DaniWeb IT Discussion Community - News Story Tiny Tin Can Linux

Tin Can Tools has announced a new fully functional embedded Linux platform in the shape of a 40-pin DIP package. The Hammer board, based upon the Samsung S3C2410 ARM920T processor, is designed from the ground up to be very modular and easy to interface. Tin Can Tools suggests it is ideal for developing embedded applications such as web-enabled appliances, robotics, process control and remote monitoring. Unlike most single board computer (SBC) solutions, the Hammer CPU board fits into a standard 40 pin DIP socket which means it can be quickly interfaced to using standard 0.1 inch center prototyping tools.

Preloaded with an open source bootloader, Linux 2.6 kernel, and a uClibc/Busybox based root file system, it also carries an open hardware design advantage. OK, so the hardware design side of things has not been made available under the GPL, but the schematics and other design files are available according to Tin Can Tools.

The 0.75 x 2.25 inch, $160, Hammer integrates its 200MHz ARM920T core with a MMU and 16KB of instruction and 16KB of data cache, plus 16MB of NOR flash soldered onboard.

The full hardware specs are:

Microprocessor ( CPU ): S3C2410A - Samsung (200 MHz)
ARM 920T core with Cache (16K+16K) and MMU
Main Memory: 32MB SDRAM (16M x 16 bit, 100MHz)
FLASH : 16MB NOR Flash
Peripherals available:
2 UART’s (also supports IrDA)
1 I2C
2 SPI’s
2 16-bit Timers/PWM’s
1 8-bit LCD Interface + control signals
1 USB Host Port
1 USB Slave Port
2 ADC’s (10 bit )
4 External Interrupt pins
1 Up to 30 pins of GPIO’s (but some of the GPIO’s and peripherals share the same pins)
JTAG Interface: 2 x 7 Header – standard JTAG interface
Size: 0.75 inches (width) X 2.25 inches (length)
Package: Fits a standard 40-pin DIP socket (0.1 inch lead spacing)
Power Requirements: +5VDC @ 120 mA (typical)