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thedatastream

Sun Jul 22 2007, 08:03PM

Registered Member #505 Joined: Sun Nov 19 2006, 06:42PM
Location: Yorkshire!
Posts: 329

Anyone used these before

? They look like a right hoot, in fact I'm just sat here idly thinking of a project that needs an excuse to use one...

Dave Marshall

Sun Jul 22 2007, 08:55PM

Registered Member #16 Joined: Thu Feb 02 2006, 02:22PM
Location: New Wilmington, PA
Posts: 554

I've been doing exactly the same thing for several months. Just trying to come up with a good project. I think the new Verdex XL6P is a spot on match for what I need for my high altitude glider project. I'll probably pick one up in a few months once I get the rest of the instrument pack figured out.

Alex has done quite a bit of work with them, I believe for a wearable computer project. He'd probably be your best bet for advice and reviews.

Dave

Alex

Wed Jul 25 2007, 09:59PM

Geometrically Frustrated
Registered Member #6 Joined: Thu Feb 02 2006, 04:18AM
Location: Bowdoin, Maine
Posts: 373

They're nice devices. Possibly the cheapest embedded device of its kind for hobbyists. Most embedded dev kits are thousands of dollars; but the gumstix will get you started for $100-200. The only problem is that the documentation is in the form of a user-written wiki and a mailing list. You'll need a good understanding of linux and some familiarity with the intel xscale PXA255/270. I don't know what experience you have in those areas, but I think you'll manage.

One thing worth noting is that the latest generation of gumstix devices (called 'verdex') use the PXA270, which (among other things) has a USB host device. I have an older gumstix with a PXA255, and USB host capabilities would have been very nice.

Bjørn

Thu Jul 26 2007, 05:37AM

Registered Member #27 Joined: Fri Feb 03 2006, 02:20AM
Location: Hyperborea
Posts: 2058

The Gumstix seems very well specified but rather expensive if you need any of the extension cards.

The good thing about XScale is that they are ARM chips so you can do magic in assembly language if the compilers and software in general fails to deliver. The bad thing is that they are Intel and there might be some quirks.

If you don't need Linux (and you never do in a controller) then something like this is far cheaper and is powerful enough to get you to Mars and back

thedatastream

Thu Jul 26 2007, 06:49AM

Registered Member #505 Joined: Sun Nov 19 2006, 06:42PM
Location: Yorkshire!
Posts: 329

That's a pretty useful looking micro - presumably I'd need a Keil C compiler or equivalent? Can't find anything on the NXP (Philips) site on that subject...

Bjørn

Thu Jul 26 2007, 07:10AM

Registered Member #27 Joined: Fri Feb 03 2006, 02:20AM
Location: Hyperborea
Posts: 2058

Keil or GCC. Keil has a useful IDE and simulator that simulates all the peripherials. The main problem with Keil is that the free version is limited to 16kB of code. I have never hit that limit and if I did I would find some way to hack around it. If you have a habit of including C libraries then 16kB might be a problem since you can easily get 30kB of dead code with some libraries. Keil has some modified libraries that are trimmed of dead code so the code is pretty compact when using common C functions like printf.

In theory you only need a hex editor and a terminal program since it has a built in bootloader but a proper C compiler and assembler makes it easier for most people.

I have collected all the files and information needed to develop programs so if anyone wants the URL, just send me a PM.

Steve Conner

Thu Jul 26 2007, 09:07AM

Registered Member #30 Joined: Fri Feb 03 2006, 10:52AM
Location: Glasgow, Scotland
Posts: 6706

Wow, that much micro for 27 dollars is amazing. I think Avi has done some cool projects with it.

I'm currently working on an embedded system powered by a PXA270 running Windows CE. For programming we're using MFC and Visual Studio. Bjoern will shudder, if he thinks 30kB of dead code is bad.

As a token gesture to optimization, I am refusing to use the .NET framework though...

PS: Intel sold the XScale chips to Marvell.

Carbon_Rod

Thu Jul 26 2007, 10:19PM

Registered Member #65 Joined: Thu Feb 09 2006, 06:43AM
Location:
Posts: 1155

This is a simple $89.00 JTAG programmed unit that has just about everything.
=)

"Description:
The NGW100 uses the AT32AP7000 which combines Atmel's state of the art AVR32 Digital Signal Processor CPU with an unrivalled selection of communication interfaces.

The NGW100 has two Ethernet ports, SD and MMC card reader, and connectors for USB and JTAG.

The NGW100 is also an ideal development board for the AT32AP7000. All resources are available, and it supports communication on any of the device's communication interfaces. The board is preloaded with Linux and shipped with I/O interface drivers that can be called from your own code."
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