The microprocessor world seems to be going in ARM direction. And so seems to be microcontrollers. Cheap ARM based 32-bit micro-controllers are taking their place and trying to replace less powerful 8- and 16-bit micro-controllers.
I wrote earlier that Arduino Goes ARM. It took quite bit of time for Arduino to take that step and release ARM based product. After a years-long wait, an ARM powered Arduino is finally due. The long waited Arduino Due just hit the market on Monday yesterday.
The idea of Due is to replace the 8-bit, 16MHz brain of the popular Uno microcontroller prototyping platform with a 32-bit, 84MHz processor, while augmenting inputs and capabilities all around. The board is somewhat more expensive ($49 USD / €39.00), which will mean that there will be also place for the cheaper Arduino models as well.
On board the Arduino Due is an Atmel-sourced ARM Cortex M3 microcontroller running at 84 MHz. The Due has an impressive list of features including a USB 2.0 host, compatibility with the Android ADK (lest you still need an IOIO), 12 analog inputs with 12-bit resolution, 2 analog outputs running at 12 bits, a CAN interface, and more input pins than you can shake a stick at. The form factor is similar to Arduino Mega. Due is a very advanced high performance processor which has been added to the Arduino line up. RCArduino blog article Arduino Due has a nice compares several Arduino platforms.
| Arduino UNO | Arduino Mega | Arduino Due | |
| MCU | ATMega 328 | ATMega 2560 | AT91SAM3X8E |
| Architecture | 8 bit AVR | 8 bit AVR | 32 bit ARM Cortex M3 |
| CPU Speed | 16Mhz | 16Mhz | 84 Mhz |
| Flash Memory | 32K | 256K | 512K |
| RAM | 2K | 8K | 96K |
| EEPROM | 1K | 4K | 250K |
| Digital Pins | 14 | 54 | 54 |
| PWM Pins | 6 | 15 | 16 |
| Analog Inputs | 6 | 16 | 12 |
| DAC | 0 | 0 | 2 |
Arduino Due is bound to give a boost to the Arduino platform. The Due will open up huge new range of applications that are simply not possible with the current generation Arduino. By using the same platform and development tools it is possible that you can learn the basics on a tough little Arduino Uno, and then later you transfer exactly the same skill set to the super performance Arduino Due.
There are also some other downsides on the new Due platform besides the besides the higher (but not unreasonable) price. Arduino Due will not be compatible with the vast number of extension shields that have been developed for the older 5V Arduino Mega. You need probably to be more careful with the new board than with the old one. However like anything high performance it needs to be treated a little more carefully.
Arduino Due is not the only one player on cheap ARM platforms game. There are several competing more powerful ARM based platforms on the same price range. And there are also cheaper ARM micro-controller platforms. Let’s start from more powerful ones.
For example Raspberry Pi. Raspberry Pi is a super high performance platform (8-12 times faster CPU clock), more memory, runs full Linux, and costs less (just $35). Raspberry Pi has also built-in features like video output (HDMI and composite video) and Ethernet interface. Arduino uses a microcontroller; Raspberry Pi uses an applications processor. The downside is that Raspberry Pi is not directly compatible with Arduino shields, but there is a project going to make Raspberry Pi and Arduino shield to work together. Arduino is a marvellous thing, and I don’t feel the two are directly comparable or competiting. You’ll be using them for different things.
A13-OLinuXino is another interesting low-cost single-board Linux computer in a very compact nano-ITX form at 45.00 EUR price range. Also VIA introduces amazing $49 APC Android computer.
And now I give you pointers to some very cheap and interesting ARM micro-controller platforms.
Teensy 3.0 that costs $19. Teensy 3.0 is an affordable 32 bit ARM Cortex-M4 board, for development in Arduino or C/C++. Like the Due, the Teensy is based on an ARM Processor core the Teensy actually uses a Cortex M4 core which has advantages for digital signal processing applications over the Cortex M3 core offered by the Arduino Due. RCArduino blog article Arduino Due has a nice compares several Arduino platforms and Teensy 3.0.
If you wan to go to really low cost end on ARM micro-controllers, check out The Stellaris® LM4F120 LaunchPad. It costs less than 10 euros. The Stellaris LM4F120H5QR microcontroller offers an 80MHz, 32-bit ARM Cortex-M4 CPU with floating point, 256Kbytes of 100,000 write-erase cycle FLASH and many peripherals such as 1MSPS ADCs, eight UARTs, four SPIs, four I2Cs, USB and up to 27 timers, some configurable up to 64 bits. The board also features on-board emulation, which means you can program and debug your projects without the need for additional tools. It looks as though Texas Instruments are really reaching out to the hacker community with their new ARM-powered Stellaris dev board.
