{"id":5220,"date":"2013-11-26T10:43:34","date_gmt":"2013-11-26T09:43:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.walkingrandomly.com\/?p=5220"},"modified":"2013-11-26T10:43:34","modified_gmt":"2013-11-26T09:43:34","slug":"playing-with-mathematica-on-raspberry-pi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/walkingrandomly.com\/?p=5220","title":{"rendered":"Playing with Mathematica on Raspberry Pi"},"content":{"rendered":"

As soon as I heard the news that Mathematica was being made available completely free on the Raspberry Pi<\/a>, I just had to get myself a Pi and have a play.\u00a0 So, I bought the Raspberry Pi Advanced Kit<\/a> from my local Maplin Electronics store, plugged it to the kitchen telly and booted it up.\u00a0 The exercise made me miss my father because the last time I plugged a computer into the kitchen telly was when I was 8 years old; it was Christmas morning and dad and I took our first steps into a new world with my Sinclair Spectrum 48K<\/a>.<\/p>\n

How to install Mathematica on the Raspberry Pi<\/strong><\/p>\n

Future raspberry pis wll have Mathematica installed by default but mine wasn’t new enough so I just typed the following at the command line<\/p>\n

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install wolfram-engine<\/pre>\n
On my machine, I was told<\/p>\n
The following extra packages will be installed:\r\n  oracle-java7-jdk\r\nThe following NEW packages will be installed:\r\n  oracle-java7-jdk wolfram-engine\r\n0 upgraded, 2 newly installed, 0 to remove and 1 not upgraded.\r\nNeed to get 278 MB of archives.\r\nAfter this operation, 588 MB of additional disk space will be used.<\/pre>\n
So, it seems that Mathematica needs Oracle’s Java and that’s being installed for me as well. The combination of the two is going to use up 588MB of disk space which makes me glad that I have an 8Gb SD card in my pi.<\/p>\n
Mathematica version 10!<\/strong><\/p>\n
On starting Mathematica on the pi, my first big surprise was the version number.\u00a0 I am the administrator of an unlimited academic site license for Mathematica at The University of Manchester and the latest version we can get for our PCs at the time of writing is 9.0.1.\u00a0 My free pi version is at version 10!\u00a0 The first clue is the installation directory:<\/p>\n
\/opt\/Wolfram\/WolframEngine\/10.0<\/pre>\n
and the next clue is given by evaluating $Version in Mathematica itself<\/p>\n
In[2]:= $Version\r\n\r\nOut[2]= \"10.0 for Linux ARM (32-bit) (November 19, 2013)\"<\/pre>\n
To get an idea of what’s new in 10, I evaluated the following command on Mathematica on the Pi<\/p>\n
Export[\"PiFuncs.dat\",Names[\"System`*\"]]<\/pre>\n
This creates a PiFuncs.dat file which tells me the list of functions in the System context on the version of Mathematica on the pi. Transfer this over to my Windows PC and import into Mathematica 9.0.1 with<\/p>\n
pifuncs = Flatten[Import[\"PiFuncs.dat\"]];<\/pre>\n
Get the list of functions from version 9.0.1 on Windows:<\/p>\n
winVer9funcs = Names[\"System`*\"];<\/pre>\n
Finally, find out what’s in pifuncs but not winVer9funcs<\/p>\n
