BeagleV-Ahead: A Powerful RISC-V Powered Raspberry Pi Alternative
BeagleBoard, the team behind the original BeagleBoard and BeagleBone boards, has announced the availability of its newest creation, the RISC-V powered BeagleV-Ahead. A Raspberry Pi alternative, the BeagleV-Ahead is priced at $149 and is available to buy now.
The BeagleV-Ahead packs a punch, coming with a 2 GHz, quad-core RISC-V 64GCV Xuantile C910 CPU, along with 4GB of RAM and 16GB of eMMC flash storage. You can choose to install either Ubuntu or Yocto Linux on the board, with the operating system being flashed to the board for you. This means you can simply use a USB keyboard and mouse to interface with the operating system, or you can go the distance and set up a remote server and access the BeagleV-Ahead remotely via a terminal.
The main highlight here is the RISC-V CPU, which is rapidly gaining popularity among the maker community due to its open-source nature, and the fact that it’s available at a range of price points. The BeagleV-Ahead retains the distinctive BeagleBoard form factor, and also supports “capes,” which are basically add-on boards that are very similar to Raspberry Pi HATs or Arduino Shields. Capes simply connect to the board using the P8 and P9 header, providing you with access to six analog inputs and various other interfaces, including PWM, I2C, UART, SPI, I2S, and digital IO.
The BeagleBoard team does have a documentation page for the BeagleV-Ahead, but it does say “This page is under construction. Please check back soon.” So if you’re interested, and you’re wondering whether it supports a particular interface, it’s worth checking. It’s also worth mentioning that the BeagleV-Ahead has faced delays due to the pandemic and the global chip shortage, so bear that in mind.
Regardless, it’s always exciting to see another RISC-V board pop up, and we’re sure the enthusiastic maker community will be chomping at the bit to get their hands on one. You can grab the BeagleV-Ahead from various distributors, although bear in mind that the average price seems to be around $149.
Featured image credit: BeagleBoard.
