Blueboard - Open Source Hardware

Next-door embedded start-up firm, NGX Technologies is all set to step into a new market transition aka Open Source Hardware. To quote wiki,

Open source hardware refers to computer and electronic hardware that is designed in the same fashion as free and open source software (FOSS). Open source hardware is part of the open source culture that takes the open source ideas to fields other than software.

The term has primarily been used to reflect the free release of information about the hardware design, such as schematics, bill of materials and PCB layout data, often with the use of FOSS to drive the hardware.

NGX name their initiative as Blueboard (ah..well, the naming process was quite democratic and veto-driven by the creators at the sametime :)). However, on the technical side, the Blueboard satisfies all the key aspects needed for the project to be termed as “open”. Everything related to the project is expected to be shared with the open community. Schematics, gerber files, drivers, RTOS, sample applications and all the necessary geek-food will be made available through google code.

Embedded systems design and programming requires a different mental framework to learn. What makes learning embedded systems difficult is the amount of detail that one needs to grasp. While building a typical desktop based C program would require you to know few things like a compiler and editor, a typical embedded engineer goes through a long ramping up process from hardware to software. The details are numerous, interfaces many, failure points umpteen. This idea has been the main driver behind the Blueboard. Having taken a hiatus from embedded for sometime, I was surprised at the way the board and the paraphernalia assisted me in developing something worthwhile. There are few more things to ponder over before Blueboard makes a splash on the embedded development community.

Will keep you posted!!

UPDATE:
You can drop in a quick email of interest at sales@ngxtechnologies.com and let the guys get back to you.