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From: allsey87 on 17 Jun 2010 03:40
Hi All,

I'm looking for a small embedded computer on-a-board system for a
final year university project on Swarm Robotics.

I have Googled around the Internet for quite sometime and while I have
come close to finding what I wanted, I still haven't been able to find
a kit/board/system which has all the features I need. The closest I've
come to finding a kit that matches my requirements, would be the
APF9328 or APF27 from Armadeus: http://www.armadeus.com/english/products-processor_boards-apf9328.html

The Specs I'm most interested in are:

Dedicated Processor: ARM, Coldfire, Blackfin (anything capable of
running either ARMLinux or uCLinux)
FPGA (built onto the board): Spartan 3A,3E,6... decent number of gates
for video DSP & recognition
WiFi module: either 802.11b or g...

Other restrictions would be form factor (the hardware shouldn't be
bigger than 15x15x3cm (6x6x1.2") and of course price, as the system
must be as cheap as possible as it's a uni project & there needs to be
at least 6-7 of these SwarmBot running at a single time...

If you have any suggestions / products / solutions or recommendations,
you know what to do.

Cheers & Best Regards, Michael.
From: 1 Lucky Texan on 17 Jun 2010 08:15
On Jun 17, 2:40 am, allsey87 <allse...(a)gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi All,
>
> I'm looking for a small embedded computer on-a-board system for a
> final year university project on Swarm Robotics.
>
> I have Googled around the Internet for quite sometime and while I have
> come close to finding what I wanted, I still haven't been able to find
> a kit/board/system which has all the features I need. The closest I've
> come to finding a kit that matches my requirements, would be the
> APF9328 or APF27 from Armadeus:http://www.armadeus.com/english/products-processor_boards-apf9328.html
>
> The Specs I'm most interested in are:
>
> Dedicated Processor: ARM, Coldfire, Blackfin (anything capable of
> running either ARMLinux or uCLinux)
> FPGA (built onto the board): Spartan 3A,3E,6... decent number of gates
> for video DSP & recognition
> WiFi module: either 802.11b or g...
>
> Other restrictions would be form factor (the hardware shouldn't be
> bigger than 15x15x3cm (6x6x1.2") and of course price, as the system
> must be as cheap as possible as it's a uni project & there needs to be
> at least 6-7 of these SwarmBot running at a single time...
>
> If you have any suggestions / products / solutions or recommendations,
> you know what to do.
>
> Cheers & Best Regards, Michael.

probably more $$ and more power than you need, but there will be some
single board solutions over at www.winsystems.com . A 2 (maybe 3) bd
'stack of PC104 bds might work for you too.
From: Bob Smith on 18 Jun 2010 01:24
allsey87 wrote:
> I'm looking for a small embedded computer on-a-board system for a
> final year university project on Swarm Robotics.

Not quite what you ask for but how about combining these two:
www.demandperipherals.com, and
http://www.chumby.com/pages/chumby_one


Bob Smith (lead developer at Demand Peripherals)


From: Rich Webb on 18 Jun 2010 10:14
On Thu, 17 Jun 2010 00:40:03 -0700 (PDT), allsey87 <allsey87(a)gmail.com>
wrote:

>Hi All,
>
>I'm looking for a small embedded computer on-a-board system for a
>final year university project on Swarm Robotics.
>
>I have Googled around the Internet for quite sometime and while I have
>come close to finding what I wanted, I still haven't been able to find
>a kit/board/system which has all the features I need. The closest I've
>come to finding a kit that matches my requirements, would be the
>APF9328 or APF27 from Armadeus: http://www.armadeus.com/english/products-processor_boards-apf9328.html
>
>The Specs I'm most interested in are:
>
>Dedicated Processor: ARM, Coldfire, Blackfin (anything capable of
>running either ARMLinux or uCLinux)
>FPGA (built onto the board): Spartan 3A,3E,6... decent number of gates
>for video DSP & recognition
>WiFi module: either 802.11b or g...
>
>Other restrictions would be form factor (the hardware shouldn't be
>bigger than 15x15x3cm (6x6x1.2") and of course price, as the system
>must be as cheap as possible as it's a uni project & there needs to be
>at least 6-7 of these SwarmBot running at a single time...
>
>If you have any suggestions / products / solutions or recommendations,
>you know what to do.

There are a few at http://www.knjn.com/FPGA-FX2.html that are close to
meeting your requirements. A quick 'net search indicates that there have
been some ports of uCLinux to the LPC2138, so that works. The networking
is to 10BaseT modular connectors so you'd need a separate WiFi gizmo.

--
Rich Webb Norfolk, VA
From: allsey87 on 18 Jun 2010 21:39
Thanks for the suggestions guys, I think I will end up going with the
board from Armadeus as it allows the best customisation.

On top of this all the connections are mapped out using a Hirose
connector making it easy to build an add on board. - Not to mention
their is a direct connection between the processor bus and FPGA
allowing very efficient data transfer for video and DSP control
processing.

Guess the university will just have to suck it up if they want this
project done.

Thanks again for all your suggestions.

- Cheers, Mike.
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