September 2014 – Pretoria, SOUTH AFRICA –Keystone Electronic Solutions, provider of Electronic Engineering Research and Development solutions in South Africa, has developed their Blue Penguin CPU module that allows users to create computers and open-source platforms to fit their own specifications. Blue Penguin gives users complete control over how they develop and create solutions in a cost-effective and customisable environment.

Relying on Keystone’s version of Linux, which they dubbed Guinnux, its operating environment closely follows desktop and server Linux environments in order to create a familiar and predictable Linux development experience. Guinnux provides access to an ever growing number of packaged applications and libraries, available for installation from the Guinnux web repository.

Onboard support for scripting languages such as lua, PHP and Python allows for immediate onboard application development and deployment without the use of cross compilers. Further, the Guinnux cross compile tool chain and development libraries are available for customers from the Guinnux site.

Further, Linux Device Tree support enables the quick and easy deployment of the Blue Penguin module on any custom hardware and allows Keystone to provide services such as the design and development of bespoke Blue Penguin mother board PCBs, customisation of the Linux kernel and drivers for specialised hardware as well as Linux application development and integration.

Ivan Popov, Director and co-founder of Keystone Electronic Solutions commented, “The value of this technology is that it offers superb control, management and maintenance. The device is based on the principles open development and creativity that are inherent in Raspberry Pi and Arduino and we have designed it so that it is easy to use and can be customised to fit any requirements.”

The first prototype was launched in August 2014 and provides customers with a solution that is extremely easy to manage and gives them the freedom to do their own development. It can be modified and adapted to fit any product and solution and Keystone offers customisation tools so that clients can run their own software on the front end.

This South African original is priced perfectly for the local market at R1,575 for the 256MB DDR2 RAM module and R1,950 for the two 512MG DDR2 RAM module.

Blue Penguin is only the size of a business card and only needs 3.3VDC power in order to run. It comes with a Micro SD card slot, JTAG debug connector and the Guinnux (Keystone’s version of Linux) operating system preinstalled.

Additional specifications:

Blue Penguin can be accessed through the SOD IMM connector through the following peripherals:

- Two MAC / Ethernet interaces at 10/100 Mbits each
- Four USARTS ports
- Two UARTS ports
- Debug UART
- 8-bit high speed multimedia card interface
- Two synchronous serial controllers
- One SPI interface
- Three twin wire interfaces
- One CAN interface
- One soft modem
- Two USB hosts and one USB device
- 24-bit LCD with resistive touch interface and an image sensor interface
- 10 ADC channels
- GPIOs

About Keystone Electronic Solutions Established in 2007, Keystone Electronic Solutions provides a range of electronic engineering research and development (R&D) services in order to assist customers with product development and preparing the product for the market. Based in Waterkloof, Pretoria, the company services the national market, primarily in telecommunications, but increasingly in mining, security and retail. www.kses.net

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