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

Revision as of 12:24, 20 January 2014

Overview

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

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. Linux linux linux. Oh, and maybe FreeBSD too. No Android, because it kinda sucks right now.

• As open (as in Richard Stallman drinking a GPL-licensed beer) as possible without being expensive. Both in the hardware and software realms.

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

• Robust. Drop-able.. Or not, I'm a cop not a gravitational physicist.

• Small and lightweight.. Or not.

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

How

I plan for this to be a very singular project in which I order the parts and sit in my basement and swear until they form a working computer. Let me know if that sounds like fun.

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 (Dude! or a hydrogen fuel cell)

• Wireless mouse/keyboard

• Wireless dongle (maybe)

• USB hub (maybe)

• Wall power dongle

• USB "parts" for power

Break-it-down

I'm looking at this as a $500 project. $150 for the board, $150 for the screen, and a bit for the pieces, sounds good.

Boards Available (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.

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

General Hardware Idea Revise Laterz

In a perfect world, I would incorporate power regulation into the 'computer' (computer being the beagleboard mounted behind the screen and not much else). I would also create some fancy USB wires which would let me swap out between different USB power sources without shutting down. So, what this would mean is that I could own several cellphone USB chargers, and only carry as many as I feel necessary for that day. If I run low on power, I'll be able to find a wall outlet and plug in a cellphone USB charger there, or plug into one of the university's computers or whatever. This appeals to me as the most versatile system, as I can charge the laptop battery pack at the same time that the laptop is plugged into the wall, and I can swap out packs at my office if I need to. This will, of course, require some actual planning and thought, and I'll need to get good numbers on the power usage of the components I'm looking at.

External Resources

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