Ultimate dev kit winner unveiled

23rd July 2015

Mick Elliott

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Take a big bow, Manjuprasad Basangi! He has been voted the winner of element14’s global DreamBoard initiative to find the ultimate development kit. His creation, the PC64, designed to be a learning tool for students, was voted the winner by element14 Community members from a shortlist of 16 finalists. The design captured 67 per cent of the vote in the head-to-head final and beat more than 3,000+ brand new dev kit creations to be named the ultimate DreamBoard.

Basangi is a final year engineering student from India. He created the PC64 as a learning tool for students, as well as a powerful platform for professional engineers to build and test their systems.

A 64-bit processor, compatible with Linux, and an Android lollipop loaded onto an SD card maximise the potential use cases across a variety of projects.

Other features include on-board wireless connectivity, as well as GPIO pins and a variety of connectivity options to help the board communicate with the outside word and provide the option to expand where needed.

The PC64 also features on-board sensors including the Magnetic Hall effect sensor, ultrasonic sensors, gyroscope, accelerometer and temperature, to support robotic and drone projects. Audio I/O provides on-board audio processing and the LVDS port and touchscreen sensor allow the board to perform as a handheld device.

Manjuprasad Basangi, the winner of the DreamBoard initiative, comments: “I am always enthusiastic about developing PCBs and custom development boards. However, the absence of technology in manufacturing industrial-grade PCBs and the lack of availability of components in India means I’ve been forced to stick with LQFP packages, which can be soldered by hand. I wanted to develop something like the Raspberry Pi or BeagleBone, but I’ve always felt discontented due to the lack of funds and technology in manufacturing. element14's "Build Your Own DreamBoard" campaign has inspired me to visualise the type of dev kit I want to make.”

The Mother H.E.N. DreamBoard was the worthy runner up. Designed by Draven Umbra from the USA, the dev kit enables a ‘Home Environment Network’ designed to sense motion, temperature, humidity, lighting and indoor air quality and control them to optimal conditions.