ae. How does Intel Galileo compare to PIC32, Arduino projects and Raspberry Pi?

QUESTION:

How does Intel Galileo compare to PIC32, Arduino projects and Raspberry Pi?

ANSWER:

Intel Galileo is neither a bird nor a mouse. Intel Galileo is a bare Pentium x86 architecture and it has no graphics processor nor video output. There are many questions asked on the Internet about options to install a micro PCIe graphics card, but only a few answers. However Intel Galileo is compatible with Arduino software and projects. Unfortunately, it is still unclear, if one needs such a complex computer to drive a robot. It is probably a much better combination to use a mini PC as a robot controller and microcontrollers (like PIC32) to drive actuators. A mini PC has much more computing power and a microcontroller has more hardware to drive physical devices. Besides, you can only install Linux on Intel Galileo despite that it has the x86 architecture.

If you are a complete beginner in the fields of electronics and/or robotics, it is probably a much better idea to use a mini PC or an old laptop together with a microcontroller… See how simple it is to build a basic circuit to connect a microcontroller to a PC via USB 2.0.

There is one more thing to note. A simple program (sketch) such as blinking a LED takes almost 50 kB when it is downloaded to Intel Galileo 256 kB RAM. A far more complex 32-bit program compiled from C language for PIC32MX250F128B takes less than 1 kB. However, you are able to run your programs from RAM with PIC32MX250F128B, too. It is obvious that Intel Galileo was developed to be used as a learning tool by computer science high schools and faculties. But it could hardly be used for much more.

What about Raspberry Pi? Rapberry Pi is a full-fledged micro PC complete with a complex GPU and an ARM processor. It can easily play full HD videos. It is more like a sized down mini PC without a casing and room for hard drive or SSD, but it lacks microcontroller functionality. This is exactly what many people would like to see on intel Galileo and many are greatly disappointed when they discover that there is no easy way to attach and use a graphics card. This also means that Intel Galileo cannot be used for multimedia applications like Raspberry Pi.

Galileo is intended for hardware developers. But do they need it? There is a number of popular 32-bit microcontrollers already on the marked (like PIC32MX250F128B) that burn much less energy and they can be powered from an USB port. What is the benefit of using Intel Galileo? It is obvious that without a graphics processor it can hardly do more than a simple microcontroller. Well, it has more DRAM and different connectivity and memory card options. If you use a mini PC in combination with a USB attached microcontroller, this options become unimportant, because all the mini PC to the microcontroller communication goes through USB 2.0 bus. A mini PC has all the other communication options.

What about Windows? Nope! Despite the fact that Intel Galileo has a Pentium x86 architecture there is no embedded Windows version that could be loaded on it. Many Windows fans were greatly disappointed. However, being forced to use Linux most will probably choose an open development platform that offers much more functionality. There are now already Raspbery Pi models with 512 kB DRAM…

Intel Galileo is Arduino compatible, but it has less I/O pins and less configuration options than a PIC32MX250F128B microcontroller. Intel Quark SoC X1000 Application Processor also hats up to about 50 °C, which is quite a lot for a 400 MHz Pentium x86 class processor. Click on the photo to enlarge it.

Blinking LED memory usage... Click on the screenshot to enlarge it.