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Raspberry Pi 4 Setup (legacy)

🇷🇺 Русская версия

Note: RPi 4B is a legacy platform. The primary platform is RPi 5 — see rpi5.md.

Reason for migration: RPi 4 is too slow for real-time detection. YOLO inference on RPi 4: 2.4 FPS (NCNN, 1 thread) vs 14.9 FPS on RPi 5 (pip ncnn native, 4 OMP threads, with preprocessing) — more than a 6x difference. PyTorch is even worse: 1.1 FPS. The sock-finding task requires at least 10 FPS, which RPi 4 cannot deliver.

Guide for preparing a Raspberry Pi 4B to run the SocksTank robot.

Hardware requirements

  • Raspberry Pi 4B (4 GB RAM) — legacy, for new builds RPi 5 is recommended
  • SD card 32 GB+ (Class 10 / A2)
  • ov5647 camera (OmniVision) — included in the Freenove Tank Kit
  • Freenove Tank Robot Kit — assembled following the included instructions
  • Power supply 5V/3A (for RPi 4B) or 5V/5A (for RPi 5)

OS installation

  1. Download Raspberry Pi Imager
  2. Select Raspberry Pi OS (64-bit) — Debian bookworm
  3. In Imager settings (gear icon) configure:
    • Hostname (e.g., tank)
    • Username and password
    • WiFi settings (SSID and password)
    • Enable SSH
  4. Flash the image to the SD card
  5. Insert the card into RPi and power on

Connect via SSH after boot:

ssh user@tank.local
# or by IP if mDNS doesn't work:
ssh user@192.168.x.x

System update

Update the system before installing dependencies:

sudo rm /var/lib/apt/lists/*.debian.org_*
sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade -y

Without this step some packages (emacs-nox, libcap-dev) may fail to install.

Installing dependencies

System utilities

sudo apt install htop mc emacs-nox git screen

Freenove Tank Kit dependencies

Run the setup script from the Freenove kit. It installs all required libraries and configures the camera type (ov5647):

cd ~/Freenove_Tank_Robot_Kit_for_Raspberry_Pi/Code
sudo python setup.py

Additional libraries

For LED support:

sudo pip install rpi_ws281x --break-system-packages

For servo support (hardware PWM):

sudo pip install rpi-hardware-pwm --break-system-packages

Camera setup

Installing libraries

sudo apt install libcap-dev python3-picamera2

Or via pip:

sudo pip install picamera2 --break-system-packages

Configuring /boot/firmware/config.txt

Add to the end of the file:

start_x=1
gpu_mem=512

# dtoverlay=vc4-kms-v3d
dtoverlay=cma,cma-320
dtoverlay=dmaheap,size=128M
dtoverlay=ov5647

Reboot the RPi after changes (sudo reboot).

Verifying the camera

v4l2-ctl --device /dev/video0 --all

The camera is mounted upside down, so Transform(vflip=True) is used in the code.

Autostart setup

The pigpiod daemon must start automatically on boot for GPIO access.

Script ~/start.sh

#!/bin/sh
sleep 5
sudo pigpiod

Configuring autostart

mkdir -p ~/.config/autostart
chmod +x ~/start.sh

Create file ~/.config/autostart/start.desktop:

[Desktop Entry]
Type=Application
Name=start
NoDisplay=true
Exec=/home/user/start.sh
chmod +x ~/.config/autostart/start.desktop

Static IP (optional)

If the RPi is connected via WiFi and you need a fixed IP:

sudo nmcli con modify "YOUR_WIFI_SSID" ipv4.addresses 192.168.x.x/24
sudo nmcli con modify "YOUR_WIFI_SSID" ipv4.gateway 192.168.x.1
sudo nmcli con modify "YOUR_WIFI_SSID" ipv4.dns "8.8.8.8"
sudo nmcli con modify "YOUR_WIFI_SSID" ipv4.method manual
sudo nmcli con up "YOUR_WIFI_SSID"

Replace YOUR_WIFI_SSID with your WiFi network name.

Verifying components

After installing all dependencies, verify that components work:

cd ~/Freenove_Tank_Robot_Kit_for_Raspberry_Pi/Code/Server/

# Test LEDs
sudo python test.py Led

# Test servos (claw, lift)
sudo python test.py Servo

# Test motors (movement)
sudo python test.py Motor

If everything works — the tank is ready.

Overclocking (optional)

Overclocking can improve inference performance but increases heat. Good cooling is required.

Add to /boot/firmware/config.txt:

arm_freq=2147
gpu_freq=750
over_voltage=6
force_turbo=1
sdram_freq=3200

Reboot and verify the frequency:

lscpu | grep "CPU max MHz"

Warning: without active cooling (fan or heatsink) overclocking may cause throttling and instability.

Installing ultralytics (YOLO)

pip install ultralytics[extra] --break-system-packages

If you get a numpy.dtype size changed error after installation:

ValueError: numpy.dtype size changed, may indicate binary incompatibility.
Expected 96 from C header, got 88 from PyObject

Reinstall picamera2 and simplejpeg:

pip install --upgrade picamera2 simplejpeg --break-system-packages

VNC access (optional)

For remote desktop access to the RPi:

  1. Enable VNC via raspi-config: 
    sudo raspi-config
# Interface Options → VNC → Enable
  2. Connect from your computer using RealVNC Viewer
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