There is a user on github who has micropython running as an embedded OS on a pi zero and pi2:
Has anyone explored getting a brickpi3 to work in a scenario like this? The github repo has a sample code snippet on how to interact with the GPIO pins. Are there detailed specs somewhere on how to control the brickpi3 via GPIO?
The BrickPi3 uses SPI to communicate with the Raspberry Pi, so you’d need a library built on top of these low level functions (like the GPIO functions) in order for you to be able to actuate the BrickPi3.
Why would you want to run micropython on the RaspberryPi? It makes sense on very low-powered devices that don’t have much resources, but not so much on the Raspberry Pi, which has hundreds of megabytes of RAM and plenty of CPU power. Or am I missing something?
And the original micropython repo built by Damien George already has an amrhf/x86 implementation of micropython. Maybe you can give that a try too.
Thank you!
The thought being if all I am doing is running python programs on debian couldn’t I squeeze more performance out of a pi zero via micropython as the OS. I’m not sure yet if I am going to take this on…still in the brainstorming/research phase.
Is the brickpi3 -> pi communication protocol documented publicly? (I follow you that it uses SPI for the transport)
Ignore that last question…found this
https://www.dexterindustries.com/BrickPi/brickpi3-technical-design-details/brickpi3-communication-protocol/
Python should be way more than enough for most applications. One application where the Raspberry Pi is limited is in computer vision or AI, in most other cases you will be okay.
If you’re really interested in squeezing the most out of the Raspberry Pi, then I’d suggest you switch to a compiled language, such as C/C++, Rust or even GoLang (which is easier than the former 2). Python can’t even start competing with these in terms of raw performance.
Thank you!