The Pandora.

Overview

The Pandora is a unique combination of gaming console and pocket computer.

From classic gaming, listening to music, watching movies, viewing pictures, program development or surfing the web to just reading or writing texts, the Pandora has a lot to offer

The Pandora project has been a group effort from the beginning. The hardware development team designed Pandora based on specifications requested by its future users. The main physical features - qwerty keyboard, dual analog nubs, clamshell design, pocketable size - were most prominently voiced by the community. The physical appearance of Pandora is an utilitarian result of getting all the necessary hardware into a pocket sized device. Form follows function, and ergonomic is one of the tall orders made. Before the final design came to be, the testing and funding was also done in a community manner.

There is no other device that has dedicated gaming controls, two analog nubs and a QWERTY keyboard.

It was developed as a gaming device not just to run games made just for it but also to emulate older systems and everyday computing.

The Pandora can do all of this because it is a tiny computer running a custom distribution of Linux based on The Ångström Distribution. Because it runs Linux|GNU, the Pandora isn't just a console but a complete desktop computer with access to tens of thousands of Linux programs.

Visit the Pandora website for ordering information.

There are three versions, CC, GC and 1GHZ.

Base specs are the same, with the GC having more memory and a newer revision of the PowerVR SGX530 graphics chip. The 1GHZ model has apart from a faster processor with bigger cache, faster main memory, faster graphics memory and faster DSP processor.

Environmenal

Whole unit RoHs,CE,pb free.

User replaceable battery. Ease of disassembly. User encouraged replacement of board and screen.

Replacement parts available: Battery, Buttons, keymat, case, board, screen, screen cable, stylus. Built to last. Quality parts. Long lifespan with updatability on a platform not built for planned obsolesence.

Fair wages for manufacture.

Minimal packaging, small cardboard box which can be recycled. Wood packaging box also available.

Ac/Dc adapter optional? Battery recycling program?

Research taking place on parts used.

Possible release of case design files and board schematics in the future.

Specifications

Hardware documentation has detailed hardware specifications.

320g (0.739 lbs)

Core Hardware

Texas Instruments OMAP3530 SoC or 3570 for 1GHZ model

512MB DDR SDRAM.

512MB internal storage (NAND)

Display

Touchscreen TFT-LCD 4.3-inch (93.6 x 56.2 mm) 800x480 widescreen (5:3) Brightness: 300 cd/m 2 Contrast ratio: 450:1 Viewable in direct sunlight, but it will wash out. Response time: tr+tf=30ms No ghosting.



TV-out included in hardware, A/V-OUT Port (similar in appearance to a large USB OTG port) has Composite and S-Video outputs and 3.5mm headphone output and microphone input. Separate TV-out signals, picture-in-picture capabilities. [1]



Audio

Stereo speakers

Volume control wheel

Microphone

A DAC and an ADC

Input

QWERTY keyboard

Gaming controls: 8-way D-pad Four gaming buttons Two shoulder buttons Two analogue nubs



Touchscreen

Microphone

Connectivity

802.11b/g Wi-Fi

USB Standard-A USB host port Fully powered (500 mA) USB On-The-Go mini-AB port. You can use anything that has the appropriate drivers. [2] Some devices need to first go through a powered USB hub.



Two SDIO-capable SDHC/SDXC slots.

RS-232 included, but a level converter is needed for the UART. [3]

Power

Lithium-ion polymer battery, 4200mAh design capacity. 10-20 hours battery life under reasonable load 8-12 hours under max CPU load 6-8 hours under max CPU load with overclocking 5-6 days standby time 21 hours playing music with the display off



Can charge through an AC adapter or USB. Charging with the AC adapter takes about 4 hours from near-empty. In 2 hours you get to about 80%.



Advanced power management capabilities: only need to set a max clock speed; when the CPU is not doing anything it automatically HALTs and does nothing to save power. [4]

See Power modes.



Fasteners

The Pandora is held together with 5 screws, all of which are M2 thread.

3x 5mm long below head

2x 3mm long below head

The shorter screws are positioned under the battery.

More Information

512MB Pandoras (early 2012) The Pandoras produced in Germany by Global Components.

Early 2012 systems shipped with an OS that can only address 256MB of the 512MB RAM. You can check this by typing `free` in a terminal. For these systems, an OS update is needed to see and use the full 512MB. As of May 2012, that OS is available as an optional beta update.

General

Official Hackers Manual (v1.01) from OpenPandora Ltd, includes warnings about damage and warranties (or loss of).

Board

Pandora earliest revisions

Pandora PCB rev 5

Pandora PCB rev 5D

The Pandora is based upon OMAP3530 and DM3730 System-on-a-chip, that includes a whole family of processors in one single chip:

ARM Cortex-A8 CPU

PowerVR SGX graphics core

C64x+ DSP core

PCB design files

(This archive contains all files needed to create the PCB.)

Gerbers, Bill of Material and schematics.

License for the Pandora PCB and LCD-Cable Files:

All files within this ZIP archive are owned by MJW Designs (Michael Weston).



They are free to use for non-commercial use.

If you plan to modify them and redistribute them,

always keep this license and a link to www.openpandora.org

in the archive and on your project page (if you have one).



If you plan to use them for any commercial projects, please do contact us.



Contact details:



OpenPandora GmbH

Michael Mrozek

Schäffbräustr. 11

85049 Ingolstadt

Germany

EvilDragon@openpandora.org

(End of License)

OMAP3530 (600MHz units)

OMAP3xxx: Main page on TI site[5]

OMAP3530 specific page[6] This lists the features of the chip and has all the applicable Technical Documents

Rebirth units

PANDORA-1002

serial numbers 12000100***

DM3730 (1GHz units)

DM3730 specific page[7]

Other OMAP3530 Projects

Always Innovating Touch Book[8]

Beagle Board Resources[9] As it uses the same SoC, many BB resources are also relevant for the Pandora.

Beagle Board Google Group[10]

Cortex-A8

This processor is part of the ARM risc cpu family[11] that is licensed by a lot of hardware vendors. It has multiple command extensions as NEON (similar to MMX for x86 architecture)

r1p1[12] Note: OMAP3530 uses rev1p2

UPDATE : r2p2 Documentation [13] Note: OMAP3530 uses rev1p2

: r2p2 Documentation [13] NEON instruction set [14]

NEON memory hazards[15]

PowerVR

C64x+

Digital signal processors allow to do complex calculations within only a few cycles

CPU and Instruction Set Reference Guide[16]

TMS320C6000 Assembly Language Tools v 6.0 Beta User's Guide[17]

TMS320C6000 Optimizing Compiler v 6.0 Beta User's Guide[18]

TMS320C6000 Programmer's Guide[19]

TPS65950 power IC

Main page on TI site[20]

Connectivity

Two usb host ports. Bluetooth,two SD slots with SDIO capability, and a serial UART for adding whatever additional widgets you want (such as a USB GPS system). Solder pads were designed into the PCB for "hacking" in extra internal hardware.

RTC and RS-232?

It has RTC and RS-232 (CMOS level) [21]

Carrying case



It is the spiritual successor to other handheld consoles such as the GP32 and GP2X.

Have some expertise, or just some spare time? Get involved!