Open Development Platform for Embedded & Real Time systems programming

Product Description:

The uNiBoard version 1.1 is an ideal development platform for Embedded and Real Time systems programming. Powered by a RISC machine (ATmega128) that provides a throughput of 16 MIPS and up to 128KB of internal storage (flash), the board is suitable for any sort of embedded application development.

On-board peripherals like Joystick along with the communication port (RS232) and the Gtkterm driver (hyper-terminal for Windows) make the board apt for basic game (refer application notes in user manual) development (on VT102 based terminals) in an Embedded (non-OS) as well as OS based environment. RT Kernels with small footprint (uC/OS-II, FreeRTOS, nut OS) can be ported on the board to gain hands-on experience of Real time application design

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The board along with its content-rich user manual is a perfect companion to have for hobbyists/aspirants seeking a career in Embedded software design, since it can accommodate preliminary applications like port control or sensor data processing built on Embedded C to complex real time applications built on RTOS like DAS (Data Acquisition Systems), embedded web-server, FAT FS for embedded systems and more.

 

We plan to adhere to the Creative Commons license (Refer licensing terms below), which has the philosophy of “Share, Remix, Reuse - Legally”. It means that anyone and everyone is allowed to produce copies of the board, to redesign it, or even to sell boards that copy the design. You don’t need to pay a license fee to the ThinkLABS team or even ask permission. However, if you republish the reference design, you have to credit the original group. And if you tweak or change the board, your new design must use the same or a similar Creative Commons license to ensure that new versions of the board will be equally free and open.

 

 

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Google project link: http://code.google.com/p/uniboard/

Features:

• ATMega128 based microcontroller board with 128kB flash memory working at 16 MIPS
• 4KB Internal SRAM and 4KB Internal EEPROM
• Open interface to all port pins facilitates easy access
• Communication ports provided: I2C, SPI, RS232 (dual programmable USART, can be used as standard input /output for the board)
• Onboard analog joystick to be used as sensor along with on-chip ADC
• Onboard 16x2 LCD with backlight to be used as a standard output for display
• Open LED interface to monitor status of any port
• On board I2C based DS1307 with battery back up to be used as a Real Time Clock
• Other on board components include LDR, Buzzer for general purpose experimentation
• USB programmable (no external programmers required, can be used with laptops without any converters)
• USB powered (no external supply required)
• JTAG interface for on-chip debugging (JTAG hardware required)
• Modular design to permit easy replacement of controller board in case of damage
• uC/OS-II, a highly portable, ROMable, very scalable, preemptive real-time, multitasking kernel for microprocessors and microcontrollers (DO-178B Certifiable RTOS for use in Safety Critical Systems) source code with ATmega128 port included (for GCC)
• uNiBoard allows other RTOS kernels with smaller footprint (FreeRTOS etc.) to be ported
  
  

Package Contents:

1. uNiBoard development board with peripherals listed above

2. 16x2 LCD

3. Serial cable (DB9)

4. USB cable

5. FRC connector cables

6. CD consisting of uNiBoard user manual (based on Linux (Ubuntu) /Windows) and essential software packages

7. Sample codes (RTOS/non-OS applications)

8. Box for storage

User manual contains application notes on:

• Ports, Timers/counters, Interrupts, EEPROM, Joystick, LCD, SPI, RS232/UART, RTC (I2C based), Buzzer, VT102 display driver for hyper terminal

• RTOS (uC/OS-II) based applications demonstrating multitasking (random number generation and display on serial console), using semaphores, mutexes, inter-task communication mechanisms, interrupts in RTOS context and a sample SNAKE game application which combines usage of all these RTOS components in a unified scenario

Other accessories/add-ons (not included in kit):

1. EFSL library, an Embedded File System port to read/write to a FAT partitioned SD/MMC card

2. SPI based Ethernet controller (ENC28j60)

Licensing terms: Creative Commons (CC - http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5/in/)

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