Comment on Slurrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrp
froh42@lemmy.world 3 weeks agoThis is being produced in relatively low numbers (thousands) , so software development is a factor. Just plopping a scripted browser in kiosk mode on Debian is cheaper than ESP32 UI development.
outhouseperilous@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 weeks ago
Idk, if they’re plugging in one for each screen it sounds like a lot; there are libraries to do most of this. It wpuld only take me about a month or someone competent a couple days to write this.
So there’s a computer hardware cost that goes from ~5x(4?) Per machine to ~45x4 per machine. That’s ~ 2 hours of code per machine difference that this would make, assuming you were paying ~80/hr to write it, which is reasonable.
Even assuming no code was needed for the pi, production takes twice as long as expected, and electricity costs don’t matter (which, next to the condenser; they may not) you break even at ~16 machines. 20 if you want to throw in some other random arbitrary cost.
Even if you assune pi 0’s, at, what 20/each? You still break even before 100 units.
So it would take less than a hundred machines for smaller chips to pay off. I’d believe an exec didnt (even ask someone else to) do this math, but how long have pi’s had multiple video out’s?
froh42@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
For an Esp32 you’d need to take a larger model which has psram. With the Pi, yes a is take a zero (Zero 2w or so). The Pi already has hdmi on board and a graphics chip and accelerator, while for the ESP32 you’d need a custom solution.
The price difference is maybe 10 Dollars per piece or so. On the PI I have 512Mb of RAM and what ever SD they put in for storage. On the Esp32 I have 8 psram or so and a tiny bit of flash.
Ah right, for the ESP i probably need to wire up a sd card, custom board, all that stuff, to just store that 24bit 1024x768bit image.
Naah, while I love my ESPs and am just build a project with one - the PI is just so more competent for this task while still being damn cheap.
0x0@lemmy.zip 3 weeks ago
X11 can easily handle multiple screens.
Not sure about the Pi’s limitations but COTS SBCs can too.
outhouseperilous@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 weeks ago
Can’t read the text in the image but i’m informed it’s a crash.
Which would mean that machine, or that virtual machine, is not on any of the other screens. Right?
0x0@lemmy.zip 3 weeks ago
Yeah, it seems as though it’s one controlling (virtual) machine per dispenser, so 1:1 to the screens.