Onion Brings Its Omega2, Omega2S SOMs Back — in Single-Board Computer Form

Eight years after their launch, the Omega2 and Omega2S MIPS modules are now available pre-installed on a compact SBC-like carrier.

Gareth Halfacree
2 months agoHW101 / Internet of Things

Embedded computing specialist Onion Corporation has launched a crowdfunding campaign for two new development boards, designed to make it easier to experiment with its venerable Omega2 and Omega2S systems-on-modules: the Omega 2 Eval Boards.

"Our Omega2 Eval Boards offer a streamlined starting point for working with Onion Omega2 modules," writes Onion's Lazar Demin. "Built to reduce setup friction, they are essential tools for evaluation, prototyping, and development. These boards can function as templates for custom designs and even as standalone SBCs for your applications."

The Omega2 is back, now in single-board computer form: meet the Omega2 and Omega2S Eval Boards. (📹: Omega Corporation)

Onion's Omega2 SOMs have a long history: the company launched its original Omega design in 2015, unveiling the second-generation Omega2 and Omega2 Plus in 2016 — built around the Mediatek MTK7688 system-on-chip, featuring a single MIPS-architecture processor core running at up to 580MHz and up to 128MB of RAM. The later Omega2S and Omega2S Plus took the same hardware and moved to a surface-mount module from the original through-hole design, with all four models available side-by-side.

Now, eight years on, the Onion Omega2 family is growing once more with ready-to-run development boards featuring the buyer's choice of the standard or S-suffixed Omega2 modules — the former offering 26 general-purpose input/output (GPIO) pins, the latter 43. Both boards include a USB Type-A host port, an Ethernet port, 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi, an SD Card slot, and USB Type-C for power and data — with all available GPIO pins brought out to twin 0.1" female pin headers.

Anyone who might have expected to see an upgrade in the modules themselves, though, will be disappointed: both boards have the same single-core 580MHz MIPS processor, 32MB of flash memory, and 128GB of storage as ever — even now that MIPS itself has abandoned the architecture, which bears its name in favor of the free and open source RISC-V architecture.

Onion is currently funding production of the Omega2 Eval Board and Omega 2S Eval Board on Crowd Supply, priced at $35 each plus shipping — a $30 premium over the module-only launch price.; the company has also unveiled several add-on modules, including an RFID reader, compact prototyping board, OLED display, servo controller, and analog to digital converter (ADC) good for four inputs at 16-bit precision. The boards are expected to ship in March next year.

Gareth Halfacree
Freelance journalist, technical author, hacker, tinkerer, erstwhile sysadmin. For hire: freelance@halfacree.co.uk.
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