Thibaut Rouffineau
on 10 February 2016
Over the last few months Canonical and Intel have been working together to create a standard platform for developers to test and create x86-based IOT solutions using snappy Ubuntu Core. The results are here today and we’re pleased to announce the availability of the Ubuntu Core images for the Intel® NUC DE3815TY on our developer site.
We focused on the Intel® NUC for its relatively low cost point for a starter platform (around $150) and broad availability (you can even find them on Amazon!). This affordable device running Ubuntu Core offers a simple developer experience, making embedded development accessible to all with a deployment ready edge computing option for IOT.
We have just published the 15.04 snappy image and will also publish a 16.04 LTS version for this device when it is released in the next few months. As the device is on a three year guarantee lifecycle, having the long term support release will make it a trusted development platform for years to come.
A background on the Intel® NUC; they are mini PCs built with small packaging (190mm or 115mm * 116mm * 40mm) particularly suited for embedded use cases. Their small size, low consumption, fanless operations and low cost make them particularly strong candidates for digital display or retail kiosks. Combined with Ubuntu Core this creates opportunities across digital display and retail kiosks in particular. For example your preferred shop’s till could also double up as a bluetooth beacon, an advertising screen, a people counting device, just by installing a few apps on it.
The Intel® NUC DE3815TY is an ideal IOT development platform! It’s got enough computing power to prototype for all embedded use cases with an Intel® Atom Processor. It also offers a lot of IOs and configuration options: USB ports, I2C ports, 4Gb eMMC and the possibility to add a wireless card, up to 8G of RAM and a 2.5 inch HDD or SSD. Now, with the availability of snappy Ubuntu Core, developers have the possibility to simply bring the rich ecosystem of Ubuntu apps onto the Intel® NUC and into the embedded space. Don’t like embedded because cross-compilation is a bit painful? Development for the Intel® NUC requires none of that, what will run on the developer’s machine will run on the embedded device. With the addition of snapcraft, the tool used by Ubuntu Core to package apps, embedded development is now as simple as it can get.
But the Intel® NUC could also ramp up for production environments. With the option for VGA screens or HDMI it can cover both new build or legacy deployments. It also has plenty of spare CPU makes it a future proof choice and with a 3 years guarantee lifecycle it’s definitely built to cover all your future computing needs. This is exactly where snappy Ubuntu Core becomes powerful, combining the upgrade capabilities of Ubuntu Core and the app architecture – you can guarantee that your Intel® NUC will satisfy today’s use case as well as tomorrow’s.
