Difference between revisions of "Archives/Shop 3.0/Slodac"

Revision as of 13:08, 12 February 2014

Overview

Idea

This is a pet project of ctag's to create a laptop after he was bitten by the venomous "Novena Bug". The laptop will have the following features/requirements/goals:

• Linux, and maybe FreeBSD too. No Android, because it kinda sucks (imo) right now.

• As open (as in Richard Stallman drinking a GPL-licensed beer) as possible without being expensive.

• Capable of writing C, C++, JAVA on some small scale. Must be somewhat better than an Chromebook in this regard, I want a compiler not a notepad extension in chrome.

• Robust.

• Small and lightweight.. Or not.

• Yeah, idk yet. Leaving room here for future aspirations, like neon underglow :D

Name

BARC stands for either "Basic Application Rechargeable Computer" or "Basically Awesome Rechargeable Computer". I'll decide later. Heck, I might not even name it, I'm sick of HSV and its acronyms :P

I'm now considering naming the project LLLOADAC (pronounced like Kodac). This would stand for Libre-Linux-Laptop + Open-Arm-Design + Accessible-Components. Just, you know, whatever.

Seeing as the keyboard/mouse/screen aren't libre, how about SLLLODAC / SL3ODAC? ("Slow-dac"). Somewhat-Libre-Linux-Laptop + Open-Design + Accessible-Components?

How

I'm fairly handy with computer hardware. I don't have a set plan for assembling the parts, but I think they'll go together alright once I have them. Accordingly, I'm not too concerned with visual aesthetics at this point.

When

This semester. Hopefully before the Novena laptops become available (it's a race).

The Details

Hardware BOM

• A SoC board

• A screen
  • The screen should be available around the end of February. Link to company post

• A USB battery
  • Or a hydrogen fuel cell. Cost is ~$1200 for a full Hydrogen solution.

• Wireless mouse/keyboard

• Wireless dongle (maybe)

• USB hub (maybe)

• Wall power dongle

• USB "parts" for power

So, look at this

From the Novena Wiki page:

Novena Features:
* Freescale iMX6 CPU — same footprint can support dual-lite and quad versions:
* Quad-core Cortex A9 CPU with NEON FPU @ 1.2 GHz
* Vivante GC2000 OpenGL ES2.0 GPU, 200Mtri/s, 1Gpix/s
* NDA-free datasheet and programming manual

The Wandboard:

* Freescale i.MX6 Quad
* Cortex-A9 Quad core
* Vivante GC 2000 + Vivante GC 355 + Vivante GC 320

Looks promising :D

Forum post

I learned today that only the pre-baked Ubuntu image supports gpu acceleration on the WB and the WB-quad does not support USB 3.0.

A blow to the project, of course, but hopefully something that can be worked past.

The Parts

Boards (ranked with favorites first)

• WandBoard - $130
  • http://www.wandboard.org/
  • Power: 5V - 2A
  • 2G RAM, Quad Core, HDMI, gigabit, wireless
  • All Wandboard wiki pages
  • Wandboard Forum
  • Wandboard Archlinux Page

• CubieTruck - $100
  • https://store.iotllc.com/product.php?productid=38&cat=0&featured=Y
  • Power: 5V - 2.5A
  • SATA, Gigabit, wireless, 2G RAM, HDMI, 2 USB

• BeagleBoneBlack - $50
  • http://beagleboard.org/Products/BeagleBone%20Black
  • Power: 5V - "USB" ~ 600mA
  • Has HDMI, only 1 USB, 512MB RAM

• Raspberry Pi - $35
  • http://www.newark.com/raspberry-pi/raspbrry-modb-512m/model-b-assembled-board-only/dp/43W5302?COM=raspi-group
  • Power: 5V - "USB" ~ 700-800mA
  • HDMI, 512MB RAM, 2 USB

• BeagleBoard-xM - $150
  • http://beagleboard.org/Products/BeagleBoard-xM
  • Power: 5V - "moderate"
  • 4 USB ports, 3d graphics, 512Mb RAM

• UDOO - $140
  • http://shop.udoo.org/usa/?___from_store=usa&popup=no
  • Power: 12V - 7A
  • HDMI, has its own screen avail., Quad Core, wireless, gigabit, sata, 2 USB
  • (Also has a screen!)
  • Link to UDOO power consumption chart
  • Somewhat disqualified. I can step up 5V to 12V, but would rather not.

