Orange Pi 3 LTS Setup Guide

The Orange Pi 3 LTS is a highly compact, open-source single-board computer equipped with dual-band WiFi and Bluetooth 5.0. It can run Ubuntu, Android10, or Debian distributions.

Follow this guide to set up your Orange Pi 3 LTS to run viam-server.

Hardware requirements

• Development machine: laptop or computer workstation
• An Orange Pi 3 LTS
• A 5V 3A power supply with a USB-C connector
• A micro-SD card (TF card): Minimum of 8GB, 16GB recommended
• SD card reader (recommended with USB-C connector)
• A monitor: for display
• HDMI cable: to connect Orange Pi to monitor display
• USB keyboard and mouse
• USB-C to USB-A cables: to connect keyboard and mouse to USB hub or Orange Pi ports (recommended, hardware dependent)
• USB hub with USB-A connector (recommended)

Power your Orange Pi 3 LTS

Before you power the board, you need to install an operating system.

1. First, download an Orange Pi 3 LTS Ubuntu image to your development machine. We recommend ubuntu_jammy_desktop.

2. Unzip the image.

3. Insert the micro-SD card into the SD card reader and connect the reader to your development machine.

4. Follow the Orange Pi guide to prepare your microSD card to flash the OS to your micro-SD card using balenaEtcher.

   Tip: How to think about building a machine

   While flashing your microSD card, we recommend reading How to think about building a machine.

5. Insert the micro-SD into the Orange Pi.

To power your Orange Pi 3 LTS, connect your power adapter to the LTS’s USB-C port. The LED should light up, which indicates that the board is powered.

To connect to a display, connect the HDMI cable to the Orange Pi’s HDMI port and the other end to your monitor. Then, connect your keyboard and mouse to the two USB-A ports on your Orange Pi. Alternatively, you can connect your peripherals to a USB hub and connect the USB hub to your Orange Pi’s USB-A port.

Once the Orange Pi successfully boots, you should be greeted with the Orange Pi desktop display. If you are prompted for a login password, note that the default password for Orange Pi devices is “orangepi”.

Establish a network connection

The Orange Pi 3 LTS comes equipped with a wireless network antenna. To connect to WiFi through the desktop, click on the WiFi icon in the top right of the monitor display, select your preferred network or hotspot, and enter the password.

Install viam-server

Launch the browser on your Orange Pi display by selecting Applications from the left-hand menu, then Internet, then Firefox Web Browser.

Also, launch the terminal by selecting Applications and Terminal. Complete the following instructions to install viam-server, noting that if you are prompted for a password in the terminal, the default password for Orange Pis is “orangepi”.

viam-server is the open-source software that drives your hardware and connects your device to the cloud. Install viam-server on the computer or single-board computer (SBC) that is directly connected to your hardware (for example sensors, cameras, or motors):

1. Make sure your computer or SBC is powered on and connected to the internet.

2. Create a Viam account on app.viam.com. You can configure and manage devices and data collection in the web UI.

3. Create a new machine using the Add machine button in the top right corner of the LOCATIONS tab in the app. A machine represents your device.

4. On your machine’s page, click View setup instructions.

5. Select Linux / Aarch64.

6. Select your installation method:

   • viam-agent (recommended): installs viam-agent, which will automatically install (and update) viam-server and provide additional functionality such as provisioning and operating system update configuration.
   • manual: installs only viam-server on your machine.

7. Follow the instructions on the page to install viam-server and connect it to the cloud with your machine’s unique credentials.

8. After you install viam-server, a secure connection is automatically established between your machine and Viam. When you update your machine’s configuration, viam-server automatically gets the updates.

   You are ready to configure supported hardware on your machine.

Try an example

Once you’ve installed viam-server and your machine has come online, if your machine has a webcam, you can try an example project:

1. Click the + icon next to your machine part in the left-hand menu and select Insert Fragment.

   Add the DeskSafariGame fragment by the Robot Land organization and click Insert Fragment. This adds a number of resources to your machine:

   • a camera component which connects to the webcam
   • machine learning resources to run a model and apply it to the camera stream
   • control logic that implements a game

2. Save your config and review the available resources on the CONFIGURE tab.

3. Log into this Viam application with your Viam credentials and select your machine. The application provides a UI for playing the game

4. Select a camera and press the Start Game button. The goal of the game is to find and show specific objects to the camera.

If you’d like to learn how to create this game, see the Desk Safari tutorial.

Should the game not work, return to your machine in the Viam web UI and check the LOGS tab for errors.

Next steps

Configure an orangepi board as a component to integrate the GPIO pins of the single-board computer into your smart machine.

Then continue by configuring connected hardware or by following a tutorial:

Configure supported hardware

Use supported hardware with your machine.

Tutorial: Desk Safari

Follow this tutorial to learn about Viam while building a game.

Tutorials

Build a machine yourself by following along with a tutorial.

Troubleshooting

Visit the Orange Pi Forum for troubleshooting tips and tricks specific to the Orange Pi.