108 Comments
CoYo says:
Aery32 is also another 32-bit platform, but it’s not ARM it’s AVR32. It is designed and assembled in Finland.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Guide to developing with the Stellaris Launchpad on a Linux box
http://hackaday.com/2012/10/29/guide-to-developing-with-the-stellaris-launchpad-on-a-linux-box/
Tomi Engdahl says:
PWM on the Stellaris Launchpad
http://hackaday.com/2012/10/31/pwm-on-the-stellaris-launchpad/
Dev Kit Should Be Your Design’s Starting Point « Tomi Engdahl’s ePanorama blog says:
[...] Examples of such I have mentioned on my blog earlier are various Arduno versions and several ARM dev boards. Especially on low volume products starting from board you can get easily ready made is a good [...]
Tomi Engdahl says:
article from PCWorld describes the A13-OLinuXino, produced by OLIMEX. Similar, but distinct from the Raspberry Pi, the Linux-powered OLinuXino is touted as ‘fully open,’ with all CAD files and source-code freely available for both personal and commercial reuse. Its specs include an Allwinner A13 Cortex A8 1GHz processor, 3D Maili400 GPU, 512MB RAM, all packed into a nano-ITX form
http://hardware.slashdot.org/story/12/11/14/1324251/fully-open-a13-olinuxino-single-board-linux-computer
https://www.pcworld.com/article/2013622/tiny-57-pc-is-like-the-raspberry-pi-but-faster-and-fully-open.html
https://github.com/OLIMEX/OLINUXINO
Tomi Engdahl says:
In-depth comparison at STM32 F3 and F4 discovery boards
http://hackaday.com/2012/11/15/in-depth-comparison-at-stm32-f3-and-f4-discovery-boards/
The STM32 F3 and F4 Discovery boards have been around for a while now. We’ve looked at both separately and they’re impressive dev boards for the price. Now can get a closer look at each from this in-depth comparison of the two Cortex-M4 development tools.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Rapid prototyping developer kit for IoT design combines ARM 32-bit MCU and Sprint broadband modem
http://www.edn.com/electronics-products/other/4401790/Rapid-prototyping-developer-kit-for-IoT-design-combines-ARM-32-bit-MCU-and-Sprint-broadband-modem?cid=EDNToday
ARM announced a rapid prototyping developer kit for the IoT (Internet of Things) market that integrates the Sprint Mobile Broadband USB 598U Modem by Sierra Wireless with the ARM Cortex-M3-based mbed microcontroller development platform.
The IoT market is set to grow exponentially, with Gartner estimating 50 billion connected devices by 2020. The majority of these devices will be driven by connected sensors, requiring the support of a large community of developers from highly diverse industries. The devices and sensors will be used across a wide range of key industry verticals, including automotive, transportation, healthcare, utilities, retail, and energy.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Wireless MCU family targets IoT
http://www.edn.com/electronics-products/other/4401792/Wireless-MCU-family-targets-IoT?cid=EDNToday
NXP Semiconductors has announced the JN516x family of ultra-low-power wireless MCUs for JenNet-IP, ZigBee and other IEEE 802.15.4 applications using NXP 802.15.4-based software stacks. Designed for the Internet of Things designs, the device is intended for applications ranging from smart lighting and home automation to building automation and wireless sensor networks.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Carambola
http://www.8devices.com/product/3/carambola
8devices Carambola Core is a tiny 35×45 mm, low cost, open-source and Linux friendly, easy embeddable module which allows adding extensive wireless and wired networking capabilities to any device around us in the upcoming era of the Internet things.
CPU: RT3050
Software: OpenWrt
The RT3050 SoC combines an 802.11n 1T1R MAC/BBP/RF, a high performance 320MHz MIPS24KEc CPU core, 5-port integrated 10/100 Ethernet switch/PHY, a USB OTG and a Gigabit Ethernet MAC.
Tomi Engdahl says:
ARM, Sprint team to drive IoT innovation
http://www.eetimes.com/design/embedded-internet-design/4401806/ARM-Sprint-team-to-drive-IoT-innovation
– Processor IP licensor ARM and U.S. wireless network services provider Sprint are working together to encourage the development of products to address the Internet of Things.
ARM Holdings plc (Cambridge, England) has introduced a development kit that integrates the Sprint mobile broadband USB 598U modem from Sierra Wireless with the mbed development platform, which is based on a Cortex-M3 microcontroller. The USB 598U modem provides access the Sprint 3G CDMA EVDO Rev. A network and the kit comes with drivers for modem pre-installed.
C++ development environment for a 32-bit microcontroller and is intended to ease modem integration. Open source drivers for the USB 598U modem will be pre-integrated allowing developers to focus on application specifics.
