We are in process of setup a smart filed controller, would any RasPi work or it needs to be very specific version?
Thanks
CJ
You do not need rPi5 for field control. We have found rPi4 are great with proper ventilation, proper uSB data cables. In our situation we also run two displays off the rPi4 - one facing teams on field, and second displaying audience facing leader boards (rankings, skills, …) and for alliance selections… very versatile… rPi3 have been workhorses for many years, but would not recommend them if purchasing new as you can get rPi 4 for under $100.
Do note that I suspect support for Le Potato will be gone next season, it was a solution right after Covid and supplies of rPi were really low and super expensive.
4 Likes
I like pi3 for this, I don’t need to mess with micro HDMI cables. You can still find them for sale at reasonable prices.
3 Likes
I very much agree with Foster.
We have dozens of model 3Bs that we use for all TM duties (including field control) and they work just fine even though they’re all 7 years old at this point.
And literally today I went and bought a micro HDMI cable to replace one that broke while we were setting up for an event a couple of weeks ago. The micro connector broke off the cable and had to be extracted from the device it was plugged into. This isn’t the first time this has happened either. Avoid micro HDMI if at all possible.
At this point I would still choose the 3B+ over the 4B - it’s a better fit for purpose. The price is less important than suitability and reliability.
3 Likes
The reason we do not run into this problem is that our gear is stored wired up for the next competition. Our use case of multi-head display allows us to have dedicated audience facing display alongside the field.
The raspberry Pi are great work horses all in all. We have mix of 3s, 4s, and 400s.
Now if you want to talk about bad connections, VEX V5 Brain microUSB has more negative impact to the VRC community.
2 Likes
Same. Often we set up at different schools and there’s always that one extra “we found another rolling cart with a big monitor, let’s set an extra display”. With the Pi4, after many setups and teardown, the micro-HDMI cables get lost, misplaced, forgotten (ask me how I know). Tried little dongles to convert to regular size, but that port is a bit fragile to keep them packed like that. But a regular size HDMI cable? You look around you find one. Also because we use PoE, the Pi5 is too power hungry, consumes too many Amps, makes too much heat (yes you get fantastic performance but it’s overkill for TM). So until Dave kicks it out of his supported devices list, we stick with Pi3B+.
3 Likes
Another option that we have found that we like are the little mini PCs. They run WIndows 11, so they can run an entire version of tournament manager. They also have three HDMI ports, so they can run multiple displays off of one box. We connect them to a wireless mouse/keyboard and it very convenient.
Oh this is a great idea. We do have old laptop running on Windows 11. Will this eliminate the need for RasPi (maybe a silly question) ?
It can. You can connect a field controller directly to a mini PC.
Yes, you can run them and when TM comes up you select “Connect to a remote tournament” and off you go.
I like the Raspberry Pi method, because I can reconfigure what the Pi thinks it is (audience, pit, field display) on the fly. It’s a little harder when it’s a remote PC.
But the cool thing is that you can mix and match and work out what is best for you.
3 Likes
Yes. We do use both of them in our setup as well. I currently have 4 raspberry pis and 3 mini PCs. But, if I am going to buy something new, it’s going to be a mini PC.
I have been running the Pi5 for my audience / pit displays and taking advantage of running two screens on one device. All of my fields are 3B+ and have worked without issue except for the latest “sometimes the field timer doesn’t display” issue.
1 Like
Ive been running pi4 since 2021 without issues, except for ventalation and cables like previously mentioned. The new VEX TM did have a lot of glitches within the pi system, but a lot of that seems to be worked out, with the newest updates.
I swear by pi4, u dont need the power of pi5 as of yet, but I have one for my personal use. I tried using potatos but never could get the wifi to work properly, yes I do everything on wifi, cause it works and less wires to setup.
I just picked up a couple of Argon ONE V2 Cases (also available on Amazon). It has a little daughter board in it that converts the micro-HDMI ports to full size HDMI ports. It is a little pricey for a RPi case ($25), but is a good build quality and will avoid the potential issues that the micro-HDMI ports pose.
4 Likes
Looks like a nice case, I ordered one from Amazon to try it out. $20-25 for a metal case is on the high end, but it looks pretty sturdy and it’s well worth it to not deal with micro-HDMI.
Sadly, Amazon has pushed delivery dates to Friday, looks like the ability to cram things into before Christmas is over 
But thanks for the lead.
1 Like
Not that high - built in fan, power switch, full size HDMI … good features well thought out.
Will be ordering one myself - got to keep up with Foster 
1 Like