Tech Article
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
US Headquarters 1000 N. Main Street, Mansfield, TX 76063, USA (817) 804-3800 Main www.mouser.com Technical Article Release Intel Galileo2 vs. Raspberry Pi2 By Lynette Reese, Mouser Electronics As a follow-up to a previous article about the Intel Galileo and the Raspberry Pi (RPi), the discussion has evolved to a comparison between the second generations of both boards. Both have been greatly improved, yet neither has been drastically changed such that a migration to this next generation is too difficult. As a simple hardware comparison, it’s not really fair to compare an RPi to a Galileo, since the choice should be based upon the goal of the project. Here we compare, in detail, the similarities and differences so that an informed decision can be made prior to purchase. See tables 1 – 6 below. Both Galileo and RPi are Single Board Computers (SBCs), which means they can operate like a computer operating on a single board. For example, instead of using a full-featured computer for a server, you can just use an SBC. There are many other affordable SBCs available today, including the BeagleBoard, Edison, Minnowboard MAX, Wandboard, and others. Raspberry Pi is best for handling media such as photos or video. RPi could be used as a networked security camera or a media server, but for applications that use analog sensors, not so much; without an analog-to-digital converter (ADC), the analog sensors would not be easy to implement. Galileo supports analog inputs with an ADC. Galileo also has wireless connectivity and can be used for IoT applications using the Yocto Linux operating system provided by Intel or Windows 10 from Microsoft. Microsoft seems to think that several boards are also suitable for IoT, since Win 10 IoT Core supports RPi 2, Galileo, and the MinnowBoard Max. Galileo can also function as an inexpensive personal computer running Linux if you’re willing to build the Linux image . Both Gen 2 boards are do-it-yourself (DIY) electronics hardware development boards featuring embedded processors. RPi 2 Model B replaces the RPi 1 Model B and B+. However, no RPi can be reproduced freely, as there is a copyright on the schematics. Manufacturing of the RPi boards are limited to a few licensees. Intel Galileo 2 is Arduino-certified and impressively documented and supported by Intel. The Galileo boards are true open source hardware (OSHW) products, which means all design files are provided for the convenience of others to modify, redistribute, and even sell, since the Galileo is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike License. Original products manufactured from the supplier are protected by appropriate trademarks. Thus, users have a means to guarantee that they are getting the real thing since the trademark can only be legally placed on the maker’s original products. None of the RPi products are OSHW, although open source software is prolific for the RPi. – continued – Figure 1: The Intel Galileo Generation 2. Image courtesy of Intel. Major Changes for the Galileo The Galileo 2 board still sports a 400MHz Pentium-class System-on-a-Chip (SoC) called “Quark”. The Galileo 2 was made by Intel in cooperation with Arduino. (Galileo 2 is also compatible with existing Arduino shields that fit the Arduino Uno R3.) Tables 1 through 4 below list hardware attributes for both boards. New power options: o An on-board voltage regulator allows use of a power supply ranging from 7 to 15 VDC, allowing for more choices in AC/DC converters with which to power the Galileo 2. o An Ethernet connection on the Galileo 2 accepts power-over-Ethernet (PoE) with the addition of a PoE module. o The Galileo 2 can be powered from the VIN pin on a shield, as long as it’s in the 7 – 15VDC range. Native GPIO: Twelve of the General Purpose I/O (GPIO) are fully native (directly connected to the processor) resulting in greater speed (fastGpio) and stronger drive performance compared to the Galileo 1. The pinout is still Arduino UNO Rev 3 (or “1.0 pinout”) compatible. Faster ADC: The Analog-to-Digital converter is about 4 times faster than that of the Galileo 1. Finer PWM control: A 12-bit pulse width modulation (PWM) output is available for more precise/fine grained control, which is especially good if you want to control servo motors. UARTs available for sketches: UART1 can be used as a Linux console or as an additional UART for Arduino shields/sketches (the latter also uses Pins 2 & 3, however.) The 3.5 mm jack on Galileo 1 has been replaced by a 6-pin 3.3v TTL UART header (which allows communication with the Linux serial console) that is compatible