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Tiny quad-core system-on-module for makers and hardware startups

neutis.io

51–60 of 123 posts

Re: Tiny quad-core system-on-module for makers and hardware startups

#51
post #14

Eh, I'll stick with the PocketBeagle board. It is half the price, very easy to source, doesn't require any special connectors and has those extremely useful PRUs. Slightly larger, slower and no wireless connectivity but that is a worthwhile tradeoff.

Are you actually using the PRUs? They sound fantastic on paper, but I can't shake the feeling they'd be extremely difficult to actually use.

Re: Tiny quad-core system-on-module for makers and hardware startups

#52
post #50
post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've always wondered where the line is on a product's FCC certification. Obviously US retailers such as Adafruit and Sparkfun have sold fully assembled unlicensed radio equipment for over a decade. What subtle changes could these companies make with their products that would suddenly gain the interest of the FCC?

Do you have an example? SparkFun even has a blog entry about certification that's a useful read, although not entirely accurate. https://www.sparkfun.com/tutorials/398

thanks, thats an interesting link.

Re: Tiny quad-core system-on-module for makers and hardware startups

#53
No idea why anyone would want to use this.

There's dozens of SBCs with 2x better specs than a Pi, but the Pi is arguably the most dominant board out there. For makers (for anyone really), documentation is king. Working code, lots of examples, and good forums make the SBC, not the hardware.

As for the other group, "hardware startups": Why on earth would you lock yourself into another startup for the brains of your new project? It makes no sense. Remember what happened to Intel's SBC? If a company that big can't provide decent EOL support, what do you think will happen if Neutis folds? Pick a ARM something core with a certified BT/WiFi module, and choose from several manufacturers with real EOL schedules and a history of following them

Don't get me wrong, the 10 year guarantee is nice, but I don't think anyone can afford to believe it.

Re: Tiny quad-core system-on-module for makers and hardware startups

#54
post #15

What secure element chipset are you using? This could be very interesting for a project I am working on. Does it run JavaCard / GlobalPlatform and are the access keys available?

Not sure why he didn't reply to your question as well, but it's a https://www.microchip.com/wwwproducts/en/ATECC508A

Re: Tiny quad-core system-on-module for makers and hardware startups

#55
My flabber is gasted at people complaining about paying a meaty $49 for a quad-core, 64bit, cpu with 8gb of local storage. Twenty years ago I was writing docs for the SGI Challenge[1] with its four MIPS R4000s in a tidy cabinet the size of a two-drawer file (disk drives mounted externally) weighing about 250lbs.

This thing far exceeds the capacity of that machine, costs several orders of magnitude less, and FITS IN A FUCKING MATCHBOOK. Jeez. Get some perspective.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SGI_Challenge

Re: Tiny quad-core system-on-module for makers and hardware startups

#56
post #14

Eh, I'll stick with the PocketBeagle board. It is half the price, very easy to source, doesn't require any special connectors and has those extremely useful PRUs. Slightly larger, slower and no wireless connectivity but that is a worthwhile tradeoff.

PocketBeagle unfortunately isn't sufficient for integration into a commercial product. It doesn't breakout most of the AM3357's pins. If all you need is USB/I2C/SPI/GPIOs you're OK but PocketBeagle omits things like ethernet, LCD, CAN. If I'm not mistaken PB also has no onboard wireless.

Re: Tiny quad-core system-on-module for makers and hardware startups

#57

Unless it gets the ecosystem the Pi and the Beagle have, this gets old rather quickly.

I think "ecosystem" doesn't actually matter much (if "ecosystem" means maker/ tinkerer mindshare) for commercial applications. All you need is (1) kernel support for the chip including drivers e.g. for video/ peripherals, and (2) good userland support for aarch64. You can debootstrap a Debian rootfs that will work on any aarch64 chip. As mentioned elsewhere, it sounds like the H5 chip has good kernel support which covers (1.) Actually there's a (3), which is bootloader support. I don't know if the H3 typically uses u-boot or some other bootloader.

What differs is what each chip actually supports. E.g the Pi/BCM2835 doesn't have onboard ethernet MAC/Phy. Neither Pi nor H3 have onboard CAN but maybe neither of those things matter. Point is these days most of the details of the chip are abstracted away; if you have good kernel support there's not a lot to worry about.

Re: Tiny quad-core system-on-module for makers and hardware startups

#58
Very sad to see so many negative comments. It seems a good product. As the owner of an emlid navio2 rasp pi hut I have to say that I am impressed with their work. Top hardware quality and great documentation. In the first hour of use, I used their C libraries and Python examples to manage to access some of the module's sensors via go. I hadn't even ever do C bindings with go before that.

This board seems to target people who want to create products with it. I wouldn't place a rasp pi in an end product and certainly wouldn't come near an orange pi even for a prototype.

Re: Tiny quad-core system-on-module for makers and hardware startups

#59
post #55

My flabber is gasted at people complaining about paying a meaty $49 for a quad-core, 64bit, cpu with 8gb of local storage. Twenty years ago I was writing docs for the SGI Challenge[1] with its four MIPS R4000s in a tidy cabinet the size of a two-drawer file (disk drives mounted externally) weighing about 250lbs. This thing far exceeds the capacity of that machine, costs several orders of magnitude less, and FITS IN A…

so? $49 is way too expensive for this. i can get a x86 from ebay way more cheaper than this.

who would even bother, the rpi zero is $5.

Re: Tiny quad-core system-on-module for makers and hardware startups

#60
post #59
post #55

My flabber is gasted at people complaining about paying a meaty $49 for a quad-core, 64bit, cpu with 8gb of local storage. Twenty years ago I was writing docs for the SGI Challenge[1] with its four MIPS R4000s in a tidy cabinet the size of a two-drawer file (disk drives mounted externally) weighing about 250lbs. This thing far exceeds the capacity of that machine, costs several orders of magnitude less, and FITS IN A…

so? $49 is way too expensive for this. i can get a x86 from ebay way more cheaper than this. who would even bother, the rpi zero is $5.

I've never seen a rpi zero for $5 in my country.

At least $11 and then there's shipping. and limits of one per customer.

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