Linux Embedded Systems platform

First of all hello...

I am at the moment searching for a embedded system development/final platform.
The prerequisites are:

• Linux suport
• Cross compiling tools
• USB suport
• Ethernet Suport

The ideia is to develop a home server that will use zigbee and other protocols like I2C, SPI, GPIO, UART, Wireless.
It wold be appreciated if the system already has a "box" to be inserted into.

The price range wold be from 0 to 100€ if possible.

Does anyone know any OEM companies that build embedded systems to my needs?

Thanks for your time

priestnot said:

The price range wold be from 0 to 100€ if possible.

Click to expand...

Given your budget, your options might be limited. There exist some Linux-friendly routers (both wired-only, or with wireless support). Obviously they have Ethernet on board, some will also have USB ports. Commercially produced in numbers & therefore cheap, comes ready-built in a nice box.

If your budget allows, something like the BeagleBoard might be more up your alley.

has i told it is for a commercial usage.
So using a router and hack it it out of the question.
As for the beagle board yes it is a possibility but not the original one but the new beaglebone.

I was hoping to see if some one knows some OEM manufacturer that allows some customization on embedded systems for a great price...

priestnot said:

has i told it is for a commercial usage.
So using a router and hack it it out of the question.

Click to expand...

Not really - some models come with an open source firmware pre-installed, so they're expected to be used with alternative firmwares.

At most you'd void the warranty. Which shouldn't be an issue: if you're re-selling them, you'd be the party providing warranty to your customers so you could do your own calculations for expected % of failed boxes / repair costs / profit etc.

Another option would be to take an open design, Linux-capable board (eg. a low cost ARM-based board), with Ethernet / USB add-ons, develop your application & when done, design a custom PCB for that (but mostly sticking to the existing open design, to minimize your effort & risks).

Do you know any company that sells OEM routers with openwrt or similar linux distribution?
And what about low cost ARM based solutions do you recommend any?

priestnot said:

Do you know any company that sells OEM routers with openwrt or similar linux distribution?

Click to expand...

Ask Slashdot: Best Flash-Friendly Router To Replace Aging WRT54GS?

Dunno any specific ARM-based board, but there's many cheap/small boards out there with the option to hook USB and/or Ethernet onto it.

Hi I am curious if you fond a suitable platform?

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openwart said:

Hi I am curious if you fond a suitable platform?

Click to expand...

I forgot to include a very nice unit I am playing with at the moment that may be of interest to you. Please checkout http://www.8devices.com/product/3/carambola

It’s a good reference design that could also be modified to include additional functions.

openwart said:

Hi I noticed on one of your posts that you were looking for a suitable board.. curious if you found anything? I just purchased a neat little dev board from **broken link removed**. It’s a good reference design that could also be modified to include additional functions. I am also looking for suitable platform for a commercial application so would be interested in your experience

Click to expand...

I found a lot of devices.
But I did not find any for commercial purposes.
Why is that you ask? IS becasue tehre are a lot of good products, and cheap ones
beaglebone http://beagleboard.org/bone/ CANNOT BE USED AS A COMMERCIAL PRODUCT
rapsberrypi http://www.raspberrypi.org/ STILL IN THE BEGINNING
picoitx http://www.mini-box.com/pico-SAM9G45-X DOES NOT HAVE STOCK OR A VERY GOOD SUPORT
armadeus apf28 http://www.armadeus.com/english/products-processor_boards-apf28.html GRATE ONE BUT NO ENCLOSURE
armadeus apf7 http://www.armadeus.com/english/products-processor_boards-apf27.html I LOVE THIS ONE IF YOU NEED A FPGA (I probably will buy one for my self, one day when i have time to play )

Then you have the routers:
I worked with asus WRT500GP with openwrt IT ONLY HAVE 8MB of flash with the SO you will get 4 or 5 MB free to use.
I am at the moment working with a TP-LINK wr842 and it has the same problem of the above. But if your produca can have a usb dongle outside the box probelem solved.
there are some form buffallo but they are expensive.
then you have catchtec **broken link removed** they will probably make some custom if you want and finally ceedtec http://www.ceedtec.com/router-embed...ot-for-wimax-hsdpa-hsupa-wireless-module.html

I also worked with plug-computer they are expensive but they have debian wich helps a lot with apt-get.

As for carambola it has a enclosure a processor of 300/400Mhz not a lot of IO but a serial port and a usb are there so the only problem is the flash 8MB is to low unless your applications are very small.

Before you buy check if they have cross compiling tools gcc, and a easy tool-chain or at least instruction in how to compile software to the platform (I like embebian) check also the method of installing software (if they have a package system like apt-get or opkg it will make you like easier)

I have a xls (not on this computer) with some of the platform I found trough time if I dont forget I will send it to you.

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openwart said:

Hi I noticed on one of your posts that you were looking for a suitable board.. curious if you found anything? I just purchased a neat little dev board from **broken link removed**. It’s a good reference design that could also be modified to include additional functions. I am also looking for suitable platform for a commercial application so would be interested in your experience

Click to expand...

