Exploring BeagleBone, 2nd Edition

Introduction

The Beagle platform continues to amaze! Given the proliferation of smartphones, the idea of holding in one hand a computer that is capable of performing two billion instructions per second is easy to take for granted—but the fact that you can modify the hardware and software of such small yet powerful devices and adapt them to suit your own needs and create your own inventions is nothing short of amazing. Even better, you can purchase a board for as little as $25 in the form of a PocketBeagle.

The Beagle boards on their own are too complex to be used by a general audience; it is the capability of the boards to run Linux that makes the resulting platform accessible, adaptable, and powerful. Together, Linux and embedded systems enable ease of development for devices that can meet future challenges in smart buildings, the Internet of Things (IoT), robotics, smart energy, smart cities, human-computer interaction (HCI), cyber-physical systems, 3D printing, smart manufacturing, interactive art, advanced vehicular systems, and many, many more applications.

The integration of high-level Linux software and low-level electronics represents a paradigm shift in embedded systems development. It is revolutionary that you can build a low-level electronics circuit and then install a Linux web server, using only a few short commands, so that the circuit can be controlled over the internet. You can easily use a Beagle board as a general-purpose Linux computer, but it is vastly more ...