Creating a new ARM/AVR platform

[Liam Proven]

On 29 February 2012 16:27, Jacob Mansfield <cyberjacob at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> On 29 Feb 2012, at 16:18, Richard Owlett wrote quite a lot
>
> So would you be recommending we add custom hardware to an existing
> linux-running development board?

No offence, but I think that at this point you sound woefully unready
for a development project of this scale.

Firstly, you need a list of requirements.

What is the product to do?

How much will it cost?

What kind of power will it run on? Mains, external DC, large battery,
small battery, etc.

What sort of cooling and other environmental considerations are there?

What software and hardware will you need to accomplish this?

If you want to use open-source tools, of which Linux is a small but
significant part, then you have many very important further decisions
to make before you get to the choice of CPU or OS.

Such as, do we want to build an open source software stack, or
something proprietary? Are there FOSS tools that we could use as part
of our product to minimise the amount of work we have to do?

Unless you are planning something /very/ specialised, the chances are
excellent that there is commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) hardware that
will do what you need, and then it is a matter of choosing what
hardware and that will give you the option of choosing what OS.

Asking about porting kernels and things at this point is like asking
"what lengths of rope will I need" when you have not yet decided which
mountain to climb. You're asking very specific questions about
serious, high-level, difficult stuff, when it appears that you don't
yet know where you are even starting from.

I don't mean to be rude; I just want to warn you what you're tackling.
It looks to me like you're biting off more than you can chew.

--
Liam Proven • Profile: http://lproven.livejournal.com/profile
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