Is this board a good alternative to the PC?
 

Hi,
I have seen the board described in this link.
http://www.seventech.it/english/merlinoboard/2.php
I think that its a good solution to realize an embedded system with VGA
output, in that cases where, to use the PC, is not convenient.
I have seen that it's available also a dev kit to develop the code in C++
and it is not necessary to use an operating system.
How is it possible to work with a system without operating system?
You thing thought of it? Is it really a good product? Who has used this
board?
Thanks
Renato

"Renato" wrote in message
...
Hi,
I have seen the board described in this link.
http://www.seventech.it/english/merlinoboard/2.php
I think that its a good solution to realize an embedded system with VGA
output, in that cases where, to use the PC, is not convenient.
I have seen that it's available also a dev kit to develop the code in C++
and it is not necessary to use an operating system.
How is it possible to work with a system without operating system?
You thing thought of it? Is it really a good product? Who has used this
board?
Thanks
Renato

What are you intending to use it for? An OS is not needed or even desirable
in many embedded applications. Development is done cross platform on a PC
or something then the application is downloaded to the target. Looks like
this board is
intended for the video game market.

Doug

Doug,
A company has commissioned a control panel for boats.
This board seems very proper. They includes in the Dev Kit library, also a
class to connect the touch screen. I could use the bus I2c to connect all
the board services with only 2 wires.
Renato




"Doug Dotson" dougdotson@NOSPAMcablespeedNOSPAMcom ha scritto nel
messaggio ...

"Renato" wrote in message
...
Hi,
I have seen the board described in this link.
http://www.seventech.it/english/merlinoboard/2.php
I think that its a good solution to realize an embedded system with VGA
output, in that cases where, to use the PC, is not convenient.
I have seen that it's available also a dev kit to develop the code in C++
and it is not necessary to use an operating system.
How is it possible to work with a system without operating system?
You thing thought of it? Is it really a good product? Who has used this
board?
Thanks
Renato

What are you intending to use it for? An OS is not needed or even
desirable
in many embedded applications. Development is done cross platform on a PC
or something then the application is downloaded to the target. Looks like
this board is
intended for the video game market.

Doug

Renato,
I looked at the web site. The board seems to be generic.
A price wasn't given, (or I didn't see it), but for $500/600
one can get a variety of single board computers.
As usual, the devil is in the details. How good is the
development system? How complete is the library? Is the
compiler and debugger included, or are they a $3000- $5000
add-on?
I've had good luck with smaller microcontroller modules, such as
Z-World...cheap...easy to use...easy to design in hardware-wise.
Of course they aren't very suitable for high-speed work...50mHz and up.
Norm B

On Fri, 25 Feb 2005 20:44:36 GMT, "Renato" wrote:

Doug,
A company has commissioned a control panel for boats.
This board seems very proper. They includes in the Dev Kit library, also a
class to connect the touch screen. I could use the bus I2c to connect all
the board services with only 2 wires.
Renato




"Doug Dotson" dougdotson@NOSPAMcablespeedNOSPAMcom ha scritto nel
messaggio ...

"Renato" wrote in message
...
Hi,
I have seen the board described in this link.
http://www.seventech.it/english/merlinoboard/2.php
I think that its a good solution to realize an embedded system with VGA
output, in that cases where, to use the PC, is not convenient.
I have seen that it's available also a dev kit to develop the code in C++
and it is not necessary to use an operating system.
How is it possible to work with a system without operating system?
You thing thought of it? Is it really a good product? Who has used this
board?
Thanks
Renato

What are you intending to use it for? An OS is not needed or even
desirable
in many embedded applications. Development is done cross platform on a PC
or something then the application is downloaded to the target. Looks like
this board is
intended for the video game market.

Doug

Depending on your background in most cases I've found it easier to use
a generic tiny x86 board (e.g. mini-itx, mini-atx, or others) running
Linux or WinCE. If you're used to writing apps that run on operating
systems these will offer you a familiar development environment with
good libraries for IO, threading, etc... and for a very good price
point.

I'm most comfortable working on Linux so for prototyping a headless box
I'll often start off with a Soekris board (e.g.
http://www.soekris.com/net4501.htm ) because they run off of 12V, are
very inexpensive and reliable, then I'll add a compact flash card for
the OS, install an embedded Linux distro (e.g.
http://www.nycwireless.net/pebble/ ), and start developing.

Anyhow, just another alternative to consider...

-Todd

--
http://boatblogger.com/page/thuss

IT sounds like it is probably a good board for that application. As far
as connection to other services, I2C is only intended to connect devices
close by such as on the same PC board (inches). Not a good communication
infrastructure throughout a boat.

Doug

"Renato" wrote in message
...
Doug,
A company has commissioned a control panel for boats.
This board seems very proper. They includes in the Dev Kit library, also a
class to connect the touch screen. I could use the bus I2c to connect all
the board services with only 2 wires.
Renato




"Doug Dotson" dougdotson@NOSPAMcablespeedNOSPAMcom ha scritto nel
messaggio ...