I found a lot of devices.
But I did not find any for commercial purposes.
Why is that you ask? IS becasue tehre are a lot of good products, and cheap ones
beaglebone http://beagleboard.org/bone/ CANNOT BE USED AS A COMMERCIAL PRODUCT
rapsberrypi http://www.raspberrypi.org/ STILL IN THE BEGINNING
picoitx http://www.mini-box.com/pico-SAM9G45-X DOES NOT HAVE STOCK OR A VERY GOOD SUPORT
armadeus apf28 http://www.armadeus.com/english/products-processor_boards-apf28.html GRATE ONE BUT NO ENCLOSURE
armadeus apf7 http://www.armadeus.com/english/products-processor_boards-apf27.html I LOVE THIS ONE IF YOU NEED A FPGA (I probably will buy one for my self, one day when i have time to play )

Then you have the routers:
I worked with asus WRT500GP with openwrt IT ONLY HAVE 8MB of flash with the SO you will get 4 or 5 MB free to use.
I am at the moment working with a TP-LINK wr842 and it has the same problem of the above. But if your produca can have a usb dongle outside the box probelem solved.
there are some form buffallo but they are expensive.
then you have catchtec http://www.catch-tec.com/index.php?page=shop.product_details&category_id=16&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=42&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=71 they will probably make some custom if you want and finally ceedtec http://www.ceedtec.com/router-embedded-platform-on-board-mini-pcie-slot-for-wimax-hsdpa-hsupa-wireless-module.html

I also worked with plug-computer they are expensive but they have debian wich helps a lot with apt-get.

As for carambola it has a enclosure a processor of 300/400Mhz not a lot of IO but a serial port and a usb are there so the only problem is the flash 8MB is to low unless your applications are very small.

Before you buy check if they have cross compiling tools gcc, and a easy tool-chain or at least instruction in how to compile software to the platform (I like embebian) check also the method of installing software (if they have a package system like apt-get or opkg it will make you like easier)

I have a xls (not on this computer) with some of the platform I found trough time if I dont forget I will send it to you.

I am asking because I am also looking for a good electronics platform design that supports OpenWRT for some projects we are working on. We need cellular interface via miniPCIe/USB

Another option you may not have considered the MiniEMBWiFi from omnima.co.uk https://www.omnima.co.uk/store/catalog/MiniEMBWiFi-p-16180.html It has enclosure option. From what I can see there is also strong support from manufacturer and development community.

I believe that Carambola can be easily modified as they provide all PCB details, however I am not sure of what commercial license implications that may incur.

The LinPAC from ICP DAS may be useful. With more processing power, more standard memory plus the awesome Linux kernel 2.6, LinPAC is more all-in-one than ever. It packs amazing performance into a portable-sized space. A bunch of new functions are called into service! Now, you can immediately enjoy the controller with perfect balance between power and stability. Upgrading from LinCON is seamless. LinPAC is fully compatible with every of your original programs which run on your LinCon. Just copy and paste the programs into LinPAC. Viola! Everything functions the same on a more powerful programmable automation controller.

https://www.icpdas-usa.com/linpac.html

priestnot said:

I found a lot of devices.
But I did not find any for commercial purposes.

Click to expand...

What would that be, exactly? A product that you can sell on to others, for profit (perhaps modified / with support / software geared towards a particular application)? A product that requires you to pay royalties to original vendor?

beaglebone http://beagleboard.org/bone/ CANNOT BE USED AS A COMMERCIAL PRODUCT

Click to expand...

Says where? Can someone please provide a link, or relevant quote from license document or Beagleboard website?

Maybe you're misinformed here... :?: Community-developed project, open design, use for commercial applications and/or selling such boards for profit (or specific applications built around it), doesn't exclude each other. In fact: usually that's not the case & commercial use is fine - explicitly stated or not. Same way it is fine to sell Linux CD's for profit or provide paid support for that.

armadeus apf28 http://www.armadeus.com/english/products-processor_boards-apf28.html GRATE ONE BUT NO ENCLOSURE

Click to expand...

And that's a problem how? Actually making a product involves exactly that, right? Take components, assemble into a ready-to-use whole, write software / documentation etc, and sell that as a product. So if you're using a board that doesn't come with a case, either produce a case yourself, find a fitting one elsewhere, or have a case produced somewhere.

armadeus apf7 http://www.armadeus.com/english/products-processor_boards-apf27.html I LOVE THIS ONE IF YOU NEED A FPGA (I probably will buy one for my self, one day when i have time to play )

Click to expand...

Yup, microcontroller + FPGA is a powerful combination in any case - provided there's sufficient I/O options to do anything with that compute power.

We can build one for you . Anyhow here are some options which you can try for commercial use -

https://www.acmesystems.it/aria , Have USB + ethernet , design a base board with WiFi and SD card and you are done.

**broken link removed** , Same as above needs baseboard design

https://www.olimex.com/dev/index.html , Same as above

All these are < 30 USD , and cane be used for commercial product development and are available easily and in large quantity.
They also follow open design.

As for routers / dev boards /chinese products etc please do not waste your time hacking them. Such things never work our commercially as you
will not have margins or on time availability. There is a reason you never see such things inside products.

Greetings, Again I have another quetion related with this


I am looking for a OEM router with the following characteristics:
Runs a Linux distribution (preference something like Open-WRT or Debian or any other linux derivative thati can acess the terminal and install stuff)
The processor speed must be at least 300MHz
The ram must be at least 64MB (more then 128 is desirable)
The flash must be greater them 64MB (We prefer more then 128MB 32 might be ok to but not desirable)
The system can have 8MB or 4Mb of flash but it must have a secondary storage unit like a sd card or compact flash. (USB is not a option)
Must have at least 1 USB port (We perfer 2 USB ports)
Wireless is optional (I do not really need it)
It must have a real-time clock (It cannot loose is date after a reboot even without network connection)
It must have a case / enclosure

There are some characteristic that are not requirements but we like to know if they exist.
Possibility to re-brand the case with no logo or a company logo different then the manufacturer
GPIO access (input and output)
Serial port to access the OS terminal
JTAG port to upload the firmware
Serial port to connect to devices (not connection to the Linux terminal)
RS232 port to connect to devices (not connection to the Linux terminal)
RS485 port to connect to devices
SPI port to connect to devices
I2C port to connect to devices
Led control via software

Do you know something that might have this characteristics?

Correction:
I just tested with a system that has 32MB of ram and it worked.

So ram can be as low as 32MB