Embedded DisplayPort (eDP)¶

Note

The LattePanda may not have driver support for 3rd party eDP displays. In order to use a 3rd party display, it may require the installation of other development drivers.

Installation Steps

Warning

Make sure the LattePanda is disconnected from its power source before connecting the display. Make sure the cable is installed correctly before turning the power on. Failure to follow these instructions below may cause a short circuit and damage the LattePanda or display.

1. Make sure the LattePanda is powered off and the power supply cable is disconnected.
2. Open the eDP latch on the LattePanda board.
3. Align the eDP cable with the LattePanda cable connector. Make sure the copper cable connection pads face the LattePanda connection pads.
4. Connect the eDP cable.
5. Press down on the latch to secure the cable.

Additional eDP Displays from Community

While the LattePanda Alpha/Delta eDP display is officially supported, here are some other displays community members have gotten working.

• 15.6″ Samsung Display
• 17.3″ Display—no bios update needed

M.2 Interface¶

There are M.2 connectors on the LattePanda Alpha: one M key and one E key.

M Key

The M key interface allows for PCI-E X4 or SATA storage.

M.2 To PCI-E Adapter

A PCI-E adapter can be versatile, allowing you to add hardware typically dedicated for full size motherboards to a single board computer form factor. This includes cards such as desktop graphic cards.\
Note: When using a PCI-E adapter, only 4 lanes are usable.

Cool Topics in Forum

1. How to attach both NVMe and Graphics card

External GPU

There are several videos on Youtube where desktop graphic cards are used on the LattePanda. An example video can be found here.

E Key

The E key interface allows PCI-E X2, USB 2.0, I2C, or UART.

NVMe SSD In E Key Slot

It is possible to connet an NVMe SSD to the E key slot with this adapter Sintech E Key To NVMe adapter.

Question

It’s possible to extend a 2nd network card and graphics card with a converter card. There will undoubtedly be more m.2 products appearing in the market in the future, like movidius ai accelerators. Feel free to share your ideas with us via this github docs repository.

Installing Arduino IDE¶

If you want to be able to utilize the Arduino Leonardo ATMega32u4 co-processor and all of the GPIO pins for ultimate connectivity and in order to maximize your use of the LattePanda SBC for your projects, then you’ll want to install the Arduino IDE onto this particular version of the Ubuntu operating system now running on your SBC. Let’s use the terminal again to install this program.

Steps

Step 1: Install Arduino directly by running this line of code in the terminal:

sudo apt-get install arduino

Note: Once installation is complete, you can now use the terminal to open the Arduino IDE software just by running the following code:

sudo arduino

or just open up the application in your application manager directly.

In fact, if you were to run the code:

arduino

in the terminal or open the Arduino IDE regularly, you should be prompted with a message that asks you if you would like to give the Arduino IDE program sudo privileges. Please click «yes,» or else the Arduino IDE program will not be able to access the co-processor via the internal USB connection.

However, if you accidentally click «no» or do not have this message come up, don’t worry. You may want to be able to run the program without opening the terminal, in which case, you will have to give the Arduino program sudo privileges by making it part of the dialout group. Follow these next few steps if you wish to make the Arduino IDE program part of the OS’s dialout group.

Step 2: In order to make your Arduino IDE program part of the dialout group, run the following code in the terminal:

sudo usermod -a Gdialout $USER

Note: Please note that this is not a secure and safe operation, as it will also add other possible devices into the dialout group and offer sudo privileges to them, as well.

Step 3: Now you can use Arduino! Open the Arduino program with either the code in Step 1 or opening it regularly after using the code in Step 2.
Now, let’s configure the Arduino IDE so that we can use it with our LattePanda SBC.

Step 4: Go to Tools → Board, and then please select «Arduino Leonardo»

Step 5: Go to Tools → Port, and then please select «ttyACM0»

Step 6: Now you can try it out! You can go to File → Examples → 01. Basics, and then select «Blink» to try out this Arduino sketch. When you open it, press the upload button in the top left of the program, and then you should see the LED located on the ATMega32u4 co-processor on the board itself begin to blink!

