I recently delivered the following half-hour presentation at pdxnode. The description is from the meeting summary.

  • Talk: Node.js on (Raspberry) Pi: A Crash Course
  • Description: A quick introduction to the hardware of a Raspberry Pi, followed by a maximally simplified procedure for getting a minimal headless Pi running Node.js without keyboard or monitor. Highlighted the Comitup library for easy WiFi connection via captive portal.

Provided sample applications and minimal code demos for playing sound from the audio jack (mpg123 utility), sending/receiving data via a USB port (serialport module), binary input/output via GPIO pins (onoff), and communication with sensors via the 1-wire protocol (device-specific modules). Considered caveats around containerization (access to hardware), ARM architecture (software compatibility) and security (need to protect local networks).