IoT device hardware/firmware platform selection

[dani]

Hi All,

I am firmware engineer. I am planning to make an IoT device for home access control which should support rich GUI with capcitive touch display and affcourse wifi connection for internet. I am also thinking to include a Camera for video recording then playing it on the LCD.

I have following options for hardware platform in my mind

1 - ARM Cortex M7 - ST or Freescale
2 - ARM A8 i.e. beagle board

I need expert opinion on which hardware plat form i can go with and should go with. Thanks in advance.

Dani

 

[ads-ee]

Hi All,

I am firmware engineer. I am planning to make an IoT device for home access control which should support rich GUI with capcitive touch display and affcourse wifi connection for internet. I am also thinking to include a Camera for video recording then playing it on the LCD.

I have following options for hardware platform in my mind

1 - ARM Cortex M7 - ST or Freescale
2 - ARM A8 i.e. beagle board

I need expert opinion on which hardware plat form i can go with and should go with. Thanks in advance.

Dani

This question appears to be more of how to select a specific CPU for an application problem, than anything suggested by others.

First of all you should determine what your requirements for the CPU are, e.g.

• cost target
• memory, code/data, flash, ram, etc sizing requirements
• performance, i.e. clock rate, I/O bandwidth, memory bandwidth (if you need external RAM)
• peripherals available on the microcontroller, e.g. do you need i2c, spi, etc...

I would start by creating a spreadsheet on the requirements and what the two boards give you and see if there is a standout in the matrix of requirements and features of the boards. You might even find that neither board fits what you are tying to do and another board is a better fit. But without a set of requirements you won't know what you are looking for.

 

[bigdogguru]

What is the correct place then.. can you direct me

As many of the forum members are professional engineers, currently active in the field, the forum does not have an issue with assisting those working on commercial projects, as long as the members requesting assistance are not attempting to receive a completed design or code from another member and pass it off as his own work for profit.

In regards to your initial request for a recommendation, if streaming and displaying video is requirement, I would recommend incorporating one of the higher performance ARMs, like the ARM Cortex-A8 or Cortex-A9, as streaming and displaying video can be resource intensive.

The TI Sitara line of ARM Cortex-A9 and Cortex-A8, like the device employed in the Beaglebone, were originally designed for incorporation into smart phone devices, hence they are more geared for such a task like video streaming and displaying.


BigDog

 

[andre_luis]

@Dani,
In addition to the assessment of the core's performance required for your application, you should also consider the popularity of the kit you will choose. In other words, rather than technically being the "best", if few people are using, you will have little chance to get help from those who have already had similar problems.

 

[ads-ee]

@Dani,
In addition to the assessment of the core's performance required for your application, you should also consider the popularity of the kit you will choose. In other words, rather than technically being the "best", if few people are using, you will have little chance to get help from those who have already had similar problems.

Excellent point, the hobbyist side of electronics suffers from lack of support unless it's a popular kit. If your product is commercial and you buy through distributors you might actually be able to obtain real FAE support.

 

[dani]

Thank you BigDog and Others,

At the moment to avoid complexity in the very start, I would want to go without video streaming and image processing. Only video recording or even image acquisition i.e. low rate jpeg compression will be fine. The suggestion i need is if i still should go for A8 or A9 or Cortex M4 or M7 would be sufficient? Could you recemond and good "popular" kits.

Also most important thing is what IoT development platform should i select. I am more inclined towards IoT based RTOS i.e. uCOS etc. I am sure there will be planty of good options avaiable now so I need your suggestions. The more offthe shelf components reightly selected will benefit in right integration in the end. What you guys say.

Thanks,

 

[dani]

Hi BigDogGuru and others,

Let me put my question in a different way.

I am currently working on selecting the right development platform my upcoming IoT project. The project is basically an IoT device with Home Access Control features. The device will have capacitive GUI LCD as well. I seek expert advice in this regard.

I am interested to know which RTOS is a good selection when we need Wireless Stacks and IoT protocol as well as GUI library or tools to support capacitive touch. Also, is ARM Cortex M4/M7 MCU is sufficient without using external RAM and ROM or we will need to go for A8 or A9 core etc. Image processing or video recording is not involoved but image acquistion will be. Moreover, if the production is expected to be in the range of 100 - 500 units per year, what will be the average cost of using RTOS in these.

Is going with BeagleBone with Andriod or embedded Linux is more cost effective than going with ARM Cortex M4/M7 with commercially available RTOS with good IoT features?
Is going with BeagleBone with Andriod or embedded Linux be easier and time-saving than going with ARM Cortex M4/M7 with commercially available RTOS with good IoT features?

I know these are general question but any input will be valuable and helpful for selecting the right direction.

Thanks,
Dani

 

[andre_luis]

Some of these specifications could be achieved by a cheap smartphone. Anyway, concerning to the selection CortexM4/M7 vs. Android/Linux, the 2nd option sounds more portable in terms of development, being somehow a bit more "platform independent", and would be my personal choice.

 

[dani]

If we go with Andriod and BeagleBone, what will be the cost for Andriod per unit approximately. I think it is not free for production right?