KONSTANTINOS MAVRIDIS asked 10 months ago
Dear Sara and Rui Santos, First of all I would like to congratulate you on your writing work and tell you that the effort you are doing is finding fertile ground for many people who want to get acquainted with the wonderful world of technology. I would like your opinion on remote control of devices and sensors connected to Arduino and Raspberry microcontrollers. The question is to select an e-course and book from your suggested e-platform for use in the vocational school where I teach. In your opinion which of the two microcontrollers should I prefer based on the features and stability they offer for remote control. Also I would like you to tell me what you think about ESP32 and ESP8266 and who would you suggest I start my experiments with. I look forward to hearing your thoughts on my above questions Sincerely, Mavridis Kostas
Sara Santos Staff answered 10 months ago
Hi.
Thanks for your question.
For teaching in school, I think the best option is the Raspberry Pi Pico.
It is super easy to program using MicroPython and it is very intuitive to use. I haven’t found any issues connecting to the REPL or connection problems like sometimes we have for other boards.
Additionally, it is very affordable, which is usually a big factor in schools.
At the moment, I’m writing an eBook for the Raspberry Pi Pico that should be released in March (if everything goes according to planned).
If you want remote control of sensors, I wouldn’t use Arduino because it doesn’t come with Wi-Fi by default. However, it can be a good option for those starting with electronics and programming.
As for ESP32 and ESP8266, I would choose ESP32 because it has better specs and is more recent.
If you’re also considering a Raspberry Pi (not Pico), it is like a full computer with an operating system, and it can be used as a hub to connect several microcontroller boards or devices, install software, and much more. Take a look here: https://randomnerdtutorials.com/smart-home-ebook/ and see the application overview to have a better idea of what you can achieve with the Raspberry Pi.
Of course, the Raspberry Pi also comes with GPIOs and is also good for teaching physical computing.
Let me know if you have more questions.
Regards,
Sara
KONSTANTINOS MAVRIDIS answered 10 months ago
Dear Sara, First of all thank you very much for the quick response to my questions. I really appreciate your opinion and that’s why I reached out to you. At the school where I teach, unfortunately, we don’t have raspberry, only arduino. I use raspberry for my own applications, therefore I know its capabilities, but at this stage we can’t save money to buy more such devices. So I thought we’d get some ESP 32, since you suggest them, and in conjunction with your book ”Learn ESP32 with Arduino IDE” have the students do some of the suggested projects. At some point in the future, I am thinking of getting the book you recommend “SMART HOME with Raspberry Pi, ESP32, and ESP8266 eBook” and using it for the benefit of my students.
Best regards
Kostas
Sara Santos Staff answered 10 months ago
Hi again.
Thanks for your feedback.
The cost of a Raspberry Pi Pico W (the microcontroller) will be similar to the cost of an ESP32. And it can achieve most things an ESP32 can do.
Depending on the expertise level of your students, a Raspberry Pi Pico W would be better than an ESP32, because micropython language is much simpler and intuitive than C/C++.
However, if they are already familiar with programming the Arduino using Arduino IDE, using ESP32 with Arduino IDE would be a great option.
Regards,
Sara