[Arm-netbook] [flying squirrel] revision 3 started

[luke.leighton]

http://rhombus-tech.net/community_ideas/kde_tablet/news/revision_3_starts/

well... i've been quiet for the past few days because i've been
incredibly busy.  the experiments with the STM32F103 for use as a
camera _would_ i think eventually have been fine... except that the
speed simply wasn't up to scratch.

so instead an extremely rapid bit of evaluation took place (thanks to
a friend at atmel) and the SAM4S QFN64 was picked.  the past two
evenings have been spent doing a near-complete re-layout of the PCB.

by shrinking the component sizes (0402) it's been possible to make
just enough space to optionally fit a SATA, Ethernet, 4-pin header for
USB and a 12-pin FPC as an expansion port.  WIFI stacks on top via a
2nd 4-pin USB header with 3.3v power. there's going to be a bit of
connector shuffling before this goes out, but it's basically doable.

so, in effect, this PCB is one step away from being the Monster
Engineering Board.  it's also only 12cm x 10cm (under 5in x 4in) which
is nice.

l.