Rather than design our own circuit board with all the parts permanently attached, I designed a very small motherboard for all the various third party sensors to plug in to. This was a huge hit with the team and also a time saver, since we could know build our system piece by piece and choose which parts we wanted to design and which would we would buy.
Expanding on that idea, I added a breadboard, standardized the size of the ports, and stylized the design so it would look as good as the rest of my projects. After being researching existing products like Arduino or Beagle, I made it a point to fix certain weaknesses that I felt were holding those platforms back.
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Processor-independent hardware – the hardware is compatible with any processor, and even multiple processors (since they come as add-ons)
Choice of full size add-ons, or cheaper, miniature add-ons
Multiple, independent add-on sockets to reduce vertical growth to 1/3 that of Arduino
BoardX automatically routes Power, USB, SPI, UART, I2C and GPIO to the other add-ons so you don't have to wire anything by hand
A Breadboard is included on the motherboard for quick prototyping
High current allowance permits direct powering of motors, servos and other power hungry applications
An upgradable power supply feature allows the use of any conceivable power source and regulation method. It also plugs in, just like a normal add-on.
A unique shape and color, which resembles its name - BoardX. The rounded edges and isolated mounting holes make handling BoardX more comfortable and easier to install in robot chassis.
