Sage firmware keeps Gizmo 2 developer platform truly open source

LONGMONT, Colo. - Nov. 11, 2014 - PRLog -- Sage Electronic Engineering, http://www.se-eng.com, is proud to announce that Gizmo 2, the second-generation x86 development board from GizmoSphere, is once again top-to-bottom open source firmware and architecture.


“Gizmo 2 is the next step in the evolution of the Gizmo, providing a platform for professional makers and hobbyists alike,” said Scott Hoot, president and CEO of Sage. “Through the SageBIOS Open Source Package there is access to AMD’s AGESA files, as well as the first phase bootloader, coreboot®, the world’s leading open source bootloader for x86 processing.”

Beyond access to the source code, the SageBIOS OSP is backed by the rigorous automated testing included in all SageBIOS Board Support Packages. The second-phase, open source bootloader, SeaBIOS, easily supports legacy operating systems, including those requiring Legacy BIOS interrupts such as Windows, and the board comes with an embedded Linux environment solution.

While Gizmo 2 can certainly power many IoT devices from home automation to smart grid solutions, Hoot said the sheer processing power of the board is what sets it apart from many development boards on the market. Gizmo 2 is powered by the AMD G-Series System on a Chip (SoC), which draws only 9 watts TDP. The single chip SoC incorporates AMD Radeon HD 8210 discrete-class graphics and provides 85 GFLOPS performance.

“The superior AMD graphics make it a natural for factory automation solutions and digital signage,” Hoot said. “But the exceptional processing ability of this board can handle more advanced robotics and human-computer interaction solutions.”

Last year Boston University engineering students, operating under a hardware budget of less than $1,300, used AMD’s superior graphics integration in the original Gizmo board to create AutoScan, a video-based pothole detector that could be mounted under a vehicle, such as a city bus. The five undergraduates won the Gizmo development prize and also took home the “Best Senior Design Project” in the university’s electrical engineering department under BU Professor Babak Kia.

Gizmo 2 will be available through distribution partners Premier Farnell and Symmetry Electronics for $199, and includes an embedded Linux solution from Timesys and the coreboot®-based SageBIOS™ OSP from Sage.


About Sage Electronic Engineering

Sage Electronic Engineering, LLC, of Longmont, Colo. (www.se-eng.com), provides customized Board Support Packages marrying open source (including coreboot®) solutions with proprietary software, creating streamlined boot solutions that also create flexibility in application. Sage partners with processor manufacturers, including AMD, to provide coreboot solutions for the open source community, as well as developing SageBIOS™ BSPs for customers desiring the flexibility of open source firmware stripped of unnecessary code and backed by rigorously tested solutions.