BeagleBone announcement

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Jason Kridner

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Nov 1, 2011, 12:03:10 PM11/1/11
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There's a new dog in the pack! The BeagleBone was announced
yesterday. For those of you hanging out at
http://beagleboard.org/chat, you've probably been hearing about it for
about a month. It is real, but there are still very few of them out
there. I am mailing some A2 boards out to some key
partners/developers now, but the production version, A3, is going
straight to ramp-mode. The only difference is a change in the
Ethernet PHY to improve the throughput, which we are now quite happy
with how it is getting around 95Mbps under iperf.

The BeagleBone schematics and BOM are now up on
http://beagleboard.org/hardware/design. The system reference manual
and other docs should be showing up later this week.

The page for updates is http://beagleboard.org/bone. I'll try to get
a blog post out later today as well, but no promises there. Other
people's posts seem to be telling most of the news anyway. For those
of you too lazy to bring up a browser window, here are the current
contents of http://beagleboard.org/bone (without all of the links,
videos or pictures):

===What is the BeagleBone?===
The BeagleBone is the low-cost, high-expansion hardware-hacker focused
BeagleBoard. It is a bare-bones BeagleBoard that acts as a USB or
Ethernet connected expansion companion for your current BeagleBoard
and BeagleBoard-xM or works stand-alone. The BeagleBone is small even
by BeagleBoard standards and with the high-performance ARM
capabilities you expect from a BeagleBoard, the BeagleBone brings
full-featured Linux to places it has never gone before.

===How can I buy one?===
Distributors are coming on-line now and enabling pre-orders. Boards
should ship to distributors before the end of November. Find the
currently on-line distributors at http://beagleboard.org/buy.


===What is the BeagleBone capable of doing?===
At over 1.5 billion Dhrystone operations per second and vector
floating point arithmetic operations, the BeagleBone is capable of not
just interfacing to all of your robotics motor drivers, location or
pressure sensors and 2D or 3D cameras, but also running OpenCV, OpenNI
and other image collection and analysis software to recognize the
objects around your robot and the gestures you might make to control
it. Through HDMI, VGA or LCD expansion boards, it is capable of
decoding and displaying mutliple video formats utilizing a completely
open source software stack and synchronizing playback over Ethernet or
USB with other BeagleBoards to create massive video walls. If what you
are into is building 3D printers, then the BeagleBone has the
extensive PWM capabilities, the on-chip Ethernet and the 3D rendering
and manipulation capabilities all help you eliminate both your
underpowered microcontroller-based controller board as well as that PC
from your basement.


===What are the detailed hardware specifications?===
Keep coming back! These will be updated soon. Some additional details
are in the latest BeagleBoard.org flyer.


Board size: 3.4" x 2.1"
Shipped with 2GB microSD card with the Angstrom Distribution with
node.js and Cloud9 IDE
Single cable development environment with built-in FTDI-based
serial/JTAG and on-board hub to give the same cable simultaneous
access to a USB device port on the target processor
Industry standard 3.3V I/Os on the expansion headers with easy-to-use
0.1" spacing
On-chip Ethernet, not off of USB
Easier to clone thanks to larger pitch on BGA devices (0.8mm vs.
0.4mm), no package-on-package memories, standard DDR2 vs. LPDDR,
integrated USB PHYs and more.
Where are the design materials?
These are still being updated ahead of boards shipping, but you can
find the latest versions always on the BeagleBoard.org Hardware Design
Page.

===How does Linux make the BeagleBone easier to use than a
microcontroller-based platform?===
The advantage of full-featured Linux is the Linux community. While the
template-based coding of systems like the Arduino make it easy to
copy-and-paste simple projects and a limited number of more complex
libraries that don't have a lot of interaction, 20 years of Linux
development have generated an extensive set of highly interoperable
software that can be utilized and collaborated upon, without
sacrificing the simplicity of doing something like toggling an LED or
switch or reading an analog or I2C-based sensor.

The first example I have is node.js, the server-side JavaScript
language interpreter with a rapidly growing community. The evented I/O
model enables both building highly scalable web servers and being
responsive to the many sensors within your embedded system. As part of
the shipping image with the BeagleBone, we are looking to provide the
git-enabled Cloud9 IDE that allows you to edit node.js applications
directly over your web browser by simply pointing it to the
BeagleBone. While this technology will be in a highly-alpha quality
state intended to communicate the possibilities for making a quantum
jump in rapid prototyping with Linux when the BeagleBone is initially
launched, we intend to collaborate with the Linux, Cloud9 IDE
(Ajax.org), node.js, github.com and BeagleBoard communities to evolve
this to Arduino-like simplicity, without the need to install any
development tools or understand Linux programming details. Development
of the application library will be done entirely in the open and is
awaiting launch until there is broad availability of the hardware to
avoid any undue refactoring that might come from not having the proper
collaboration and review.


===How does the BeagleBone compare to the current BeagleBoard or
BeagleBoard-xM?===
The BeagleBoard-xM is still the extra MIPS and extra memory
BeagleBoard with the greatest USB host expansion capabilities. If the
original BeagleBoard has all the horsepower and USB host capabilities
you need, but what you really want is easier and more extensive
expansion, on-chip Ethernet, analog-to-digital data conversion and a
lower cost, then the BeagleBone is the BeagleBoard for you.

===What does this mean for the future of the BeagleBoard and the
BeagleBoard-xM?===
The BeagleBoard and BeagleBoard-xM will continue to be manufactured
and available for purchase for several years to come (no end of life
in sight). We can be confident of this thanks to TI's commitment to
having parts availability for 10+ years for the key components. There
have been instances where we've needed to update non-TI components on
the BeagleBoard, such as the recent upgrade from 256MB of NAND flash
on the BeagleBoard to 512MB due to the end-of-life of the memory
device. We believe the upgrade shows our commitment to continued
production and support of the existing platforms.

===When will the BeagleBone be available?===
Some distributors are taking orders now. Rev A2 boards are just
shipping to active community members now. Rev A3 boards (production
version) will start shipping to distributors before the end of
November.

===How much will the BeagleBone cost?===
That is ultimately up to the distributors, but the suggested retail
price is $89. I am confident this will give some room for people
wanting to make clones can do so at a very competitive cost. The
AM335x has been announced to be available for as little as $5.

===Is this just a TI marketing gimmick?===
It is certainly not a marketing gimmick for the key leaders of the
project. We really do care about giving to the open hardware movement
and the projects it enables us to do personally and through
electronics education.

