Balloon hardware overview
There are various different flavours of balloon. Both iterations of the design, and different build options. The info on this site currently covers balloon v2.05 and v3.33. Versions prior to 2.05 are not described here in any detail.
Contents
Balloon 3.0 Specification
Core Features
- Intel XScale PXA270 processor (max: 520Mhz)
- 128Mb Mobile SDRAM (max: 512MB)
- NOR flash ROM (max: 32MB)
- NAND-flash, including 16bit variants
- JTAG programmable ROM and PLD
- Real time clock
- Choice of FPGA or CPLD
- Mobile Scalable Link
- Single 5V Supply
- Small and Lightweight (113 x 56mm Typical weight: 20-30g)
I/O and Interfaces
- 10 GPIO
- 4 ADC inputs (10bit)
LEDs & inputs for debugging
- Reset bus
- Stereo audio codec
- Touch screen interface
LCD interface for STN & TFT displays
- Serial Interfaces
- USB host, slave and OTG ports
- MMC interface
- Docking connector
- 'Samosa' bus
CompactFlash socket(s) (not hot-plug)
- Camera interface
Versions
- 2.01 and earlier - Prototypes, hardware info not released
- 2.05 - Production use by Toby Churchill.
- 2.05g - Production use by Guralp. Available to developers via Aleph One.
- 2.06 - Improved-EMC and manufacturability version of 2.05 that never saw the light of day.
- 3.01 - P1 and P2 Balloon3 (pxa270) prototypes, first run - March 2006.
- 3.21 - E1 Engineering build, November 2007.
- 3.32 - RoHS compliant build, December 2008. Updated NOR, OTG transceiver removed.
- 3.33 - Current build, with audio improvements, October 2009
Schematics and an imagemap of the board indexing connectors and datasheets are available for each version on the links above.
Variants
Currently there are 2 build options being made - 'CPLD board' and 'FPGA Development board'. Both are available from iEndian. The design allows for further sensible options and feedback from prospective users is of interest to us in order to decide what standard options to make available.
The various build possibilities are described on the Balloon3BuildVariants page.
Hardware Status
See HardwareStatus for details of which bits of IO have been tested, what hardware they are avialable on, and possible further pointers.
Breakout/Programming Board
A fully featured breakout board has been designed for Balloon 3. This is used by a number of people to program Balloon boards in production and act as a development kit for Balloon. Further details can be found here Balloon3Breakout.
Pinouts and connectors
You won't get far before wanting to know which connectors to use for what (both pysical parts and electrical signals). It can be worked out from the schematics but it's hard work, and there have been a few changes over the board versions (Essentially just affecting USB host/OTG).
Connector Pinouts (Openoffice Sheet) lists pinouts for all variants as well as (Farnell) part numbers for the connectors.
Audio
Power options
The following solutions are being developed at CUED and builds on some work over the summer of 2005 for Balloon 2.
Assuming a typical current draw of 100-200mA, several solutions are being worked on: two for robotics (12V) (where current draws can peak at around 4A with stalled motors) and one for the PDA (3.7V) being developed. For the robotics projects, the power to the balloon is provided via Chris Jones's daughterboard whereas for the PDA, the balloon is powered directly from the 3.7V
Lead Acid Batteries
Yuasa sealed lead acid batteries were selected for cost-effectiveness and availabilty: they are available in a large range of capacities, dimensions, and weights depending on particular needs. To charge, we have constructed a simple linear charger based around the UC3906 (PDF) chip from TI. The board is capable of charging the battery whilst supplying the system load; a critical design requirement for CUED.
A stripboard prototype has been developed and tested and a PCB (surface mount) version is being designed at the moment.
NiMH Batteries
A custom NiMH battery pack has been constructed by All Batteries to provide 2700mAH at a nominal 12V. A switch-mode charger designed around the LTC4011 (PDF) chip from Linear is currently being developed but, due to its complexity is suffering a number of technical set-backs. Watch this space for further progress.
Li-Ion Batteries
For the PDA, where weight is a major concern, Nokia BL-5C batteries (the type used in the very common 6230i amongst other phones) provide 900mAH at 3.7V. Two of these are being used in parallel to increase the capacity of the power pack; a Nokia desk charger or 6230i phone can be used to charge the system.
Schematics and Manufacturing details
We haven't put up every document for every release, largely because we are not that organised. Some variants only had very short lives. Be careful about which version of a board a document applies to. In general docs that haven't been superceded still apply.
There is now an overall pinout document that covers all versions and supercedes the per-version ones below.
Version 3.33
Manufacturing information - Gerbers, modification notes, PCB specs
Version 3.32
Version 3.21
E1 Engineering build
Gerber Files (zip)
Connector Pinouts (PDF)
Version 3.01
P1 and P2 Prototypes
Connector Pinouts (PDF)
Bottom side Overlay (PDF)
top side Overlay (PDF)
Manufacturing info(zip) (zip)
FPGA signals (PDF)
USB Breakout board
Connector Locations
The 4-way power and serial connector in the corner of the board is available from Farnell. The details are:
- Housing: JST PHR-4, Farnell part number 3616204
- Pins: JST BPH-002T-P0.5S, Farnell part number 3617210
The pinout of it is:
- (closest to corner of board) Power (nominally 5V)
- TxD
- RxD
- Ground
More information
If the information you found on this wiki is not enough, please sent us an email to balloon mailing list.