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Domain: controlled.com

Stories and comments across the archive that link to controlled.com.

Comments · 9

  1. Re:I know it's an old lame joke... by JesseL · · Score: 1 · on PC/104 Embedded Consortium Design Winners

    Unfortunatley, you cannot build multi CPU systems by stacking multiple PC/104 motherboards. The PC/104 bus is just a 16-bit ISA bus (PC/104+ adds another connector for PCI) that runs through an unusual connector. See this from the PC/104 FAQ

  2. Some Good Info on PC/104 by Michael's+a+Jerk! · · Score: 5, Informative · on PC/104 Embedded Consortium Design Winners

    can be found Here Promises to be an interesting standard.

  3. PC 104 in a nutshell by Silicon_Knight · · Score: 5, Informative · on PC/104 Embedded Consortium Design Winners

    PC 104 is basically a form factor, just like ATX, mini-ATX, mini-ITX, etc. It is one of the smallest form factor out there, largely used in industrial automation setup.

    The one characteristic that makes PC104 interesting is the "pass through" bus connector. Consisting of 104 pins (hence it's name), you stack modules of extension card on the base board, and build vertically your components. See link:

    PC104 FAQ with pictures

    They tend to be pretty low power consumption, and there are a mind boggling array of PC104 modules out there, from radio modems to GPS receivers to servo controllers and 3 axis accelerometers. For hobby use, I wouldn't really go with them, since they are more expensive than the much cheaper mini-itx boards (which is what I will be using for my next car computer).

    Mini-ITX info link

    Man, reading through the projects - they outfitted a 1997 Corvette with a "fly by wire" steering. My god, I wish my research lab has the amount of cash handy to buy a corvette for a ressearch project...

    -=- Terence

  4. Small PC/104 MB by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1 · on Home-Built Laptops?
    Look at PC/104 as the standard for small motherboards. Some boards are four inches square. There also are credit-card-sized boards, many of which plug into sockets on PC/104 holders (the PC/104 card becomes a mounting point for the numerous interface connectors).

    Unfortunately, no plastics manufacturer has spotted the need for a PC/104 laptop case. Need a base with mounting points for a widely-available small power supply, a common battery style (C-cell sized cylinders, if nothing else). The rest of the machine could have several locations for PC/104 card mounting -- metal brackets to fit PC/104 holes can deal with CD and hard drive mountings.

    It might also be possible to have a PC board with two side-by-side PC/104 sockets to allow use of two adjacent cards. At least one bay should offer PCMCIA slot capability -- as PCMCIA is electrically similar to IDE, either a card or cable can connect that bay (or bays, if someone wants a system with more card slots) to the rest.

    The back would have the usual connectors. The top with the keyboard/mouse openings would use mountings for common mechanisms (being a separate part, varieties of tops would all fit the same bases). The lid should have mounting points for some common LCD panels -- or one mounting point and metal brackets to fit various panels (metal brackets are easy to have locally made if you need a custom one due to a special video need). Bezels to fit various screen sizes. Sure would be nice to have a cable channel that would allow simple flat cables through the hinge.

    Personally, I'd also like to also be able to mount the screen where the keyboard usually goes, so I can make a tablet computer when appropriate. The keyboard connector on the back would offer keyboard capability when needed.

  5. PDA/Laptop Clones by SEWilco · · Score: 2 · on Make Your Own PDA?
    As I've pointed out before, what's missing is a standard laptop case. The standard PC/104 cards are small enough that they can be used for that purpose, particularly cards with the Tillamook "Mobile Pentium" processor.

    A laptop case could have mounting points for several common LCDs, popular power supply, side panels with PCMCIA slot which fits at least two PC/104 PCMCIA interfaces, mounting point for one or two popular batteries, and drive mounting points.

    Something similar would have to be done for a generic PDA design, except that you have to start from a generic very low power processor card (pick a public design?) rather than a PC/104 card.

  6. Generic Laptop Case? by SEWilco · · Score: 2 · on The Quest For Cool Cases Continues
    I still think someone should make a generic laptop case. Mounting points for several PC/104 cards and popular power supplies, floppies, hard drives, batteries, and LCD panels.

    Then if all I want is a text email box I can toss in low-performance components. If I want a high-performance box I can spend more and get the features I think are most important. If I want more batteries instead of PCMCIA slots then I can do that more easily than with the present proprietary cases. Or I could have four serial ports if I'm chatting with a lot of devices [Yes, I know I can get four serial ports on PCMCIA].

  7. NEMA enclosures by SEWilco · · Score: 5 · on Outdoor Computer Cases?
    I think what you want are called "NEMA enclosures" in the industrial environment. Sealed boxes. You pick a level suitable for an outdoor wet/freezing location.

    Parvus has several for the PC/104 size, as does Tri-M. Digital has some for their products.

    There are plenty of generic NEMA enclosures available, up to walk-in size.

    Remember you may need a heater or cooler. There are standalone devices, although I also have seen one PC/104 card with thermostats.

  8. Plenty of tiny boards. by SEWilco · · Score: 1 · on Car and Home MP3 Players
    The terms to look for are "Single Board Computer" (SBC), "biscuit" or "PC/104" for most small computers. These are intended to be small industrial computers.

    Also don't forget the wearable technology. The MIT Wearables and Yahoo:Wearables pages are good starting points. (I don't know where wearables.ml.org went to when DNS failed...)

    The Wearable technology often uses PCMCIA-sized motherboards. Those pages have links to most of those boards. VGA/LCD, IDE, and the usual other interfaces are all on that one tiny card. Haven't seen sound on one yet.

  9. More powerful... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0 · on Pictures of the Palm V

    If you're looking for more powerful portable computers, for instance to run Linux, wearables.blu.org might help (as might its link to www.controlled.com).