BeagleBone Black Primer, The

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Introduction

Who This Book Is For ....................................................................1
How This Book Is Organized .........................................................2
Conventions Used in This Book .....................................................3
Let Me Know What You Think .......................................................3




Chapter 1 Embedded Computers and Electronics ......................... 5
What Are Embedded Electronics? ..................................................5
Arduino .........................................................................................9
What Should Readers Get Out of This Book? ...............................12




Chapter 2 Introduction to the Hardware ................................... 15
A Short Lineage of the BeagleBone Black .....................................15
BeagleBone Black Hardware Specification ....................................19
Processor .................................................................................20
RAM ........................................................................................21
Onboard Flash and MicroSD External Storage ...........................22
Ethernet ...................................................................................22
General-Purpose Input/Output .................................................22




Chapter 3 Getting Started ....................................................... 25
Setting Up and Saying "Hello, World!" ........................................26
Connecting to Ethernet ................................................................32




Chapter 4 Hardware Basics ..................................................... 39
Electronics Basics: Voltage, Current, Power, and Resistance .........39
The Short Circuit .........................................................................43
The Resistor .............................................................................45
Diodes and LEDs ......................................................................48
Build an LED Circuit .................................................................50




Chapter 5 A Little Deeper into Development .............................. 57
Interpreted Code .........................................................................57
Python-A Step Above Interpreted Language ..............................59
Implementing Blinking Lights In Python .....................................62
Compiled Code ...........................................................................65

Chapter 6 Trying Other Operating Systems ............................... 71
History of the Linux World: Part I ................................................71
Picking an Operating System .......................................................73
Loading the microSD Card ..........................................................73




Chapter 7 Expanding the Hardware Horizon .............................. 81
Binary Basics ...............................................................................81
Hardware Representation .........................................................83
Serial Communications ................................................................91
Inspecting UART ......................................................................93




Chapter 8 Low-Level Hardware and Capes ................................. 97
Linux Hardware Through The File System .....................................97
Hardware in the File System .......................................................100
One Pin, Multiple Functions ......................................................103
Hardware Configuration ............................................................108




Chapter 9 Interacting with Your World, Part 1: Sensors .......... 113
Sensor Basics ............................................................................113
Analog Versus Digital .............................................................120
Sample Rates .........................................................................124




Chapter 10 Remote Monitoring and Data Collection ................... 127
Project Outline ..........................................................................127
Wiring Up The Project ...............................................................130
Seeing the Light .........................................................................134
Publishing the Sensor Data ........................................................137
Start Collecting Data .................................................................142




Chapter 11 Interacting with Your World, Part 2: Feedback and Actuators 149
Controlling Current ...................................................................149
Blinking to Fading .....................................................................156
Vibration Motors .......................................................................159
Servo Motors ............................................................................161
Stepper Motors .........................................................................165




Chapter 12 Computer Vision ................................................... 171
Connecting a Camera ................................................................171
Utilizing OpenCV Libraries .........................................................177
A Better Photo Booth ................................................................178
Cascade Classifiers ....................................................................180
Tracking a Face .........................................................................182




Chapter 13 Sniffing Out Car Trouble ......................................... 189
Car Computers ..........................................................................189
Interfacing to the Car ................................................................191
Reading the Car's Status ............................................................198
Interpreting the Data .................................................................199




Chapter 14 Ground Control to Major Beagle ............................. 205
Radio Data ...............................................................................205
WiFi ..........................................................................................210
Software Defined Radio .............................................................212
Grabbing Libraries with Git ........................................................215
Radio Testing ............................................................................216
Calibrating the Radio ................................................................219
Listening to Aviation Data .........................................................221
BeagleBone Black Air Traffic Control Station..............................223




Chapter 15 Moving Forward .................................................... 225
Project Ideas .............................................................................226
Portable Gaming Solutions .....................................................226
Weather Station .....................................................................227
In-Car Computer ....................................................................227
More Advanced Aircraft "RADAR" ..........................................228
Satellite Ground Station .........................................................228
Tools ........................................................................................230
Resources ..................................................................................230




Index ................................................................... 233