Bad to the Bone: Crafting Electronics Systems with BeagleBone Black, Second Edition
Published by Morgan and Claypool
November 2015, 417 pages
Authors
Steven F. Barrett, University of Wyoming
Jason Kridner, Texas Instruments
Abstract
BeagleBone Black is a low-cost, open hardware computer uniquely suited to interact with sensors and actuators directly and over the Web. Introduced in April 2013 by BeagleBoard.org, a community of developers first established in early 2008, BeagleBone Black is used frequently to build vision-enabled robots, home automation systems, artistic lighting systems, and countless other do-it-yourself and professional projects. BeagleBone variants include the original BeagleBone and the newer BeagleBone Black, both hosting a powerful 32-bit, super-scalar ARM Cortex A8 processor capable of running numerous mobile and desktop-capable operating systems, typically variants of Linux including Debian, Android, and Ubuntu. Yet, BeagleBone is small enough to fit in a small mint tin box. The "Bone" may be used in a wide variety of projects from middle school science fair projects to senior design projects to first prototypes of very complex systems. Novice users may access the power of the Bone through the user-friendly BoneScript software, experienced through a Web browser in most major operating systems, including Microsoft Windows, Apple Mac OS X, or the Linux operating systems. Seasoned users may take full advantage of the Bone's power using the underlying Linux-based operating system, a host of feature extension boards (Capes) and a wide variety of Linux community open source libraries. This book provides an introduction to this powerful computer and has been designed for a wide variety of users including the first time novice through the seasoned embedded system design professional. The book contains background theory on system operation coupled with many well-documented, illustrative examples. Examples for novice users are centered on motivational, fun robot projects while advanced projects follow the theme of assistive technology and image-processing applications.
Key Features:
- Provides detailed examples for all BeagleBone variants, including the newest "next generation" BeagleBone Black
- BeagleBone is a low cost, open hardware, expandable computer first introduced in November 2011 by BeagleBoard.org
- BeagleBone variants, including the original BeagleBone and the new BeagleBone Black, hosts a powerful 32-bit, super-scalar ARM Cortex A8 processor
- BeagleBone is small enough to fit in a small mint tin box
- "Bone" may be used in a wide variety of projects from middle school science fair projects to university courses and senior design projects to first prototypes of very complex systems
- Novice users may access the power of the Bone through the user-friendly BoneScript environment
- Seasoned users may take full advantage of the Bone's power using the underlying Linux-based operating system
- A host of feature extension boards (Capes) and a wide variety of Linux community open source libraries are available
- The book provides an introduction to this powerful computer and has been designed for a wide variety of users
- The book contains background theory on system operation coupled with many well-documented, illustrative examples
- Examples for novice users are centered on motivational, fun robot projects
- Advanced projects follow the theme of assistive technology and image processing applications
