In front of the abundance of computer hardware for prototyping electronics, robotics or small multimedia servers, we take a look around and select new prototyping boards and present them to you in a compact overview. Every release keeps you engaged and helps the makers and hackers to learn and build experimental electronics, robotics and multimedia servers as well.
A new valuable i.MX6 open-source single-board computer is OpenRex, a quad-core Linux development board released by FEDEVEL. Currently, the development board is planned for mass-production in Q2 2016.
Behind The Design
The OpenRex’s dimensions are 95mm long and 70 mm wide. Compared with the Raspberry Pi 2‘s dimensions (85.60 mm × 56.5 mm), OpenRex is larger and harder to replace any of the Raspberry Pi or Arduino board in small spaces.
On both sides of the board, are placed two GPIO headers which should be very familiar to any Raspberry Pi or Arduino users. If you would like to use a Raspberry Pi on steroids or a more featured Arduino board, OpenRex is the alternative of both of them.
The board features a series of built-in sensors including compass and accelerometer, gyroscope, humidity sensor, and temperature sensor. These sensors are a helping hand if you choose to build drones, robots or home automation applications.
The development board is 5V DC compatible and support two types of input power: through Power Jack or USB micro.
KEY SPECIFICATIONS
- On software: The software documentation page is currently under construction, but we can find some details from other iMX6 projects. Two names are familiars among makers and hackers: YOCTO and Android. These two can give us an idea of what we should expect in terms of software.
- On performance:
Right in the middle of the board is placed the 1.2GHz i. MX6 quad-core processor and four DDR3 memory modules with a total capacity of 4GB. For Arduino style embedded applications the board features an LPC1345FHN33 ARM Cortex-M3 microcontroller with 72MHz CPU speed. - On connections: The list of connections is very impressive and can satisfy the most demanding requirements. Here is the list:
- 1x 10/100/1000 Mbps Ethernet
- 1x HDMI Output (up to QXGA 2048×1536)
- 1x Parallel CSI Camera input or Parallel Display output
- 1x LVDS or Differential Camera Input (Compatible with Raspberry Pi)
- 1x SATA
- 1x micro SD
- 1x PCIE mini slot (PCIE & USB & SIM)
- 1x USB OTG Micro
- 2x USB
- 1x CAN
- 1x Audio (Headphones output, Microphone input)
- 1x Touchscreen connector (Optional 4x Analog input)
- 1x I2C EEPROM
- 1x SPI FLASH
- 1x IR Receiver
- 1x Arduino type header
- 1x Raspberry PI type header
- 1x UART Debug console (FTDI compatible)
- 4x Analog input
Conclusion
OpenRex seems the ideal alternative to replace the Raspberry Pi and Arduino with a version on steroids.
Even More Linux Development Boards!
Here are more articles with references to three development boards we’ve managed to collect so far.
- ODROID-C2 – Development Board for Multimedia, Robotics, and Electronics ($40)
- Orange Pi One
- Arduino Zero Arrives With a Fast Microcontroller, More Features and Easy Debugging Tool Than UNO
The Final Point
We are regularly looking for the most valuable development boards on the market. If you have plans to release a high-quality development board, please contact us at office@intorobotics.com — we would like to support you on Into Robotics.
