pcDuino SBC adopts i.MX6 Quad, loads up on storage
Oct 3, 2014 — by Eric Brown — 4226 viewsLinkSprite unveiled a “pcDuino Acadia 1” SBC that runs Linux or Android on a 1.2GHz Freescale i.MX6 Quad SoC and features eMMC flash and dual microSD slots.
LinkSprite Technologies, which hosts the open source project for pcDuino single board computers, last month announced a pcDuino3Nano SBC, featuring a dual-core, 1GHz Cortex-A7 Allwinner A20 system-on-chip for only $39. At last weekend’s Maker Faire New York, the company unveiled a quad-core based SBC called the pcDuino Acadia 1. No pricing or availability information was released.

pcDuino Acadia 1
(click image to enlarge)
The pcDuino Acadia 1 is the first pcDuino board to stray from the Allwinner line of SoCs. Instead it uses Freescale’s Cortex-A9-based i.MX6, jumping right to the top with the 1.2GHz quad-core version. The four ARM cores are supported with the Vivante GC2000 GPU with OpenGL/ES 2.x, OpenCL EP, and OpenVG 1.1 acceleration. The i.MX6 enables the Acadia 1 to generate multi-format 2048 x 1536-pixel resolution via the HDMI port.
![]() UDOO Quad |
Like the i.MX6 Quad-based UDOO Quad SBC, the Acadia 1 offers 1GB of RAM. Unlike the UDOO Quad, it also supplies onboard flash — a generous 8GB of eMMC. Instead of one microSD slot, it provides two, offering combined storage of up to 128GB plus the onboard flash.
Like the UDOO Quad, the 120 x 65mm Acadia 1 provides HDMI and LVDS connections, as well as a SATA socket and a gigabit Ethernet port. The Acadia 1 furnishes two cameras interfaces (MIPI and CSI) instead of one. There is also a pair of USB host ports, a USB OTG port, and an audio jack. Like the UDOO Quad, the pcDuino board offers an Arduino Uno compatible header with various I/O as shown below. An IR receiver is also available.
One big advantage the UDOO Quad has over the Acadia 1 is its onboard WiFi module. We’ll have to wait for the Acadia 1 price to see how that comparison shakes out.
The device “can adapt to a variety of harsh environments,” says LinkSprite, although no temperature range was supplied. As usual with pcDuino boards, there’s support for Ubuntu 12.04 or Android 4.4.
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Summary of pcDuino Acadia specs
Specifications listed for the pcDuino Acadia 1 include:
- Processor — Freescale i.MX6 Quad (4x Cortex-A9 cores @ up to 1.2GHz); Vivante GC2000 with OpenGL/ES 2.x, OpenCL EP, and OpenVG 1.1 acceleration
- Memory/storage:
- 1GB DRAM
- 8GB eMMC flash
- 2x microSD slots for up to 128GB
- SATA host socket
- Display/camera:
- HDMI 1.4 out with HDCP support
- LVDS interface
- MIPI camera interface
- CSI camera interface
- Networking — gigabit Ethernet port
- Other I/O:
- 2x USB host ports
- 1x USB OTG port
- 3.5mm audio jack
- IR receiver
- Arduino Uno compatible socket:
- 14x GPIO
- 2x PWM
- 6x ADC
- 1x each UART, SPI, I2C
- Power — 5V, 2000mA; Li-Poly Battery Interface
- Dimensions — 120 x 65mm (4.72 x 2.56 in.)
- Operating system — Ubuntu Linux 12.04; Android 4.4
Further information
No pricing or availability information was provided for the pcDuino Acadia 1. More information may be found at the pcDuino Acadia 1 announcement page.
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