Rugged SBC provides performance & I/O versatility

Designed in the PC/104-Plus form factor with wings (114x102mm), Aries’ rectangular shape provides more coastline for I/O connectors, enabling an unmatched level of feature integration onto a single board its size. In this compact form factor, Aries includes a wide range of display capabilities, system I/O, plus data acquisition, meeting the majority of today's connectivity requirements in a single board.

Aries PC/104-Plus SBCs combine the excellent performance of the Bay Trail processor family, a wealth of PC I/O, and on-board data acquisition circuitry at a competitive price. Available configurations include the E3845 1.91GHz quad core processor and the E3826 1.46GHz dual core processor, with choice of 2 or 4GB soldered memory. Dual independent displays are supported, with connections for dual channel 24-bit LVDS LCD, VGA, DisplayPort, and HDMI. Available PC I/O includes 3 USB 2.0 ports (1 can operate as USB 3.0), 4 RS-232/422/485 ports with fully programmable configuration, dual Gigabit Ethernet, and a SATA port that supports both on-board SATA DOM and off-board SATA devices.

The optional integrated data acquisition includes 16 16-bit A/D channels with 250KHz sample rate, four 16-bit D/A channels with voltage and current outputs, a programmable waveform generator, and 22 programmable digital I/O lines, all supported by Diamond’s free Universal Driver data acquisition programming library. An interactive, easy to use graphical control panel for Windows and Linux is provided to control all data acquisition features.

Aries supports stackable I/O expansion with PC/104 (ISA) and PC/104-Plus (ISA + PCI) I/O modules. Aries also provides a dual-use PCIe MiniCard / mSATA socket for additional I/O expansion. PCIe MiniCard I/O modules featuring WiFi, Ethernet, analog I/O, digital I/O, and CAN are available from Diamond Systems and other vendors, enabling compact expandability without increasing the total height of the system.

Aries’ built-in heat spreader efficiently removes heat from the SBC directly to the system enclosure and helps keep the interior cooler for improved reliability. The novel bottom-side mounting configuration of the heat spreader provides a convenient mounting system for the board. It also simplifies the installation of topside I/O expansion modules by eliminating interference or airflow problems that can occur with traditional heat sinks. A heat sink accessory option can be installed to use Aries in a traditional heat sink style installation.

The Aries SBC family was designed with rugged applications in mind. With an operating temperature of -40 to +85°C, memory soldered on board, an integrated heat spreader thermal solution, 50% thicker PCB, and latching I/O connectors, Aries is a perfect fit for rugged applications including industrial, medical, on-vehicle and military. Aries is also available in Diamond’s off-the-shelf hardened and highly configurable Raptor systems for extremely rugged mission critical applications.

Several models of the Aries PC/104-Plus SBC are available, offering a choice of CPU to match varying application price and performance targets. Single unit pricing starts at $750 without on-board data acquisition. Complete Development Kits, software development kits, and a cable kit are all available to accelerate your development effort.