Several semiconductor manufacturers are attempting to duplicate the
community building success of the BeagleBoard and have cut the price
on their development tools, even to the point of giving away chips and
subsidizing the cost of other components on the board. Ultimately, I
think this is a good thing for developers who are aware of this by
lowering the cost of evaluating processor technology. However, for
those of us who feel personally responsible for the BeagleBoard, we
feel it is different than virtually all of those other efforts and
that it must stand on the quality of the technology and our commitment
to be a part of the BeagleBoard community, actively supporting
newcomers who seek to take ownership of the direction of the project.
We are personally excited about what we can do with the BeagleBoard
and would do it even if TI didn't pay us for it (and not all of us are
paid by TI, even though I am).

The current open hardware movement is much akin to early home computer
and radio hobbyist activities in its highly collaborative nature. We
aren't anti-competitive or looking to use our admittedly unfair
advantage of working closely with TI. Arduinos are great for what they
do, as are any number of ARM and non-ARM based embedded development
systems. To that end, we won't accept subsidies from TI on chips,
though we do get volume pricing that other solutions selling the
volume of the BeagleBoard and fostering open development would be able
to get. We have had challenges with some small groups trying to get
similar pricing, but believe we have resolved this at every turn. We
are committed to advancing open hardware for the benefit of all and
are seeking to enable new things with the BeagleBoard and BeagleBone,
not degrade or discount the great contributions to open hardware that
have come before or will come after.

===Why aren't the BeagleBone expansion headers compatible with the Arduino?===
We set out to enable something different than the Arduino, though
certainly having the breadth of add-on boards available to the Arduino
is in our goals. While it would have been possible to make this happen
and it is still possible to make an add-on board that would adapt to
that interface, the performance and cost of interfacing to Arduino
shields as-is would under-utilize the capabilities of the underlying
Linux-based system and compete in places where an Arduino is really
the right solution.

We are anxious to work with open hardware partners looking to generate
and sell add-on boards and microSD card images (or Linux kernel
patches or node.js libraries) that make hardware support transparent.
Availability on the BeagleBone will be at least as high as the current
BeagleBoard and BeagleBoard-xM, so the audience for your add-on
hardware will be extensive. Direct links on the BeagleBone purchase
page are welcome, as long as the key Linux distribution and hardware
test developers are provided with early hardware to ensure quality
interoperability. Open software collaboration through the BeagleBoard
mailing list is highly encouraged.

===What are the export restrictions?===
I will find out, but they will be similar to the original BeagleBoard
and BeagleBoard-xM.

===What is the processor used in the board?===
The BeagleBone uses a TI AM3358 ARM Cortex-A8-based microprocessor.
Announced on Oct 31, 2011, the main processor is available for as
little as $5, uses a 0.8mm ball-grid array and standard DDR2 memory,
making this board easier to clone than other BeagleBoard designs.

===Is there a road-map for peripheral boards?===
A DVI-D board is in the prototype phase right now. HDMI, VGA and LCD
boards will follow.

Plans for a Wi-Fi+Battery board are still in the very preliminary
phases. We've engaged several open hardware developers for sensor and
other interesting peripheral boards, but no hard commitments for a
roadmap yet. We are in the very early life of the BeagleBone and I
expect to see more available "sheilds", "capes", "peripheral boards"
or whatever you want to call them than you can count!

===If I want to make a "cape", is there a starting point?===
A community member has already started creating a starting reference
in Eagle. More on that to come.

We'll generally refer to them as "capes" because Underdog is a beagle
and he wears a cape. The term "shields" is nice, but that has some
implication of Arduino and this is definitely not an Arduino clone.

===Is this board a stand-alone board or is it supposed to be used in
conjunction with the BeagleBoard-XM? What capabilities does it add to
the BeagleBoard-XM if it does?===
Both. Because it doesn't have a display interface of its own, it needs
an external control terminal either over USB or over the network. A
BeagleBoard-xM may be used as a host, plus it build on the same Linux
distribution that ships with the BeagleBoard-xM for a large amount of
similarity. It would add extensive 3.3V I/O capabilities to the
BeagleBoard-xM.

===What if I already have a JTAG-based debugger?===
There are pads on the bottom to solder-on a JTAG header. You'll need
to remove a few small resistors as well. The trade-off was made to
make it easy for those new to embedded systems to be able to use
hardware in-system debuggers, saving them from the need to purchase
something that likely would have cost them as much as the board.

===How do I get software to run on the BeagleBone?===
Many projects may eventually provide software images that can be run
on the BeagleBone. The boards will be shipping with a Cloud9 image
from the Angstrom Distribution. See
http://www.angstrom-distribution.org/demo/beaglebone.

===Where is the software source code?===
The image that ships with the BeagleBone comes from the Angstrom
Distribution and is built with OpenEmbedded. Instructions to download
and build the Angstrom Distribution are at
http://www.angstrom-distribution.org/building-angstrom. The image can
be built with 'MACHINE=beaglebone bitbake cloud9-image'.

===What if I just want the boot-loader and kernel sources?===
A bit closer to the final software freeze date (roughly Nov 7, 2011),
the source code will be available at http://github.com/beagleboard.
Until then, you can watch the TI trees on arago-project.org and, of
course, meta-ti.

Sid Boyce

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Nov 1, 2011, 12:39:58 PM11/1/11
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This is already causing a buzz right across the SDR (Software Defined
Radio) communities.
One post wondered if ... I quote:-
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hi all,

The McASP is very capable and much more sophisticated than the Atmel's
SSC. It can do multiple i2S or TDM. TDM mode is very useful for
interfacing to chips like ES9018 where all the 8 channels' data can be
transferred with a single TDM connection.

The processor also has the horsepower and FPU desired, and at $89 it is
very affordable.

Looks like a good candidate to design a multichannel audio-widget.

Damien Martin mentioned before that TI itself might be very interested
in developing uac2 stack for it's processors. If we offer to port the
widget uac2 code to the TI chips we may be able to work out a deal with TI.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Regards
Sid.

--
Sid Boyce ... Hamradio License G3VBV, Licensed Private Pilot,
Emeritus IBM/Amdahl Mainframes and Sun/Fujitsu Servers Tech Support
Senior Staff Specialist, Cricket Coach
Microsoft Windows Free Zone - Linux used for all Computing Tasks

Vladimir Pantelic

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Nov 1, 2011, 2:11:42 PM11/1/11
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Jason Kridner wrote:
> There's a new dog in the pack! The BeagleBone was announced

I, for one, welcome our new bony overlords

lopsta.e...@googlemail.com

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Nov 3, 2011, 4:14:37 AM11/3/11
to beagl...@googlegroups.com, sbo...@blueyonder.co.uk
so this board runs linux, but it is also easily programmabel as a microcontroller, right?
what language is used for the microcontroller part?
coming from the Arduino, how would i for example integrate image recognition via OpenCV with controlling IO ports for a robotic application. One part is a Linux application, the other is my custom code, how do both communicate with each other?

