Recommendations for Linux-based SBC

dimadiall_at_gmail.com
Date: 10/24/05 

Date: 24 Oct 2005 02:57:29 -0700

Hello all,

I'm trying to get a handle on the current SOC/SBC options, but the
marketplace is so vast and bewildering, that I'm hoping I can get a few
quick recommendations of your favorites. We are developing an embedded
system in the domain of mobile environmental monitoring and need to put
together a proof of concept in December, so the components we are
currently looking for need not be the most optimal for production (i.e.
should be developer-friendly, but stil as small as possible). The
requirements are quite straightforward:

1) Sample a set of environmental sensors with outputs in the range of
0-5V, hence we need an analog/digital converter (ADC) with, say, 8
channels and at least 10-bits resolution. (To me personally, the ADC
component seems to be the critical hurdle.)

2) Get current position via GPS (this can be an integrated board, or
one attached by serial port or Bluetooth).

3) Wirelessly relay data to collection stations using TCP/IP,
preferably with Wi-Fi 802.11, but a GPRS interface would be an option
too.

4) The system must run off batteries and some of the sensors we are
considering need to be powered with 5V while others with 12V (for
development we need not more than one day of runtime; the vehicle has
its own power source).

5) All these components should be supported under GNU/Linux -- which
embedded distribution and development environment would you recommend?

6) It looks like we don't need much horsepower... 200MHz will be more
than enough, probably even a 486 will do (we are not considering
wireless sensor motes at this stage).

7) For prototyping, anything in the range of 200-500 $USD can go...

So far, I have looked at Gumstix and PC/104. The former looks smaller
and more interesting for our purposes... Any tips and insights will be
highly appreciated.

Thank you very much in advance. 

-- 
/dima

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