Linux Ubuntu 16.04 LTS¶

Official Supported Version: S70CR200 version. See the picture below to find how to check the version. If you have a earlier version LattePanda like CR110 or CR100, you can refer to the contribution in the Github here to install Linux.

After tested the beta Linux OS for a month with our forum members, we collected the some problems that our forum members meet. Most of the BUGs are fixed. The following topic will show you the official Ubuntu installation tutorial. If you still have any questions when using Linux on LattePanda, feel free to post your question here, we are always ready to help you!

Note

1. It’s for all CR200 z8350. Find your sticky paper on LattePanda board to check the version.
2. Backup your data files if you need before installation.

Ubuntu OS Installation

Step 1: Download the Linux image.

Step 2: Create a bootable USB flash drive.

Download Rufus from https://rufus.akeo.ie/. Choose the Linux image and deploy to the USB flash drive.

Note: On Mac OS, try Etcher. — https://etcher.io/

Step 3: Plug the USB disk in USB host

Step 4: Power on the LattePanda, the installation GUI will automatically run

Step 5: Select the first option

Step 6: Choose the Language

Step 7: Choose the way your keyboard is laid out. If you are in North America just click enter. If you are not in North America your keyboard most likely has a different layout than the default chosen by Clonezilla. Choose the one that pertains to your country.

Step 8: Choose “Start_Clonezilla“.

Step 9: Choose «Beginner mode».

Step 10: Choose “restoredisk“.

Step 11: Select image

Step 12: Choose the target disk (default disk)

Step 13: Select «Check the image before restoring»

Step 14: Choose the action to perform when everything is finished, it’s up to you. In this tutorial, we choose reboot.

Step 15: Finally, Clonezilla will ask you twice if you would like to start the process. If you are sure the destination drive is empty, choose yes to start the process.

Step 16: The system will reboot after installation successfully. Notice to remove the USB storage following the installation guide.

Step 17: For first time login, please check the password below:

​ Login account: admin

​ Password: admin

Step 18: Hands-on Ubuntu on LattePanda.

Info

1. Recommended to config the display first before using. Please close MIPI output if you don’t have LattePanda official IPS screen to avoid display the app window via MIPI video output instead of HDMI output

2. Recommended to allow and update latest ubuntu source code via ubuntu updates first

3. Modify hosts file. Check the details info below:

   That /etc/hosts has an entry for localhost, like:
   127.0.0.1 localhost127.0.1.1 admin

4. Please share your feedback or further requirement at www.lattepanda.com/forum

External Power Source Description¶

The recommended standard power solution is certainly the PD power adapter which comes with Alpha package, since it is an official LattePanda adapter. However, the Alpha is designed for embedded applications, like robotics and projects, so an external power solution will sometimes be necessary, and can be supplied by:
1. A power supply connected to the 12 volt DC Input — JST PH2.0-4P connector
2. External Lipo battery, which has a 10p connector (more details to come in future updates)

12 Volt DC Input Introduction

The voltage range of the Alpha power input connector is 7.4~15 volts. So, if you’re choosing to use the lipo battery, you should attach 2~4 cells. The standard power source required must have 3A running at 12volts. The power required to boot up the LattePanda SBC is approximately 10 watts, and the operation power needed is approximately 5 watts without a very high electrical load.

Related Discussions in Forum:

1. Lipo battery from 10p power connector
2. Forum Discussion — Suggest an on/off/reset button for Alpha
3. DIY 18650 battery pack for Lattepanda Alpha

How to Contribute¶

This documentation is managed by LattePanda, BUT supported by the all community members, which is pretty important as a team growing up from open maker community. We welcome contributions such as:

• Edits to improve grammar or fix typos
• Edits to improve clarity
• Additional annotated examples for others to follow
• Additional content that would help provide a complete understanding of the LattePanda platform
• Translations to other languages
• Open — anything u think is good for the growth of this community

Making a contribution is as simple as forking this repository, making edits to your fork, and contributing those edits as a pull request. For more information on how to make a pull request, see Github’s documentation.