I think this is a game changer and what i see so far i really love the concept. specially the onboard IDE is mindblowing. having said that as a hardcore Arduino user.

Jason Kridner

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Nov 3, 2011, 10:57:06 AM11/3/11
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On Thu, Nov 3, 2011 at 4:14 AM, <lopsta.e...@googlemail.com> wrote:
> so this board runs linux, but it is also easily programmabel as a
> microcontroller, right?

I wouldn't say it can be programmed as a microcontroller, per se, but
the concept is to provide libraries that look like Arduino libraries.
That software will be in the infant stages when the boards start
shipping in a week or two.

There is a processing element called a PRU. My plan is enable
multiple "loop" functions to be created and to perform introspection
on those loops to identify if the loop can be moved entirely to a PRU.
A PRU has a ultra-low-latency response to the GPIO pins connected to
it. Currently, a PRU can only be programmed in assembly and my
approach would simply to create assembly functions to satisfy the same
functionality as the JavaScript functions and to off-load the loop to
the PRU to provide hard-real-time performance transparently (and to
warn when something won't run on the PRU and to provide guidelines how
to get something to run on the PRU).

Right now, the challenge is to get the hardware out there, knowing
that the software is in sort of a pre-alpha state, and to work on it
together with others who might want to participate. I expect some
will be turned off by how unfinished the software is, but I hope
they'll come back when it is really done.

I expect a lot of platforms to be able to utilize the software once we
are finished.

> what language is used for the microcontroller part?

I'm doing an implementation in JavaScript using node.js called
'bonescript' right now that can be edited from Cloud9 IDE. I know of
someone else doing an implementation in C/C++ and looking at the IDE
integration (into the Arduino IDE --- whereas I will eventually look
into integrating that environment into Cloud9 IDE).

> coming from the Arduino, how would i for example integrate
> image recognition via OpenCV with controlling IO ports for a robotic
> application. One part is a Linux application, the other is my custom code,
> how do both communicate with each other?

You have all the mechanisms of Linux to have them communicate.
Sockets. Files. D-bus. Library calls. For my JavaScript library,
I'll look to enable some functionality through JavaScript modules as
it becomes clear to me what functionality I need to expose. For the
guy doing the C/C++ libraries, I suspect it he'll add some default
libraries to his environment such that you can call OpenCV functions
directly and that he'd likely add some helper functions/classes. Both
of us will have open repositories and accept productive merge
requests.

> I think this is a game changer and what i see so far i really love the
> concept. specially the onboard IDE is mindblowing. having said that as a
> hardcore Arduino user.

Thanks! I've really wanted to get it out there so that people realize
what is possible. This makes a great platform to demonstrate that.

laza...@yahoo.com

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Nov 3, 2011, 3:00:51 PM11/3/11
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Uh easily programmable?
Linux device drivers required

From Android 4G on HTC Sense dual core SnapDragon.


----- Reply message -----
From: lopsta.e...@googlemail.com
To: <beagl...@googlegroups.com>
Cc: <sbo...@blueyonder.co.uk>
Subject: [beagleboard] BeagleBone announcement
Date: Thu, Nov 3, 2011 2:14 am


so this board runs linux, but it is also easily programmabel as a
microcontroller, right?
what language is used for the microcontroller part?
coming from the Arduino, how would i for example integrate
image recognition via OpenCV with controlling IO ports for a robotic
application. One part is a Linux application, the other is my custom code,
how do both communicate with each other?

I think this is a game changer and what i see so far i really love the
concept. specially the onboard IDE is mindblowing. having said that as a
hardcore Arduino user.

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Jason Kridner

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Nov 3, 2011, 3:48:44 PM11/3/11
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On Thu, Nov 3, 2011 at 3:00 PM, laza...@yahoo.com <laza...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> Uh easily programmable?

That's the idea, but it'll simplify over time. If you are looking for
really great ease of use and that is your key care-about, I'd
recommend coming back in the summer.

> Linux device drivers required

No Linux device drivers that haven't already been shipping for years
are required.

We used a USB PID registered to TI (the one for the XDS100v2) for the
FTDI device that will require adding a udev rule until patches land in
your Linux kernel.... or you can simply invoke the driver from the
command-line using modprobe. The g_ether doesn't require any special
config... just shows up as a USB network adapter with a DHCP server.
The JTAG stuff works with TI's Code Composer Studio v5, but folks are
trying to get it to work with OpenOCD as well. That just uses
libftdi, so again, no Linux device drivers required.

Of course, the other ways to interface your Linux PC to it, such as
Ethernet, don't require any drivers either. If you run Avahi, you'll
notice the board advertises some of its services, including 'ssh' and
'cloud9'.

And, of course, you are always free to replace the entire system code.

The build process is better aligned with upstream than previous board
launches, so rebuilding the system shouldn't require any funny steps
that might be difficult to reproduce. I'll provide a commit-id for
the shipping image.

mr.Shu

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Nov 3, 2011, 4:03:02 PM11/3/11
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May I ask you guys how many PWM outputs does the BeagleBone have?

Thanks in advance.

Gerald Coley

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Nov 3, 2011, 4:15:21 PM11/3/11
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Up to 8.
 
 
Gerald

mr.Shu

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Nov 3, 2011, 4:18:58 PM11/3/11
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Wow, awesome

Jason Kridner

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Nov 3, 2011, 4:41:12 PM11/3/11
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On Thu, Nov 3, 2011 at 4:18 PM, mr.Shu <mrs...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Wow, awesome
>
> On 3 November 2011 20:15, Gerald Coley <ger...@beagleboard.org> wrote:
>>
>> Up to 8.

With some concern of getting too far ahead of myself: not in the
kernel today, but the kernel can do low-resolution PWMs with GPIOs
under the restrictions of the kernel latency. Also, when the tools
mature, the PRUs will also be able to provide PWM functionality.

Albert

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Nov 4, 2011, 6:16:02 AM11/4/11
to Beagle Board
Beaglebone is a direct competitor to Arduino! Great work, TI!

On Nov 4, 4:41 am, Jason Kridner <jason.krid...@hangerhead.com> wrote:
> On Thu, Nov 3, 2011 at 4:18 PM, mr.Shu <mrs...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > Wow, awesome
>
> > On 3 November 2011 20:15, Gerald Coley <ger...@beagleboard.org> wrote:
>
> >> Up to 8.
>
> With some concern of getting too far ahead of myself: not in the
> kernel today, but the kernel can do low-resolution PWMs with GPIOs
> under the restrictions of the kernel latency.  Also, when the tools
> mature, the PRUs will also be able to provide PWM functionality.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> >> Gerald
>
> >> On Thu, Nov 3, 2011 at 3:03 PM, mr.Shu <mrs...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> >>> May I ask you guys how many PWM outputs does the BeagleBone have?
> >>> Thanks in advance.
>
> >>> On 3 November 2011 19:48, Jason Kridner <jkrid...@beagleboard.org> wrote:
>
> >>>> On Thu, Nov 3, 2011 at 3:00 PM, lazar...@yahoo.com <lazar...@yahoo.com>

Tawez

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Nov 4, 2011, 9:07:44 AM11/4/11
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On Nov 1, 5:03 pm, Jason Kridner <jkrid...@beagleboard.org> wrote:
> There's a new dog in the pack!  The BeagleBone was announced
> yesterday.