In[16]:= Complement[pifuncs, winVer9funcs]\r\n\r\nOut[16]= {\"Activate\", \"AffineStateSpaceModel\", \"AllowIncomplete\", \\\r\n\"AlternatingFactorial\", \"AntihermitianMatrixQ\", \\\r\n\"AntisymmetricMatrixQ\", \"APIFunction\", \"ArcCurvature\", \"ARCHProcess\", \\\r\n\"ArcLength\", \"Association\", \"AsymptoticOutputTracker\", \\\r\n\"AutocorrelationTest\", \"BarcodeImage\", \"BarcodeRecognize\", \\\r\n\"BoxObject\", \"CalendarConvert\", \"CanonicalName\", \"CantorStaircase\", \\\r\n\"ChromaticityPlot\", \"ClassifierFunction\", \"Classify\", \\\r\n\"ClipPlanesStyle\", \"CloudConnect\", \"CloudDeploy\", \"CloudDisconnect\", \\\r\n\"CloudEvaluate\", \"CloudFunction\", \"CloudGet\", \"CloudObject\", \\\r\n\"CloudPut\", \"CloudSave\", \"ColorCoverage\", \"ColorDistance\", \"Combine\", \\\r\n\"CommonName\", \"CompositeQ\", \"Computed\", \"ConformImages\", \"ConformsQ\", \\\r\n\"ConicHullRegion\", \"ConicHullRegion3DBox\", \"ConicHullRegionBox\", \\\r\n\"ConstantImage\", \"CountBy\", \"CountedBy\", \"CreateUUID\", \\\r\n\"CurrencyConvert\", \"DataAssembly\", \"DatedUnit\", \"DateFormat\", \\\r\n\"DateObject\", \"DateObjectQ\", \"DefaultParameterType\", \\\r\n\"DefaultReturnType\", \"DefaultView\", \"DeviceClose\", \"DeviceConfigure\", \\\r\n\"DeviceDriverRepository\", \"DeviceExecute\", \"DeviceInformation\", \\\r\n\"DeviceInputStream\", \"DeviceObject\", \"DeviceOpen\", \"DeviceOpenQ\", \\\r\n\"DeviceOutputStream\", \"DeviceRead\", \"DeviceReadAsynchronous\", \\\r\n\"DeviceReadBuffer\", \"DeviceReadBufferAsynchronous\", \\\r\n\"DeviceReadTimeSeries\", \"Devices\", \"DeviceWrite\", \\\r\n\"DeviceWriteAsynchronous\", \"DeviceWriteBuffer\", \\\r\n\"DeviceWriteBufferAsynchronous\", \"DiagonalizableMatrixQ\", \\\r\n\"DirichletBeta\", \"DirichletEta\", \"DirichletLambda\", \"DSolveValue\", \\\r\n\"Entity\", \"EntityProperties\", \"EntityProperty\", \"EntityValue\", \\\r\n\"Enum\", \"EvaluationBox\", \"EventSeries\", \"ExcludedPhysicalQuantities\", \\\r\n\"ExportForm\", \"FareySequence\", \"FeedbackLinearize\", \"Fibonorial\", \\\r\n\"FileTemplate\", \"FileTemplateApply\", \"FindAllPaths\", \"FindDevices\", \\\r\n\"FindEdgeIndependentPaths\", \"FindFundamentalCycles\", \\\r\n\"FindHiddenMarkovStates\", \"FindSpanningTree\", \\\r\n\"FindVertexIndependentPaths\", \"Flattened\", \"ForeignKey\", \\\r\n\"FormatName\", \"FormFunction\", \"FormulaData\", \"FormulaLookup\", \\\r\n\"FractionalGaussianNoiseProcess\", \"FrenetSerretSystem\", \"FresnelF\", \\\r\n\"FresnelG\", \"FullInformationOutputRegulator\", \"FunctionDomain\", \\\r\n\"FunctionRange\", \"GARCHProcess\", \"GeoArrow\", \"GeoBackground\", \\\r\n\"GeoBoundaryBox\", \"GeoCircle\", \"GeodesicArrow\", \"GeodesicLine\", \\\r\n\"GeoDisk\", \"GeoElevationData\", \"GeoGraphics\", \"GeoGridLines\", \\\r\n\"GeoGridLinesStyle\", \"GeoLine\", \"GeoMarker\", \"GeoPoint\", \\\r\n\"GeoPolygon\", \"GeoProjection\", \"GeoRange\", \"GeoRangePadding\", \\\r\n\"GeoRectangle\", \"GeoRhumbLine\", \"GeoStyle\", \"Graph3D\", \"GroupBy\", \\\r\n\"GroupedBy\", \"GrowCutBinarize\", \"HalfLine\", \"HalfPlane\", \\\r\n\"HiddenMarkovProcess\", \"\u00ef\u008e\u00af\", \"\u00ef\u00a0\u0080\", \"\u00ef\u00a0\u0081\", \"\u00ef\u00a0\u0082\", \"\u00ef\u00a0\u0083\", \"\u00ef\u00a0\u0084\", \\\r\n\"\u00ef\u00a0\u0085\", \"\u00ef\u00a0\u0086\", \"\u00ef\u00a0\u0087\", \"\u00ef\u00a0\u0088\", \"