BeagleBoard opens embedded development

Offering designers and hobbyist a low cost starting point for device development, Digi-Key, Texas Instruments, and a group of volunteers have joined forces to create an open, single board computer design that can be adapted to a multitude of embedded projects. The module, dubbed the Beagle Board, is a low-power, fanless design incorporating TI’s recently introduced OMAP35x processors based on the ARM Cortex-A8 core. The design reduces cost and power requirements by eliminating most on-board peripherals, except those provided by the processor, and incorporating standard expansion buses, like high-speed USB 2.0 and SDIO for application-specific I/O. The processor contains 2D and 3D graphics acceleration capabilities plus a DSP optimized for multimedia processing. Further simplifying development, the board is completely powered by the on-board USB interface used for downloading the software from a laptop or desktop computer. The open-source software development community provides a Linux operating system specifically configured for the Beagle Board. A 132-page hardware reference manual is available for download at the BeagleBoard.org website and provides complete module component descriptions, schematics, and board manufacturing documentation. The site also offers links to YouTube videos and flickr photos about the board. You can purchase the BeagleBoard directly from Digi-Key for $149.