Step 3¶

Open IDLE Python to check whether or not the pyfirmata package has been installed correctly.

Enter the following command:

If no error message appears, this means that pyfirmata has been successfully installed. Please refer to the picture below.

Create a new python file through the IDLE program and enter the following code. Change ‘COM3’ into the port that was shown on your device previously on Arduino. Pin 13 is selected as the default pin, as it has the built-in light.

Code:

from pyfirmata import Arduino, util
import time
board = Arduino('COM5')

    board.digital.write(0)
    time.sleep(1)
    print("on")
    board.digital.write(1)
    time.sleep(1)
    print("off")

The IDLE window should display on/off messages which represent the status of the light. Feel free to play around with the other pins and explore the different options available to you. Here is the GIF again on how your Arduino should blink. Enjoy!

Install MobaXterm on Windows Computer¶

There may be times where you will need to remotely access the kernel of your Ubuntu OS on your LattePanda, especially if you run into any problems where you cannot seem to do anything on your LattePanda computer that has already been booted up using the Ubuntu OS.

Enter MobaXterm, which is a program that can allow you to remotely use features like your Ubuntu OS’s kernel via an SSH connection. This guide will teach you how to first set up an Open SSH connection on your Ubuntu OS, and then set up such a connection and have access to your Ubuntu OS’s kernel on a Windows computer running this program.

Hardware Requirements

1. LattePanda 1st Generation SBC with a Linux Distribution OS installed
2. Display of your choice
3. Keyboard (and Mouse)
4. Other computer running Windows OS

Steps

Step 1: Open up a terminal in your Ubuntu OS (using a mouse and keyboard) and type in the command:

sudo apt install openssh-server

to install an Open SSH server on your LattePanda SBC.

Note: After it completes installing on your computer, you can run the commands:

sudo systemctl status ssh

to see if it is working properly. If it appears to not be working or connecting, then please run the commands:

sudo systemctl enable ssh

sudo systemctl start ssh

to enable the Open SSH server connection. Once finished, you can hit «Ctrl+C» on your computer and then proceed onto the next step.

Step 2: Then, run the commands:

sudo ufw allow ssh

sudo ufw enable

sudo ufw status

to both allow the default port 22 to be open to SSH connections and to check the status of the newly-opened port.

Step 3: Now, to find your «Remote Hostname» IP address that we will use later in this guide, run the command:

ifconfig

and look for the wlan0’s «inet» IP address.

If your terminal cannot run this command, then please install it using the command:

sudo apt install net-tools

and then run this command again.

Your LattePanda is now ready to be remotely accessed via an Open SSH connection.

Step 4: Please use another computer that runs Windows OS to download and install the portable version of MobaXterm in order to remotely access your Ubuntu OS’s kernel.

Step 5: Once you have downloaded and installed this program, go ahead and run it and click the «Session» button at the top left.

Step 6: In the «Session settings» window, please click the «SSH» button in the top left.

Step 7: In the Basic SSH settings, please add the «Remote host» IP address of your LattePanda running the Ubuntu 20.04 OS, and then check the «Specify username» radio button so that you can enter the username that you used when setting up your Ubuntu 20.04 OS (in this example, the username is «John»). Then, click «OK.»

Step 8: Finally, enter the password for your Ubuntu operating system’s account that you are trying to log in to. (Please note that it will not appear as you are typing it, similar to if you were to type in your password in the terminal of the Ubuntu OS.)

Step 9: Success! You are done connecting, and will be greeted by a message that will ask you if you would like to store the password safely in the software’s database. You can choose to do this optional step and create a new master password for all of these stored passwords that the software can automatically access for each subsequent login, or you can choose to skip this step and try to use the terminal remotely on your Windows system.

