GizmoSphere, a nonprofit open-source development board community, today announced the Gizmo 2 platform, the community’s second-generation x86 single-board computer (SBC). Today’s low-cost, DIY SBC market is largely founded on low-performance platforms able to support beginner and intermediate projects. With Gizmo 2, embedded programmers and expert DIYers now have more options with elite compute and graphics performance to power the most demanding projects.
In addition, the open-source GizmoSphere community offers guidance and support for those who wish to bust the restraints of current SBCs. Built upon the CPU and GPU technology behind today’s leading video game consoles, data centers and PCs, and coupled with a complete open-source development ecosystem, the limitations of Gizmo 2 are only bound by the imagination of today’s entrepreneurial DIYer.
“Innovations like the Raspberry Pi reinvented the programming experience, and ushered in a new generation of hobbyist and DIY programmers, yet some are finding themselves constrained by the limitations of current devices. Enter Gizmo 2,” said Colin Cureton, product and technology manager at GizmoSphere. “We listened to the community and are bringing a host of new features and performance increases to go beyond the capabilities of other platforms. Gizmo 2 provides a robust foundation for creativity, for either home-based projects or hard-core science.”
The 4-by-4 inch Gizmo 2 board is powered by an x86 system-on-chip (SoC), making it one of the highest performing maker-pro platforms. Gizmo 2 provides a wealth of features and capabilities to address the most demanding projects – whether that’s a gesture-controlled spectral-sonic experience or a modern take on interactive Pong displayed across dual 50-inch HD monitors. Access to all Gizmo 2 hardware design documents, including schematics, bill of materials and Gerber files for manufacturing the board are available through the GizmoSphere community and Element14.
Gizmo 2 will be available in major markets for $199 through Element14 and Symmetry Electronics. The platform includes a coreboot-based SageBIOS OSP from Sage Electronic Engineering and a Timesys powered embedded Linux environment showcasing accelerated video, native C/C++ and Python application development, and access to Timesys LinuxLink for building an optimized, deeply embedded Linux platform. In addition to Linux, Gizmo 2 is compatible with Microsoft Windows
Embedded 8, and is the first community development platform to offer support for the Minoca Corp. operating system. Coming soon, Gizmo 2 will also have an available Debian Linux distribution. Gizmo 2 also comes complete with access to the GizmoSphere community site for access to the latest projects, tips-n-tricks, support forums and updates at no extra charge.
“Gizmo 2 is the culmination of engineering dexterity, community support and genuine passion to advance the current state of programming for embedded DIY systems,” said Kamal Khouri, director of marketing, AMD Embedded Solutions. “AMD is excited to be a part of this movement by powering Gizmo 2 with the AMD Embedded G-Series SoC.”
“We’re very excited to launch the state-of-the-art x86 Gizmo 2 board from GizmoSphere,” said David Shen, group chief technical officer of element14. “This new board will help professionals and makers quickly create an extensive array of open source projects.”
The second-generation development board brings open source embedded development back to superior x86 processing, said Scott Hoot, president and CEO of Sage Electronic Engineering, LLC and president of GizmoSphere. “Creative embedded developers everywhere will enjoy the simplicity of communications in this SoC, while exploring Gizmo 2’s sophisticated capabilities and support for multiple operating systems,” Hoot said.
“With Linux as a popular platform for embedded application development, we’re pleased to partner with GizmoSphere to offer our expertise in the embedded Linux arena,” said Brian Gildon, vice president of business development at Timesys. “We look forward to helping developers unleash the power of Gizmo 2. Both professionals and makers will appreciate the flexibility of Gizmo 2 and be inspired to develop innovative purpose-built applications.”
