• Selection Guide ,
• Tags: Arduino vs Raspberry pi
• 06 Sep

Arduino vs raspberry pi for IoT is one of the latest most controversial topics in computer science. Choosing the accurate hardware for the development of IoT projects is amongst the most crucial tasks in the IoT success process. That’s why Arduino vs Raspberry pi for IoT is always confusing and make a hard decision for people. In today’s tutorial, we will try to simplify this task and will try to breakdown the parameters to remember while choosing between Arduino and Raspberry pi for your next IoT Project.

What is IoT?

IoT symbolizes the internet of things and it refers to the giant network of connected physical objects. By being inculcated with sensors, software, network, and electronics these nested systems allow the connected objects to communicate with each other and swap data with other objects throughout the internet. 

Development boards

The development boards are important for running the code of the project and furnishing you with the results you require for the accomplishment of your project. Many factors are considered for inspection like total cost, functionality, speed, power, storage capacity, coding, etc, to decide whether a certain electronic board is perfect for your project or creates problems for you. Well, there are too many choices but two of them are in demand for IoT- Arduino & Raspberry Pi. Before going into the details of the comparison among Arduino vs raspberry pi for IoT, we would like to tell you about them individually,  so that you may have a clear idea regarding these boards.

Arduino is an electronic platform that is used to design devices. It makes electronics more adaptable. It consists of software and a circuit board which is acknowledged as a microcontroller. These boards accept inputs, read them and then convert them into an output.

Raspberry Pi is a concatenation of tiny computers evolved by the Raspberry Pi Foundation in the UK. These fun-size computers are basically used in learning programming by people of all ages. It is simply plugged into a monitor and works by using a normal keyboard and mouse. 

Parameters comparison

Following are the key metrics for choosing the best board with explaining the contrast between Arduino vs raspberry pi for IoT ;

• Development languages: Arduino doesn’t run on any operating system so it supports only C/C++ language along with Arduino IDE. Raspberry Pi has an operating system named Raspbian formulated on Debian Linux which supports many languages like Java, PHP, Python, C/C++, .Net, etc.

• Power requirement: The power range on which Arduino works is 7-12 V while the power range up to 5V is enough for Raspberry Pi. So Pi boards consume lower power than Arduino boards.  Moreover, Arduino doesn’t need to go through a shutdown process while Raspberry Pi goes through a formal shutdown process.
• Functionality: If data has to be collected from various sensors and the internet and then needs to provide an output on a screen, Raspberry Pi will be the best option for such IoT projects as it is stronger and faster than Arduino and can handle multi-tasks at the same time. In contrast,  Arduino boards are best to use in those projects which need to perform a single task at a time. For example, turning a light off or on, locking or unlocking a door. 
• Storage capacity: Arduino contains 32 KB flash memory, 2KB RAM, and 1 KB EEPROM whereas Raspberry contains a proper Linux operating system, 32 GB SD Card, 512 RAM along with HDMI, and USB ports. 
• Computing power: Arduino runs on an 8-bit ATmega328 chip at only 20 MHz and Raspberry Pi works with ARM 11 CPU at 700 MHz. This difference between computing powers means a lot. 
• Connectivity: For connectivity purposes, Raspberry consists of an incorporated Ethernet port and USB ports to connect with WIFI dongles whereas, Arduino has no incorporated network connectivity port so it needs auxiliary hardware.
• Cost: Raspberry is a full-fledged mini-computer so it’s more costly than Arduino so the selection of the board depends on the functionality and needs of the project. Decision to buy Raspberry pi is just a waste of money if Arduino can fulfill your requirements. Furthermore, you can get a new Arduino board for just 20-25 USD while Pi boards may reach up to 55 USD. 
• Performance: Raspberry Pi takes more time to start off due to a proper operating system and you are not sure about your code that it will execute as expected eventually after restarting whereas Arduino starts immediately because of its simplicity and executes commands fastly one after another. Moreover, Arduino boards are usually easier to maintain and unlikely to fail.

We shouldn’t always find a way out among Arduino vs raspberry pi for IoT. In fact, both boards can flawlessly work together according to the demand of an IoT project.