The Internet of Things could comprise 50 billion connected devices by 2020, according to market research firm Gartner Inc. The majority of these devices will include sensors or provide access to sensor networks
For geographic markets covered by Vodafone networks the mbed community recently announced the release of the Vodafone USB modem mbed library, enabling mbed microcontroller boards to connect to a cellular communications network using a 3G USB modem from supplied by Vodafone.
Tomi Engdahl says:
ODROID-U2 is latest barebones board begging to be used
http://hackaday.com/2012/12/03/odroid-u2-is-latest-barebones-board-begging-to-be-used/
Oh hey, another barebones dev board.
It starts with this tiny board, which has a footprint smaller than a credit card. But once you start looking at the add-ons you’ll want to watch out or you’ll cover yourself in drool.
The name of the game here is speed. It’s running a quad-core Cortex-A9 chip with a Mali-400 graphics accelerator. There is no on-board storage, but the microSD slot is meant to be used for OS and storage. A faster option is to use a NAND add-on board offered in 8, 16, and 64 gig capacities ($25-$79). There is a micro type-D HDMI connector and the device is powered by a cellphone charger. It ships with a big heat sink that acts as a case for the board.
The menu looks mighty snappy, making us think this is a great alternative to using Raspberry Pi as a media center. But you’ll pay for the faster speed and ability to run Android.
Tomi Engdahl says:
A study of GCC and the TI Stellaris
http://hackaday.com/2012/12/04/a-study-of-gcc-and-the-ti-stellaris/
There are several things that we really like about the TI Stellaris. We think the peripheral library — called Stellarisware — has a pretty intuitive API that makes it easy to get into. But we’re also quite impressed that the software comes with makefiles that build the libraries and examples using your own GCC cross compiling toolchain.
the helpful chart of compiler flags
Tomi Engdahl says:
How to configure Eclipse for the Stellaris Launchpad
http://hackaday.com/2012/12/05/how-to-configure-eclipse-for-the-stellaris-launchpad/
Now that we’re getting going with ARM processors we use debugging all the time and Eclipse is a great way to combine code writing, compiling, and debugging in one place. Sure, we could use one of TI’s provided IDEs (some of them are based on Eclipse), but we’d rather build our tools up ourselves. [Doragasu] is making this a snap with his Eclipse for Stellaris Launchpad tutorial.
The complete tutorial for Stellaris LaunchPad development with GNU/Linux (III)
http://kernelhacks.blogspot.com.es/2012/11/the-complete-tutorial-for-stellaris_25.html
Tomi says:
Mass storage bootloader for Stellaris Launchpad
http://hackaday.com/2012/12/07/mass-storage-bootloader-for-stellaris-launchpad/
[Andrzej Surowiec] liked the functionality of the mass storage bootloader available on some NXP LPC development boards. His latest project was to write a mass storage bootloader for the Stellaris Launchpad. It allows you to flash your compiled firmware to the chip simply by mounting the board as a USB storage device and copying over the binary file.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Linux 3.7 arrives, ARM developers rejoice
http://www.zdnet.com/linux-3-7-arrives-arm-developers-rejoice-7000008638/
Summary: The latest major Linux kernel release is here and it includes features that ARM developers and network administrators will love
Only months after the arrival of Linux 3.6, Linus Torvalds has released the next major Linux kernel update: 3.7. The time between releases wasn’t long, but this new version includes major improvements for ARM developers and network administrators.
Programmers for ARM, the popular smartphone and tablet chip family, will be especially pleased with this release. ARM had been a problem child architecture for Linux. . As Torvalds said in 2011, “Gaah. Guys, this whole ARM thing is a f**king pain in the ass.”
ARM got the message. Thanks to Olof Johansson, a Google Linux and ARM engineer, unified multi-platform ARM was ready to be included in Linux 3.7.
ARM’s problem was that, unlike the x86 architecture, where one Linux kernel could run on almost any PC or server, almost every ARM system required its own customized Linux kernel. Now with 3.7, ARM architectures can use one single vanilla Linux kernel while keeping their special device sauce in device trees.
The end result is that ARM developers will be able to boot and run Linux on their devices and then worry about getting all the extras to work. This will save them, and the Linux kernel developers, a great deal of time and trouble.
Tomi Engdahl says:
ARM powered rack mount USB test equipment
http://hackaday.com/2012/12/13/arm-powered-rack-mount-usb-test-equipment/
The platform is being developed with open hardware and open source software in mind.
The design is in two parts to make it work in a rack-mount situation. That big white connector allows cards to be swapped out. You can see the board on the right has a USB-A connector. When plugged in this enumerates as a control device (CDC) and a mass storage device (MSD) using fat32 as a file system.
The ARM Cortex-M3 chip that he’s using is an AT91SAM3U but it should not be too hard to port the code for other similarly-capable ARM processors.
