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Ask Slashdot: Best Dedicated Low Power Embedded Dev System Choice?

Posted by samzenpus on from the what-should-I-get? dept.

An anonymous reader writes "I'm a Solaris user which is not well supported by the OSS toolchains. I'd like to have a dedicated Linux based dev system which has good support for ARM, MSP430 and other MCU lines and draws very little (5-10 watts max) power. The Beaglebone Black has been suggested. Is there a better choice? This would only be used for software development and testing for embedded systems."

9 of 183 comments (clear)

  1. UDOO by danomatika · · Score: 5, Informative

    Check out the UDOO: http://www.udoo.org/

    A pretty capable machine at a decent price and low power draw. Yes more than a Raspberry PI, but multi cores and real USB controller is worth it (at least for my realtime audio needs).
     

  2. Best <insert-x-here> by weilawei · · Score: 4, Funny

    Emacs! Oh wait, wrong flame war..

  3. Intel NUC by enter+to+exit · · Score: 3, Insightful

    The OP doesn't need Solaris (He currently has a Linux Dev box) or an ARM system. He needs a low powered machine that can compile to ARM (and other things).

    I would look into an Intel NUC.

    1. Re:Intel NUC by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Zotac is currently bringing passively cooled quad core mini Intel boxes to market (the low end NUC has a fan but doesn't really need it under normal load). The Zotac ci320 nano looks particularly nice: Celeron n2930 (quad core, 1.8GHz) with a thermal design power of 7.5W and an even lower scenario design power. It offers a much better interface selection than the NUC: plenty of USB3 ports, display port, HDMI, eSATA, (shared SATA and mSATA inside). Costs about the same as the low end NUC.

      The NUC allegedly has some issues with USB that are supposedly fixed by the 2830 CPU revision. This revision also brings QuickSync. The hardware video encoder wasn't available in previous revisions. But Intel decided not to change the SKU, so getting one that has the new CPU is a little difficult right now as they are selling the old stock first.

      The Zotac is difficult to find. It's just coming to market.

  4. Buy a netbook by drinkypoo · · Score: 3, Informative

    You can get a netbook that will draw around 5-10W. If you get one with intel cpu and chipset you will have the advantage of massive compatibility, especially if you skip the original Atom chip. Once the dual cores came out it was pretty well abandoned by everyone.

    That, or get one of these ~$100 android units which also runs Debian. But I don't really recommend that. The only one which seems very performant and yet inexpensive is the mk908 which is a bit of a turd reliability-wise and which doesn't yet have complete hardware support, e.g. http://www.cnx-software.com/20...

    I stand by the netbook

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  5. Shuttle DS437! by ravyne · · Score: 5, Informative
    Finally, an Ask Slashdot I can answer with personal experience and some authority!

    Do yourself a favor and order a Shuttle DS437, I bought one myself and cannot think of a better little box for playing with embedded systems. Here's why:
    • Its small -- about the size of a 5.25" disk drive.
    • Its low-power -- not as low as you'd like -- but less than 20watts under load for the system. Its passively cooled.
    • It takes a 12v barrel-plug from a standard 65watt laptop power adapter (included) -- easy to replace anywhere in the world. Also good if the impetus for your low-power requirement is an exotic wish, like being able to run the system from battery or solar.
    • Its relatively inexpensive -- about $200 from Amazon.com, and qualifies for Prime shipping. You'll need to add storage and RAM, but maybet have some DDR3 so-dimms and a spare 2.5" drive kicking around from an old laptop.
    • Its got two DB9 Serial ports, right on the front. Handy!
    • Its a modern system: 64bit, dual-core, Ivy Bridge, SSE 4.2, supports up to 16GB ram.
    • Connectivity: VGA/HDMI, USB 3.0, USB 2.0, dual gigabit NICs, Wireless N WiFi
    • Storage options: you've got one mSata slot and one 2.5" sata drive. I've got a 128GB SSD in the mSata slot, and a 500GB magnetic drive installed
    • It took Ubuntu 14.04 without any significant fuss. Most things worked out of the box. I'm not a linux super expert, but got the rest working within an hour or so.

    It's "only" 1.8Ghz, but we're talking Ivy Bridge here, not some wimpy Atom or ARM core. Plus, in my experience you really want x86 for your host machine. Not every compiler or tool you might want to use is going to be supported on, say, a lower-powered ARM system.

    I considered a lot of exotic ARM boards as my development host, including BeagleBone, Jetson-K1, and a handful of others. I think the D437 leads by a wide margin, but for what its worth I considered the Jetson-K1 board a distant runner-up.

  6. Re:Solaris not well supported by OSS toolchain by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Probably because about 99.99% of questions such as this one play out like this:

    "I need a hammer. What is a good hammer?"

    "Why do you need a hammer?"

    "I need a hammer to chop down trees."

    "No, you need an axe."

    They don't even allow questions like this on stackexchange because they're so open ended and worthless that they serve no purpose and provide no value (other than to instigate arguments such as this or flameboy arguments such as Home Depot hammers versus Lowe's hammers). I can tell you've never dealt with customers and requirements management, because understanding why customers need something is extremely important: it may lead to a better product for the customer or new products for more/new customers. Lastly, you must be new to the internet if you go around assuming anyone knows shit (especially on Slashdot).

  7. Re:Solaris not well supported by OSS toolchain by Nutria · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Why do people always as WHY someone wants something?!

    Excellent question, young Padawan.

    People often ask for help, assuming an answer and thus embedding it in the question. The experienced helper asks probing questions to see what the asker really wants, and then asks that question. When you're older, you'll understand.

    In this case specifically, embedded development typically requires specific "non-consumer" I/O requirements that little hobbyist systems just don't support. Thus, saying BeagleBoard or Udoo or RaspberryPi would steer him wrong.

    OTOH, maybe he just doesn't know WTF "embedded" really means and is just tossing out the buzzword du jure, when a used laptop would serve his needs much better.

    So, we ask probing questions.

    --
    "I don't know, therefore Aliens" Wafflebox1
  8. Re:Solaris not well supported by OSS toolchain by Nutria · · Score: 4, Insightful

    but when I'm asking about some detail

    Can you really not figure out that the solution to such a problem is to add more detail to your question, indicating what you've already researched?

    Methinks more people should read "How To Ask Questions The Smart Way".
    http://www.catb.org/esr/faqs/smart-questions.html#beprecise

    --
    "I don't know, therefore Aliens" Wafflebox1