The PC, called the MinnowBoard, is basically a motherboard with no casing around it. It was codeveloped by Intel and CircuitCo Electronics, a company that specializes in open-source motherboards, and went on sale this month for US$199 from a handful of retailers.
It’s the first open-source PC to be offered with an Intel x86 processor, and the board’s schematics and design files are published and can be replicated under a Creative Commons license. Development kits based on x86 processors from Via Technologies are already sold for robotics and other projects, but those boards are not open source.
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Stop breadboarding and soldering – start making immediately! Adafruit’s Circuit Playground is jam-packed with LEDs, sensors, buttons, alligator clip pads and more. Build projects with Circuit Playground in a few minutes with the drag-and-drop MakeCode programming site, learn computer science using the CS Discoveries class on code.org, jump into CircuitPython to learn Python and hardware together, TinyGO, or even use the Arduino IDE. Circuit Playground Express is the newest and best Circuit Playground board, with support for CircuitPython, MakeCode, and Arduino. It has a powerful processor, 10 NeoPixels, mini speaker, InfraRed receive and transmit, two buttons, a switch, 14 alligator clip pads, and lots of sensors: capacitive touch, IR proximity, temperature, light, motion and sound. A whole wide world of electronics and coding is waiting for you, and it fits in the palm of your hand.
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What’s the point? $199 can’t be serious, right? They’re going up against sub-$50 embedded platforms like Raspberry and BeagleBone with a $200 x86 board. Don’t forget you can get a Mini-ITX system for well under $100 these days.
It’s great this is open so– oh, wait, Creative Commons license. I just don’t get it.
What’s the point? $199 can’t be serious, right? They’re going up against sub-$50 embedded platforms like Raspberry and BeagleBone with a $200 x86 board. Don’t forget you can get a Mini-ITX system for well under $100 these days.
It’s great this is open so– oh, wait, Creative Commons license. I just don’t get it.