Atsam3u + SDCard + USB cdc/msd + fat32 with at91lib & Chan’s fat code
http://www.limpkin.fr/index.php?post/2012/12/04/ATSAM3U-SDCard-USB-CDC/MSD-FAT32-with-AT91LIB-Chan-s-fat-code
Tomi Engdahl says:
Using newlib with Stellaris Launchpad
http://hackaday.com/2012/12/18/using-newlib-with-stellaris-launchpad/
[Brandon] is taking us further down the rabbit hole by demonstrating how to use newlib with the TI Stellaris Launchpad. This is a nice continuation of the framework he built with his post about using GCC with ARM hardware.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Stellarino brings Wiring-style coding to the Stellaris Launchpad
http://hackaday.com/2012/12/19/stellarino-brings-wiring-style-coding-to-the-stellaris-launchpad/
[Sultan Qasim] wrote in to tell us about the work he’s been doing on the Stellarino library. It’s goal is to break down the coding barriers present for those looking to move from Arduino to ARM. This is accomplished by facilitating Wiring-stlye code for the Stellaris Launchpad ARM development board.
Stellarino 0.4 Release
http://stellarino.blogspot.ca/2012/12/stellarino-04-release.html
Stellarino is a simple Wiring-like but incompatible interface library implemented in C for the TI Stellaris LM4F120H5QR used in the Stellaris Launchpad, and similar MCUs. It is meant to facilitate the rapid creation of basic microcontroller firmware without the need to parse through thousands of pages in datasheets and other documentation. It uses syntax similar to Wiring to ease the introduction of newcomers familiar with the Arduino and similar boards to the Stellaris platform.
Tomi Engdahl says:
http://energia.nu/download/
It supports the Ti MSP430 and stellaris Launch PADs
Energia does exist, and a Stellaris Launchpad port is in progress, but it isn’t really ready yet. This is decent as an interim library and it’s also meant to be an adequately easy to follow example for learning StellarisWare.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Stellaris Launchpad and booster packs used as frequency analyzer
http://hackaday.com/2012/12/19/stellaris-launchpad-and-booster-packs-used-as-frequency-analyzer/
The second portion of the setup is an LCD booster pack for the hardware. Kentec manufactures this 3.5″ 320×240 LCD (EB-LM4F120-L35) complete with a resistive overlay making it touch sensitive.
Tomi Engdahl says:
VIA Unveils $79 Rock and $99 Paper ARM PCs
http://hardware.slashdot.org/story/13/01/17/2246218/via-unveils-79-rock-and-99-paper-arm-pcs
Don’t yet have one of those million Raspberry Pis, but you’re in the market for a tiny, cheap ARM computer?
VIA has decided it’s time to update the APC (ARM PC) board with new components and the choice of two configurations. The new systems are called APC Rock and APC Paper. The hardware spec for both boards is exactly the same except for the fact the Rock ships with a VGA port whereas the Paper doesn’t. The Rock also costs $20 less at $79, whereas the Paper is $99.
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Tomi Engdahl says:
Ubuntu with a GUI on a Beagleboard
http://hackaday.com/2013/02/25/ubuntu-with-a-gui-on-a-beagleboard/
The Raspberry Pi is great if you’re looking for a cheap yet powerful computer running Linux, but let’s not forget all the other ARM dev boards out there. [Adam] spent some time this weekend putting together an Ubuntu distro for his Beagleboard XM to give it the convenience of a GUI and a whole bunch of drivers to get a lot of stuff done.
The Beagleboard XM is another high power ARM dev board that is a little more capable than the Raspberry Pi. With an integrated USB hub, LVDS LCD displays, and a camera board, the Beagleboard already has a lot of peripherals that are now only promised for the Raspberry Pi.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Freescale Semiconductor’s Freedom development platform
http://www.digikey.com/product-highlights/us/en/freescale-kinetis-l-series-development/2432
Freescale Freedom development platform is form-factor compatible with popular third-party hardware designed to work with Arduino™ and Arduino-compatible boards, providing engineers the “freedom” to connect to a broader range of expansion boards to achieve even greater technological breakthroughs.
Kinetis L Series, the industry’s first microcontrollers built on the ARM® Cortex™-M0+ processor.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Coin-sized Arduino-compatible computer with Bluetooth LE wirelessly connects to smartphones, tablets
http://www.edn.com/electronics-products/other/4410524/Coin-sized-Arduino-compatible-computer-with-Bluetooth-LE-wirelessly-connects-to-smartphones–tablets
http://www.opensourcerf.com/
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1608192864/rfduino-iphone-bluetooth-40-arduino-compatible-boa
Jennifer Bodrey says:
Thanks, a very useful bit of information for all. Your thoughts on this subject are amazing and I am sure that these ideas will definitely apply to many other inviduals out there.
