A Hardware Mashup Device Running Linux 47
jonniee writes "Mike Riley over at Dr. Dobb's takes a look at 'The BUG,' from Bug labs. It's a Linux-based, Java-programmable electronic base with I/O ports for connecting BUGmodules — individual modules that supply additional functionality to the BUGbase. Four BUGmodules currently exist: a color LCD screen, a combined motion detector/accelerometer, GPS, and a 2-megapixel color camera. You can think of it as 'electronic LEGOs' that let you build different devices depending on how you plug the modules together."
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Try Arduino, or build your own (Score:5, Informative)
The BUG looks pretty slick, but it's $350 just for the base module! Add on modules like an LCD or GPS are about $100 each. Ouch.
For playing around with embedded electronics, try an open-source hardware Arduino board (http://www.arduino.cc), or just build your own using a PIC or AVR microcontroller. It's not as polished as the BUG and doesn't run Java, but it'll cost $40 instead of $400. Arduino has a decent set of software tools, and you can add modular "shields" for GPS, wireless, etc.
Re:Try Arduino, or build your own (Score:5, Funny)
You can think of it as 'electronic LEGOs' that let you build different devices depending on how you plug the modules together.
The BUG looks pretty slick, but it's $350 just for the base module! Add on modules like an LCD or GPS are about $100 each. Ouch.
Wow, so they're CHEAP Legos!
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itsnotlegosdammit
Re:Try Arduino, or build your own (Score:5, Informative)
Arduinos are not only cheap, but you can build your own, for added geek points.
http://www.freeduino.org/freeduino_open_designs.html [freeduino.org]
Re:Try Arduino, or build your own (Score:5, Interesting)
Absolutely! Arduino is a great little platform, and much more hackable. There's a shield with a little breadboard where you can build tons of interesting things to interface with. There's also one with an OLED display, and things like GPS modules are easy to connect. I'd take the "raw hardware" appeal of the Arduino over the polished, over-engineered flash of the BUG any day.
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well the bug labs people have been talking about a von hippel module thats basically a small board with all the pins from the connector made available.
the documentation for it is up on their wiki but they have not started production or sale of the module itself yet.
Re:Try Arduino, or build your own (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Try Arduino, or build your own (Score:5, Informative)
There are also a handful of different "sets" from Gumstix [gumstix.com] which are seemingly more similar to this BUGboard than the thing you posted (which has more similarity to a microPIC than anything usable and has a steep learning curve).
Gumstix has been for a while. Their hardware is the basis of many devices out there, noteably the Amazon Kindle, Sony E-ink reader, and the E-ink development board.
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PICs and AVRs (and MSP430s) are microcontrollers. The only thing you will be adding to those if your budget is less than "$350" is software added to a development kit.
Please realize that hacking in just about any high-tech field other than software will incur significant costs. If you want to do any significant hardware hacking that is anywhere close to state of the art expect thousands of dollars in NRE. if you don't i'd claim that you only do software hacking.
Or just buy a Lego Mindstorms (Score:4, Informative)
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i guess that beagleboard is also a option...
It's not news (Score:4, Informative)
It's slashdot.org
Read about this YEARS ago.
Here's one from january [slashdot.org], but I'm pretty sure I read about this, right here, long before then.
Re:It's not news (Score:4, Informative)
Hey, I found one from November [slashdot.org] too.
Re:It's not news (Score:5, Funny)
Hey, I found one from august [slashdot.org] too.
Invented by Vernor Vinge before 2006 (Score:1)
This is the exact architecture described for DIY modular gadgets in Vernor Vinge's http://books.google.com/books?id=SrLwPdBJodMC&dq=Rainbows+End&source=gbs_summary_s&cad=0 [slashdot.org]">Rainbows End
Invented by Vernor Vinge before 2006 (Score:4, Informative)
This is the exact architecture described for DIY modular gadgets in Vernor Vinge's Rainbows End [google.com]
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not redundant. he fixed the broken hyper-link. the earlier post should be modded down; not this one.
Fixed Positions (Score:3, Insightful)
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Especially since the NXT can be hacked (I assume) like the previous Mindstorms version.
