Hmm WOW, Embdeded Linux did stir up interest in a lot of ppl, but guys ....... be careful lest this also becomes one of those issues wher= e we discuss alot, but don;t take any concrete steps....
Rasee= l.
On Tue, 14 Sep 2004 Ameet wrote :
yes... embedded= linux is available... it's new though,
but not for commercial pu= rposes... i work for DARPA on
this and these will be deployed on = the battlefield
within a year or so...
unfor= tunately, it will be long before the common man
gets to know coz = military research is classified...
&g= t; >If people are interested we could flag off an
embedd= ed project on
either ARM which is the most popula= r 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
HAR= D WORK which
our grrreat engineers find wholly un= palatable.
Why to rack ones
brain= s when one can cut and past from EFY
/Elektor sundry 25 yr<= BR>
old gizmos like wireless
network (1 infrared =
reciever, 1 ir led,
1 555). If u tho= ught it was 802.11 perish the
thought, most
= > > havent heard of such complex decimals "in the
&g= t; syllabus". And
microprocessors=80= 85 menta kit (it should be
labelled dementia
= ; > > kit).
I am not in thi= s space so I may be off here, but I
think that the
&g= t; > > issue here will be availability of the components,
= > multi layered
boards, etc.
Procur= ing samples is fairly straight forward. Multi
layer boards = are the main cost.
Designing custom hardware and getti= ng a board
built
will be very time con= suming
3 to 4 weeks. 4layers.
&g= t; > unless you are working in some company
or know= people providing such service. It may be a
better idea to<= BR>
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.
&g= t;
Then getting
development tools= like Emulators/BDM/JTAG
debuggers is going to be
= ; > > another issue unless you already have something at
&= gt; hand.
GNU toolkits have all the jtag to= ols. gdb works on
em.
<= BR> The point being, that doing embedded software
on =
custom hardware
involves a lot of support= ing material and this is
the main
dete= rrent to its growth as a hobby.
&= gt;It is a pity that even with tools like GNU/Linux
and med= iums like
the internet and email our level of edu= cation
and awareness has
become s= o pathetic. Jeez here i go again like an
old foggy.
&= gt; > > >
I am personally interested in r= obotics. This
would involve
mecha= nics, electronics, embeded hardware and
software and tonnes
of fun. It would also provide self education to<= BR>
those involved /
seeking.
&= gt; > >
I am interested in it too. Unfortunately= , the
mechanical and the
electronic de= sign is way beyond my skills.
Software is something
&= gt; > > that I can do though. I have been thinking of
= implemented something
like
=
or
<http://www.evolution.= com/er1/what_overview.masn>
http://oap.s= ourceforge.net/
ht= tp://www.orocos.org/
using standard
hardware rather than creating a custom board for
&= gt; > it. Should be
simpler. Controller cards are a= vailable or can be
designed for
steppe= r motor control, etc. Cost of the project
components is an<= BR>
issue.
Off the shelf components are at= least 30 times more
expensive.
Except for t= he 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 po= wer
pack. or be powered from mains.
Th= e cost of time is an investment in knowledge so
it can be
discounted at the moment.
&g= t; > > Tell me if you want to do something with this.
We will require a few more guys.
= ; >
&g= t; >
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--
Raseel Bhagat
[1] [a=]
References
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Raseel Bhagat