Tomi Engdahl says:
ARM mbed SDK jumps on the open-source path
http://www.edn.com/electronics-blogs/dev-monkey-blog/4411575/ARM-mbed-SDK-jumps-on-the-open-source-path-
The Arduino hardware and software have caught the attention of professionals and hobbyists alike. For a while I wondered if the ARM mbed community would achieve a similar level of enthusiasm. Or had it become a one-off promotional project for ARM?
I wonder no longer. ARM’s mbed team just announced it would provide the source code for the high-level software-development kit (SDK) that simplifies use of on-chip peripherals, I/O pins, serial communications, and so on. ARM will license the SDK code under the permissive Apache 2.0 open-source license. Now you may use the SDK in both commercial and personal projects with confidence, and you have no obligation to make your code open source.
Tomi says:
pcDuino looks to be another interesting ARM platform that runs Linux
http://www.pcduino.com/
Mini PC + Arduino
pcDuino
pcDuino is a mini PC platform that runs PC like OS such as Ubuntu and Android ICS. It outputs screen to HDMI. Moreover, it has hardware headers interface compatible with Arduino. pcDuino can be used to teach Python, C and more interesting stuff.
Getting Started with pcDuino
https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/getting-started-with-pcduino
More pdDuino links:
https://www.sparkfun.com/products/11712
http://store.mansteri.com/index.php/fi/development-tools/pcduino/pcduino-dev-board.html
http://dx.com/p/pcduino-dev-pcduino-microcontroller-development-board-white-200167
Tomi Engdahl says:
BeagleBoard
http://beagleboard.org/
http://beagleboard.org/details
BeagleBoard Product Details
http://beagleboard.org/hardware
The USB-powered BeagleBoard is a low-cost, fan-less single board computer that unleashes laptop-like performance and expandability without the bulk, expense, or noise of typical desktop machines.
BeagleBone Product Details
http://beagleboard.org/bone
BeagleBone is a low-cost credit-card-sized Linux computer that connects with the Internet and runs software such as Android 4.0 and Ubuntu. With plenty of I/O and processing power for real-time analysis provided by the TI Sitara™ AM335x ARM® Cortex™-A8 processor, BeagleBone can be complemented with cape plug-in boards which augment BeagleBone’s functionality.
BeagleBoard-xM Product Details
http://beagleboard.org/hardware-xm
BeagleBoard-xM delivers extra ARM ® Cortex TM -A8 MHz now at 1 GHz and extra memory with 512MB of low-power DDR RAM, enabling hobbyists, innovators and engineers to go beyond their current imagination and be inspired by the BeagleBoard.org community. Designed with the community inputs in mind, this open hardware design improves upon the laptop-like performance and expandability, while keeping at hand-held power levels. Direct connectivity is supported by the on-board four-port hub with 10/100 Ethernet, while maintaining a tiny 3.25″ × 3.25″ footprint.
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Tomi Engdahl says:
For your robot-building needs, $45 BeagleBone Linux PC goes on sale
http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2013/04/for-your-robot-building-needs-the-45-beaglebone-linux-pc-goes-on-sale/
New BeagleBone gets 50% price cut, comes with 1GHz ARM Cortex-A8 processor.
The market for cheap single-board computers is becoming one of the most surprisingly competitive spaces in the tech industry. On the heels of the million-selling Raspberry Pi, a variety of companies and small groups started creating their own tiny computers for programmers and hobbyists.
Today we have a new entrant that may provide the best bang for the buck for many types of users. It’s called the BeagleBone Black and it’s the latest in the line of “Beagle” devices that first appeared in 2008, courtesy of Texas Instruments. On sale now for $45, BeagleBone Black sports a 1GHz Sitara AM335x ARM Cortex-A8 processor from Texas Instruments, up from the 720MHz processor used in the previous $90 BeagleBone released in 2011.
Beagle’s “open” hardware philosophy means all of the chips and designs are available to the public, so anyone with the right equipment and knowledge could make their own.
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Tomi Engdahl says:
Gumstix upgrades Linux computer-on-module series
http://www.edn.com/electronics-products/other/4414643/Gumstix-upgrades-Linux-computer-on-module-series
In addition to doubling the available memory of its Overo Linux-based computer-on-module (COM) series, Gumstix has added WiFi and Bluetooth wireless capabilities to its DuoVero Zephyr COM.
Overo TidalSTORM provides 1 Gbyte of RAM
1-GHz ARM Cortex-A8 DaVinci DM3730 digital media processor
The DuoVero Zephyr leverages Wi2Wi’s W2CBW0015 device to deliver IEEE 802.11 b/g/n WiFi and Bluetooth 3.0 connectivity. Based on a Texas Instruments OMAP4430 processor,
The Overo TidalSTORM COM costs $139; the DuoVero Zephyr COM costs $199.