Windows 10 Enterprise for Commercial¶

We highly recommended Windows Enterprise OS for commercial applications! And the Windows 10 activate version 4G LattePanda comes with Enterprise OS pre-installed and activated.

This tutorial is provided by our kindly community member. We are really appreciate for his help, here’s the link of his original post. We also think it is useful for people, who making small business or industry innovation based on LattePanda. So we share it here.

If you have any other questions about installing a Windows Enterprise system or how to activate Windows key on your board, discuss in forum topic share above! Support team will help you!!

Note

Steps

1. Download the LattePanda Win10 Enterprise LTSB Image.

1. Put all the files to the root directory of your USB flash disk. (You need to set your USB flash disk to be a bootable device. You can see the tutorial here.)

2. Reboot the LattePanda, press ‘Esc’ continously to enter BIOS. Change the Boot Option Priorities to boot from the USB flash disk.

3. Save & Reboot.

4. Waiting for installation.

5. Activate Your LattePanda

The activation code has been already put in the box. Take it out.

There are 6 steps to activate your LattePanda:

• Make sure your LattePanda has an active internet connection via WiFi or Ethernet
• Right click on the Windows button and select System
• Click Acitvate Windows
• Click Change Product Key
• Enter the product key number
• Click Next

Key Features

• 10V~36V DC Barrel Jack Input (direct to LattePanda CN2 headers)
• Relay Out Terminal Blocks
• RTC Connector
• CAN-BUS Interface
• DC Output for cooling fan
• USB Serial Port
• 5V NPN Out
• 3W stereo audio amp out
• Intel UART connection headers
• LC meter connection
• STM32F373 MCU virtual COM Port
• STM32F373 MCU reset button
• Digital to analog out voltage trimmer
• 12bit digital to analog out (two channels)
• Thermocouple K-Type input circuit (Range 200 – 1200C)
• 12bit ADC (2 channels)

The board and firmware will be released later as open source and open hardware. Designs for this board are available under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 international license.

LattePanda Alpha VS LattePanda Original

This post is taken from DFRobot.com

As is with the recent trends in the SBC industry, you may have recently seen that LattePanda has released two, brand-new premium development boards called the LattePanda Alpha and Delta! Actually, technologies have been developing to cope up with new applications such as Artificial Intelligence and Google DeepMind’s AlphaGo. Actually, products with the Alpha tag are premium by nature and application; look at Sony’s α-series cameras, including α9, α6500. All these are top of the line products that take consumer needs very seriously and the Alpha Panda is no exception to that rule, these products are the best you can get today in the SBC market. We shall discuss new features on the new Alpha and Delta and how they can benefit yours.

First, the key Specs:

CPU-wise, as you can see, the Alpha and Delta are at least 2 feature-levels ahead of the original LattePanda. To put this into quick perspective, lets suppose the original LattePanda was the BMW X1. Product line-up wise then, the Delta would be an X3 and the Alpha an X5 in terms of performance and features! We have uploaded several demo testing videos, check more on http://bit.ly/2EwELSH

There is a wide variety of CPU’s on the market today, ranging from quad-core to octa-core to even 16-cores! However, performance is not directly co-related to CPU core-count or clock speed, rather a lot of things matter. Within the same generation of CPU’s technology can differ greatly such as architecture, hype-threading and turbo boosting. To make better sense of this, and to provide a better reference to everyone, PassMark’s CPU Benchmarks gives scores to CPU’s. These scores accurately give an initial impression on how a CPU will perform in daily tasks.

Alpha and Delta have not only been updated on their main clock speed frequency, but have also seen significant GPU performance gains thanks to Intel’s integrated solutions. This is a deliberate effort on the LattePanda’s efforts to be squarely aimed for projects involving robot vision, artificial intelligence, IoT Edge devices and interactive Art, etc. These graphical capabilities optimizes scenes such as image processing, visualization and animation display, to provide a more imaginative space for makers and developers alike.

