[Wylug-discuss] motherboard for embedded application

[Jim Jackson]

On Tue, 8 Nov 2005, Mischa Oliver Altmann wrote:

> I'm developing a rail tunnel disaster robot(?) -- or a working prototype
> thereof.
>
> I am looking for a suitable motherboard for the robot itself.
>
> Processing requirements are small (mostly relaying sensor data but
> optionally also a webcam/video stream and a basic (half-duplex?) audio
> stream.
>  - sensor data will most likely come from I2C sensors. Either connected
>    to an onboad I2C bus or via serial to an external microcontroller.
>  - optional webcam is imagined to be connected via USB.
>  - a large CF/MMC/... drive should suffice for temporary data storage.
>  - communications to the outside world will rely mostly on a customised
>    2.4GHz WiFi link with external antennae.
>  - A basic 12V car battery will have to do as power source for the moment.
>    Power requirements shouldn't be a key problem as the motor and
>    lighting required are expected to dwarf anz comms equipment consumption.

The ts7200 can do most of that, and Technologics do a daughter board
to provide an extra 4 rs232 ports. It has USB, and they have a supported
usb wifi adapter, and other people have got several others to work.
There are USB web cams that work, and it has a CFDisk interface.

A board with wifi adpapter webcam and extra rs232 ports would probably
end up using around 3-5 watts of power.

> Some people have recommended the VIA EPIA range[1] but they almost look
> like an overkill. An e.g ARM board would probably work too, but I've had
> some rather bad experiences. We'd prefer an x86 compatible architecture
> for ease of code development but are open to abusing other platforms.

The lowest power VIA EPIA board still consumes 10-15W or so without the
extras. Most of the Geode based boards I've seen specs for are similar.
The arm boards really do win out on the bangs per watt stakes.

Jim

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