SparkFun Forums

[saintaardvark]

Hi all -- I'm new to Arduino and Sparkfun, so I've got some basic questions on the MLX90614 temperature sensor. If there's a better forum for this question, please let me know.

I want to make a cloud sensor using the MLX90614 temperature sensor, and I'm wondering if I can start by testing it with a Raspberry Pi, rather than jumping in right away to a RedBoard. (Electronics are new to me, but I'm quite familiar with Linux and programming in general). After reading the tutorial guide, my understanding is:

• I can connect the evaluation board to an FTDI cable/breakout board, and hook that up via USB to the Pi. The default sketch in the evaluation board will give me temperatures in Fahrenheit once per second over a serial port. Later, I can change the sketch by using the Arduino IDE. Pro: Quick to start, USB is dirt simple, and I don't need a RedBoard or similar. Cons: Not as flexible as it would be if connected to RedBoard, since that would give it lots of expansion possibilities (humidity sensor, motion-activated potato cannon, etc. )
• I can connect the evaluation board to the Pi via I2C. Can still reprogram the sketch later. Pro: Not really sure. Cons: Have to build my own I2C connector....not that hard, from what I can see, but I'm a newbie.
• I can get the bare sensor (no eval board) and hook it up to the Pi via I2C. Pro: Unsure. Cons: Much more fiddly than anything I've tried before.
• I can jump right in to Arduino and get an Inventor's Kit. I can use the bare sensor (as shown in the tutorial -- start on breadboard, package it up somehow when I'm confident it's working), or the eval board (doing something like this example), using I2C in both cases. Pro: Lots of room for expansion, Arduinos are fun, etc. Cons: Will take me a while to get up to speed.

Assuming I've got all that right...my inclination is to start with the FTDI breakout board and USB; that'll make the learning curve easier, and I can get the Inventor's kit later on.

Have I got all that right? Is there anything I missed? Anything wrong with my approach?

Thanks in advance for any feedback!