What is a major highlight in the SBC market is the support of external- Graphics Processing Units, or eGPUs. Alpha and Delta both support full-sized graphics cards via its M.2 interface to maximize its expansibility. Though some details have not been fully released, a device almost two-thirds the size of a phone with PC-class performance will give rise to unique new, visually stimulating projects. New embedded scenarios, mobile robot development platforms, or portable VR or MR projects? All seem like viable ideas!

Lets take a look at the design and detailed Specs:

Desktop-class LattePanda shell

To our delight, Alpha and Delta are designed with two exquisite official housings for both desktop and tablet modes.

Other specifications comparison

The new LattePanda’s are slightly larger than the previous ones, but have so many new features packed for the small increase in size; RAM has been doubled, storage can now be tripled with NVMe SSD’s and there is even a Dual-Band Wi-Fi card on-board. The most noteworthy addition though is the USB 3.0 / Type-C / M.2 high-speed interface enhancements coming to the board. These make as much an improvement on performance as the CPU itself does. Alpha and Delta belong to one of the few products that accommodate these new features not found in these lower-end SBCs while staying the same size.

M.2 M-K can not only expand the common NVMe SSD, accelerate system read and write response speeds, but because of its built-in PCI-e x4 bus, it is compatible with a large number of peripherals, such as graphics, 3/4G Wireless LAN, dual Gigabit LAN, HD sound card and so on.

More GPIOs can be seen on the Alpha and Delta, in fact they are dual 50-pin connectors with an ample range of protocols they can be operated on which should strengthen its embedded-projects value and have further application in various other scenarios.

What You Need¶

Hardware

• LattePanda
• 7-inch 1024 x 600 IPS Display for LattePanda
• Mouse and Keyboard

Software

1. Arduino IDE

The latest software is available on the Arduino website. IDE stands for integrated development environment, and it allows programmers to develop software. Make sure to download the most updated Arduino IDE. This example uses Arduino 1.8.5.

1. Python 2.7.15

This software is available on Python’s official website. This example uses python 2.7.15, which can be found here. I’ve used the following installer to install my python IDE:

When installing, please make sure to select «add python.exe to Path» by clicking on the «Will be installed on local hard drive» option. This is shown below.

Once everything is ready, we can start the process.

Background¶

To power your LattePanda 1st gen product, there are two different power source interfaces. The first one is the commonly used micro USB port. The other one is any one of the 5V GND (ground) pins, which are all labeled «CN2 Header Pins» on the board.

• The MicroUSB port is more appropriate for desktop development scenarios.
• The CN2 Header Pin is a good power source for embedded applications, which have limited space yet provide a stabler, stronger power source (with higher amperage to feed enough current for sensing the system simultaneously, at about 3~4 Amps) for the system.
• The current necessary for a LattePanda with a full computational load is about 1.6 Amp. However, when booting the system, the peak current required is about 2 Amp.

Windows¶

Installation Steps

• Download the Windows 10 disc image file for the LattePanda Alpha.
• Configure your USB drive to be a bootable device. Instructions can be found here.
• Copy and paste the Windows 10 disc image file contents to the USB drive.
• If you are using the LattePanda to create the USB installation media, restart the LattePanda. Otherwise, insert your USB drive into the LattePanda and turn it on.
• Press ‘Esc’ continously to enter BIOS.

• Navigate to the «Boot» tab and change the «Boot Option Priorities» so that the USB drive is «Boot Option #1».

• Navigate to the «Save & Exit» tab and select «Save Changes & Reboot».

You will enter the installation GUI.

Fixing Screen Resolution¶

There may be sometimes where the LattePanda SBC’s newly installed Ubuntu operating system is unable to properly detect and use the maximum resolution that your display can offer. In this event, this guide will teach you how to fix this problem, but you will need to know the maximum resolution of your display in order to proceed.

