Fens Final Project

Just had confirmation that my third and final board has been posted out (thanks, Kristina) So hopefully that won't be too long, need to pin down the software choices now. There's so many out there it can be difficult to trim it down. But I'll finalise the list and get on with things.

Just had some of the benchmark dates confirmed. So far we have: Proposal Submission   26th Feb Progress   19th March   Report   22nd May Viva   28th May Dates may be subject to change, so we'll just have to keep an eye on things and see have it pans out. Having had a chat with my Supervisor it's now time to crack on and do some more work on my Proposal.

Finally I get to sit down and start my proposal properly. I'm not saying I haven't been thinking about it. Of cause I have it's just been pushed towards the back of my mind whilst I sort other things out. I've put a few different operating systems on cards and tried booting into them. I've so far done this with the Pi the Rock and the Cubieboard. The Pi and the Rock both behaved well, where as the Cubieboard was a bust. That's the problem with some of the SBC's they can be a labour of love for some small start-up companies and after release the support kind of dries up. People loose interest and move onto the next one. That's fine things come and go and that's to be expected but a problem if it's not compatible with anything else out there. This is why so many boards are based on the Raspberry Pi. The forums are plentiful and sizeable. The community appears friendly and helpful and as so many of them are variations on the original board and la...

Whilst there's been a lot happening since the last post to be honest it hasn't revolved around this particular project. There's been other submissions and course work to complete as well as all the other stuff that comes with being an adult and having responsibilities. So apart from adding that my SBC from America should hopefully have been posted out to me there's nothing more to add. Sorry folks

Just had an update from a relative in America to let me know that the Espressobin SBC has been delivered to her and that she will now relabel it and get it send across to me. Fingers crossed it doesn't take too long. But I do have plenty of other stuff to be getting on with.

Just thought I should possibly list the bits of kit I'm been collecting together. It would make sense right? Obviously, I picked up a Raspberry Pi 3 as it's the most easily accessible. They're everywhere, have the largest community and support available. Not only that but the range of accessories is vast. As well as that I got a Rock 64 4GB, very similar to the Pi in size and functionality just different hardware specifications. Should be interesting to see how they compare. Someone gave me a CubieBoard 4 to try out but I'll come back to that at a later point. The last piece of kit I'm still waiting to be delivered is a Marvell Espressobin but that's one of the bits coming from America so we'll see how that plays out. Apart from that, there's a pile of bits and pieces. This includes items such as breakout boards, cables, small electric fans and heatsinks. Hopefully, I have all the bits I need although I may need to sort out a custom case for ...

Ok, I've been looking at and reading around the idea for a while now and slowly collecting together information and hardware. Getting some of the Hardware has been an issue. Some companies don't seem to like to post to the UK. If they do the import taxes/import duties are ridiculous you can easily spend more getting it delivered than it cost to buy the actual board in the first place. That's crazy in my opinion. Some of these firms need to consider a European distribution centre, either their own or done through partnership, their sales would certainly benefit. I could have chosen to use Hardware that was easily available but that doesn't necessarily give you the equipment that's best for the job. I made my choices and paid my money in an attempt to obtain the best options out there (that fit within my criteria) in an attempt to achieve my goal. Time will show how that plays out.

Been asked to set up and start making use of a Blog so here we go. These might start coming thick and fast, assuming I can get used to the interface. Personally, I think the layout could be better but I'm not here to critique that I'm here to make notes and discuss progress.