Design & build your own open source device

Android on BeagleBoard
Here we go again, on about Android. After all, it is such a successful Linux-based platform on so many gadgets: tablets, netbooks, smartphones and TVs. You can see Android powering some of the world’s most amazing devices and there is no reason why it should not shine on yours too.

Android is supported on BeagleBoard in multiple ways. Currently there are four projects enabling Android support on the BeagleBoard. They are OMAPZOOM, EBINUX, Android on OMAP and 0xdroid. For this article we will go with 0xdroid because it has ‘droid’ in its name. No, just kidding – it’s because it is the most active project with the recent version of Android. Currently you can use 0xdroid to install the Eclair version of Android.

Installing Android Eclair (using 0xdroid) on the BeagleBoard
When working on a custom device (or gadget), you would want the build the distribution from source yourself to make sure everything is optimised and up to speed. The same also applies to the Ångström Linux distribution. However, when you are in the prototyping stage, it makes sense to use a prebuilt image just to get started. In this section we will see how to install Android Eclair on the BeagleBoard using prebuilt images.

1. Obtain the prebuilt images. Head over to here and go to the beagle* directory and obtain the zip file inside it.
2. Format an SD card with more than 100MB capacity using VFAT.
3. Unzip the archive on the first partition.
4. Plug the SD card into the BeagleBoard SD slot and restart the BeagleBoard.
5. After the reboot, the GUI installer should start.
6. Finish the installation wizard and restart the BeagleBoard to finish.

Embedded development jargon buster
Development board: This is a printed circuit board containing a microprocessor and the minimal support logic needed for a developer to learn about the microprocessors.

Single-board computer: Single-board computers (SBCs) are complete computers built on a single circuit board. The design is centred on a single or dual microprocessor with RAM, I/O and all other features needed to create a functional computer one board.

UART: An abbreviation of ‘universal asynchronous receiver/transmitter’. This is a serial-to-parallel and parallel-to-serial converter.

Microprocessors: These chips contain a processing core, and occasionally a few integrated peripherals. In a different sense, microprocessors are simply CPUs found in desktops.

Microcontrollers: These chips are all-in-one computer chips. They contain a processing core, memory and integrated peripherals. In a broader sense, a microcontroller is a CPU that is used in an embedded system.

JTAG: A standard for providing external test access to integrated circuits serially, via a four- or five-pin external interface. JTAG is short for Joint Test Action Group, which developed the standard. The JTAG standard has been adopted as an IEEE standard (IEEE 1149 Standard Test Access Port and Boundary-Scan Architecture). JTAG ports have been widely embraced by processor manufacturers. Debug monitors and in-circuit emulators increasingly leverage the capabilities inherent in JTAG.

Board support package (BSP): Part of a software package that is processor or platform dependent. Typically, sample source code for the BSP is provided by the package developer. To port the larger package, only the code in the board support package must be modified. Most commercial real-time operating systems have a BSP to make porting easy.

BeagleBoard makes it easy for software developers to become hardware developers. Imagine that you have an idea for an Android application that would make much more sense in the form of a dedicated gadget. Well, you can build your own and without spending a fortune. Now you know why so many gadgets are running Linux these days. This is your chance. Hop on. If you are lucky enough, some day you will design your own iPad killer…

Click here to find more tutorials from Linux User & Developer, or see what else featured in issue 89 here.