Tiny Low-cost Platform Runs Linux

The Arietta G25 platform is not yet available but Acme Systems have begun taking orders with a price tag of 10 Euro ($14) for the bare board or 27 Euros with WiFi (takes up a USB port) and a 4GB microSD with EmDebian Linux OS pre-installed. The pre-order price is good till the end of the month and increases each month until the module ships mid-summer for 20 Euros.

At 50 x 25mm the Arietta G25 is built around Atmel’s 400MHz ARM9 SAM9G25 SoC and is equipped with 128MB of DDR2 RAM and a ‘32GB-ready’ microSD slot but no Ethernet port or video interface.

Specifications listed for the fully open source Arietta G25 include:

• Processor — Atmel AT91SAM9G20 (1x ARM9 core @ 499MHz)
• Memory — 128MB DDR2 RAM; microSD slot for up to 32GB, with bootable Linux OS card
• Wireless — optional WiFi (802.11b/g/nm, RaLink RT5370N) with optional antenna
• I/O (via pin connectors):
  • USB 2.0 high-speed host
  • USB 2.0 high-speed host/device
  • USB 2.0 full-speed host
  • 3x UARTs
  • I2C
  • SPI, with up to 3x chip selects (5 to 50 MHz)
  • PWM (up to 6x lines)
  • A/D converters (4x channels @ 10-bit)
  • Serial debug port
• Other features — user-configurable LED; supports placement of 20×2-pitch, 2.54mm (100mils) pinstrip
• Power — single 3.3V DC supply (not 5V tolerant)
• Operating temperature — -20 to 70° C