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Arduino: now a Single Board Computer!

fustini

So I often get annoyed when folks refer to the AVR-based Arduino boards (or even the ARM microcontroller DUE) as a Single Board Computer.  The Yun blurred the lines a bit... but the news today from Maker Faire Rome has the Arduino brand fully in the SBC world now:

 

Arduino Announces new Boards and Collaboration with Intel and T.I.

http://makezine.com/2013/10/03/arduino-announces-two-new-linux-boards/

image

 

coder27 posted about the Intel-based Arduino board, and there is also an upcoming Arduino model based on the TI Sitara (same as in the BeagleBone Black - an ARM Cortex A8).

 

I just read an interview on Make with about the new Arduino TRE:

 

Talking to Jason Kridner About the new Arduino Tre

http://makezine.com/2013/10/03/talking-to-jason-kridner-about-the-new-arduino-tre/

"The focus is on simplicity. It isn’t just a BeagleBone split in the middle [...] If you know Linux, you’ll be able to come in that way. If you know Arduino, you’ll be able to use the AVR as the system master."

image

 

I'm not sure exactly what this all means, but it is exciting to have more SBC options and the Arduino brand will be an interesting influence on the SBC market.  I do know that I didn't need any coffee to feel wide awake this morning image

 

What is the feeling of our SBC discussion group here?

 

cheers,

drew

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  • I like the term "bare metal microcontroller" to denote the processors on Arduino AVR and ARM Cortex-M class boards.  These contrast strongly with those boards which are based on "application processors" that have an MMU and therefore run full operating systems (mostly Linux) and so their applications execute as user-mode processes in virtual memory --- definitely not "bare metal".

     

    It provides a clear distinction and so keeps discussions from attempting to compare apples with orangutans.

     

    PS. It's appalling to see makezine.com make this elementary error though. image

     

    PPS.  The source of the error seems to be Intel themselves!

     

    Intel writes (in the FAQ):

     

    Q: Can I run Linux on IntelRegistered Galileo?

     

    A: Yes. IntelRegistered Galileo runs Linux* out of the box. It comes in two flavors; the default is a small Linux. If you add an SD card to your kit, you can add a more fully-featured Linux. Refer to the IntelRegistered Galileo Getting Started Guide and IntelRegistered Quark SoC X1000 IoT Development Kit Software GSG.

     

    I'm still figuring out exactly what this means, but at best it's going to be something like the old uClinux, which was pretty horrible at best.  After all there is no MMU in Quark to support the normal Linux kernel --- see the Quark datasheet.  (uClinux is effectively EOL now owing to MMUs having become so ubiquitous.)

     

    PPPS.  The Galileo Getting Started Guide refers only to Linux support on the host side, not on the board.

     

    PPPPS. Oh dear.  If you zoom into the image showing what they load from uSD card, it boots into:

     

    Poky 9.0 (Yocto Project 1.4 Reference Distro) 1.4.1 clanton /dev/ttyS1

     

    I've got a very bad feeling about this.  I thought the days of MMU-less "Linux" derivatives were over.

     

    ===

     

    IMPORTANT ADDENDUM:  Quark does have an MMU, it's just not mentioned in the SoC Datasheet.  See this post.

  • in reply to morgaine

    Morgaine Dinova wrote:

     

    PPPPS. Oh dear.  If you zoom into the image showing what they load from uSD card, it boots into:

     

    Poky 9.0 (Yocto Project 1.4 Reference Distro) 1.4.1 clanton /dev/ttyS1

     

    I've got a very bad feeling about this. 

    Angstrom ??

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