Minnowboard - Intel Atom mini-computer

At the “Automotive Linux Summit” conference held in late May, Intel introduced a robotic arm, a “fisherman,” which identified objects that looked like fish and placed them in an aquarium. The brain of the robot was a mini computer Minnowboard , an analogue of the Raspberry Pi on the Intel Atom processor . The project Minnowboard is now at the stage of final preparations for entering the market, so the information about it, I think, will be of interest to the community, especially since this topic is raised here for the first time.





The appearance of the board Minnowboard. Clickable



Minnowboard is a full-featured x86 computer architecture, equipped with all the necessary interfaces for connecting hard drives and peripherals (PCI Express, SATA, USB), as well as specialized interfaces for obtaining information from sensors, sensors or other digital devices (SPI, I2C, CAN, GPIO ). There is a special 100-pin connector on the Minnowboard, through which various expansion cards are connected - but about them later. First, let's take the Minnowboard specification.

CPU	Intel Atom E640 (1 GHz, 32 bit) EG20T Intel Platform Controller Hub Integrated Intel Graphics Media Accelerator (GMA) 600
Memory	1 GB DDR2 RAM
Memory for system microcode	4 MB SPI Flash
Video	DVI via HDMI
Audio	Analog
Input Output	1 micro SD SATA2 3 Gb / s 2 USB host 1 USB device (micro USB-B port) 1 debug port (mini USB-B port) 10/100/1000 Ethernet
Functions for the experimenter	8 buffered GPIO feet 2 controlled GPIO LED 4 GPIO switches
Software	All software will be provided in the form of images and free source code.
operating system	Angstrom Linux Distribution (compatible with Yocto Project v 1.3)

Minnowboard with a dummy expansion card type 3.



Thus, Minnowboard can be used as a self-contained miniature PC for user needs (and almost hundreds of different applications have already been invented for the same Raspberry Pi) or as a “brain” component of intelligent and robotic systems. The latter, I think, will interest DIY enthusiasts, of which there are plenty.

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Minnowboard Video Presentation



The manufacturer provides 3 form factor expansion cards, connected through the above-mentioned 100-pin connector (pinout connector you can see here ) or pins GPIO; Form factors vary in size and method of attachment to the motherboard. Already, several types of reference cards of various purposes have been developed, from the simplest, carrying a 7-section display or miniPCIe / mSATA connectors to promising Arduino-compatible, which themselves have a wide range of applications. The maximum number of stackable cards is 4 pieces.



Minnowboard is currently undergoing final tests, the start of sales is scheduled for the very near future. Interested parties are encouraged to check the pages of the Minnowboard community more often, for example, on Facebook for news - they probably will be there soon.