HummingBoard Gate Boards Add a mikroBUS Socket to Support MikroElektronika Click Boards

SolidRun already released HummingBoard-Base, HummingBoard-Pro, and HummingBoard Edge previously, but the company has now launched another version of their Freescale i.MX6 based boards with HummingBoard Gate that adds a mikroBUS socket to support over 150 add-on boards – called Click Boards – made by MikroElektronika.

HummingBoard Gate specifications:

• SoC – Freescale i.MX6 Solo, Dual Lite, Dual, or Quad with Cortex-A9 cores @ 1 to 1.2 GHz
• System Memory – Up to 4GB DDR3
• Storage – Micro SD slot
• Connectivity – Gigabit Ethernet (limited to 470Mbps), optional WiFi/Bt module
• Video Output – HDMI output, MIPI-DSI connector
• Camera – MIPI CSI-4, parallel camera
• USB – 4x USB 2.0 ports
• Expansion
  • mPCIe slot with SIM card holder
  • 36-pin GPIO header
  • mikroBUS click interface
• Misc – Reset button, RTC with battery
• Power – 7-36V, 5.5mm jack
• Dimensions – 102 x 69 mm

As usual, the board is comprised of a baseboard and a microSOM, and the company provides download links for Android 4.4.2, Debian, OpenELEC 5.0, and GeexBox XBMC, but it can also run Arch Linux ARM, Fedora, OpenSUSE and others. The hardware itself is basically a low cost version of HummingBoard Edge with the same dimensions, and most features expect for the lack of LVDS, eMMC and M.2 support.

The most interesting part of this board is the 16-pin mikroBUS interface with SPI, UART, I2C, PMW, Analog input and power signals, that allows you to interface it with one of the many Click Boards available today which can add GPS, Bluetooth LE, WiFi, NFC, various sensors, motor drivers, buttons, OLED display and many more to the board. So the platform should be pretty good if you quickly need to test and/or demonstrate various project ideas.

HummingBoard Gate sells for $49.99 to $235.00 with the cheapest part including a i.MX6 Solo processor with 512 MB RAM and no wireless module, power adapter, or enclosure and the most expensive one featuring an i.MX6 Quad module with 4GB RAM, a power adapter, a WiFi and Bluetooth module, a 8GB micro SD card, and a metallic enclosure. More information is available on Solidrun HummingBoard Gate product page. You can check the list of Click Boards and their price on MikroElectronika website.

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