On 1/10/13 2:44 PM, Antonio Linan wrote: > > > On Thu, Jan 10, 2013 at 10:53 PM, Christopher Wilson > <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: > > (apologies if this isn't the correct list to post about new hardware) > > Around new years I had day or two of free time and decided to create an > 802.15.4 cape for the BeagleBone Cape Contest > (http://beagleboard.org/CapeContest) > > The cape is called the Epic Cape and it is essentially a PCB shim for > the Epic TinyOS platform that provides UART/SPI+GPIO link between the > Epic module and the BeagleBone embedded Linux board (it also operates > standalone as a wonky looking mote). > > See http://flyingcampdesign.github.com/epic-cape/ for the design files > (all BSD-like open source). > > If you're feeling particularly nice, you can even vote for my submission > by like/+1/tweet on the entry page > http://beagleboard.org/CapeContest/entries/Epic+Cape/ If the submission > wins, the board will be manufactured and sold through CircuitCo > Electronics. > > > Cool! > > I'm curious if any of you guys would be interested in playing around > with something like this for a LoWPAN border/egress router? > > > We have developed something similar in the past using IGEP (beagleboard > alike) and Raspberry Pi boards for external projects (and internal > geekery), as a twist sometimes the motes can wear a more powerful board > as a shield and not only the other way around :) we threw additional > things like a switch load and an external WDT too, it was fun. A > downsider of using Beaglebone boards is its price, for most > WSN/border-router applications it might be an overkill, Rpi are cheaper, > there are new products around taking advantage of it (see EVE from > Ciseco > http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ciseco/eve-alpha-raspberry-pi-wireless-development-hardwa). > > Just my two cents, thanks for sharing! > > --Antonio > > _______________________________________________ > Tinyos-help mailing list > [email protected] > <mailto:[email protected]> > https://www.millennium.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/tinyos-help > > > > > -- > -- > Antonio Liñan Colina > R+D+I Engineer > @: [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> > @: [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> > ------------------------------ > Advancare > T: +34 93 582 02 70 > http://www.advancare.com <http://www.advancare.com/> > http://www.zolertia.com <http://www.zolertia.com/> > http://zolertia.sourceforge.net > http://webshop.zolertia.com > >
Thanks for the helpful feedback Antonio. I'd be interested in learning about other similar projects out there if you (or anybody else) knows of ones that exist. With regard to your comment about Raspberry Pi, I totally agree, it is a much cheaper alternative (and a cool board!). However, for some people, the BeagleBone is an attractive platform BECAUSE of the more expensive Cortex™-A8 processor and feature set. For example, Ubuntu for ARM is built for Cortex™-A8 and beyond with all the optimization features the ARMv7 architecture offers, and can run on the BeagleBone. However, Ubuntu is unwilling to support the Raspberry Pi because the processor is an older Broadcom ARMv6 (http://elinux.org/RPi_Distributions#Ubuntu). Obviously, a design constraint for the Epic Cape was not cost (if I'm really being honest, the ONLY constraint was "quick, what can I finish in two days before the contest deadline in-between games of rummikub with my inlaws!?!?" hehe ;) Using the Epic module + carrier cape adds significant cost to the overall design, but made my life easier. The goal for this first prototype was basically to get to a simple, clean piece of hardware using building blocks I have experience with (i.e. Epic). There are many cheaper and better ways to design a small 15.4 boarder router, but for some people, this combination of well supported hardware platforms might be attractive. Chris _______________________________________________ Tinyos-help mailing list [email protected] https://www.millennium.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/tinyos-help