"Renato" wrote in message
...
Hi,
I have seen the board described in this link.
http://www.seventech.it/english/merlinoboard/2.php
I think that its a good solution to realize an embedded system with VGA
output, in that cases where, to use the PC, is not convenient.
I have seen that it's available also a dev kit to develop the code in
C++
and it is not necessary to use an operating system.
How is it possible to work with a system without operating system?
You thing thought of it? Is it really a good product? Who has used this
board?
Thanks
Renato

What are you intending to use it for? An OS is not needed or even
desirable
in many embedded applications. Development is done cross platform on a PC
or something then the application is downloaded to the target. Looks like
this board is
intended for the video game market.

Doug

What standard for communication infrastructure do you recommend?
Renato

"Doug Dotson" dougdotson@NOSPAMcablespeedNOSPAMcom ha scritto nel
messaggio ...
IT sounds like it is probably a good board for that application. As far
as connection to other services, I2C is only intended to connect devices
close by such as on the same PC board (inches). Not a good communication
infrastructure throughout a boat.

Doug

"Renato" wrote in message
...
Doug,
A company has commissioned a control panel for boats.
This board seems very proper. They includes in the Dev Kit library, also
a class to connect the touch screen. I could use the bus I2c to connect
all the board services with only 2 wires.
Renato




"Doug Dotson" dougdotson@NOSPAMcablespeedNOSPAMcom ha scritto nel
messaggio ...

"Renato" wrote in message
...
Hi,
I have seen the board described in this link.
http://www.seventech.it/english/merlinoboard/2.php
I think that its a good solution to realize an embedded system with VGA
output, in that cases where, to use the PC, is not convenient.
I have seen that it's available also a dev kit to develop the code in
C++
and it is not necessary to use an operating system.
How is it possible to work with a system without operating system?
You thing thought of it? Is it really a good product? Who has used
this
board?
Thanks
Renato

What are you intending to use it for? An OS is not needed or even
desirable
in many embedded applications. Development is done cross platform on a
PC
or something then the application is downloaded to the target. Looks
like this board is
intended for the video game market.

Doug

I have seen the boards that you recommend. But they doesn't have a VGA
output or perhaps have not I attentively read?
Renato

"thuss" ha scritto nel messaggio
oups.com...
Depending on your background in most cases I've found it easier to use
a generic tiny x86 board (e.g. mini-itx, mini-atx, or others) running
Linux or WinCE. If you're used to writing apps that run on operating
systems these will offer you a familiar development environment with
good libraries for IO, threading, etc... and for a very good price
point.

I'm most comfortable working on Linux so for prototyping a headless box
I'll often start off with a Soekris board (e.g.
http://www.soekris.com/net4501.htm ) because they run off of 12V, are
very inexpensive and reliable, then I'll add a compact flash card for
the OS, install an embedded Linux distro (e.g.
http://www.nycwireless.net/pebble/ ), and start developing.

Anyhow, just another alternative to consider...

-Todd

--
http://boatblogger.com/page/thuss

No, the Soekris does not have a VGA out, however, there are many small
X86 boards (mini-ITX, mini-ATX, etc..) to choose from that do. One
mid-range example that comes to mind are the boards from Arcom:

http://www.arcom.com/

which can run WinCE or embedded Linux. However, there are many other
choices on the X86 front to choose from.

-Todd

--
http://boatblogger.com/page/thuss
http://www.marinewireless.us

You might want to look at the Via line of mini-ITX and nano-ITX mainboards.
The minis are 17cm x 17cm and have full VGA, USB, PS2, serial, parallel and
ethernet onboard. They support 1GB memory, IDE drives, and will run any
windows OS from Win98 on up and Linux also. They even have TV-out so you
could install a DVD drive on the PC and watch the output on a standard TV.
The nano-ITX board is 12 cm x 12 cm and has similar capabilities. See the
whole lineup at http://www.viaembedded.com/ I have found a lot of these
for sale on eBay and there are dealers with good discounts for new units.
Some of the Via mainboards run cool enough to require no fans for cooling.
These are slower speed boards, like 600 Mhz, but for most onboard PC uses
like electronic charting and email, web access, log keeping, etc that would
be fine.

There is also a company that makes DC-DC power supplies for these boards.
http://www.minibox.com has several models that take 12V input and produce
the full ATX complement of power for mainboard and disk drives. They plug
right onto the mini-ITX board. Minibox also sells the Via mainboards and
their prices are among the lowest for new boards.

For communications on a boat I would recommend an ordinary ethernet LAN,
either wired or wireless.

Don

"thuss" wrote in message
ps.com...
No, the Soekris does not have a VGA out, however, there are many small
X86 boards (mini-ITX, mini-ATX, etc..) to choose from that do. One
mid-range example that comes to mind are the boards from Arcom:

http://www.arcom.com/

which can run WinCE or embedded Linux. However, there are many other
choices on the X86 front to choose from.

-Todd

--
http://boatblogger.com/page/thuss
http://www.marinewireless.us