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http://bugcommunity.com/wiki/index.php/Von_Hippel_Module [bugcommunity.com]
The cost puts it well out of range... (Score:5, Informative)
...of most educational institutions that operate on a restricted public budget (read: K-12 public schools). $600 is rather steep, especially when one considers the limited functionality that's less than equivalent to, say, a Handy Board [gleasonresearch.com] that costs 1/2 as much, or even the Cricket for a sixth of the cost.
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The Handy Board is, without a doubt, very nice, but it's based on 68HC11, a microcontroller that is both extremely limited by today's standards, and not produced by Motorola anymore.
And this from a guy who loves legacy electronics and computing, but the 68HC11 is really old. If you really want to learn computing on a legacy platform, I would rather go with a Z80 - at least, Zilog still makes them.
Re:The cost puts it well out of range... (Score:4, Informative)
Here [youtube.com] is a Propeller being tortured at 190 deg. C - don't try this at home, kids.
Ideas (Score:5, Interesting)
Its a step in the right direction. I saw this dealio on a youtube video a while back. I think it would be better if they figured out how to shrink the modules, and the price, but aside from that, great product. Really, if you think about it, this isnt like a cell phone. You can use this thing as a streaming wireless web camera, you can use it as a high def picture camera that attached GPS tags... you can use it for all sorts of industrial and consumer applications. 350 is not a lot to pay for that.
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So what you're saying is that the next version of the iPod touch may be cheaper than this (when taking all the modules into account)?
If the next version has the camera and GPS, that is.
Been Done (Score:5, Informative)
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http://docwiki.gumstix.org/Customer_projects
How is this a mash-up? (Score:4, Insightful)
Modular electronics have been around for ages. I recommend the Arudino to anyone interested. The Web 2.0 concept of a mash-up is to bring together data from various places on one site, so I don't see what it has to do with modular electronics.
Sounds like it's just a Slashvertisement with a random buzzword in it...
Limited right now? (Score:3, Informative)
Also, hasn't this already be on Slashdot?
This was reviewed (Score:3, Informative)
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Slashvertisement. There are better options (Score:3, Informative)
Also, there are much cheaper, less modular kits that usually are also much more useful.
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i think the big diff here is that the bug labs modules comes complete in a case.
these other solution seems like only a "motherboard" and not much else.
so with the bug labs one, you snap the parts together, code up your software and take it one the go. and when you take it out of the pocket it may actually look somewhat "good".
on the other hand, one would need to come up with everything from a power solution to a case for these other products.
with the base, the gps module and the screen you have all the thin
Modular electronic is the way to go (Score:4, Interesting)
I could be wrong, but to me, the Bug is the beginning of what could be true electronic modular assembly.
The ability to hook up various parts and get them to function in a very specific way, is how, I hope things will become over time.
Of course, hooking up the devices will also means a glue language, allowing these devices to interact, and that's where Java kicks ass.
But as I saw it right now, this Bug has a lot of potential, but, it also has a long way to go.
I might buy one of these, when they have more parts that can be hooked up, because right now, from what I saw, it doesn't do all that much, at least, not enough for me to be interested even as a hobby, but still, it's technology worth keeping an eye on, as far as I'm concerned :)
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I remember seeing a vendor which used to provide Linux SBCs with this interface, and even accessories for it. I don't remember the site right now, but I think it still was cheaper than the BUG, though it didn't have a good-looking external shell like the BUG.
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Modular electronics will likely not manifest themselves significantly - for any price, nevermind a market viable one - in our lifetimes. The simple fact is that the trend has bee ngoing the other way (integration) for the past 40 years in a very big way, and there is no way to currently make modular devices for less than consolidated/integrated ones.
Modular devices are pretty useless when almost everything is available in a USB dongle, and handhelds get another interface/feature fairly often (Apple is pushi
Contradiction (Score:2)
Modular devices are pretty useless when almost everything is available in a USB dongle
You just contradicted yourself!
How about and android phone? (Score:2, Informative)
GPS, LCD screen, motion sensor, java programmable. I'd rather wait for an android phone. For the same price, I'd also get a nice phone.
Its not like LEGO (Score:2)
You know, I'm really getting tired of things being referred to as like LEGO. This is nothing like LEGO. Its more like Capsella or something: much more limited, cool nonetheless for what it can do, but nothing remotely close to the raw flexibility of LEGO.
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See Openmoko [openmoko.com] for a truly open phone.