Shenzhen based MYIR Tech has just launched two new single board computers with Rico board featuring Texas Instruments Sitara AM437x ARM Cortex A9 industrial processor, and Z-Turn board based on Xilinx Zynq-7010 ARM Cortex A9 + FPGA SoC. Both boards sell for $99 in single quantity.

Rico Board

Specifications:

SoC – Texas Instruments AM4379 single core ARM Cortex A9 processor @ 1.0GHz with PowerVR SGX530 GPU, and 4x PRU @ 200 MHz. Other AM437x on request.

System Memory – 512MB DDR3 (Options: 256MB or 1GB)

Storage – 4GB eMMC, 256 or 512 MB NAND flash (reserved), 16MB QSPI flash, 32KB EEPROM, and micro SD slot

Video Output – HDMI and LCD interfaces (LCD connector located on bottom of the board).

Connectivity – 10/100/1000 Mbps Ethernet

USB – 1x mini USB 2.0 device port, 1x USB 2.0 host post

Camera – 2x 30-pin camera interface

Debugging – 1x debug serial port, 1x 20-pin JTAG interface, 1x 14-pin JTAG interface

Expansion Headers – 2x 40-pin headers with access to 2x SPI, 2x I2C, 2x CAN, 4x UARTs, 1x MMC, and 8x ADC

Misc – 4x buttons (reset, power, and 2x user), 5x LEDs (reset, power, and 3x user), boot selection jumpers

Power Supply – 5V/2A power barrel

Dimensions – 100 x 65 x 1.6 mm (8-layer PCB)

Temperature Range – 0 to 70°C

The company provides a Linux 3.14.0 SDK for the board with the source code for the bootloaders (SPL and U-boot), the kernel and relevant drivers, and buildroot build system, as well as a complete hardware development kit that includes a Rico Board, various cables, a 4GB micro SD card, a 5V/2A power adapter, and an optional 7-inch LCD Module with capacitive touch screen. Source code is provided with a CD that comes with the board.

You can find more information and order the board or kit on MYiR Tech Rico Board product page. The kit sells for $139, and you’ll need to add $99 for the 7″ touchscreen display.

Z-Turn Board



MYS-XC7010 / MYS-XC7020 boards specifications:

SoC – Xilinx XC7Z010-1CLG400C (Zynq-7010) with two ARM Cortex A9 cores @ 667 MHz, Artix-7 FPGA fabric with 28K logic cells, 17,600 LUTs, 80 DSP slices. Zilinx Zynq-7020 optional.

System Memory – 1 GB of DDR3 SDRAM (2 x 512MB, 32-bit)

Storage – 16MB SPI flash, 512 NAND flash (reserved), and a micro SD slot

Video Output – HDMI up to 1080p

Connectivity – 10/100/1000M Ethernet

USB – 1x mini USB 2.0 OTG port

Debugging – USB-UART debug interface, 14-pin JTAG interface

User I/O (via two SMT female connector on the bottom of the board) – 90/106 user I/O (7010/7020), configurable as up to 39 LVDS pairs, or I/Os such as SPI. I2C, LCD, camera, CAN, Ethernet, etc…

Sensors – 3-axis acceleration sensor and temperature sensor

Misc – CAN interface, 2x buttons (reset and user), boot selection jumpers, 5x LEDs, 1x Buzzer

Power – 5V via USB, or 5V/2V power barrel

Dimensions – 102 x 63 x 1.6 mm (8-layer PCB)



A Linux 3.15.0 SDK is provided with gcc 4.6.1, a binary bootloader, the source code for the kernel and drivers, and a minimal ramdisk and Ubuntu Desktop 12.04 root file systems.

MYiR Tech newsletter claims the board sells for $99, but on the product page, you’ll only find a complete kit with the board, cables, a 4GB micro SD card, a power supply, and CD for source code and documentation for $139, the same price as the TI Sitara kit. Z-Turn board is somewhat similar to the $189 ($125 for education) ZYBO board, so it’s probably the most cost-effective Zynq board available to date.