Realy great idea!
It will be my next toy^Wtool ;)

There is one thing, I don't like:
The Ethernet socket is located too close to the "line" of expansion
sockets (as I can see on BeagleBone photos).
This will bring some pain for cape designers and DIY makers, because
every cape will have to have additional cut in the pcb for ethernet
socket :|

All the rest seems to be SUPERB!


--
Best Regards
Tawez

Koen Kooi

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Nov 4, 2011, 10:54:54 AM11/4/11
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Op 4 nov. 2011, om 14:07 heeft Tawez het volgende geschreven:

> On Nov 1, 5:03 pm, Jason Kridner <jkrid...@beagleboard.org> wrote:
>> There's a new dog in the pack! The BeagleBone was announced
>> yesterday.
>
> Realy great idea!
> It will be my next toy^Wtool ;)
>
> There is one thing, I don't like:
> The Ethernet socket is located too close to the "line" of expansion
> sockets (as I can see on BeagleBone photos).
> This will bring some pain for cape designers and DIY makers, because
> every cape will have to have additional cut in the pcb for ethernet
> socket :|

Yes, you can see that cut in action at http://www.flickr.com/photos/koenkooi/6301342037/in/photostream

regards,

Koen

Gerald Coley

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Nov 4, 2011, 10:55:58 AM11/4/11
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That is why the cape has a notch in it. It acts a s a key to make sure the boards are not plugged in backwards. Yo uwill be able to learn mor eon this when I release the SRM on Monnday.
 
 
Gerald


 

Gerald Coley

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Nov 4, 2011, 10:56:44 AM11/4/11
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That is why they are called capes!
 
Gerald

Jan Detlefsen

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Nov 4, 2011, 11:00:21 AM11/4/11
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i think the cut is okay, all capes will just have it. it's also not a
big deal to get PCBs produced in those shapes.

are there any files available to start tinkering with some ideas for capes?

Mark A. Yoder

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Nov 4, 2011, 11:04:10 AM11/4/11
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I'd like to know more about the PRU.  Is this something that's on the other Beagles?

--Mark

Gerald Coley

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Nov 4, 2011, 11:05:30 AM11/4/11
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We are working on making those files available. It will be a few weeks before they are ready. The SRM wil have the dimensions on it.
 
Gerald

Jason Kridner

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Nov 4, 2011, 11:39:36 AM11/4/11
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On Fri, Nov 4, 2011 at 11:04 AM, Mark A. Yoder <mark.a...@gmail.com> wrote:
> I'd like to know more about the PRU.  Is this something that's on the other
> Beagles?

PRU is new and, honestly, the software support will be immature for it
for a while. You can find it on the OMAP-L138 and AM1808 as well. I
have a roadmap to have support for it in bonescript by Summer.

> --Mark
>

Jan Detlefsen

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Nov 4, 2011, 11:11:31 AM11/4/11
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sorry what does SRM stand for? is that a file format?

Charlie Fullerton

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Nov 4, 2011, 11:35:33 AM11/4/11
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Why not just use the longer pin headers like we do with the Arduino?
That way you don't have to cut the PCB in weird shapes and you get more
space for schtuff.

Gerald Coley

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Nov 4, 2011, 11:49:38 AM11/4/11
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System Reference Manual. It is a PDF document.
 
Gerald

Gerald Coley

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Nov 4, 2011, 11:51:23 AM11/4/11
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It acts as a key. We have symmetrical connectors with no key to prevent a person from plugging in the board backwards.If someone wants to create a board with longer pins, then they may do so.
 
Gerald

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Jayanth Acharya

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Nov 4, 2011, 12:28:58 PM11/4/11
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On Fri, Nov 4, 2011 at 3:46 PM, Albert <light...@gmail.com> wrote:
Beaglebone is a direct competitor to Arduino! Great work, TI!

 
These are really exciting times and Beaglebone is truly exhilarating news, however Arduino's are in an altogether different league, in spite of it's very humble specs.

The popularity of Arduinos is not their hardware, i.e. the Arduino boards, or the sheilds. It is the software and the level it abstracts the hardware to.
Hardware more capable and elegant have existed before Arduino (Wiring! mbeds, the wide range of Olimex's), or ones that were hacker friendly (Propellers), but Arduino stole it, because of it's software, it's beautiful software-hardware integration, open-source everything and a very inclusive approach to the community. This, in spite of the fact that, as a company Atmel isn't easy to deal with, from hacker community standpoint. Try ordering samples from them :-)

More than a year back (or so), when MSP430's Valueline protoboards started selling for $4.30 (including shipping, expedited 2nd day, world-wide -- for free), people said that it's an Arduino killer. With the order of magnitude price difference, it ought to have been, but unfortunately none of that happened. Reason is anyone's guess.

IMHO, key to Beaglebone (or other similar) board's true mass adoption will be driven to a large extent by software ease-of-use without sacrificing flexibility. The good thing is that a POSIX kernel/OS and userland comes for free in form of Linux / Android, once the BSP is ported. However, asking a newbie who has tried building their own Angstrom kernel+root image, how they fared, I think it's clear that lot needs to be done. The Beagles are lot more complex and capable beasts, and software to tame / harness them is an order-of-magnitude harder. For a artist-hacker, or an embedded n00b, Android learning curve is nothing compared to the Beagle's learning curve, or the effort to get a Beagle to a point where it is usable. I guess, the day Beagles get Arduino like (from ease and don't-make-me-think) SDK / developer capabilities, the scale of adoption might drive the price in the current Arduino ranges (Ah, dreaming, already).
 

Andy

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Nov 4, 2011, 6:12:55 PM11/4/11
to Beagle Board
On Nov 4, 10:35 am, Charlie Fullerton <cwfullerton21...@gmail.com>
wrote:
> Why not just use the longer pin headers like we do with the Arduino?
> That way you don't have to cut the PCB in weird shapes and you get more
> space for schtuff.
>
> On 11/4/2011 11:00 AM, Jan Detlefsen wrote:
>

While on the topic of headers, it looks to me like there's a serious
lack of return (ground) pins on the connectors.

