Device procurement #

Points:

• Raspberry Pi has a stated warranty date of supply
• Some Raspberry Pi Foundation peripherals and cases have a guaranteed supply
  • Supply of third-party products is often uncertain

Software systems with physical devices should always be aware of hardware procurement to prepare for a hardware malfunction at the beginning of system construction.

Raspberry Pis are guaranteed to be supplied at least to the following date. The supply statement can be found on each product page on the official Raspberry Pi page.

An IoT system requires computers with various devices, including cameras, cases, power cables, power adapters, mounters to fix a case, and a mounter for adjusting a camera angle.

The following are some of the leading Raspberry Pi Foundation peripherals with a guaranteed supply:

Some third-party products cannot cope with sudden supply changes, and many do not have a supply guarantee. When making a selection, it is desirable to build a sufficiently reliable supply chain.

Device selection #

When designing the system, it is necessary to select the device according to the installation environment.

device #

For new purchases, we recommend Raspberry Pi 4 Model B for future availability.

Actcast recommends starting with simple tasks and doing more complex tasks while collecting data. For example, if you have retail stores and plan to introduce an application that only plays videos first and then introduce a more complex application with machine learning, purchasing devices with larger memory should be better.

micro SD card #

A micro SD card is the most fragile part of the Raspberry Pi. A highly reliable micro SD card contributes to the system’s lifespan in an unexpected power failure or data read/write. If your project budget allows, you should deploy a commercial-grade micro SD card.

Power cable adapter #

When using models up to Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+ #

Devices up to Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+ are powered using a micro USB port. If you run a deep learning model at high speed, you may run out of power capacity depending on the quality of the cable and adapter.

We recommend a cable adapter of 5.1 V, 3A. Before purchasing in large quantities, it is good to ensure that the voltage is stable and does not drop below 5V under the appropriate load conditions.

For Raspberry Pi 4 #

The Raspberry Pi 4 is powered using a 5V / 3A or higher USB Type-C cable. Each supplier sells a power adapter for the Raspberry Pi 4.

Case #

A case is essential for stable operation. Since the Raspberry Pi has an exposed board, it may touch a conductive object and make short-circuit without a case. Even if there is no such thing nearby, dust may accumulate and occur short-circuit.

On the other hand, depending on the case, heat may be trapped. When the temperature exceeds a certain level, the Raspberry Pi keeps the processor’s clock low and tries to stop the temperature rise, resulting in poor performance. If the temperature continues to rise, it may cause unpredictable malfunctions and shorten the service life. Resin cases tend to retain heat, but they are often cheap. The metal case has good thermal conductivity. A case with a fan is useful against heat, but since the fan itself is a driving component, it can also cause failure due to dust.

The case is also involved in the installation and fixing of the device. Check if there is a function for fixing such as screw holes.

When using the Camera Module, it may be convenient to use a case for a built-in mechanism for the camera. Or, you can choose a case for the Camera Module in itself.

Outdoor case #

When installing devices outdoors, there are many things to be aware of compared to indoors. Water resistance, dust resistance, heat resistance, and cold resistance are required.

If the incident light is too strong and affects performance, a lens hood is useful as a countermeasure. Not limited to cases, unexpected situations such as cable bites by animals are more likely to occur than indoors. It will be necessary to operate and improve the system while building a system that can respond to incidents.

camera #

There are two types of cameras.

• CSI camera
  • Raspberry Pi Foundation Camera Module etc.
• USB camera

A supply guarantee backs the official Raspberry Pi Foundation Camera Module. Many of the CSI cameras currently on the market for the Raspberry Pi require manual focus adjustment. If you want to eliminate the preparation process as much as possible, you can also use a USB camera with an autofocus function. Please select in light of the project request.

If you do not perform full-scale construction, like for POC purposes, USB cameras that come with a fixing device will be convenient. It can be easily fixed by using a tripod mounter.

Other peripherals #

In addition to USB / CSI, devices that connect using GPIO pins can be used.

Also, the devices that can be used with Actcast have the following restrictions.

• Cannot use devices that require rewriting the OS image
  • It is necessary to install a particular driver.
    • For example, if you need an additional dtb file
• Peripherals connected via Bluetooth are not available