Liquidware announced 3 new modules for the popular Beagle Board embedded Linux and Android OS platform, designed to assist rapid prototyping Open Source hardware gadgets. With high-performance, modular open source hardware, proof-of-concept and even product, can be accomplished for a few hundred dollars in a matter of days. The BeagleTouch is a 4.3” touchscreen module with a specialty high-contrast, wide viewing angle organic LED display. When paired with the high-performance Lithium Ion BeagleJuice module, the Beagle Board becomes a handheld tablet computer, pre-loaded with Linux, and capable of running the Android operating system. A full line of sensors, including accelerometer, GPS, light sensor, and heart beat sensor, are readily connected using the BeagleMod prototyping board.
The Beagle Board community of designers and engineers has grown dramatically in the past year, as Open Source programmers port Android, Linux, and Windows to the high speed TI OMAP ARM-based processor. Engineers favor the Beagle Board platform over other prototyping systems because of the wide availability of open source software designed to run out of the box on the board, in addition to the combined high speed, low power consumption. It is no surprise that the TI OMAP chip found in the Beagle Board is expected to be used in forthcoming Android and Linux based smart phones, as well as high-end medical devices. Liquidware’s modules represent a dramatic change in how consumer, medical technology devices are rapidly prototyped and designed. Former development processes lasted 6-12 months, and required product companies to retain long, costly engineering contracts before achieving non-functional proof-of-concept. Now, in a fraction of the time and cost, engineers can deliver fully functional gadget prototypes. This is achieved through the concept of "architectural innovation", which builds on the concept of "modular innovation."
Modular innovation means designing discrete “building blocks” that interconnect with each other and form higher levels of complexity. In theory, this allows engineers to assemble building blocks in infinite combination quickly to create higher level complexity designs and gadgets. In practice, modularity alone is limiting, because the interface between each module often represents many weeks of work, as engineers struggle to get each module to communicate effectively with each other.
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