I was looking at doing something with the LCD interface, and you have
24 high speed signals and clock all jammed into one header with two
ground pins at the other end. There are no source terminations on the
LCD lines. I expect if you try to run those directly to a typical
panel with a few inches of FPC tail or some cable, the signals are
going to look mighty bad by the time they cross a couple of
connectors, cable, and get to the receiver.

Tawez

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Nov 4, 2011, 7:20:48 PM11/4/11
to Beagle Board
Ok. This is a good reason to have this notch ;)

--
Tawez

Gerald Coley

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Nov 4, 2011, 7:50:34 PM11/4/11
to beagl...@googlegroups.com
On th etopic of ground pins, if you look at the BeagleBoard and BeagleBoard-xm we have even less grounds. We have no issue driving LCDs in that configuration. We always add a buffer there as we have to do voltage level translation. On the BeagleBone, We have DVID board working today with a buffer and the source terminations on the DVI-D board.  It looks very nice!
 
Gerald

W5UXH

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Nov 4, 2011, 11:30:07 PM11/4/11
to Beagle Board
On Nov 3, 8:57 am, Jason Kridner <jkrid...@beagleboard.org> wrote:
>
> There is a processing element called a PRU.  My plan is enable
> multiple "loop" functions to be created and to perform introspection
> on those loops to identify if the loop can be moved entirely to a PRU.
>  A PRU has a ultra-low-latency response to the GPIO pins connected to
> it.

Without any understanding of the PRU, I wonder if it will be possible
to have "ultra-low-latency" response to internal timer interrupts? My
interest is to be able to set a timer to generate durations as short
as 12 msec, with precision on the order of 100 usec, so that I am able
to set the logic state of a GPIO pin to logic 1 ("ON") and turn it
back off after time out. I would like to be able to do this in a C
environment (dropping to assembly if required). I would need the same
precision for off durations (e.g. the capability of creating a square
wave of 12 msec on, 12 msec off). In actual operation, the on / off
cycles would be variable, not true square waves. Also, 12 msecs is
the extreme minimum duration (this is the length of a morse code "dot"
at 100 wpm).

I currently plan to investigate the use of my new Beagleboard-XM to
see if it is possible to do this with High Resolution Timers, but the
PRU comments from Jason about ultra-low-latency and real hard time for
the Beaglebone certainly caught my attention.

Chuck, W5UXH

(I do not recall if the list standard is top or bottom posting, so I
apologize it I chose wrong.)

Mark A. Yoder

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Nov 7, 2011, 1:37:12 PM11/7/11
to beagl...@googlegroups.com
When will we see Cloud9 running on the Beagle?  I'm ready to start playing with it.

--Mark

Koen Kooi

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Nov 7, 2011, 2:19:29 PM11/7/11
to beagl...@googlegroups.com, beagl...@googlegroups.com
opkg install cloud9 works in recent angstrom builds


Op 7 nov. 2011 om 19:37 heeft "Mark A. Yoder" <mark.a...@gmail.com> het volgende geschreven:

When will we see Cloud9 running on the Beagle?  I'm ready to start playing with it.

--Mark

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Mark A. Yoder

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Nov 7, 2011, 4:48:04 PM11/7/11
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Hmmm.... doesn't work for me.  It doesn't appear in opkg list 

How do I check the age of my distribution?

--Mark

Jason Kridner

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Nov 7, 2011, 5:05:28 PM11/7/11
to beagl...@googlegroups.com
On Mon, Nov 7, 2011 at 4:48 PM, Mark A. Yoder <mark.a...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hmmm.... doesn't work for me.  It doesn't appear in opkg list
> How do I check the age of my distribution?

I believe it is only on Angstrom-core. You'd need to switch to that.
I think we have a lot to test out as you switch to *-core. Fastest
way to get started with an image is
http://www.angstrom-distribution.org/demo/beagleboard. Next fastest
is Narcissus.

> --Mark
>
> --
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
> "Beagle Board" group.
> To view this discussion on the web visit

> https://groups.google.com/d/msg/beagleboard/-/gSbjNMokLGEJ.

Mark A. Yoder

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Nov 8, 2011, 10:33:39 AM11/8/11
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Does that mean when I go to [1] to build an image for Choose the complexity of the options below I select 'advanced' and for Select the release you want to base your rootfs image on. I select 'core-eglibc'?

Jason Kridner

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Nov 8, 2011, 10:44:30 AM11/8/11
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Yes. Each of the three options are built from different revision
control branches of metadata. The core-eglibc is built using OE-core.
[2]

[2] http://git.angstrom-distribution.org/cgi-bin/cgit.cgi/meta-texasinstruments/tree/README

Lolo-A8

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Nov 19, 2011, 2:45:12 PM11/19/11
to Beagle Board
The two PRUs make this chip quite interesting (the $5 price too
haha!).
In my designs, I usually have a lot of switches, A/B encoders,
potentiometers and LEDs to read and drive.
Those are very simple operations but usually requires a lot of
multiplexing (using external muxes or creating a matrix) at fairly
high rate especially for the A/B encoders where you might not want to
miss any events.
I think the PRUs will be wonderful for that without taxing the main
core at all.
If I had to do that in the past, I might have used a simple external
micro, communicating with the main micro that runs linux using UART,
I2C or SPI.
Now, it is probably not necessary anymore thanks to PRU, as long as
there are enough free GPIOs :)
From what I understand, you could also do high resolution PWM on any
GPIOs thanks to PRU (?)

It would be amazing if this chip could be programmed like a micro-
controller, in a non-linux environment, but I guess I am dreaming.
My main problem with using linux in fairly simple or consumer
electronic devices is boot-time.
When I switch on a device that use a simple micro, it is almost
instantaneous.
With linux we must wait a few seconds ...

Do you have an idea on the minimum time it takes the beaglebone to
boot to a command line ?


On Nov 4, 7:39 am, Jason Kridner <jkrid...@beagleboard.org> wrote:

Johannes Klug

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Nov 22, 2011, 6:37:08 AM11/22/11
to Beagle Board
Dear Jason,

On Nov 1, 5:03 pm, Jason Kridner <jkrid...@beagleboard.org> wrote:

> ===How does the BeagleBone compare to the current BeagleBoard or
> BeagleBoard-xM?===
> The BeagleBoard-xM is still the extra MIPS and extra memory
> BeagleBoard with the greatest USB host expansion capabilities. If the
> original BeagleBoard has all the horsepower and USB host capabilities
> you need, but what you really want is easier and more extensive
> expansion, on-chip Ethernet, analog-to-digital data conversion and a
> lower cost, then the BeagleBone is the BeagleBoard for you.

Is there an analog-to-digital converter on board? What are its
specifications (resolution, number of channels, and such)?

