Novena (computing platform)


Novena is an open-source computing hardware project designed by Andrew "bunnie" Huang and Sean "Xobs" Cross.

Description

The initial design of Novena started in 2012.
It was developed by Sutajio Ko-usagi Pte. Ltd. and funded by a crowdfunding campaign which began on April 15, 2014. The first offering was a 1.2 GHz Freescale Semiconductor quad-core ARM architecture computer closely coupled with a Xilinx FPGA. It was offered in "desktop", "laptop", or "heirloom laptop" form, or as a standalone motherboard.
On May 19, 2014, the crowdfunding campaign concluded having raised just over 280% of its target. The extra funding allowed the project to achieve 4 "stretch goals": the development of free and open source graphics drivers for the on-board video accelerator ; the inclusion of a general-purpose breakout board providing 16 FPGA outputs and 8 FPGA inputs, six 10-bit analog inputs and two 10bit analog outputs ; the inclusion of a "ROMulator" breakout board capable of emulating TSOP NAND flash devices; and inclusion of a MyriadRF software defined radio at all hardware-purchasing backing levels. The three hardware stretch goals shipped in the form of add-on boards that use the Novena's special high-speed I/O expansion header, as seen in the upper-left of the Novena board.
The Novena shipped with a screwdriver, as users are required to install the battery themselves, screw on the LCD bezel of their choice, and obtain speakers as a kit instead of using speaker boxes. Owners of a 3D printer can make and fine tune their own speaker box. The main boards were manufactured by AQS, an electronics manufacturing services provider.