with FTDI’s 1.8 meter long USB-to-Serial cable (Mouser PN 895-TTL-232R- 3V3). The FT232R on the cable makes it a virtual COM port (USB driver can be found on ftdichip.com.) Digital pins 0 and 1 are used as a programmable speed UART serial port. Full sized USB port: The USB Host now has a full sized, standard A type receptacle. Increase in physical size: The length has increased to 123.8 mm (L) × 72.0 mm (W); about 25% larger than Galileo 1. Software: Although an OS comes pre-installed, you can obtain a more powerful version of Linux in the Yocto 1.4 Poky Linux release. Intel provides an operating system (OS) pre-configured for Internet of Things (IoT) applications for Galileo 2. Windows 10 (for IoT) also runs on any Intel Galileo. Figure 2: The FT232R in the TTL-232R-3V3 cable appears as a virtual COM port (VCP). The cable provides a fast, simple way to connect devices with a TTL level serial interface to USB. For Galileo, this creates an RS-232 console port for Linux debugging. Image courtesy the FTDI TTL-232R datasheet. Major changes for Raspberry Pi Processor: RPi 2’s new ARM Cortex A7 processor has 4 cores, and the clock has increased to 900MHz from the previous 700MHz. Memory: RPi 2 has 1 GB of RAM. The RAM chip has moved to the bottom of the board. Operating System: Now supported by an RPi-compatible version of Windows 10 at no charge. LEDs: Two on-board networking status LEDs have moved into the network jack. The remaining 2 LEDs are now controllable from software. Figure 3: The Raspberry Pi Generation 2, Model B. Image courtesy Wikipedia. Most notably, the newest Raspberry Pi 2 has nearly the same physical form as the RPi 1 Model B+. Enclosures should be interchangeable, but a few might have difficulty with thickness, since RPi’s RAM chip moved to the bottom of the board and some other chips have moved slightly. Mounting holes are in the same place and the connectors are all the same size and located in the same place. The Galileo 2 costs almost twice as much as the RPi 2, but the RPi still arrives bare bones. New users will need to program the board and will also need a USB power supply (at least 700mA at 5V) and an SD card with boot code installed, a Keyboard, Mouse, and HDMI-to-DVI cable (for a monitor). The informed RPi user will want a powered USB Hub (for parking additional power-hungry USB devices.) The RPi is not fussy; an old analog TV can be a monitor via the RCA port instead of using HDMI, but it needs a standard RCA cable. On the other hand, Galileo comes with a power supply. The Galileo can boot from SD card or on- board memory. Both the RPi and Galileo can be operated as stand-alone computers, albeit with obvious limitations (e.g., a 400MHz CPU speed.) Intel built the Galileo with the input and guidance of Arduino. Arduino has built a reputation on making accessible and affordable hardware, with an emphasis on education and open source projects. With their reputation for quality and power, and Arduino’s guidance, Intel managed to strike a balance between these sometime divergent ideals. The Quark is an x86 Pentium processor, and historically the majority of x86 SoCs are implemented in personal computers. (Hint: Set compilers to .586 for Quark x1000.) Intel supports “The Internet of Things” (IoT), a concept in which things (objects, animals, or people) have unique embedded identifiers for automatically communicating (over the internet) with other things (machines, computers, or objects) without direct human intervention, to automatically transfer data for the purpose of self-regulation, or for acting in concert on a grand scale. IoT could result in huge collections of data and potentially great energy, cost, and time savings with efficiencies gained from every aspect of the interaction of “smart” things. One example is in assisting scientists in exact replication of experiments. Charles Facchia, a biologist-hacker and IBM PhD Fellow at the MIT Media Lab, explained it at SXSW for Hackaday that it can be used to “quantify context.” Evidently, many experiments have results that others are unable to replicate. A data collection device placed in a carry-along “rider” test tube, for example, would be able to record the exact environmental status of all of the test tubes in the same carrier if it is treated exactly like all the other test tubes. The IoT test tube could keep track of several variables like temperature, humidity, exposure to light, etc. so scientists can better attempt to repeat experiments with more precise control over potentially contributing or unknown factors. The Galileo is too large to fit into a test tube, but the Galileo is a development board.