\u00ef\u00a0\u0089\", \"\u00ef\u00a0\u008a\", \"\u00ef\u00a0\u008b\", \"\u00ef\u00a0\u008c\", \"\u00ef\u00a0\u008d\", \"\u00ef\u00a0\u008e\", \\\r\n\"\u00ef\u00a0\u008f\", \"\u00ef\u00a0\u0090\", \"\u00ef\u00a0\u0091\", \"\u00ef\u00a0\u0092\", \"\u00ef\u00a0\u0093\", \"\u00ef\u00a0\u0094\", \"\u00ef\u00a0\u0095\", \"\u00ef\u00a0\u0096\", \"\u00ef\u00a0\u0097\", \"\u00ef\u00a0\u0098\", \\\r\n\"\u00ef\u00a0\u0099\", \"\u00ef\u00a0\u009a\", \"\u00ef\u00a0\u009b\", \"\u00ef\u00a0\u009c\", \"\u00ef\u00a0\u009d\", \"\u00ef\u00a0\u009e\", \"\u00ef\u00a0\u009f\", \"\u00ef\u00a0\u00a0\", \"\u00ef\u00a0\u00a6\", \"\u00ef\u00a0\u00aa\", \\\r\n\"\u00ef\u00a0\u00af\", \"\u00ef\u00a0\\.b2\", \"\u00ef\u00a0\\.b3\", \"IgnoringInactive\", \"ImageApplyIndexed\", \\\r\n\"ImageCollage\", \"ImageSaliencyFilter\", \"Inactivate\", \"Inactive\", \\\r\n\"IncludeAlphaChannel\", \"IncludeWindowTimes\", \"IndefiniteMatrixQ\", \\\r\n\"IndexedBy\", \"IndexType\", \"InduceType\", \"InferType\", \"InfiniteLine\", \\\r\n\"InfinitePlane\", \"InflationAdjust\", \"InflationMethod\", \\\r\n\"IntervalSlider\", \"\u00ef\u00a0\u00a8\", \"\u00ef\u00a0\u00a2\", \"\u00ef\u00a0\u00a9\", \"\u00ef\u00a0\u00a4\", \"\u00ef\u00a0\\[Degree]\", \"\u00ef\u00a0\u00ad\", \\\r\n\"\u00ef\u00a0\u00a1\", \"\u00ef\u00a0\u00ab\", \"\u00ef\u00a0\u00ae\", \"\u00ef\u00a0\u00a7\", \"\u00ef\u00a0\u00a3\", \"\u00ef\u00a0\u00a5\", \"\u00ef\u00a0\\[PlusMinus]\", \\\r\n\"\u00ef\u00a0\\[Not]\", \"JuliaSetIterationCount\", \"JuliaSetPlot\", \\\r\n\"JuliaSetPoints\", \"KEdgeConnectedGraphQ\", \"Key\", \"KeyDrop\", \\\r\n\"KeyExistsQ\", \"KeyIntersection\", \"Keys\", \"KeySelect\", \"KeySort\", \\\r\n\"KeySortBy\", \"KeyTake\", \"KeyUnion\", \"KillProcess\", \\\r\n\"KVertexConnectedGraphQ\", \"LABColor\", \"LinearGradientImage\", \\\r\n\"LinearizingTransformationData\", \"ListType\", \"LocalAdaptiveBinarize\", \\\r\n\"LocalizeDefinitions\", \"LogisticSigmoid\", \"Lookup\", \"LUVColor\", \\\r\n\"MandelbrotSetIterationCount\", \"MandelbrotSetMemberQ\", \\\r\n\"MandelbrotSetPlot\", \"MinColorDistance\", \"MinimumTimeIncrement\", \\\r\n\"MinIntervalSize\", \"MinkowskiQuestionMark\", \"MovingMap\", \\\r\n\"NegativeDefiniteMatrixQ\", \"NegativeSemidefiniteMatrixQ\", \\\r\n\"NonlinearStateSpaceModel\", \"Normalized\", \"NormalizeType\", \\\r\n\"NormalMatrixQ\", \"NotebookTemplate\", \"NumberLinePlot\", \"OperableQ\", \\\r\n\"OrthogonalMatrixQ\", \"OverwriteTarget\", \"PartSpecification\", \\\r\n\"PlotRangeClipPlanesStyle\", \"PositionIndex\", \\\r\n\"PositiveSemidefiniteMatrixQ\", \"Predict\", \"PredictorFunction\", \\\r\n\"PrimitiveRootList\", \"ProcessConnection\", \"ProcessInformation\", \\\r\n\"ProcessObject\", \"ProcessStatus\", \"Qualifiers\", \"QuantityVariable\", \\\r\n\"QuantityVariableCanonicalUnit\", \"QuantityVariableDimensions\", \\\r\n\"QuantityVariableIdentifier\", \"QuantityVariablePhysicalQuantity\", \\\r\n\"RadialGradientImage\", \"RandomColor\", \"RegularlySampledQ\", \\\r\n\"RemoveBackground\", \"RequiredPhysicalQuantities\", \"ResamplingMethod\", \\\r\n\"RiemannXi\", \"RSolveValue\", \"RunProcess\", \"SavitzkyGolayMatrix\", \\\r\n\"ScalarType\", \"ScorerGi\", \"ScorerGiPrime\", \"ScorerHi\", \\\r\n\"ScorerHiPrime\", \"ScriptForm\", \"Selected\", \"SendMessage\", \\\r\n\"ServiceConnect\", \"ServiceDisconnect\", \"ServiceExecute\", \\\r\n\"ServiceObject\", \"ShowWhitePoint\", \"SourceEntityType\", \\\r\n\"SquareMatrixQ\", \"Stacked\", \"StartDeviceHandler\", \"StartProcess\", \\\r\n\"StateTransformationLinearize\", \"StringTemplate\", \"StructType\", \\\r\n\"SystemGet\", \"SystemsModelMerge\", \"SystemsModelVectorRelativeOrder\", \\\r\n\"TemplateApply\", \"TemplateBlock\", \"TemplateExpression\", \"TemplateIf\", \\\r\n\"TemplateObject\", \"TemplateSequence\", \"TemplateSlot\", \"TemplateWith\", \\\r\n\"TemporalRegularity\", \"ThermodynamicData\", \"ThreadDepth\", \\\r\n\"TimeObject\", \"TimeSeries\", \"TimeSeriesAggregate\", \\\r\n\"TimeSeriesInsert\", \"TimeSeriesMap\", \"TimeSeriesMapThread\", \\\r\n\"TimeSeriesModel\", \"TimeSeriesModelFit\", \"TimeSeriesResample\", \\\r\n\"TimeSeriesRescale\", \"TimeSeriesShift\", \"TimeSeriesThread\", \\\r\n\"TimeSeriesWindow\", \"TimeZoneConvert\", \"TouchPosition\", \\\r\n\"TransformedProcess\", \"TrapSelection\", \"TupleType\", \"TypeChecksQ\", \\\r\n\"TypeName\", \"TypeQ\", \"UnitaryMatrixQ\", \"URLBuild\", \"URLDecode\", \\\r\n\"URLEncode\", \"URLExistsQ\", \"URLExpand\", \"URLParse\", \"URLQueryDecode\", \\\r\n\"URLQueryEncode\", \"URLShorten\", \"ValidTypeQ\", \"ValueDimensions\", \\\r\n\"Values\", \"WhiteNoiseProcess\", \"XMLTemplate\", \"XYZColor\", \\\r\n\"ZoomLevel\", \"$CloudBase\", \"$CloudConnected\", \"$CloudDirectory\", \\\r\n\"$CloudEvaluation\", \"$CloudRootDirectory\", \"$EvaluationEnvironment\", \\\r\n\"$GeoLocationCity\", \"$GeoLocationCountry\", \"$GeoLocationPrecision\", \\\r\n\"$GeoLocationSource\", \"$RegisteredDeviceClasses\", \\\r\n\"$RequesterAddress\", \"$RequesterWolframID\", \"$RequesterWolframUUID\", \\\r\n\"$UserAgentLanguages\", \"$UserAgentMachine\", \"$UserAgentName\", \\\r\n\"$UserAgentOperatingSystem\", \"$UserAgentString\", \"$UserAgentVersion\", \\\r\n\"$WolframID\", \"$WolframUUID\"}<\/pre>\n
There we have it, a preview of the list of functions that might be coming in desktop version 10 of Mathematica courtesy of the free Pi version.<\/p>\n
No local documentation<\/strong><\/p>\n
On a desktop version of Mathematica, all of the Mathematica documentation is available on your local machine by clicking on Help<\/strong>->Documentation Center<\/strong> in the Mathematica notebook interface.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>On the pi version, it seems that there is no local documentation, presumably to keep the installation size down.\u00a0 You get to the documentation via the notebook interface by clicking on Help<\/strong>->OnlineDocumentation<\/strong> which takes you to http:\/\/reference.wolfram.com\/language\/?src=raspi<\/a><\/p>\n
Speed vs my laptop
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n
I am used to running Mathematica on high specification machines and so naturally the pi version felt very sluggish–particularly when using the notebook interface.\u00a0 With that said, however,\u00a0 I found it very usable for general playing around.\u00a0 I was very curious, however, about the speed of the pi version compared to the version on my home laptop and so created a small benchmark notebook that did three things:<\/p>\n