OLINUXINO - Single Board Linux Computer, Copyright(C) 2012, OLIMEX Ltd

THE PROJECT:

OLINUXINO is Open Source software and Open Source Hardware, low cost starting from EUR 24 Linux Industrial grade single board computer with GPIOs capable to operate -25+85C. 
People keep comparing OLINUXINO with Raspberry Pi and BeagleBone project, so we would like to state the differences here:

Although the projects are similar there are different goals and implementations:

OLINUXINO is completely open source - including hardware and software, this means you have access to all CAD files and sources and you can reuse them for your own personal or commercial project.
There are NO restrictions to manufacture and sell these board for your own use or resale.
OLINUXINO use widely available microcontroller iMX233 which cost USD 5.50 in 100 pcs quantity, this means that people can spin off their own boards and manufacture them cheap as the processor is in TQFP easy to assembly by hobbyist package.

RASPBERRY PI have no released CAD files nor complete schematics, RPi uses processor from Broadcom which is not available for sale in small quantity, it uses BGA package which require expensive setup to assembly.
RPi is designed to be home gadget, OLINUXINO will work in industrial environment -25+85C and will be designed to be low cost but NOISE immune.

BeagleBone have open source CAD hardware files but uses BGA processor and BB board is very complex and hard to manufacture in small quantities.

OLINUXINO uses processor on 454Mhz and have less memory and will not allow fancy graphics, but this is not our intention.

To name few potential applications for OLINUXINO:

- 3D rep-rap printer controller including G-code interpreter - now all 3D printers use PC/Laptop connected to Arduino stepper driver, this board will handle both without problem
- Low cost PLC running open source PLC porgramming languages
- Home Automation - connecting GSM module or Zigbee sensors would be easy with the existing UEXT connector
- OLINUXINO have 100Mbit Ethernet port, but there are many low cost $10 WIFI USB modules with Linux drivers like RTL8192 which allow OLINUXINO to connect to internet wireless and to may control relays and sensors without need for LAN wiring.
- Having small linux module with GPIOs would be handy even to embed it in other products. BeagleBone do not allow the board to be used in commercial projects, there are no restrictions with OLINUXINO


THE DEVELOPMENT PATH:

Step 1:
OLinuXino project started with iMX233 from Freescale for several reasons: this is ARM9 processor running at 454Mhz with enough power to run linux and still in handsolder friendly TQFP package, which allow hobby DIY approach. iMX233-OLinuXino-MICRO is even on 2 layer PCB and running at full speed. The maximum memory of 64MB though limited the applications with it, so we were looking around for something more powerful when A13 from Allwinner came along.

Step 2:
A13 is Cortex-A8 processor which can address up to 512MB RAM and run at 1GHz. The best of all it again comes in the hand soldering friendly TQFP package (actually it's the first and the only Cortex-A8 in TQFP package). So designing A13-OLinuXino was the next logical step. The first prototypes are already produced and everything works as expected. A13-OLinuXino production is scheduled for September.
A13-OLinuXino have 512MB RAM, 4 USB hosts (1 dedicated for WIFI), 1 USB-OTG, Audio out, Audio in, SD-card, VGA, buttons, 72 GPIOs, LCD connector

Step 3:
A10 is the big brother of A13 it's also Cortex-A8 running at 1Ghz (many Chinese tablet/set-top-box vendors write it's 1.2 or 1.5GHz but this is overclocking and same is possible with A13 too, but not recommended for normal operation). It can address up to 2GB of RAM, and on top of A13 have SATA, HDMI, VGA and composite video outputs) + much more GPIOs as it's in BGA442 package. While we developed A13-OLinuXino we got many requests for hackable A10 board as all current solutions are tablets or set-top-boxes which are not designed to have GPIO connectors and to allow hardware hacking
A10-OLinuXino will have same as A13 but including more GPIOs, 1GB RAM, HDMI, SATA and 100MBit Ethernet

Step 4:
Freescale intoduced their new iMX6 Cortex-A9 with one-two-four cores running at up to 1.2GHz, all come in same package, so board designed with iMX6 may provide up to 4.8GHz accumulated performance. The signle core processors are scheduled to be available by end of this year for sampling, so we are waiting to see what the price/availability would be before we proceed.
iMX6 have interesting features missing in A10/A13 like Gigabit Ethernet, up to 4GB RAM, PCIe.

Step 5:
... we don't know yet, but we are sure there will be newer and intresting processors which will come alone in the future.

WEB RESOURCES:

http://www.olimex.com - OLIMEX Ltd web site where the OLinuXino board info is hosted

https://github.com/OLIMEX/OLINUXINO - GitHub web site hosting the Hardware and Software sources

https://www.olimex.com/forum/index.php - Olimex forum for OLinuXino project discussions

OLinuXino IRC channel: join #olimex on irc.freenode.net , alternatively use http://webchat.freenode.net/?channels=olimex for web IRC chat

LICENSEE:

HARDWARE
The Hardware project is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.
You may reproduce it for both your own personal use, and for commertial use. 
You will have to provide a link to the original creator of the project http://www.olimex.com on any documentation or website.
You may also modify the files, but you must then release them as well under the same terms.
Credit can be attributed through a link to the creator website: http://www.olimex.com

SOFTWARE
The software is released under GPL.