Tomi says:
BeagleBone Black Ships With New Linux 3.8 Kernel
http://hardware.slashdot.org/story/13/05/24/2227210/beaglebone-black-ships-with-new-linux-38-kernel
“BeagleBoard.org has begun shipping its faster, cheaper BeagleBone Black SBC with a new Linux 3.8 kernel, supporting Device Tree technology for more streamlined ARM development. The $45 BeagleBone Black runs Linux or Android on a 1GHz TI Sitara AM3359 SOC, doubles the RAM to 512MB of its predecessor, and adds a micro-HDMI port.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Programming a through-hole ARM microcontroller
http://hackaday.com/2013/05/29/programming-a-through-hole-arm-microcontroller/
The age of ARM microcontrollers for the electronics hobbyist is upon us, and luckily there are a few breadboard-friendly microcontrollers available in a DIP package. One of these chips is NXP’s LPC810M021FN8 – a tiny little 8-pin DIP with 4 kB of Flash, 1 kB of SRAM, and has a clock fast enough for some really cool stuff.
The key to this build is the fact the LPC810 doesn’t need any additional components to operate; the internal oscillator means the chip will run at 30 MHz with only a power and ground attached
Tomi says:
Arduino-compatible, quad-core ARM dev board
http://hackaday.com/2013/06/01/arduino-compatible-quad-core-arm-dev-board/
The Advent of the Raspberry Pi has seen an explosion in the market for ARM dev boards, sometimes even with pinouts for Arduino shields. The UDOO, though, takes those boards and ramps up the processing power for some very, very interesting builds.
The UDOO comes equipped with a dual or quad-core ARM CPU running at 1GHz with 1 GB of RAM. Also on board is the Atmel SAM3X8E – the same chip in the new Arduino DUE – and has pinouts for all those Arduino shields you have lying around.
UDOO: Android, Linux and Arduino in a tiny single-board computer
http://www.udoo.org/
Tomi Engdahl says:
World’s smallest dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 module?
http://linuxgizmos.com/tiny-cortex-a9-module-runs-linux-and-android/
Variscite announced what it calls “the world’s tiniest Cortex-A9 system-on-module,” measuring 52 x 17mm. The Linux- and Android-compatible DART-4460 module is based on a 1.5GHz dual-core TI OMAP4460 SoC, is available with up to 1GB of DDR2 RAM and 8GB eMMC flash, and can run at 400MHz on only 44mA, says the company.
The DART-4460 is designed for devices ranging from “the lightest tablet” to “the most compact multimedia system,” says Variscite.
Tomi says:
Review: Beagleboard Beaglebone Black
Pi-eyed killer – or should we give Pis a chance?
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/06/11/review_beagleboard_beaglebone_black/
It’s nice to see that the broader community of Arduino, Raspberry Pi and Beagleboard Beaglebone users is a friendly and seemingly mature one.
Each of these board computers has its own adherents, but few of them seem to feel the need to engage in the kind of hair-pulling and name-calling that defined the Windows versus Mac spat of the 1990s and the Android-iOS face-offs we’re seeing today.
Especially since, at first glance, Beagleboard’s latest offering, the Beaglebone Black, seems to be out to get one over the trendy Raspberry Pi.
Comparing the two isn’t entirely invidious: many folk who might have been considering the Pi for use as a very tiny desktop computer or media server, may now be thinking the Black, with its more powerful processor, might not be a better bet. Likewise, if you’re seeking a compact board around which to construct a hardware project, you might well want to see which of these boards might best meet your needs.
This kind of hardware hackery is where the Black, like its predecessor, comes from. The Pi has found an audience among the “maker” community too, though its origins lie in education.
The Black, then, is a tiny board based around a Texas Instruments Sitara AM335x system-on-a-chip, itself derived from ARM’s Cortex A8 architecture. Its single processor core can clock to 1GHz, it has a PowerVR SGX 530 graphics core, plus all the memory, display and connectivity IO control you’d expect from a modern system-on-a-chip. Beagleboard has hooked the AM3359 up to 512MB of low-power DDR3L memory clocked at 400MHz, a USB 2.0 port for peripherals, a 10/100Mbps Ethernet jack for networking and a (spring-loaded) Micro SD slot for storage. You can hook up a TV or monitor using HDMI.
For the hardware hackers there are no fewer than 92 expansion pins, exposed through the two banks 46-pin female connectors on either side of the board, with six further serial pins for debugging.
