Intel Partners With Arduino To Offer New Range Of Development Boards

Intel’s recently appointed CEO Brian Krzanich has announced a partnership with microcontroller developer Arduino that will see the company offer a new range of Arduino-compatible boards featuring Intel architecture.

The first such board, codenamed ‘Galileo’, was unveiled at Maker Faire in Rome on Thursday.

Intel has also launched an initiative to give away 50,000 Galileo units to universities around the world.

Back to basics

Arduino is a family of open source single-board microcontrollers that enable electronics enthusiasts to build simple, cheap interactive objects – from LED displays to remotely-controlled quadrocopters.

Intel will develop a range of its own products fully compatible with Arduino. The first such product is Galileo, based around Quark X1000 System-on-a-Chip, Intel’s first low-power, small-core product designed for applications in wearable computing and the Internet of Things.

X1000 is a 32-bit, single core, single-thread, Pentium-based CPU, operating at speeds up to 400MHz. The SoC runs an open source Linux operating system with the Arduino software libraries that can be programmed through Mac OS, Windows and Linux.

In terms of connectivity, Galileo features ACPI, PCI Express, 10/100Mb Ethernet, SD, USB 2.0 device and EHCI/OHCI USB host ports, high-speed UART, RS-232 serial port, programmable 8MB NOR flash, and a JTAG port. It is also compatible with all existing Arduino shields.

To kick-start the adoption of the new hardware, Intel will donate 50,000 boards to 1,000 universities over the next 18 months. The company has also engaged 17 universities to help develop curriculum around Galileo.

“Through our ongoing efforts in education, we know that hands-on learning inspires interest in science, technology, engineering and math,” said Krzanich. “I’ve been a ‘maker’ for many years and am passionate about the exciting possibilities of technology and what can be created with it. We look forward to a productive collaboration with Arduino and to providing this community with some incredible Intel products that will help push the boundaries of our imaginations.”

“I look forward to our collaboration and believe that our work together will produce some fantastic development vehicles that help foster some very exciting innovations,” commented Massimo Banzi, founder of the Arduino community.

What do you know about Intel? Take our quiz!