The Aithon – which is targeted at motor and robotics applications – is powered by an STM32 Cortex M4 MCU and runs Chibios/RT, an open source RTOS (real time operating system).
The Aithon crew also provide a set of libraries along with the board, which allows the user to more easily program the two-channel motor driver and other peripherals/sensors.
Key hardware specs include an STMicroelectronics STM32F407 ARM Cortex-M4 clocked @ 168 MHz, FPU, 512KB flash and 192KB RAM, up to 17 timers, an RTC and 12-bit ADC.
The board also features USB ports (both mini and standard), XBee socket, Bluetooth header, MicroSD card socket, expansion port for shields, accelerometer, gyroscope with temperature sensor, a two-channel H-bridge motor driver – 5A per motor (MC33932) and an LCD port with contrast adjustment (16×2 character LCD included).
As the folks at CNX Software note, users can can program the board in C or C++ via the micro USB port, XBee or Bluetooth. Interestingly, there is no specific IDE (integrated development environment) for the board, so Makers can write code in their favorite editor, build the the program in a command line and load the binary.
Unsurprisingly, Aithon Robotics has launched a campaign on Kickstarter to help move mass production of the board forward. An $89 pledge buys an Aithon board, a small LCD display and USB cable, while $80 will get you a mini USB power adapter (5V/2A), a motor board for two extra motors and a Bluetooth module.
Additional information can be found on Aithon’s official Kickstarter page here.
