Hackability

[fahrstuhl]

Hi,

So, the Pandora had quite a few solderpads available and hardware hacks done. What can we expect from the Pyra? Unpopulated MIPI CSI pads for a camera add-on? Internal USB pads? JTAG?

Also, having the case files from the very beginning will offer a lot of possibilities for case mods of all kind.

Does anybody have any planned hacks already?

 

[ati]

I sure hope there will be unpopulated camera and i2c pins. Camera is good, and maybe I will use it for robotics.

 

[notaz]

But aren't cameras using parallel interfaces with lots of pins?

On pandora, most camera pins are used up by game buttons (in GPIO mode), so that may be the case for Pyra too. SoC GPIOs is the most simple and efficient way to do game buttons, I think it was the right choice for pandora.

 

[slaeshjag]

MIPI does specify the CSI, which is a serial camera interface. It does have the same driver complication as MIPI DSI though. Not sure if OMAP5 has a MIPI CSI interface though.

 

[fahrstuhl]

But aren't cameras using parallel interfaces with lots of pins?

CSI2 seems to need at least 6 pins.

Not sure if OMAP5 has a MIPI CSI interface though.

According to this PDF document it does.

It does have the same driver complication as MIPI DSI though.

There's a driver for the raspberry pi camera in the kernel, if that helps. Although the connector would need to be pin compatible.

 

[doragasu]

For me, just GPIOs and one or more UARTs would be enough. I2C and SPI ports would also be useful. I'm not planning to attach a camera module, and if some day I need one, I'll try with a USB webcam, like the one I used here to make an IP camera using an old router.