How many digital I/O pins are there to use?

I could not find that information on the website.

Cheers,
Johannes

Gerald Coley

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Nov 22, 2011, 9:24:14 AM11/22/11
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You might try checking out the datasheet for the processor. The Technical Reference Manual will be helpful as well.
 
 
Gerald

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MRO

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Nov 28, 2011, 9:59:53 AM11/28/11
to Beagle Board
Hi,

I am new to Linux but I'd like use Android on Beaglebone.

Waiting to buy my BeagleBone, is there any tutorial which I can start
to study ?

Is it necessary use a Linux(ubuntu) Host to deal with Beagleboards, or
is it possible also on WinXP ?

Marco

Jason Kridner

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Nov 28, 2011, 4:22:19 PM11/28/11
to beagl...@googlegroups.com
On Mon, Nov 28, 2011 at 9:59 AM, MRO <mro...@phxtecno.com> wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I am new to Linux but I'd like use Android on Beaglebone.
>
> Waiting to buy my BeagleBone, is there any tutorial which I can start
> to study ?

http://beagleboard.org/static/beaglebone/a3/README.htm

>
> Is it necessary use a Linux(ubuntu) Host to deal with Beagleboards, or
> is it possible also on WinXP ?

Depends on what you want to do. You can do quite a bit with a Windows host.

>
> Marco

David

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Dec 2, 2011, 11:41:04 PM12/2/11
to Beagle Board
Why only 10/100 Base=T and not 10/100/1000 Base-T?
Just wondering. Also does anyone know of an a 1000 Base-T to SPI
module?

Gerald Coley

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Dec 3, 2011, 12:12:30 AM12/3/11
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10/100 is less expensive and it is also good enough. We had a price point we needed to hit and it was a fight to get there.
 
Gerald

David

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Dec 5, 2011, 12:14:43 PM12/5/11
to Beagle Board
That is understandable. Too bad because I was thinking that it could
make a really good router/firewall/wifi device. Make a shield with a
second NIC, wifi, and maybe a few sata ports and you have one heck of
a device.
Of course it is a very interesting device as it is for a large number
of uses.

Gerald Coley

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Dec 5, 2011, 12:26:41 PM12/5/11
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There is always some functionality sacrificed when it comes to cost!
 
Gerald

Stanley Seibert

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Dec 5, 2011, 12:40:16 PM12/5/11
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On a semi-related question:

Is there any clever way to connect a USB device on a cape to the USB bus on the BeagleBone without a separate cable between the two boards?

Gerald Coley

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Dec 5, 2011, 1:37:36 PM12/5/11
to beagl...@googlegroups.com
Not that I can think of.
 
Gerald

David

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Dec 5, 2011, 5:17:20 PM12/5/11
to Beagle Board
Is the ethernet port intergrated into the chipset? Just wondering if
working from the beagle bone one could spin a board with 1000 Base-T.

Jason Kridner

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Dec 5, 2011, 5:42:18 PM12/5/11
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On Mon, Dec 5, 2011 at 5:17 PM, David <lwa...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Is the ethernet port intergrated into the chipset? Just wondering if
> working from the beagle bone one could spin a board with 1000 Base-T.

Yes, the chip has a dual gigabit Ethernet switch.

Leon

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Dec 18, 2011, 8:00:02 AM12/18/11
to Beagle Board
I've ordered a BeagleBone from Mouser. For some reason, they have had
to apply for permission to export the board to me in the UK and I've
had to complete an End User Certificate.

Leon

Jamie Laing

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Dec 18, 2011, 6:40:26 PM12/18/11
to Beagle Board
Beaglebone takes a picture of itself...

https://plus.google.com/111930368766985978471/posts/29qbYdbJxzR


On Nov 1, 10:03 am, Jason Kridner <jkrid...@beagleboard.org> wrote:
> There's a new dog in the pack!  The BeagleBone was announced

> yesterday.  For those of you hanging out athttp://beagleboard.org/chat, you've probably been hearing about it for
> about a month.  It is real, but there are still very few of them out
> there.  I am mailing some A2 boards out to some key
> partners/developers now, but the production version, A3, is going
> straight to ramp-mode.  The only difference is a change in the
> Ethernet PHY to improve the throughput, which we are now quite happy
> with how it is getting around 95Mbps under iperf.
>
> The BeagleBone schematics and BOM are now up onhttp://beagleboard.org/hardware/design.  The system reference manual
> and other docs should be showing up later this week.
>
> The page for updates ishttp://beagleboard.org/bone.  I'll try to get
> a blog post out later today as well, but no promises there.  Other
> people's posts seem to be telling most of the news anyway.  For those
> of you too lazy to bring up a browser window, here are the current
> contents ofhttp://beagleboard.org/bone(without all of the links,
> videos or pictures):
>
> ===What is the BeagleBone?===
> The BeagleBone is the low-cost, high-expansion hardware-hacker focused
> BeagleBoard. It is a bare-bones BeagleBoard that acts as a USB or
> Ethernet connected expansion companion for your current BeagleBoard
> and BeagleBoard-xM or works stand-alone. The BeagleBone is small even
> by BeagleBoard standards and with the high-performance ARM
> capabilities you expect from a BeagleBoard, the BeagleBone brings
> full-featured Linux to places it has never gone before.
>
> ===How can I buy one?===
> Distributors are coming on-line now and enabling pre-orders. Boards
> should ship to distributors before the end of November. Find the
> currently on-line distributors athttp://beagleboard.org/buy.
>
> ===What is the BeagleBone capable of doing?===
> At over 1.5 billion Dhrystone operations per second and vector
> floating point arithmetic operations, the BeagleBone is capable of not
> just interfacing to all of your robotics motor drivers, location or
> pressure sensors and 2D or 3D cameras, but also running OpenCV, OpenNI
> and other image collection and analysis software to recognize the
> objects around your robot and the gestures you might make to control
> it. Through HDMI, VGA or LCD expansion boards, it is capable of
> decoding and displaying mutliple video formats utilizing a completely
> open source software stack and synchronizing playback over Ethernet or
> USB with other BeagleBoards to create massive video walls. If what you
> are into is building 3D printers, then the BeagleBone has the
> extensive PWM capabilities, the on-chip Ethernet and the 3D rendering
> and manipulation capabilities all help you eliminate both your
> underpowered microcontroller-based controller board as well as that PC
> from your basement.
>
> ===What are the detailed hardware specifications?===
> Keep coming back! These will be updated soon. Some additional details
> are in the latest BeagleBoard.org flyer.
>
> Board size: 3.4" x 2.1"
> Shipped with 2GB microSD card with the Angstrom Distribution with
> node.js and Cloud9 IDE
> Single cable development environment with built-in FTDI-based
> serial/JTAG and on-board hub to give the same cable simultaneous
> access to a USB device port on the target processor
> Industry standard 3.3V I/Os on the expansion headers with easy-to-use
> 0.1" spacing
> On-chip Ethernet, not off of USB
> Easier to clone thanks to larger pitch on BGA devices (0.8mm vs.
> 0.4mm), no package-on-package memories, standard DDR2 vs. LPDDR,
> integrated USB PHYs and more.
> Where are the design materials?
> These are still being updated ahead of boards shipping, but you can
> find the latest versions always on the BeagleBoard.org Hardware Design
> Page.
>
> ===How does Linux make the BeagleBone easier to use than a
> microcontroller-based platform?===
> The advantage of full-featured Linux is the Linux community. While the
> template-based coding of systems like the Arduino make it easy to
> copy-and-paste simple projects and a limited number of more complex
> libraries that don't have a lot of interaction, 20 years of Linux
> development have generated an extensive set of highly interoperable
> software that can be utilized and collaborated upon, without
> sacrificing the simplicity of doing something like toggling an LED or
> switch or reading an analog or I2C-based sensor.
>
> The first example I have is node.js, the server-side JavaScript
> language interpreter with a rapidly growing community. The evented I/O
> model enables both building highly scalable web servers and being
> responsive to the many sensors within your embedded system. As part of
> the shipping image with the BeagleBone, we are looking to provide the
> git-enabled Cloud9 IDE that allows you to edit node.js applications
> directly over your web browser by simply pointing it to the
> BeagleBone. While this technology will be in a highly-alpha quality
> state intended to communicate the possibilities for making a quantum
> jump in rapid prototyping with Linux when the BeagleBone is initially
> launched, we intend to collaborate with the Linux, Cloud9 IDE
> (Ajax.org), node.js, github.com and BeagleBoard communities to evolve
> this to Arduino-like simplicity, without the need to install any
> development tools or understand Linux programming details. Development
> of the application library will be done entirely in the open and is
> awaiting launch until there is broad availability of the hardware to
> avoid any undue refactoring that might come from not having the proper
> collaboration and review.