Screen

• CalkboardElec
  • Boards may be available after Febrary 2014.
  • Company has datasheets and is self-labeled as an open source project!
  • http://www.chalk-elec.com/?page_id=1280#!/~/category/id=3094861&offset=0&sort=priceAsc

• GeChic?
  • Non-free products as far as I can tell, but very polished (and a little more pricey).
  • Newegg store: http://www.newegg.com/store/GeChic-Corporation

• LVDS board from FutureElec with my existing screen?
  • http://www.futureelectronics.com/en/technologies/development-tools/microcontroller-microprocessor/multimedia/Pages/9032471-FWBADAPT-7WVGA-PCAP.aspx?IM=0
  • No, this wouldn't work. The adapter board is designed for the Touch Revolution screen which has a different lvds cable.

• Adafruit
  • Clunky 7" HDMI monitor - http://www.adafruit.com/products/1033#Technical_Details
    • 7" - 1200x800 - $160
  • A Pixel Qi display - http://www.adafruit.com/products/1303#Technical_Details
    • 10" - 1024x600 - $300
    • 5V - 775mA
    • Can be used in daylight, and can revert to grayscale.
  • Clunky 7" IPS monitor - http://www.adafruit.com/products/1667#Technical_Details
    • 7" - 1200x800 - IPS - $170
  • Barebones monitor with HDMI - http://www.adafruit.com/products/1666#Technical_Details
    • 5.6" - 1200x800 - $140
    • 5V - 650mA
  • Tiny little HDMI monitor - http://www.adafruit.com/products/1678#Technical_Details
    • 5" - 800x480 - $65
  • A barebones lcd monitor http://www.adafruit.com/products/1287#Technical_Details
    • 10.1" - 1200x800 - $145
    • 5V - 980mA

Battery

• Batteries!

Low capacity:

• Anker Astro Mini 3000mAh Ultra-Compact

High capacity:

• Anker Astro 3E 10000mAh Dual

• Anker Astro E5 15000mAh Dual

Mouse

• Logitech Wireless Mouse M325 with Designed-For-Web Scrolling

• Anker Wireless Mouse, 5 Buttons, 3 Adjustable DPI Levels, 2000 DPI

• Microsoft Arc Touch Mouse

• Anker 2.4G Wireless Flip-tail Folding Mouse

Keyboard

• $30 Aerb Portable Wireless Bluetooth Keyboard

• $35 Perixx PERIBOARD-805L, Bluetooth Folding Keyboard

ETC

• Volt/Ammeter
  • http://dx.com/s/digital+ammeter

Worklog

[10-2-2014]

It's worth mentioning here that I haven't been able to power the WB off of the usb battery pack. The system will get a second or two into boot, and then crash and reboot.

From the suggestions of other ML members, it looks like the issue is a lack of USB communication. If a device doesn't alert the battery pack to open up 2A of current, then the pack will limit current to ~300mA or something. To workaround this, I'll need to use some resistors and build a bridge to put specific voltages on specific lines of the usb cable. I will not be purchasing the other parts I need from Amazon until after I've done this so that I can bundle another battery pack with the order should they be usable.

Wikipedia page on USB Power

[9-2-2014]

Archlinux is running on the wandboard. Setting up the wireless card seems to be the major issue, luckily some brilliant person took care of it for me (lemoneerlabs post to fix wifi).

http://archlinuxarm.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=45&t=6692&p=37144&hilit=wandboard#p37144

Build Log

Final Parts List

• Board
  • Wandboard Quad - $125
  • Store Link

• Wireless Antenna
  • Wandboard antenna kit - $10
  • Store Link

• Mouse
  • Anker Mouse - $15
  • Store Link (Nice mouse, but not the best purchase for a laptop)

• Keyboard
  • Perixx Folding Keyboard - $35
  • Store Link (Good purchase,so far)

• USB Hub
  • Cable Matters 4-port Hub - $13
  • Store Link (Poor puchase, Don't need USB 3.0)

• SSD
  • Kingston 64gb - $50
  • Store Link

• Micro SD card
  • Sandisk 32Gb
  • Store Link
• Batteries
  • Battery #1
    • Anker Astro2 9Ah - $37
    • Store Link
  • Battery #2
    • NA

Purchase Orders

• Total Cost (running tally)
  • $293.95

• [Already Owned]
  • Kingston SSD from Amazon, $49.99

• [24-1-2014]
  • Purchased and shipped WandBoard and antenna kit for $144.00 from FutureElectronics
  • Purchased and shipped Mouse, Keyboard, Battery #1, and USB hub for $99.96 from Amazon

External Resources

• http://www.riscos.info/index.php/BeagleBoard-based_Laptop - A sad, lonely wiki page about my project from before my project :(