4nov2007

beaknode Description:

The beaknode project is intended to be an open hardware implementation
of a minimal computing node that has control bus connectivity. Emphasis
is placed on minimum hardware so that cost of the node can be driven as
low as possible.

My overall design concept is that of distributed computing and rapid
prototyping. This concept has each node of a system doing small tasks
with simple software. Some examples;
-closed loop motor velocity control
-closed loop actuator positioning
-general purpose sensor data acquistion

Each node handles a simple task and a 'system' is scaled up using
multiple node with coordination handled through a local bus. Bus nodes
can be on same board (or in same box) or remotely located (probably
less than 100m).

To keep cost of each node very low, only the absolutely necessary
components are on the node board. The first proof of concept board
has only;
PIC18F2580 processor
xtal for proc
connectors for GPIO, serial console, spi console, interconnect bus,
programming/debug header.
level shifter for CANbus
(and maybe a filter cap and a pullup resistor or two)
(SPI console is something I've come up with to add a console
to a simple PIC design when you primary serial channel is
already used, <open> details will be provided)

I will be making available the expresspcb files for the design
(and later EagleCAD (CADsoft) gerbers and schematics)

<beakone>