Windows 7 Sensor API Targets Embedded Hardware

Microsoft has released the new Sensor API in Windows 7 to access data from external devices. The new API will still require development of a custom device driver for your hardware, but aims to reduce the complexity of applications that need to access the data. There are a number of examples applications available . Some are in the Windows 7 WDK, others are online like this one on MSDN for a motion sensor. It includes source and even firmware for a BASIC stamp microcontroller. You can build the project yourself with a Parallax passive-infrared sensor and HomeWork Board. One nice feature of the API is that it allows for virtual sensors. These can be used to develop and test apps without connecting the sensor to the PC. This can be very useful when you have seperate teams developing the Windows applications and the embedded hardware. If you have a well defined interface you should be able to switch from the virtual sensor to the final hardware without rewriting a lot of code.

TI Releasing Watch for Microcontroller Development

Amazing new platform for development, eZ430-Chronos Wireless Watch Development Tool. Introductory video here and assembly/disassembly video here. Not available at the time of writing but will be available for purchase for $49 at TI eStore.

New Low-Cost Altera FPGA Eval Board

The New $49 BeMicro FPGA Evaluation Kit available from arrowdevtools.com looks very impressive with the availability of free tools and a Nios II processor. With the on-board USB-Blaster for Quartus II Web edition you should have all you need to design and debug with a custom FPGA microcontroller. For I/O you have an 80-pin edge connector, eight LEDs, a UART and JTAG. See this getting started page for more details.

UPDATE: There are a number of low cost BeMicro boards available from Arrow at http://www.arrow.com/bemicro/ including the new BeMicro Max 10 for $30 US.

UPDATE 2024: Newer low cost MAX10 board is the MAX1000 for $38.

Freescale Offers Re-configurable Embedded Systems Platform

Freescale's tower development system is unique in physical design and also because it will support multiple processor families according to the tower system website, TowerGeeks.org. Currently only Coldfire processor boards are available along with a few peripheral boards. You can purchase either a complete kit or inidividual boards from Digi-Key. The kit shown above (TWR-MCF51CN-KIT) costs $100 and includes a microcontroller board, a serial module board, and two elevator boards.

Barnes and Noble Announces Nook

Barnes and Noble has released details and some specifications of its new electronic reader, Nook.

Barnes and Noble will release electronic reader

Gizmondo and the Wall Street Journal are reporting that Barnes and Noble will release the Nook, an electronic reader to compete with Amazon's Kindle. It's reported to sell for $259, and run Google's Android OS. Gizmondo has pictures but no specifications yet.

Google Recognizes Nobel Prize Winners with Bar Code Logo

Today's google logo is a bar code that scans as 'google' and displays 'invention of the bar code' as the roll-over. Today is the anniversary of the bar code invention and yesterday the Nobel Prize in Physics 2009 was given to inventions that enabled technology such as bar codes, fiber optic communication and digital cameras. The Nobel press release is titled 'The masters of light' and describes "two scientific achievements that have helped to shape the foundations of today's networked societies."

Texas Instrument's OMAP and Inexpensive BeagleBoard Excel with Embedded Linux

Attending the TI Tech Days Toronto 2009, I was impressed with the capabilities of the BeagleBoard, an OMAP3530 single board computer that sells for only $149. It was on display serving video to a tiny DLP projector that is also available as a development kit from TI.

The BeagleBoard is a reference platform as well, with all schematics, gerbers and even design files available online. This allows third-parties like TinCanTools to develop a peripheral add-on board an an adaptor for their USB-JTAG board to support the BeagleBoard.

The OMAP is a great platform for Embedded Linux development. The OpenEmbedded project, the Angstrom distribution, and Android all have been ported to the OMAP, and there is a great community of BeagleBoard Linux users and a wealth of information online at BeagleBoard.org. In addition to the BeagleBoard, there are OMAP development boards from gumstix and Logic. Each of these boards also have embedded Linux distributions and online resources for developers.

At the Conference, the room was full for the OMAP embedded Linux presentation by Nuvation, and it could have lasted much longer if time permitted. Developers had many questions on each slide and the presenter had to rush to finish. You can tell that there are a lot of products in development with the technology or at least considering OMAP and Embedded Linux as a solution.

There were a number of development companies at the conference (including Aaron Clarke Consulting) offering support for OMAP development. bSQUARE was giving away copies of Microsoft's Windows Embedded CE Evaluation Kit that also runs on the BeagleBoard. They support both WinCE and Embedded Linux development. They are headquartered in Bellevue, Washington with offices around the world including one near me in Rochester, NY. bSQUARE, who aquired Vibren Technologies in 2005, also offers an embedded flash for Linux and porting services for Adobe Flash Lite.

You can see the BeagleBoard in action either at one of the remaining TI Tech Days or at the Embedded Systems Conference in Boston. TI will have a number of workshops featuring the BeagleBoard including Android development.

Google Recognizes Discovery of Electromagnetism

Google's latest logo art honors Hans Christian Ørsted via a direct link to a google search of his name. He discovered that electric currents can induce magnetic fields in 1820. This inspired electromagnetic theory, one of the most important (and hardest to master) electronics design concepts. Consumer electronics like the radio, television and cell phone (and Google Android) are all possible because of Ørsted's discovery, and the work of others like James Clerk Maxwell. He allowed us to understand (and therefore eventually create) these waves traveling through space with what are known simply as Maxwell's equations.

Mentor Acquires Development Firm Offering Android and Embedded Linux Solutions

Mentor's acquisition of Embedded Alley will allow it to offer a three-OS solution to device manufacturers. Mentor's Nucleus real time operating system (RTOS) is installed on about one third of mobile phones. Before the acquisition, Mentor's Ben Hookway blogged about Nucleus and Android.

Mentor has already updated its website to support developers implementing the multi-OS solution: Android and Linux Development Systems for Multi-OS and Multicore Development.