I’m looking into purchasing a couple RasPi 4s and monitors to use as timers for my fields. Has anybody used the RasPis successfully via Wifi with Tournament Manager? I’m looking to run 3-4 fields for our VEX IQ tournaments.
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I use the Raspberry Pis all the time and they work well. I usually run the “critical” displays (field monitors, skills field) as hard-wired, and then run the ancillary displays (pit display, queuing display, audience display, etc.) wirelessly, especially because they are often located in a more remote location from my competition area. This is a bigger deal to me for VRC than IQ, though, because the RPi actually controls the matches for VRC. You should be fine running field monitors via wifi for IQ.
I actually use RPi 3B+, I haven’t used the RPi 4 (at least not for TM). The nice thing about the 3B+ is that it has a full-size HDMI port. It looks like it will more come down to what you can find in stock, though.
I would say the biggest issue I have run into with the Rasberry Pis in general is making sure the power supply is delivering enough power. There are a lot of cheap power supplies that claim to have enough power but they often underperform. This year I added POE hats to several units and they have been working very well. If you have a POE switch you just need a single ethernet cable and don’t have to worry about the power supply. That obviously won’t work with running them wirelessly, though.
To run an RPi wirelessly you will need to be plugged into network at first so you can get to the wifi configuration. If you have access to the network that you will be using at the event, you can set them all up ahead of time and enter in the network info and then you just need to pull them out and plug them in for the event.
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Awesome. Thank you for the info!
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We do the same, also with 3b+. I hope someone can weigh in on using the 4
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Another 3B+ user checking in, the full size HDMI port for the win. I have 14 of them, most events I use one on each field (4) and then 4 large monitors (48"). The rest of the Pi’s are spare. Power supplies are a big deal, spend some extra on a good one, and I like ones with the inline switches.
Pre set up and test, sometimes getting all the Pis to check in is a pain. Remember you can use your browser to get to the TM running on the Pi – use the IP address.
Good luck trying to find Pi boards, they sell out quickly. Most places only have them in bundles.
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Worth noting this post about newer Pi 4 units. VEX Tournament Manager Install on Raspberry Pi 4 - #5 by Daniel_Wood
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I use 3B+, 28 of them on an average match day (yes we have displays everywhere). I don’t know that the 4 is fully supported by TM yet. I have trouble using them over wifi in my building, so everything is hard wired. All of my fields are setup POE. I also highly recommend these monitors running POE as well: Amazon.com
This is the exact monitor used at worlds 2018 and 2019.
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This is great info! I will look into getting the Pi 3B+. I really appreciate it!
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The Pi4 is fully supported, modulo the other issue mentioned that we just found out about where there’s apparently a newer bootloader in the wild that does not work with our existing image that we’ll hopefully resolve soon.
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Im trying to set up both DSI and HDMI. Im able to get display on both 7inch touch screen and a monitor at 1920 X 1080
Unfortunately my touch screen streches to match HDMI display. They work seperate fine. Has anyone used both DSI and HDMI to display
DSI is 7inch touch screen 800X480
Also have been unsuccessful in ssh/vnc when TM is installed on Raspberry pi 4
Do we have a TM image that has ssh/vnc activated?
I have tested Rpi TM with my Model 3b+ with an attached screen. In this video, I ran it wirelessly.
Ohhh Myyy
Your set up looks just like our what we are setting for Over The Peninsula Feb 17
I had it all on one subnet with wifi and works like a charm with single gateway to the internet.
The DSI with 7 inch monitor with Smart Field Controller is on the PIT for kids to see but I need to run the second monitor form the same pi on micro HDMI and Pi4 does not have enough power to switch.
Since all these PI’s are headless we cannot ssh / vnc into it.
If I can ssh I can configure for both DSI and HDMI to work. Let me know if you were able to ssh into TM Raspberry pi once we have TM image flashed in.
Running few last tests before I pack it all up (neatly, ignore the clutter )
We will be testing at event location to make sure it works well once my gateway is exposed to school network. Happy to share network diagram if intrested
Note: 7 inch display is fantastic… but kids feel they need a bigger display so we have one next to smart field controller (reduces wiring clutter) and a separate a bit bigger monitor 1080 res displaying the counter and field display like 6 feet apart so audiences can see it.
BTW
These are all Pi4B and 5 amp power supply still not enough when to power both DSI and HDMI. It works some times but not all the time consistently
My EP wanted me to think of ways to reduce wiring for Regionals. I knew kids would want a bigger monitor, but this 7" display is the cheapest I can find with good reviews.
Yeap agree, we also went the same path reduce wires. We have 7 rasberry pi’s. By having them on Wifi we have cut 7 ethernet cables. Now having this 7 inch monitor which is way brighter than other regular monitors we have cut 7 more hdmi cables and 7 power cords for monitors. That lots of wires we have eliminated
The only worry I have is Wifi is beta and I have Pi 4,
I know wifi is very stable in pi5’s so we have back up plan only for ethernet cables to be available just in case wifi goes hay way. I have tested these units running for more than 12 hours and shut it down multiple times. It all came back with Smart Field Controllers connecting within 45 seconds
Preety impressive
Here is our latest scoring screen assembly. The QuikLok allows us to mount them on speaker stands. Raise them up and plug them in, and they are ready to go.
The power cable is 25 feet so it matches our typical spacing between VRC fields.
The next version will include a mount for the brain and standoffs to wind the four field control cables
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I tested my Rpi 100ft+ and it worked well. I was impressed.
It also showed strong wifi connection in the /wifi page.