Steps

Step 1: In order to allow the LattePanda’s Ubuntu OS to access a particular resolution size other than the default, we will have to edit the GRUB file again, which we can do by entering the command:

sudo gedit /etc/default/grub

in the terminal. This will now open the GNOME text editor, which will allow us to proceed on to the next step.

Step 2: Please scan through the file until you find the line that contains:

#GRUB_GFXMODE=640x480

Please change this by first deleting the pound sign in front of this line (which is used to «comment the line out», so deleting this pound sign is necessary in order to have anything written in the line take effect). Then, enter in the resolution dimensions of your screen after the equals sign. In this example, we are using a HDMI screen with a resolution of 1920×1080, so we will change this line so that it will read:

GRUB_GFXMODE=1920x1080

Step 3: You’re almost done! Now, save the changes that you just made by clicking on the «Save» button at the top right of the text editor, and close out of the text editor window. Now, please go back to the terminal and enter in the command:

sudo update-grub

Step 4: Now reboot the computer. Success! Your Ubuntu OS will default to the dimension size listed in the line that you changed and updated in the GRUB boot file.

USB-C Interface¶

There is a USB-C interface on the board, formally known as USB Type-C. It can be used as a 12V power Input or as a USB-C hub to communicate with interfaces like DP, DVI, SD card sockets, and much more.

USB C Hub

A USB Type C hub can be used with the LattePanda Alpha. This can expand the number of ports you can use with just one connector. This includes SD/MicroSD, ethernet, USB, HDMI, ethernet, and many other ports.

RS232

The RS-232 standard had been commonly used in computer serial ports. Thanks to their simplicity and past ubiquity, it is also used in industrial machines, networking equipment, and scientific instruments where a short-range, point-to-point, low-speed wired data connection is required.

Overview¶

LattePanda	LattePanda Alpha	LattePanda Delta
Models	Models	Models
2G 32GB4G 64GB2G 32GB /w Windows 10 Home4G 64GB /w Windows 10 Enterprise	800 — 8G (No eMMC)864 — 8G 64GB864 — 8G 64GB /w Windows 10 Pro	432 — 4G 32GB432 — 4G 32GB /w Windows 10 Pro

This guide will show you how to use LattePanda products to start up your little drive first. And kick-off your adventure of software plus hardware development.

Note

If you have any problem or idea when reading our docs, feel free to commit your suggestions directly on the Github Docs Repo or discuss through the FORUM. We, together with our community members, are always ready to help you and listen your suggestions!

The Raspberry Pi Era

2012 saw Raspberry Pi release the world’s first $35 small computer, a Linux device that can be used like a regular PC. In the two years between 2013 and 2014, Raspberry Pi set off a big wave of builders, developers, and makers working on compact RPi projects of their own. The predominant focus of the RPI was education, and the Foundation is committed to enabling all students and users worldwide to learn programming, understanding computer thinking and writing through a low-cost computer. Makers joined the ride with a cheap substitute for otherwise-expensive alternatives with lesser price-to-performance ratios.
Soon came other various brands with even cheaper alternatives from $15 to even $5 now. Most of the products in design form, interface and functions were almost completely identical to the Raspberry Pi design! But, with these cheaper boards, there were problems;
• Underperforming CPU selection, accompanied by a variety of performance, compatibility and stability issues
• Cheap component selection on top subpar performing parts, which also proved that the variety of low-priced RPI competing products works on the level of irregularities.People no longer think about how to make products better; only the need to design products cheaper and in the numbers.

We respect the RPI’s position in the market, but the fact is, we are not competing with it with a price point many times higher than it.

Quick Start¶

Install driver and setup environment

Connect Streaming Cable, then refer to the different OS setup requirements below to configure server and client computer separately.

