— shenzhenware —
If you are a hardware entrepreneur or engineer, you must have tinkered with some development boards. Many engineering students and makers also have their own little “invention dreams,” hoping to create their own “works.” Most of the popular VR, AR devices, drones, robots, and other smart hardware come from these people’s hands. A small development board can give rise to infinite possibilities…
At this year’s MakerFaire Beijing, Qualcomm showcased its new generation development board designed for makers – the DragonBoard™ 410c, which is only the size of a credit card. It is based on ARM architecture, has 64bit computing capability, uses the Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 processor, and integrates features like Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and GPS. Additionally, it supports the 96Boards development board hardware specification.
Everyone is mainly concerned about its specifications and development environment, so without further ado, here are the parameters:
DragonBoard™ 410c Specifications Highlights:
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Operating System Support: Android, Linux, Windows 10
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CPU: Quad-core ARM Cortex A53 processor, with a maximum frequency of 1.2GHz, supporting both 32bit and 64bit computing
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Graphics: Adreno 306 400MHz, PC-level graphics processing capability
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Video: 1080p HD playback, H.264 (AVC) recording
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Camera: Supports 13MP photography, noise reduction, JPEG decoding, and other hardware-level post-processing technologies.
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Memory: LPDDR2/3 533MHz single-channel 32bit (4.2GBps)
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Flash: non-POP/ eMMC 4.51 SD 3.0 (UHS-I)
I/O Interfaces:
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1 full-size HDMI Type A interface (1080p HD @ 30fps)
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1 USB 2.0 microB interface (supports device mode only)
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2 USB 2.0 Type A interfaces (supports host mode only)
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1 micro SD card slot
Expandability:
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1 40-pin low-speed expansion interface: UART, SPI, I2S, I2C x2, GPIO x12, DC power
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1 60-pin high-speed expansion interface: 4L-MIPI DSI, USB, I2C x2, 2L+4LMIPI CSI
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Analog expansion interface: headphone, speaker, FM antenna
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Compatible with Arduino through expansion boards
“c”: Qualcomm’s ambition to build a maker community
Those who know about open-source hardware must be very familiar with Arduino. In addition to open-source hardware, makers also need an open and sharing atmosphere. The maker community established by Arduino is a model in the maker hardware market. The “c” in DragonBoard™ 410c stands for “Community,” indicating that Qualcomm also hopes to establish a space for makers to unleash their imagination and communicate freely.
Mike Roberts, Qualcomm’s Senior Director of Global Product Marketing, has stated that Qualcomm has long possessed the qualities of a maker. Some engineers within the company are also makers and have been creating various creative works for many years, so they understand the needs of makers during development.
Additionally, as a new player in the maker trend, Qualcomm hopes to leverage the community power of Arduino. This is also the main reason why DragonBoard™ 410c is compatible with Arduino development boards.
Breakthroughs and Accumulation of Computing Performance Over the Years, Moving Towards the IoT Field
It is reported that the price of DragonBoard™ 410c is $75, which is slightly more expensive than some development boards, but its computing power is extraordinary. For example, when you need to compute complex graphics projects, many of Qualcomm’s application tools can assist in development with DragonBoard.
In the past 10 years, Qualcomm has mainly focused on enhancing the computing and connectivity capabilities of mobile smart devices. In addition to CPUs, Qualcomm has also integrated GPU, DSP, and graphics computing capabilities onto a single SoC, namely the Snapdragon series, which provides makers with the connectivity technologies they need.
Currently, Qualcomm has applied Snapdragon chips to IoT products, such as providing computing, visual computing, and connectivity technologies to drones; in the VR field, the Pico VR all-in-one machine released earlier this year uses the Snapdragon 820 chip.
Qualcomm is also optimistic about the application prospects of Snapdragon in the IoT field. Considering the needs of the maker community for low power consumption and high-performance computing, Qualcomm is also considering bringing other chip models into the DragonBoard family.
Furthermore, Qualcomm’s developer community has gradually improved the development documentation and a series of examples for DragonBoard, and will better provide technical support and community resources for makers and hardware developers.
– Below are some demonstrations by grassroots makers and development boards –
The great old coder, American Nicholas Hanna, spent two years in Beijing, saw an old man writing big characters in the park, and had a breakthrough, using the Qualcomm-provided DragonBoard™410c development board to create a personal wireless connection vehicle – Trikewriter (while moving, it “prints” information by dripping water on the floor). I heard that he has recently been targeted by the urban management…
The Turtlebot robot platform powered by DragonBoard™ 410c:
Engineer demonstrating gesture control applications developed based on DragonBoard™ 410c:
Qualcomm Snapdragon VR reference design:
IoT gateway demonstration based on DragonBoard™ 410c:
Additionally, there are applications based on DragonBoard™ 410c for ultrasonic ranging, voice control, Break ball games based on Linux OS + DragonBoard™ 410c, Turtlebot robots, IQ quiz games based on DragonBoard™ 410c + Windows 10 IoT Core, and smart toy cars based on DragonBoard™ 410c…
Data and images source: Qualcomm, MakerFaire, Internet
Editors: Lin Yi, Wu Deyi
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Event Preview | Hardware Class: Wisdom in the Core, Spirit in the Dragon – Detailed Explanation of Qualcomm DragonBoard Development Platform and Practical Applications
Want to know how DragonBoard™ 410c supports the development of so many types of products? Want to know how to implement the Break ball game, smart toy car, and Turtlebot robot based on DragonBoard™ 410c?
On September 28, Qualcomm, in collaboration with Microsoft, Thunder Software Technology, Arrow Electronics, Canonical, and many other well-known manufacturers, gathered top engineers’ resources from China to bring you an in-depth technical open class to help smart hardware developers better understand and use the DragonBoard™ 410c development board, accelerating their development process.
Click on the “Read Original” at the end of the article to enter the registration channel, learn more about the event details, and feel free to leave your questions on the event page. The instructors will answer your questions on-site.
Sign up now to participate, and there will be exquisite gifts and a DragonBoard™ 410c grand prize waiting for you!
— shenzhenware —
