That is why I like the Intel Galileo Gen 2
No board will satisfy all makers all of the time, and this is a fact already proven by Raspberry Pi and BeagleBone Black. But even so, there should be some reasons that make thousands of makers and hackers want it.
1. Galileo Gen 2 has a processor based on Pentium architecture, which is a very familiar architecture for programmers. With such features, a single board computer allows users to dig deeper into the embedded programming with a Linux operating system running on it.
2. The prototyping board demonstrates that is fully capable of running the Linux operating system, which is a hit with developers. But altering the Linux OS to fully support the Arduino IDE attracts software developers and help make robots commonplace.
3. From now, you can count on running a stripped-down version of Windows 8 on the Intel Galileo Gen 2 developer board. This Windows version is part of Microsoft program to put the well-known operating system on small and power-constrained devices.
4. Everyone agrees that the robots need huge codebases, and the low-power X86 processor can play with a large amount of code that can be ported with a minimal effort.
5. Even the single board computer is engineered with a wide range of I/O connectivity, up to 2GB memory and a powerful processor, the Galileo Gen 2 has a lower power consumption.
6. There are many different ways to supply with power the Intel board. Beside all these alternatives, having the possibility to supply the Gen 2 with 12V power input from Ethernet expand the capabilities of the platform.
7. The Intel Galileo Gen 2 is engineered with a power regulator system able to support an input from 7V to 15V.
8. Having an analog-to-digital converter is a benefit, and Galileo can be easily used to attach analog sensors and develop smart everyday robots with lots of sensors.
9. The Galileo board is compatible with hardware that is designed for the Arduino. The pin header is fully compatible with the Arduino UNO R3 shields.
10. If you already use any version of Raspberry Pi, you already know that the Pi boots only from an SD card. The Galileo board can boot from on-board memory, which is a great way to avoid a lot of problems.
11. Galileo has a real time clock on it that allows operations especially if you have a project that required to monitor the current time.
Why I don’t like the Intel Galileo Gen 2
I really like the Galileo, but there are a lot of things about it that can irritate any user. And, to be honest, many of the things that bother the makers are reasonable.
If you already passed the good things about Gen 2 and don’t want to get annoyed, you should quit reading now.
1. The new dimensions could be a nightmare for anyone that already works with the first generation of the board and now try to replace this with the new one. The Gen 2 is 27.5 percent larger than the original, and to deepen the problem between Gen and Gen 2, the mounting holes are incompatible and the locations of connector are different.
2. The price is a real problem. At $60, the single board computer is expensive than any other alternative such as Raspberry Pi or BeagleBone Black. Compared with BeagleBone Black, the price is higher, but not substantially higher. Compared with Raspberry Pi, the price is almost twice as much as the Pi model B+ if are not included the hidden costs of the Pi. To have a fully functional Pi, you need an SD card with the operating system installed on it, a USB power supply, a keyboard, mouse, and an HDMI-to-DVI cable.
3. Even the price of Galileo is not cheap, the performance is poor and it lacks video or audio output having the 3.5mm jack instead offering RS232-level serial connectivity.
4. Galileo is a great prototyping board, but without a CAN bus, it could be a nightmare to interface some industrial networks such as WiFi. However, the WiFi can be interfaced with an adapter on the PCIe slot.