The Black is more powerful and more capable than its predecessor, but it’s less well connected than the Pi, particularly the Model B. The Black has only one USB port for peripherals
The Black has a number of power feeds. The most obvious one is a cylinder DC jack
its second power port is a mini USB
micro HDMI cable in order to hook the Black up to my TV
Clearly, then, the Pi has some advantages over the Black, but the Beaglebone is not without its merits. For a start, its operating system, an embedded Linux distro called Angstrom, is pre-loaded on the device in 2GB of flash fitted onto the board, a feature the Pi lacks. Hook the Black’s mini USB port into a Mac, Linux or Windows machine for power, and it’ll boot up, ready for access in a few seconds.
A small, 75MB part of the eMMC storage mounts on your desktop. Inside, you’ll find some HTML page files that help you set up your machine to fully communicate with the Black using the USB link as a network proxy, if your OS doesn’t support this already.
Once you’ve done the setup, you have interactive access to the pages served by the Black’s own web server, which take you through updating the software, give you the opportunity to use the bundled web-based IDE, Cloud 9, and give you a brief run through Bonescript, a library of Beaglebone control functions you can use in JavaScript, the primary coding language for the Beaglebone family.
The upshot is that you can run the Black headlessly (sans monitor in other words) to operate, prepare and install software, all out of the box
I mentioned that JavaScript is the main development language for the Black. Coders who prefer Python – and beginners – may want to check out Matt Richardson’s mrBBIO, a Python module written to provide access to the BeagleBone’s IO pins. It’s easy to transfer the module to a headless Black using the scp command.
It’s possible to downgrade Angstrom – or use an alternative distro
You’ll probably want to try the Black if Android is your thing. There’s a working version of Jelly Bean available for the Black, provided by Texas Instruments in support of its Sitara SoCs.
t’s barely worth talking about price when the Black and the Pi are as cheap as they are. Just looking at one UK seller, RS Components, the Black is £31.65, the Pi Model B £31.20.
Swanson Vitamins says:
We are a gaggle of volunteers and starting a new scheme in our community. Your website offered us with helpful information to work on. You’ve performed an impressive activity and our whole group will probably be grateful to you.
Tomi Engdahl says:
A $5 ARM development board
http://hackaday.com/2013/08/07/a-5-arm-development-board/
Most of you know that there are plenty of ARM powered development boards out there, so you may not be really sure what a new one can still bring to the table.
With a $5 price tag, the open hardware McHck (pronounced McHack) is meant for quickly building projects on a small budget. The board created by [Simon] is based on a Freescale Cortex M4 microcontroller, and can be plugged directly into one’s computer. As a Direct Firmware Update (DFU) bootloader is present on the microcontroller, there is no need for external programming equipment.
The board has unpopulated footprints that allow users to add other functionalities that may be required for their future projects
The Bill of Materials can be found on the project wiki and the McHck community will soon launch a crowdfunding campaign to send the 5th version of the board to all the hobbyists that may be interested.
Tomi Engdahl says:
About the MC HCK
http://mchck.org/about/
The MC HCK (pronounced: “McHack” [mæk hæk]) is a small, cheap, and versatile microcontroller platform that supports USB for easy programming, and can be built at home for $5. The MC HCK enables everybody to build big and small projects, because spending >$20 for other microcontroller boards is just too much.
With the MC HCK, everybody can quickly build projects on a small budget: In many situations, a set of optional footprints avoid the need for expensive add-on boards!
The MC HCK is entirely open source, both hardware and software.
Motivation
Small. The Arduino is huge. It is just way bulky for many purposes. Also you can’t breadboard with it. Ok, now there is the Pro Mini or the Teensy. Yes, that’s the form factor we want. Small form factor enables more uses.
Cheap. Well, there you have it. Every Arduino sets you back about $20.
Versatile. We try to squeeze as many features as possible into the little space of the MC HCK. A modern ARM MCU with integrated USB transceiver allows easy interfacing with PCs: with a bit of supplied library code, implementing a USB device is a breeze. The MC HCK can be programmed directly via USB, but can also serve as debug adapter for another MC HCK board. We also integrated a mounting hole and footprints for a LiPo charger, a NOR Flash, for 3 different voltage regulators, and for a 2.4GHz RF module. Because, you know, you never know. Versatile means less shields, more features.
Add a $2 2.4GHz RF module, and you have the first node of a sensor network. No expensive “shields” necessary.
Grant Hint says:
Great info on this site. Thanks!!
Denis Letersky says:
Dies ist mit Leerschritt dies unbedeutend welches charakter gesehen habe.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Advanced Transcend WiFi SD Hacking: Custom Kernels, X, and Firefox
http://hackaday.com/2013/09/19/advanced-transcend-wifi-sd-hacking-custom-kernels-x-and-firefox/
[Dmitry] read about hacking the Transcend WiFi cards, and decided to give it a try himself. We already covered [Pablo's] work with the Transcend card. [Dmitry] took a different enough approach to warrant a second look.
