DeviceGuru

A robot project reportedly has won the first monthly design contest sponsored by BeagleBoard.org. The site promotes the Beagle Board, a low-cost, fanless, single-board computer (SBC) based on a TI OMAP applications processor..

Antti Seppanen’s BeagleBot is a small, experimental robot with a Beagle Board brain. Some of the robot’s functions, such as avoiding collisions using an ultrasonic range sensor, will be autonomous. Detailed information about the BeagleBot’s design — including electronics, mechanical components, and Linux-based software — is freely available online.

The BeagleBot has a Beagle Board brain
(Click image to enlarge)

The Beagle Board SBC is based on a low-power TI OMAP3530 applications processor, which features a 600MHz ARM Cortex-A8 core. The 3 x 3-inch SBC includes 128MB RAM and 128MB flash memory soldered on-board, and can be powered by its USB port. The board’s I/O ports include:

• USB 2.0 with OTG (on-the-go) support
• Stereo audio in/out
• S-Video and DVI-D ports
• Serial port
• JTAG port
• MMC+/SD/SDIO slot

The Beagle Board is powered by a 600MHz TI OMAP system-on-chip
(Click image to enlarge)

The Beagle Board can be purchased for $149 from Digi-Key.

Complete details on the BeagleBot — including its electronics, mechanical components, and Linux-based software — are available on the project’s website. There’s also an interesting article about the project at LinuxDevices.com.