Bad to the Bone Crafting Electronic Systems with BeagleBone and BeagleBone Black

This comprehensive book provides detailed materials for both novice and experienced programmers using all BeagleBone variants which host a powerful 32-bit, super-scalar TI Sitara ARM Cortex A8 processor. Authored by Steven F. Barrett and Jason Kridner, a seasoned ECE educator along with the founder of Beagleboard.org, respectively, the work may be used in a wide variety of projects from science fair projects to university courses and senior design projects to first prototypes of very complex systems. Beginners may access the power of the "Bone" through the user-friendly Bonescript examples. Seasoned users may take full advantage of the Bone's power using the underlying Linux-based operating system, a host of feature extension boards (Capes) and a wide variety of Linux community open source libraries. The book contains background theory on system operation coupled with many well-documented, illustrative examples. Examples for novice users are centered on motivational, fun robot projects while advanced projects follow the theme of assistive technology and image processing applications. Key Features: - Provides detailed examples for all BeagleBone variants, including the newest "next generation" BeagleBone Black - BeagleBone is a low cost, open hardware, expandable computer first introduced in november 2011 by beagleboard - BeagleBone variants, including the original BeagleBone and the new beaglebone black, hosts a powerful 32-bit, super-scalar arM Cortex A8 processor - BeagleBone is small enough to fit in a small mint tin box - "Bone" may be used in a wide variety of projects from middle school science fair projects to university courses and senior design projects to first prototypes of very complex systems - Novice users may access the power of the bone through the user-friendly bonescript environment - Seasoned users may take full advantage of the Bone's power using the underlying Linux-based operating system - A host of feature extension boards (Capes) and a wide variety of Linux community open source libraries are available - The book provides an introduction to this powerful computer and has been designed for a wide variety of users - The book contains background theory on system operation coupled with many well-documented, illustrative examples - Examples for novice users are centered on motivational, fun robot projects - Advanced projects follow the theme of assistive technology and image processing applications