Well actually, this blog doesn’t list 101 things but it does give you a feeling for what types of applications the Beagle Board is ending up in.  This development platform is open source so anyone from a hobbyist to a grad student to a senior engineer can get involved.  I mentioned it in my last blog post in regards to the DLP® Pico Projector Development Kit  and 3D metrology but it can be used for many other applications.  Since it is so low cost, a total system may use multiple Beagle Boards.   The Beagle Board is currently going for $149 from DigiKey . 

Here is a sample of some of the ways a Beagle Board can be used

Desktop:  Essentially using the BeagleBoard as a desktop Linux system.  It is connected to a DVI-D monitor, a USB mouse, a USB keyboard, and a USB Ethernet connection. 

Code Development:   In this case development is done on the BeagleBoard through a TelNet connection from the laptop. 

Custom Expansion:  In this example a Software Defined Radio (SDR) system is implemented using the BeagleBoard OMAP DSP, the stereo out jack, and the microphone input.  Custom software is used to drive the system.

The Beagle Board does not require a noisy, bulky cooling fan and can be powered from the USB port on your laptop so you can take your demonstration project on the road.  The Beagle Board can be used in ‘host’ or ‘device’ mode.

Since the BeagleBoard is open source, many projects using the Beagle Board are already in work including:  camera streamlining applications, audio processing, Linux fileserver, autonomous vehicles, speech recognition, telemetrics, LCD picture frame, pattern recognition, image processing,  wearable computers,  Home monitoring , mobile VoIP phone, etc. 

See http://beagleboard.org/project for a list of registered projects. 

The DLP® Pico Projector Development Kit  and the Beagle Board makes it easy to get started with your own 3D Metrology applications using structured lighting. 

Learn more about it here:

www.dlpdiscovery.com/pico

www.beagleboard.org

Until next time,
Dennis Doane