GHI Electronics Joins forces with BeagleBoard.org – Bringing Maker to Market a Reality

2016-10-31 | By Maker.io Staff

BeagleBone

GHI Electronics was formed in 2003, developing the first FAT File System chipsets for SD, MMC and CF cards using SPI and UART. Since then the company how grown, working with the likes of Microsoft on their .NET Gadgeteer development board and introducing a number of new SoC for the .NET framework.

Just recently GHI teamed up with Beagleboard.org to support the foundation in its ecosystem of maker friendly development boards. GHI brings its wealth of experience in manufacturing and product design to the BeagleBone open-source market, helping makers move from developing prototypes to custom product designs.

With the recent developments in the BeagleBone Black and the use of the new Octavo System-In-Package, GHI has released a number of development boards and modules based around the Octavo OSD335x family as a certified design partner of Octavo Systems.

OSD3358 BeagleBone Development Board

Figure 1: OSD3358 Development Board

The OSD3358 BeagleBone Development Board is the official development board from GHI supporting the OSD335x family of System-In-Package based on the powerful Texas Instruments Sitara AM335x processor, developed by Octavo Systems. The development board breaks out all the various peripherals and interfaces much like the BeagleBone Black but with additional hardware, making this board the perfect starting point for any project.

In additional to the standard BeagleBone peripherals, this board features a 5” touchscreen display and 5 directional tactile buttons for manual control. By default, the touchscreen is not working out of the box as most users will develop using the built-in IDE on the BeagleBone software. The touchscreen is a nice add-on for projects requiring the display of statistical data or automation interaction. The touchscreen display comes with a device tree overlay and must be powered using the DC barrel jack as the USB does not provide sufficient current to the board and display. The board also features a RS232 serial port and a CAN port for advanced programming and debugging.

OSD3358 BeagleBone System on Module

Figure 2: OSD3358 BeagleBone System on Module

The OSD3358 BeagleBone System on Module (SoM) is a very powerful, low cost surface mount SoM running the fully featured BeagleBone Linux software. This module is the perfect progression from the OSD3358 development board, with its modular format and surface mount SoM it rapidly increases the time to production.

Going from Maker to Market with Octavo Systems SIP

Figure 3: OSD3358 SIP

The real hot topic around the whole BeagleBone eco-system is the introduction of the Octavo System-In-Package. This new System-In-Chip invites makers to move from the initial prototyping concept that they would normally develop on their single board computer (SBC) such as the BeagleBone Black development board, to a full or even small batch production cycle rapidly. In the modern world of engineering and manufacturing one of the most important aspects of a project is time to market and cost, in order to be competitive. The single chip solution does away with the complexity of designing an electronic system, DDR interface and power sequencing, as well as making it easier to use in standard systems for a wide variety of applications. The OSD3358 has the smallest footprint of any similar AM3358 processor implementation. It simplifies the sourcing of components and supply chain management by replacing over 144 components with just one. The OSD3358 also utilizes a wide pitch BGA of 1.27mm allowing cost effective manufacturing processes to be used. These added benefits make the OSD3358 an attractive solution not just for new designs, but also as a way to simplify or cost down an existing design.

Makers can get started straight away using this simple package with the BeagleBone Black, BeagleBone Black Wireless and the GHI OSD3358 Dev Board.

"With the wide availability and strong community around single board computing platforms like the BeagleBone Black, it is easier than ever for designers to quickly prototype and prove out a design," said Octavo President Bill Heye.

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