Monsterborg and pi Zero W

Submitted by baddwarf on Wed, 12/01/2021 - 16:26

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Hi all,

I'm new to this but I'd like to get a MonsterBorg. I saw on the Kickstarter page that it was intended for Pi 3 and Pi Zero and compatible with the Pi 4 (even if it doesn't respect Pi 4 specs). Pi 3 is kinda hard to find now and Pi 4 may be a bit overkill. So is it ok to use a Pi Zero with the monsterborg (It wasn't mentinned in the starting guide) ? Will it work with the camera too?

Best regards.

piborg's picture

piborg

Thu, 12/02/2021 - 14:11

MonsterBorg works with the Pi Zero W, but there are some differences that you need to be aware of.

  1. GPIO header
    The larger Pi models come with pins already soldered in for the GPIO, whereas the Pi Zero W usually comes without them. The MonsterBorg kit needs the GPIO pins to be fitted so you may need to solder these in yourself. You can also purchase a Zero W with the header already fitted https://shop.pimoroni.com/products/raspberry-pi-zero-w?variant=394584142...

  2. Mounting holes
    The MonsterBorg chassis has mounting holes intended for the larger Pis, but not the Pi Zero W. This means that only two of the mounting holes line up. You can still mount the ThunderBorg with all four holes, however you may want a spacer to get the correct height. I believe the washers in this kit would be the right kind of height: https://www.piborg.org/motors-mounts-and-wheels-1140/post-set-raspberry-pi

  3. Processing speed
    While the Pi Zero W is faster than the old Pi Zero, it is still a fair bit slower than the old Pi 3. Any of the scripts that do not do camera processing will run fine as-is, but scripts that process the camera image to make decisions will probably run slower. It should be fine for simple processing.

baddwarf

Thu, 12/02/2021 - 15:38

Thank you for your very detailed answer.

I agree that header is a must have. I'll go with a Pi Zero WH. Image processing for decision is not my goal but will it be powerful enough to stream camera through wifi?

The pi Zero 2 would have been a good idea if it was still available and with integrated headers.

Regards,

Regards,

piborg's picture

piborg

Thu, 12/02/2021 - 20:23

Streaming the camera image should be fine :)

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