yes... embedded linux is available... it's new though, but not for commercial purposes... i work for DARPA on this and these will be deployed on the battlefield within a year or so...
unfortunately, it will be long before the common man gets to know coz military research is classified...
If people are interested we could flag off an
embedded project on
either ARM which is the most popular and easily
available
processor or Power PC which has great
performance, or ye ol X86
(Via C2/3) which has a little of everything +
familarity. There
are others available too like 683xxxx, Mips, Sh,
roll-ur-own
Sparc on xilinx / altera. This involves a lot of
HARD WORK which
our grrreat engineers find wholly unpalatable.
Why to rack ones
brains when one can cut and past from EFY
/Elektor sundry 25 yr
old gizmos like wireless network (1 infrared
reciever, 1 ir led,
1 555). If u thought it was 802.11 perish the
thought, most
havent heard of such complex decimals "in the
syllabus". And
microprocessors=8085 menta kit (it should be
labelled dementia
kit).
I am not in this space so I may be off here, but I
think that the
issue here will be availability of the components,
multi layered
boards, etc.
Procuring samples is fairly straight forward. Multi layer boards are the main cost.
Designing custom hardware and getting a board
built
will be very time consuming
3 to 4 weeks. 4layers.
unless you are working in some company or know people providing such service. It may be a
better idea to
try and acquire some SBC and try to port Linux on
it. download. connect serial cable. run flash script. boring and uneducative to say the least. In fact most sbc come with a cd and linux preinstalled.
Then getting development tools like Emulators/BDM/JTAG
debuggers is going to be
another issue unless you already have something at
hand.
GNU toolkits have all the jtag tools. gdb works on em.
The point being, that doing embedded software on
custom hardware
involves a lot of supporting material and this is
the main
deterrent to its growth as a hobby.
It is a pity that even with tools like GNU/Linux
and mediums like
the internet and email our level of education
and awareness has
become so pathetic. Jeez here i go again like an
old foggy.
I am personally interested in robotics. This
would involve
mechanics, electronics, embeded hardware and
software and tonnes
of fun. It would also provide self education to
those involved /
seeking.
I am interested in it too. Unfortunately, the
mechanical and the
electronic design is way beyond my skills.
Software is something
that I can do though. I have been thinking of
implemented something
like
http://protowrxs.com/nolen/robotics/LTBot/default.asp
or
http://oap.sourceforge.net/ http://www.robo-etf.org/ http://www.orocos.org/
using standard hardware rather than creating a custom board for
it. Should be
simpler. Controller cards are available or can be
designed for
stepper motor control, etc. Cost of the project
components is an
issue.
Off the shelf components are atleast 30 times more expensive. Except for the system controller which can be an EPIAM2 mobo available locally, all circuits are quite simple. However The EPIAM2 is a power hog compared to ARM and would require a hefty power pack. or be powered from mains.
The cost of time is an investment in knowledge so
it can be
discounted at the moment.
Tell me if you want to do something with this.
We will require a few more guys.
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