We recently wrapped up a project that utilized EM-X270, a small embedded Linux development board by Compulab. The board is powered by Intel’s PXA270 CPU and designed as a handheld computer or cellphone platform with features like 512Mb Flash, Wi-Fi, GPS, SD card, 3.5″ LCD, Cellular voice and GPRS modem, all in a 97×66mm package. Compulab sells a (somewhat pricey) EM-X270 dev kit that comes with a guarantee of one-year email support, including help with LCD driver development.

Although we did not require all its built-in capabilities, we decided to go with the EM-X270 since it came with a working version of X Windows environment based on Ångström Linux distribution. After installing necessary libraries, we were able to get some graphics programs running pretty quickly. We started out testing the speedy DirectFB library first, then switched to Cairo for its higher level functions.

Our project also involved interfacing custom-designed electronics and a larger LCD to EM-X270. This was a bit more challenging due to the fact that Compulab does not release schematics documentation on their board. Their support proved reliable overall, but very slow to respond at times. An additional hardware issue were some problems with WiFi connections, which are alluded to in product documentation but did not seem to be fully resolved.

The final result of the project was a handheld device prototype that utilized motion sensing and sound (via custom hardware) as an input to several graphic programs that explored interface and visual feedback ideas for interactions like tilting the device, moving it in 3 dimensions, shaking, etc. More project details coming soon..