifi and the lag is not noticeable, but the clients need to me wired.  But as I said it works really well. 

--
http://www.lightshowpi.org/
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to a topic in the Google Groups "LightShow Pi Developers" group.
To unsubscribe from this topic, visit https://groups.google.com/d/topic/lightshowpi-dev/Ju6YudGAkoo/unsubscribe.
To unsubscribe from this group and all its topics, send an email to lightshowpi-d...@googlegroups.com.

To post to this group, send email to lightsh...@googlegroups.com.

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/lightshowpi-dev/4F5B6472-D43A-4B6B-808C-27E00F80BBA5%40gmail.com.

[Paul Barnett]

I know this is an old thread, but I'm a recent subscriber and am just catching up....

There are at least a couple of RTOS's available for the RPi:

http://blog.richardweiss.org/2015/06/27/raspberry-pi-bitthunder.html

http://www.stevebate.net/chibios-rpi/GettingStarted.html

But, an Arduino may be a better choice for this, especially if it can be wireless.  It would be really nice to be able to put a remote box outside at the head of a string of lights, and power it from the same 120VAC feed.

How many channels in a remote box?