>
> ===How does the BeagleBone compare to the current BeagleBoard or
> BeagleBoard-xM?===
> The BeagleBoard-xM is still the extra MIPS and extra memory
> BeagleBoard with the greatest USB host expansion capabilities. If the
> original BeagleBoard has all the horsepower and USB host capabilities
> you need, but what you really want is easier and more extensive
> expansion, on-chip Ethernet, analog-to-digital data conversion and a
> lower cost, then the BeagleBone is the BeagleBoard for you.
>

> ===What does this mean for the future of the BeagleBoard and the
> BeagleBoard-xM?===
> The BeagleBoard and BeagleBoard-xM will continue to be manufactured
> and available for purchase for several years to come (no end of life
> in sight). We can be confident of this thanks to TI's commitment to
> having parts availability for 10+ years for the key components. There
> have been instances where we've needed to update non-TI components on
> the BeagleBoard, such as the recent upgrade from 256MB of NAND flash
> on the BeagleBoard to 512MB due to the end-of-life of the memory
> device. We believe the upgrade shows our commitment to continued
> production and support of the existing platforms.
>
> ===When will the BeagleBone be available?===
> Some distributors are taking orders now. Rev A2 boards are just
> shipping to active community members now. Rev A3 boards (production
> version) will start shipping to distributors before the end of
> November.
>
> ===How much will the BeagleBone cost?===
> That is ultimately up to the distributors, but the suggested retail
> price is $89. I am confident this will give some room for people
> wanting to make clones can do so at a very competitive cost. The
> AM335x has been announced to be available for as little as $5.
>
> ===Is this just a TI marketing gimmick?===
> It is certainly not a marketing gimmick for the key leaders of the
> project. We really do care about giving to the open hardware movement
> and the projects it enables us to do personally and through
> electronics education.
>
> Several semiconductor manufacturers are attempting to duplicate the
> community building success of the BeagleBoard and have cut the price
> on their development tools, even to the point of giving away chips and
> subsidizing the cost of other components on the board. Ultimately, I
> think this is a good thing for developers who are aware of this by
> lowering the cost of evaluating processor technology. However, for
> those of us who feel personally responsible for the BeagleBoard, we
> feel it is different than virtually all of those other efforts and
> that it must stand on the quality of the technology and our commitment
> to be a part of the BeagleBoard community, actively supporting
> newcomers who seek to take ownership of the direction of the project.
> We are personally excited about what we can do with the BeagleBoard
> and would do it even if TI didn't pay us for it (and not all of us are
> paid by TI, even though I am).
>
> The current open hardware movement is much akin to early home computer
> and radio hobbyist activities in its highly collaborative nature. We
> aren't anti-competitive or looking to use our admittedly unfair
> advantage of working closely with TI. Arduinos are great for what they
> do, as are any number of ARM and non-ARM based embedded development
> systems. To that end, we won't accept subsidies from TI on chips,
> though we do get volume pricing that other solutions selling the
> volume of the BeagleBoard and fostering open development would be able
> to get. We have had challenges with some small groups trying to get
> similar pricing, but believe we have resolved this at every turn. We
> are committed to advancing open hardware for the benefit of all and
> are seeking to enable new things with the BeagleBoard and BeagleBone,
> not degrade or discount the great contributions to open hardware that
> have come before or will come after.
>
> ===Why aren't the BeagleBone expansion headers compatible with the Arduino?===
> We set out to enable something different than the Arduino, though
> certainly having the breadth of add-on boards available to the Arduino
> is in our goals. While it would have been possible to make this happen
> and it is still possible to make an add-on board that would adapt to
> that interface, the performance and cost of interfacing to Arduino
> shields as-is would under-utilize the capabilities of the underlying
> Linux-based system and compete in places where an Arduino is really
> the right solution.
>
> We are anxious to work with open hardware partners looking to generate
> and sell...
>
> read more »

David Goodenough

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Dec 19, 2011, 9:30:09 AM12/19/11
to beagl...@googlegroups.com
Farnell do not seem to have this problem. They shipped mine and it
arrived last friday - no End User Certificate required.

David

Leon Heller

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Dec 19, 2011, 11:03:06 AM12/19/11
to beagl...@googlegroups.com

I've canceled the Mouser order and ordered one from Farnell. I don't
think the latter had them in stock when I checked last week. I should
get it tomorrow.

Leon
--
Leon Heller
G1HSM

David Goodenough

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Dec 19, 2011, 11:45:09 AM12/19/11
to beagl...@googlegroups.com
I got the notification from them that they were available on thursday just
before lunch, and ordered immediately. The unit left Belgium, headed to
Cologne, arrived at Castle Donnington in the UK at 3am the following morning
and arrived here around 1pm.