1. Unlicensed Windows: Click to download SetupEnv_NM.bat，Right-click and select Run as administrator, after running, it will close automatically
2. MacOS: Click to download RNDIS driver Driver and install
3. Linux: add a new «USB Ethernet» in Settings->Ethernet panel, set its IPV4 to Link-Local Only

How to use

1. Connect Streaming Cable, Run NoMachine on Server and Client Computer (Start automatically as OS boot up)
2. Wait for a few minutes, the Server Computer will appear in the Client Computer NoMachine Browse Connections page, double-click to run
3. You are in, enjoy! (Click to get detailed tutorials and the best display quality)

More software solutions and tutorials will be introduced in the following sections.

Other specifications comparison

The new LattePanda’s are slightly larger than the previous ones, but have so many new features packed for the small increase in size; RAM has been doubled, storage can now be tripled with NVMe SSD’s and there is even a Dual-Band Wi-Fi card on-board. The most noteworthy addition though is the USB 3.0 / Type-C / M.2 high-speed interface enhancements coming to the board. These make as much an improvement on performance as the CPU itself does. Alpha and Delta belong to one of the few products that accommodate these new features not found in these lower-end SBCs while staying the same size.

M.2 M-K can not only expand the common NVMe SSD, accelerate system read and write response speeds, but because of its built-in PCI-e x4 bus, it is compatible with a large number of peripherals, such as graphics, 3/4G Wireless LAN, dual Gigabit LAN, HD sound card and so on.

More GPIOs can be seen on the Alpha and Delta, in fact they are dual 50-pin connectors with an ample range of protocols they can be operated on which should strengthen its embedded-projects value and have further application in various other scenarios.

JST 4p DC Input Connector¶

Warning

Please make sure that the positive and negative pins are connected correctly! Double check the power connection before powering on the system.

The voltage range of the Alpha power input connector is 11~15 volts. So if you’re choosing the lipo battery, it should be 3~4 cells. The standard power source is 3A @ 12 volts. The booting power is about 10 watts and operating power is about 5 watts with a limited electrical load.

Input Specification

• 11-15 volts
• Up to 36 watts is recommended
• Standard power — 3A @ 12 volts
• JST PH2.0 — 4p connector (pin mapping is marked on the board, as well: — DC ++, which means two negative pins and two positive pins)

You can also check out this more detailed pinout diagram.

Installing Picture Editing Software GIMP¶

Given that most software is made with Windows and Mac operating systems in mind, it can be hard to find good substitutes for Linux operating systems. One picture editing software that is an adequate substitute for great software like Adobe Photoshop and is available for Linux Distribution operating systems is GIMP.

This guide will teach you how to install GIMP onto your Ubuntu OS and start using this software for your images and creative artistry.

Steps

Step 1: In order to install GIMP software, you will first have to install «flatpak.» So, please open up the Ubuntu terminal (with your mouse or with «Ctrl + Alt + T») and enter the following command:

sudo apt install flatpak

Step 2: Now that you have flatpak installed, you can now begin to run some flatpak commands. Now, from your terminal enter in the next command:

flatpak install http://flathub.org/repo/appstream/org.gimp.GIMP.flatpakref

This will download and install all necessary software and additional packages that the software will need to run correctly. This may take a while, so you may want to find something to do while your terminal finishes the operations necessary to download and install these packages.

Step 3: You now have the software downloaded and installed onto your LattePanda SBC! Sometimes, the icon may not appear in the Application Manager dock, in which case you may have to manually boot it from the terminal using this code:

flatpak run org.gimp.GIMP//stable

Please refer to GIMP’s official website if you would like to learn how to fix the problem of not seeing the GIMP icon appear in your Application Manager.

Install and Run the Client¶

You should have the following items ready before beginning this process:

• this project’s files into the folder of your choice.

• Install NodeJS. Make sure that the version of NodeJS you install is greater than 4.0.

• Open a new shell or Node.js command prompt and navigate to the folder where you placed the project files. Run the following commands to install the and packages.

npm install johnny-five
npm install serialport

• Follow this to setup your arduino
• Run the client using the following commands:

node FirmateWebClient.js

< h2 id=»FirmateWebClient_ Usage»>Usage Add these parameters to GET a request to control the client. You can also view the following examples to learn how to use this service.

