

Linux-ready, open-platform ARM9/DSP SBC costs $89 - ckcin
http://www.linuxfordevices.com/c/a/News/Hawkboard/

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tectonic
I have this suspicion that as android phones drop in price, they will become a
valuable experimentation platform. For example, a scientist could take a $80
android phone, root it, plug in a solar panel, put it in a glass box, and use
it as a data acquisitions platform sending data home on the cell network (or
nearby wifi if appropriate).

~~~
jamesbritt
That or a combination of Arduino + bluetooth + lightweight android devices
(something I've been playing with).

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Kilimanjaro
Forgive my ignorance for I am no board designer, but what is stopping me from
dumping all disparate connectors and leaving only 6 USB3 connectors? Wouldn't
that simplify board manufacturing?

Everytime I see a laptop or netbook with a modem port or an ethernet port I
cry a little.

Another silly question (I am a SW developer not HW) but, can the display port
be universally replaced by an USB3 port?

Why yes or why not. Feel free to call me names, I rather take it and learn
than surf the waves of ignorance.

~~~
krschultz
I have the opposite experience. I work extensively with SBCs both as a user
and a software developer. It is a pain in my butt when there is no ethernet
port.

There are a lot of applications where wifi is not a better solution than
ethernet. I work on robotics and wifi doesn't make sense. We are pushing a lot
of data around in near real time and the SBCs are permanently mounted close
together. Why use wifi there? We see better performance (network and power
consumption wise) and simpler setup with ethernet. We usually will have a half
dozen SBCs on a switch and then in some cases a wifi access point that is
optional. When we are debugging in the field we turn on the AP and stream data
back to a tablet or netbook to observe, but otherwise it is off.

The other problem with not having connectors on the board is dongle and price
creep. If I have 6 SBCs, and each one needs some kind of networking adapter
external to it, all of sudden my nice neat solution is a mess of wires. And
the price jumps from $89 to $139, multiplied by however many I am using.

~~~
aaronblohowiak
What about USB networking? No Ethernet at all, just USB port to usbu port

~~~
weaksauce
Ethernet is cheap and ubiquitous and works well if you need wired networking
an ethernet network goes about 300'. There is a signal propagation limit in
the usb protocol that makes it unable to go over ~16feet without adding
repeaters and there is a max of 5 repeaters.

from <http://www.usb.org/about/faq/ans5> :

Q2: Why can't I use a cable longer than 3 or 5m? A2: USB's electrical design
doesn't allow it. When USB was designed, a decision was made to handle the
propagation of electromagnetic fields on USB data lines in a way that limited
the maximum length of a USB cable to something in the range of 4m. This method
has a number of advantages and, since USB is intended for a desktop
environment, the range limitations were deemed acceptable. If you're familiar
with transmission line theory and want more detail on this topic, take a look
at the USB signals section of the developers FAQ.

Q3: How far away from a PC can I put a USB device? A3: With the maximum of 5
hubs connected with 5m cables and a 5m cable going to your full speed device,
this will give you 30m of cable (see section 7.1.19 for details). With a low
speed device, you will be able to get a range up to 27m, depending on how long
the device's cable is. With a straightforward cable route, you will probably
be able to reach out 25m or so from the PC.

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jacquesm
The motherlode:

<http://www.hawkboard.org/>

That's a really nice board, now to find an excuse to get one :)

~~~
wmat
There's also a lot of Hawkboard info at:

<http://elinux.org/Hawkboard>

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EricButler
Lately I've been trying to find a low cost (<$50) Linux device to use in a
project. My only requirements are Wifi, USB (host), and a small form factor.
Don't need a lot of ram/flash/etc or any video output. I've been really
surprised by the lack of options. The ASUS WL-520gU is around USD$30 but is a
bit too large. The Fonera 2.0g (€35) would be perfect, but it's not available
in the US.

Another really cool (tiny!) looking device is the Ubiquiti Ministation, but
unfortunately it doesn't have USB and therefore isn't a choice for this
project.

For when you need more power, there are a lot of cool options such as the
BeagleBoard and GuruPlug
[http://www.globalscaletechnologies.com/t-guruplugdetails.asp...](http://www.globalscaletechnologies.com/t-guruplugdetails.aspx)

~~~
FraaJad
Have you looked at Glomation Inc's offerings?
<http://glomationinc.com/product_9G20.html>

~~~
EricButler
I had not seen this, but it looks very cool! Thanks for the link!

Curious, how did you find out about them?

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sireat
This is a nice board, though of course Europeans pay more than Americans, as
usual.

Incidentally, LinuxJournal has quite a few advertisers with small Linux
boards.

Has anyone found a good source for suitable screens for these small boards? I
am not talking about USB2 based displays(which tend to be quite pricey), but
precisely screens using more specific ports(DVI-D on Beagle) and VGA here on
Hawk.

That is, I am looking for a screen suitable for putting in enclosure with the
board.

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TorKlingberg
Cool! How is it compared to the Beagle Board? Cheaper is good of course, but
hos much difference in processing powerful connections?

~~~
jbarham
Crucially, and somewhat surprisingly, the Beagle Board does not have on board
Ethernet. You need to add it via a USB dongle.

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Aegean
This title with Linux and devices/drivers got 50 points - seems like hacker
news is moving towards the original meaning of hacker.