David

bone head

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Dec 19, 2011, 12:13:21 PM12/19/11
to Beagle Board
I just got my beaglebone from Farnell UK.
It was shipped last Thursday and arrived Friday!
http://uk.farnell.com/jsp/search/productdetail.jsp?SKU=2063627
There were 65 in stock on Thursday when they shipped mine, now 55.
I got the usb to serial ports working under XP 32 bit after following
these instructions...
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!msg/beagleboard/FlFYX3XPbO4/XdiTtv5J2fcJ

Gerald Coley

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Oct 10, 2012, 11:44:14 AM10/10/12
to beagl...@googlegroups.com
I know of no such plans.
 
Gerald


 
On Wed, Oct 10, 2012 at 10:21 AM, Ath_06 <alexander....@gmail.com> wrote:
Anyone knows if beagle board is thinking to use the OMAP5 in some future boards?


El martes, 1 de noviembre de 2011 17:03:10 UTC+1, Jason Kridner escribió:
There's a new dog in the pack!  The BeagleBone was announced
yesterday.  For those of you hanging out at
http://beagleboard.org/chat, you've probably been hearing about it for
about a month.  It is real, but there are still very few of them out
there.  I am mailing some A2 boards out to some key
partners/developers now, but the production version, A3, is going
straight to ramp-mode.  The only difference is a change in the
Ethernet PHY to improve the throughput, which we are now quite happy
with how it is getting around 95Mbps under iperf.

The BeagleBone schematics and BOM are now up on
http://beagleboard.org/hardware/design.  The system reference manual
and other docs should be showing up later this week.

The page for updates is http://beagleboard.org/bone.  I'll try to get


a blog post out later today as well, but no promises there.  Other
people's posts seem to be telling most of the news anyway.  For those
of you too lazy to bring up a browser window, here are the current

contents of http://beagleboard.org/bone (without all of the links,
videos or pictures):

===What is the BeagleBone?===
The BeagleBone is the low-cost, high-expansion hardware-hacker focused
BeagleBoard. It is a bare-bones BeagleBoard that acts as a USB or
Ethernet connected expansion companion for your current BeagleBoard
and BeagleBoard-xM or works stand-alone. The BeagleBone is small even
by BeagleBoard standards and with the high-performance ARM
capabilities you expect from a BeagleBoard, the BeagleBone brings
full-featured Linux to places it has never gone before.

===How can I buy one?===
Distributors are coming on-line now and enabling pre-orders. Boards
should ship to distributors before the end of November. Find the

currently on-line distributors at http://beagleboard.org/buy.

and sell add-on boards and microSD card images (or Linux kernel
patches or node.js libraries) that make hardware support transparent.
Availability on the BeagleBone will be at least as high as the current
BeagleBoard and BeagleBoard-xM, so the audience for your add-on
hardware will be extensive. Direct links on the BeagleBone purchase
page are welcome, as long as the key Linux distribution and hardware
test developers are provided with early hardware to ensure quality
interoperability. Open software collaboration through the BeagleBoard
mailing list is highly encouraged.

===What are the export restrictions?===
I will find out, but they will be similar to the original BeagleBoard
and BeagleBoard-xM.

===What is the processor used in the board?===
The BeagleBone uses a TI AM3358 ARM Cortex-A8-based microprocessor.
Announced on Oct 31, 2011, the main processor is available for as
little as $5, uses a 0.8mm ball-grid array and standard DDR2 memory,
making this board easier to clone than other BeagleBoard designs.

===Is there a road-map for peripheral boards?===
A DVI-D board is in the prototype phase right now. HDMI, VGA and LCD
boards will follow.

Plans for a Wi-Fi+Battery board are still in the very preliminary
phases. We've engaged several open hardware developers for sensor and
other interesting peripheral boards, but no hard commitments for a
roadmap yet. We are in the very early life of the BeagleBone and I
expect to see more available "sheilds", "capes", "peripheral boards"
or whatever you want to call them than you can count!

===If I want to make a "cape", is there a starting point?===
A community member has already started creating a starting reference
in Eagle. More on that to come.

We'll generally refer to them as "capes" because Underdog is a beagle
and he wears a cape. The term "shields" is nice, but that has some
implication of Arduino and this is definitely not an Arduino clone.

===Is this board a stand-alone board or is it supposed to be used in
conjunction with the BeagleBoard-XM? What capabilities does it add to
the BeagleBoard-XM if it does?===
Both. Because it doesn't have a display interface of its own, it needs
an external control terminal either over USB or over the network. A
BeagleBoard-xM may be used as a host, plus it build on the same Linux
distribution that ships with the BeagleBoard-xM for a large amount of
similarity. It would add extensive 3.3V I/O capabilities to the
BeagleBoard-xM.

===What if I already have a JTAG-based debugger?===
There are pads on the bottom to solder-on a JTAG header. You'll need
to remove a few small resistors as well. The trade-off was made to
make it easy for those new to embedded systems to be able to use
hardware in-system debuggers, saving them from the need to purchase
something that likely would have cost them as much as the board.

===How do I get software to run on the BeagleBone?===
Many projects may eventually provide software images that can be run
on the BeagleBone. The boards will be shipping with a Cloud9 image
from the Angstrom Distribution. See
http://www.angstrom-distribution.org/demo/beaglebone.

===Where is the software source code?===
The image that ships with the BeagleBone comes from the Angstrom
Distribution and is built with OpenEmbedded. Instructions to download
and build the Angstrom Distribution are at
http://www.angstrom-distribution.org/building-angstrom. The image can
be built with 'MACHINE=beaglebone bitbake cloud9-image'.

===What if I just want the boot-loader and kernel sources?===
A bit closer to the final software freeze date (roughly Nov 7, 2011),
the source code will be available at http://github.com/beagleboard.
Until then, you can watch the TI trees on arago-project.org and, of
course, meta-ti.

--
 
 



--
Gerald
 

lkcl

unread,
Oct 28, 2012, 8:43:10 PM10/28/12
to beagl...@googlegroups.com
On Wed, Oct 10, 2012 at 10:21 AM, Ath_06 <alexander....@gmail.com> wrote:
Anyone knows if beagle board is thinking to use the OMAP5 in some future boards?


i've put in a request for access to the OMAP5 in to TI, for the Rhombus Tech initiative, in order to create an EOMA-68 CPU Card around it.  whilst they're pretty small PCBs (appx 75x45mm) there's quite a bit that can be packed on them and, with care, it may be possible to add optional expansion headers that make them "beagle-board-like".

if this is something that is of interest to you then please do make yourself known, as it will help enormously.

l.
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