Set Digital Pin

Write to a digital pin and set it to output mode

var url = {
  hostname: 'localhost',//your device ip
  port: 23456,//server port, default 23456
  path: '/set_digital/13/1',//command/the digital pin to write to(0~13)/0 or 1
  method: 'GET'
};

Set PWM Pin

Write to an analog pin using Pulse-Width Modulation (PWM)

var url = {
  hostname: 'localhost',//your device ip
  port: 23456,//server port, default 23456
  path: '/set_pwm/3/255',//command/Analog output pin(3,4,6,9,10,11)/0(0V)~255(5V)
  method: 'GET'
};

Set Servo Pin

Write an angle to a specified pin and set it to servo-mode

var url = {
  hostname: 'localhost',//your device ip
  port: 23456,//server port, default 23456
  path: '/set_servo/3/255',//command/Servo output pin(0~13)/Angle from 0 to 180.
  method: 'GET'
};

Sweep Servo

Sweep a servo from 0-180 degrees, and continuously repeat

var url = {
  hostname: 'localhost',//your device ip
  port: 23456,//server port, default 23456
  path: '/sweep_servo/3',//command/Servo output pin(0~13)
  method: 'GET'
};

Stop Servo

Stop a moving servo

var url = {
  hostname: 'localhost',//your device ip
  port: 23456,//server port, default 23456
  path: '/stop_servo/3',//command/Servo output pin(0~13)
  method: 'GET'
};

Read All Pins’ States

This code allows you to read all of the pins’ states, and will return a json object

var url = {
  hostname: 'localhost',//your device ip
  port: 23456,//server port, default 23456
  path: '/read_all_pins',//command
  method: 'GET'
};

After completion, you will receive an object like this:

{
    "command":,
    "data":{"0":"false",..."13":"false","A0":"0.75",..."A5":"0.67"}
}

A brand focused on developer experience

Take the streaming Cable as an example, the LattePanda team found that developers making SBC-based applications need to switch back and forth between mouse and keyboard and display back and forth between their main development PC and the development board, interrupting the developer’s experience. The Streaming Cable enables your Windows-enabled LattePanda device to act like a USB on a Mac or Linux or Windows system. Just plug & play into your Apple / Linux device! The PiP (Picture in Picture) form also eliminates the switching/use of dual mouse and HDMI to connect different systems for a seamless interaction of two different systems. We have embedded a USB Type-C port for future proofing and more convenience for today and tomorrow. This is not a great change, but it incorporates the team’s understanding of the developer experience and the quest for continuous improvement.

Developers have always stood at the forefront of the consumer electronics industry, sometimes with over-engineered tools. Most vendors focus their attention on spec-list, but few vendors observe developer’s unique behaviors, habits, development methods, and as a starting point, think about how to give a good developer experience to accelerate development and efficiency of creations!

Overall, with each generation of LattePanda’s, the Team is making some innovations or contributions to the market through a different perspective or through mixed dimensions in the hope of bringing more possibilities to developers with a unique experience. We would love to continue this conversation with everyone who is interested and we loved reading your thoughts! Please do not hesitate to reach out to us in the comments section below! The LattePanda Team.

Some Thoughts on the Stagnation of SBC Market

Alasdair Allan, an editor at Hackster, wrote a piece titled “First Thoughts on the LattePanda Alpha.“ Allan mentioned the roots of his skepticism towards the LattePanda Alpha and its price which is hovering in the low to middle-end laptop range. We wanted to highlight so much more potential than meets the naked eye behind our product and its accompanying fissures for the SBC market.
We will briefly discuss the stagnated SBC market, the maker user-base and the value which we wish to introduce into these products. This also explores and communicates around our perspectives on the current market for Maker boards, the Maker user-base, and the value that the LattePanda brand wants to create.