Getting Started with BeagleBone Black

So many development boards out there. What’s this “new” one, the BeagleBone Black? Well, as David Scheltema, Assistant Technical Editor for MAKE explains, BeagleBoard has been around for about five years, though the smaller BeagleBone Black is pretty new.

At Maker Faire NYC, David provided an nice introduction to the BeagleBone Black, and explained how it has been used to make projects like OpenROV’s underwater rover or Hoboken Makerbar’s Orbital Rendersphere.

For about $45, you get a single board 1GHz computer capable of running a Linux distribution. The BeagleBone Black has USB, Ethernet and video (HDMI) interfaces, and header pins for expansion. Expansion boards are called “capes”, and include all sorts of functionality for video, memory, sensors and controls.

(David presented this talk a few times during Maker Faire weekend. I selected the version of the video I felt best represented his content.)