Rather than work from the web interface and user scripts down, [Dmitry] decided to start from Transcend’s GPL package and work his way up. Unfortunately, he found that the package was woefully incomplete
[Dmitry] was able to create his own binary image within the 3MB limit and load it on the card. He discovered a few very interesting (and scary) things.
In the end he did emerge victorious. He was able to bring up his own kernel on the WiFi SD card’s ARMv5 controller and run anything he wanted. He tested the system by booting up with X windows forwarding through an SSH tunnel over WiFi. He was even able to get Firefox running in X, albeit very slowly. The card doesn’t even need to be in a host system – only power and ground are needed to boot and access it via WiFi.
Tomi Engdahl says:
A cortex M4 based platform with ETH, USB, BT and many on-board peripherals
http://hackaday.com/2013/11/06/a-cortex-m4-based-platform-with-eth-usb-bt-and-many-on-board-peripherals/
Here is a very time consuming project that I worked on during last summer: an ARM Cortex M4 based platform with plenty of communication interfaces and on-board peripherals.
Here is a list of the different components present on the board so you can get a better idea of what the platform can do: a microphone with its amplifier, a capacitive touch sensor, two unipolar stepper motors controllers, two mosfets, a microSD card connector, a Bluetooth to serial bridge, a linear motor controller and finally a battery retainer for backup power.
The project is obviously open hardware (Kicad) and open software.
The Beast: who needs an OS anyways?
http://www.limpkin.fr/index.php?post/2013/11/07/The-Beast%3A-who-needs-an-OS-anyways
Tomi Engdahl says:
Breadboard Friendly ARM Board Based on STM32F4
http://hackaday.com/2013/11/28/breadboard-friendly-arm-board-based-on-stm32f4/
Umm yeah… this is more like it. The STM32F4Stamp is a project which [Frank Zhao] put together to make his ARM prototyping process more like is was back when everything came in a DIP format. As you can see, it’s just narrow enough to leave one row open on the breadboard for jumper wires.
Don’t get us wrong, we do really like STM’s own Discovery Boards for the hardware they deliver at a very low price. But the dual-row pin headers on the larger versions (all except the F0 variant) make it tricky to connect your peripherals. This is pushed to the point that a large percentage of hacks we’ve seen with the Discovery boards are actually just to make connecting external hardware easier.
Tomi Engdahl says:
A Shell For The Stellaris & Tiva
http://hackaday.com/2013/12/01/a-shell-for-the-stellaris-tiva/
When [antoker] is working on a microcontroller project, he often has to write short bits of test code to make sure everything in his circuit is working properly. This is a time-consuming task, and a while back he started on a small side project. It’s a command line interface for a microcontroller that allows him to send short commands to the uC over a serial connection to play around with the ADC, UART, and GPIO pins.
[antoker]‘s tiny Unix-like environment is based on modules
This tiny shell also has scripting capabilities
Tomi Engdahl says:
uC Command Line Interface, Part 1 (Updated)
http://www.antoker.com/?p=186
When doing some project which involves a microcontroller I often have to write some test code/script in order to verify correct operation. This is typically a time consuming process. So some time ago, I started working on a small side-project, which would allow me to communicate with a microcontroller directly, either via UART-USB bridge or some other transport protocol. The idea was to basically recreate a unix like shell, where I could control peripherals, via short commands and maybe do some scripting as well and the whole project should be easy to expand and maintain.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Breadboarding with a ARM microcontroller
http://hackaday.com/2013/10/15/breadboarding-with-a-arm-microcontroller/
NXP’s LPC1114 ARM microcontroller is in a class all of it’s own. ARM microcontrollers are a dime a dozen, but this fabulous chip is the only one that’s housed in a hacker and breadboard friendly PDIP package. However, breadboard setups usually won’t have the luxuries of a true development platform such as flashing the part, single stepping through the code, and examining memory. [Steve] found an interesting solution to this problem that involves a Dremel and hacking up even more hardware.
Breadboardable break-out board for the NXP LPC812
http://cpldcpu.wordpress.com/2013/11/23/breadboardable-break-out-board-for-the-nxp-lpc812/
The NXP LPC800 series is an interesting entry in the Cortex M0+ microcontroller market, aiming to replace 8 bit microcontrollers at the low end. The largest member of the family, the LPC812 is a device with 16kb flash and 4kb SRAM. It is available in a TSSOP20 package which is really small, but still easily solderable. Since I prefer to work with microcontrollers with as little added clutter as possible, I designed a small break-out board for this device.
Matha Wierschen says:
Winter, nice evasion and use of strawmen. Kudos. Bonus points for being pretty much wrong on every one of your assertions and still getting in a snide comment that this supposed to be a platform for people who think.