It’s an interesting time to find out which one between Arduino Tre and Intel Galileo single board computers is the best in maker culture by answering to some maker needs. To help you choose the best embedded system for a certain robot project, I have to create a bundle of 8 features that gives you the best advantage in prototyping. However, the final decision depends on the project requirements and you have to be sure which one of these two embedded systems is the right one for you.
Both single board computers are designed with unique characteristics and with some shared resources, but despite the cooperatively with Arduino, it’s a clear difference between Tre and Galileo. For example, the Galileo board doesn’t have support for video or analog audio output. At the same time, the Tre has powerful video features and many pins. In the following, I explore the most important features for both SBC’s in order to have a clear image by the end of this post over the features and find the difference between those boards.
About Arduino Tre
The Arduino Tre was released so far as a beta version, while in the coming months is prepared to be released worldwide at a decent price. A simple look at the specifications revealed a powerful embedded system able to become the new choice of hackers and hobbyists. The big excitement around Tre board will be the new options for operating systems, which everyone expects to support a full version of the Linux as well as Android and several other OS’s supported by its architecture.
With an old Arduino version you can blink an LED by connecting them to a resistor and to two of the Arduino pins. Use then the Arduino IDE to write a few lines of code, upload the code and the application is done. With Tre, the same application can be reached with a bit more effort. You need to install an operating system, install the Tre IDE, then install some libraries able to control the GPIO pins, and finally complete the circuit and write the program.
About Intel Galileo
Intel Galileo is a computer with the size of a credit card and designed to facilitate the communication with microcontrollers, other Arduino boards, or communication with a PC. Designed as an introduction to DIY projects, its $60 price tag has made it affordable for hobbyists worldwide.
Despite its minimal design, Galileo is powerful enough to run a custom version of Linux and used in projects that typically use microcontrollers or ARM CPUs.
Arduino Tre vs Intel Galileo
Both single board computers are incredibly powerful platforms and perfect for projects that needs interactivity and processing power. My aim with this post is not to tell you that you should use in your robot project only Galileo or just the new Tre. In this article, I try to identify the important differences and where one of the boards is better to use it as an embedded system.
ProcessorThe Tre board is far away more powerful than the Galileo featuring a powerful processor by Texas Instrument with 1Ghz, while the second board features an Intel Quark X1000 processor clocked at 400MHz.
GPIO
The GPIO pins are used to turn on or off an LED as well as controlling a motor. The number of pins is a very important feature since represents the physical connection to the outside. The Arduino Tre has a number of 14 digital 5V pins with 7 PWM, 6 analog 5V, 12 digital 3.3V pins with 6 PWM. The Galileo reach 14 digital 5V pins, 6 of those are PWM and 6 analog 5V.
Connections
Again the new SBC is engineered with a wide range of connections including 4xUSB Hub, Arduino shield connectors, USB client, Ethernet Port, XBee connector, or MicroSD. The Intel board features 10/100 Ethernet, USB 2 host controller, USB client connector, or native mini-PCIe connector.
Vide0
While the Arduino SBC has HDMI capabilities with a maximum resolution of 1920×1080 pixels, the Intel board is engineered without video capabilities.
Audio
The same situation as video feature is also on the audio side. The new credit-card size board has HDMI stereo analog audio input and output, the old board was designed without audio capabilities.
Power
Both boards have the same output rating of the power adapter: 5V.
Operating system
Like the Raspberry Pi, the Tre has support for a full version of Linux, while the Galileo can run only a custom version of Linux.
Cost
No word yet about the final price for Tre, while the Galileo has a price tag of $60.
As you can see in the above points, the Tre board is far away designed with more features and capabilities than the Galileo. Probably, the biggest difference between these two embedded systems will be the price. If you need a cheap minicomputers able to provide x86 architecture on an embedded platform, probably you will choose the Galileo board. If you want much more flexibility and a powerful media processing tool, probably this time the Tre is the best option.
In this article, I try to cover all important differences between the Tre and Galileo. I hope you found this post useful and if you see something that I missed or if you think that I made a stupid call, let me know with a comment.
