IGEPV2: More than a "Beagleboard" for 130€/145€

[siempre.aprendiendo]

I just discovered IGEPV2:



For 145€:

BOARD FEATURES

* TI OMAP3530: ARM CORTEX A8 core + POWERVR SGX 530 core + IVA2.2 + DSP TMS320C64x+
* TPS65950 power managment
* 4Gb NAND/ 4Gb Mobile Low Power DDR SDRAM @ 200 Mhz (Package on Package - PoP technology)
* Ethernet 10/100 Mb BaseT (SMSC LAN9221i)
* Wifi IEEE 802.11b/g (Marvell 86w8686B1)
* Bluetooth 2.0 (CSR BC4ROM/21e)
* Integrated antenna and connector for external antenna.
* 1 x USB 2.0 OTG
* 1 x USB 2.0 Host
* MicroSD connector
* DVI-D for connecting digital computer monitors.
* Stereo audio in and out for a microphone and headphones or speakers.
* Expansion connector with I/O, SPI, UART...
* Expansion connector with access LCD lines.
* Wall plug 5 VDC or JST input.
* RS-485 Transceiver.
* Temperature Range: -40 to +80º C.
* EMI and EMC precertificate. CE compliant
* Linux BSP available (Board Support Package)

Soon another smaller board, IGEP module:

[limor]

very impressive indeed. I'm wondering about the features of their new Gumstix style board. I couldn't enter into their login-only area containing further datasheets and pictures of the module.

[siempre.aprendiendo]

The general specifications are in the "free area" , here. For more information you should register. Registration is free, but slow, because are "human-validated". Here are the specifications of the smaller board:

IGEP MODULE FEATURES
• Processor: OMAP3503 or OMAP3530. Applications Processor with ARM Cortex-A8 CPU, a C64x+ digital signal processor (DSP) core, and the POWERVR SGX for 2D and 3D graphics acceleration
• Memory:
o 128MByte RAM and 256MByte OneNAND flash
o 512MByte RAM and 512MByte OneNAND flash
• On board microSD slot
• On board USB 2.0 OTG miniAB socket for power and data
• On board USB 2.0 Host interface
• Features
o I2C, PWM lines (6), A/D (6), 1-wire, UART, SPI, Camera in, Extra MMC lines.
o Headset, Microphone, backup battery
o USB 2.0 OTG signals, USB HS Host
• Wireless
o Wifi 802.11 b/g
o Bluetooth 2.0
• Connections
o 2 x 70-pin PCB to PCB connector
o 2 x 27-pin flex ribbon connector
• Size: 18 x 68mm

[limor]

I was finally validated and saw some pictures of the new Gumstix-like boards.
They definitely adopted the Gumstix model with 4-5 variations of the planned sticks options including wifi, bluetooth, memory and 3D+DSP (OMAP 3503 vs 3530)

Given that their BeagleBoard++ is 150EUR, maybe there's a chance that if this little board is priced sub-$100. in which case it is godsend robotics brain board (ie: it can focus on number-crunching and let some Atmel do the motor control and deal with sensors).

[billyzelsnack]

Too bad they don't breakout the pins. A super inexpensive combined gumstix+pinto would be fantastic.

[limor]

Too bad they don't breakout the pins. A super inexpensive combined gumstix+pinto would be fantastic.

Gumstix Overo with on-board USB port for less than 100$ in Europe? what else does a robot need if this thing is attached to your favorite FTDI endowed robot controller with lots of I/O pins exposed ?

[billyzelsnack]

I want to use GPIO pins directly. Though maybe it's not real-time enough and it's better to have a separate interface.

I also want to use that USB bandwidth just for cameras. Though maybe there's plenty.

Limor. You talked me out of it. haha.

[i-Bot]

This board and most of the higher power processors supporting linux have high speed USB 2.0 hosts or otg. This means there should be no problem connecting through USB even when cameras are use too.

The important thing with high speed USB 2.0 is that some hubs only have a single transaction translator. This is no problem if all devices are high speed, however multiple full speed devices will contend for the translator and limit the total rate of all the full speed devices to 12 Mbps. The high speed devices will still have the full 480Mbps bandwidth available. I hope your cameras are high speed, just make sure other devices (flash, Wifi) are also high speed. A single full speed device is OK, or try to find a hub with multiple transaction translators.

For controlling dynamixel servos, I now use the FT4232H instead of the USB2Dynamixel. It is high speed USB 2.0, and gives 4 ports. These ports can support serial, GPIO, SPI, I2C and JTAG. They will not support PWM though. There is a breakout board available from FTDI, and I just added buffers for the serial ports.

[i-Bot]

The FT4232H being a high speed device, can also reduce the latency. The minimum latency value for the previous full speed chips used in USB2Dynamixel etc. is 1 ( 1 update every ms), but the high speed devices can be set to 0 ( 1 update every 125us).

[limor]

For controlling dynamixel servos, I now use the FT4232H instead of the USB2Dynamixel. It is high speed USB 2.0, and gives 4 ports. These ports can support serial, GPIO, SPI, I2C and JTAG. They will not support PWM though. There is a breakout board available from FTDI, and I just added buffers for the serial ports.

It would be nice if the bitbanging timing was possible to driver servos directly via USB. appearently not according to this article: "PWM with an LED looks just fine to the eye…the timing is close enough…but trying to PWM-drive a servo is out of the question."

[chrisvo]

I recently got a FT4232H (the breakout module), plugged it in, hooked up my oscilloscope to the TX pin, and sent some characters.

I see the characters coming through, but the logic voltage is -32V! (0V idle). Is this normal?

[i-Bot]

Did you make these connections ?

USB Bus-powered:
1) Connect VBUS to VCC (CN3, pin 1 to CN3, pin 3). This connection takes the power from the
USB bus (VBUS) and connects it to the voltage regulator input on the FT4232H Mini Module. The
voltage regulator, in turn, provides V3V3, VPLL and VUSB power inputs to the FT4232H chip.
2) Connect V3V3 to VIO (CN2, pins 1, 3 & 5 to CN2, pins 11 & 21 and CN3, pins 12 & 22).
This connection provides the correct 3.3VDC operating voltage for VCCIO on the FT4232H chip.

You will also need to use the FTDI config program to enable TXDEN

[chrisvo]

Thanks for your reply!

Yes, I did make these connections.
Then, I hooked up oscilloscope ground to CN3-2 (GND)
Then, I hooked up oscilloscope probe to CN2-7 (AD0)
Then, I plugged the USB into my Linux computer.
I have not configured using the FTDI program yet, but I attempted to send some characters out the bus.

The readout on the oscilloscope is 0V idle, -32V pulse. Is that correct? Most of my other FTDI devices seem to output something like 3.3V idle, 0V pulse.

[chrisvo]

FTDI told me that I probably have my oscilloscope setup improperly and that I should see +3.3v. I'll try again tomorrow and see what I get.