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March 03, 2025 00:35
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Intel Edison Cheatsheet

A comprehensive cheat sheet covering Intel Edison, its features, setup, and common commands. Useful for developers and makers working with this platform.

Edison Basics & Setup

Edison Specifications

CPU:

Intel Atom System-on-Chip (SoC), 500MHz

RAM:

1 GB LPDDR3

Storage:

4 GB eMMC

Wireless:

Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0

USB:

1x USB 2.0 OTG

GPIO:

40-pin connector with GPIOs, UART, I2C, SPI

Setting up Edison

  1. Connect Edison to your computer: Using a USB cable.
  2. Install drivers: For Windows, drivers might be needed.
  3. Use a serial terminal: Like PuTTY or screen to connect via serial communication.

Default serial settings: 115200 baud rate, 8 data bits, no parity, 1 stop bit.

Initial Login

Username:

root

Password:

(None by default, set it using passwd)

First Steps:

Set a password and configure Wi-Fi.

Networking & Package Management

Connecting to Wi-Fi

Use the configure_edison --wifi command to scan for and connect to a Wi-Fi network.

Alternatively, manually configure Wi-Fi by editing /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf.

Example:

network={
 ssid="YourNetworkName"
 psk="YourWiFiPassword"
 key_mgmt=WPA-PSK
}

Networking Commands

ifconfig wlan0

Display Wi-Fi interface configuration.

iwconfig wlan0

Display wireless network configuration.

ping <address>

Test network connectivity.

dhclient wlan0

Obtain IP address via DHCP.

Package Management (opkg)

Edison uses opkg for package management, similar to apt or yum.

opkg update - Update the package lists.

opkg install <package> - Install a package.

opkg remove <package> - Remove a package.

opkg list - List available packages.

opkg upgrade - Upgrade installed packages.

Working with GPIOs

Accessing GPIOs

GPIO pins can be accessed via the command line using the gpio command. Libraries are also available for Python and other languages.

GPIO Commands

gpio help

Display help information.

gpio export <pin> <direction>

Export a GPIO pin for use (direction: in or out).

gpio unexport <pin>

Unexport a GPIO pin.

gpio read <pin>

Read the value of a GPIO pin.

gpio write <pin> <value>

Write a value (0 or 1) to a GPIO pin.

Example: Blinking an LED

Connect an LED to GPIO pin 13 (for example) with a suitable resistor.

gpio export 13 out
while true; do
 gpio write 13 1
 sleep 1
 gpio write 13 0
 sleep 1
done

Development & Programming

Programming Languages

Edison supports multiple programming languages including C/C++, Python, Node.js, and others.

Python Development

Libraries:

mraa (for GPIO access), pyupm (for sensors).

Install Libraries:

opkg install python-mraa python-pyupm

Example (GPIO):

 
import mraa
import time

led = mraa.Gpio(13)
led.dir(mraa.DIR_OUT)

while True:
 led.write(1)
 time.sleep(1)
 led.write(0)
 time.sleep(1)

Node.js Development

Libraries:

mraa (for GPIO access), upm (for sensors).

Install Libraries:

npm install mraa upm

Example (GPIO):

 
var mraa = require('mraa');
var led = new mraa.Gpio(13);
led.dir(mraa.DIR_OUT);

setInterval(function() {
 led.write(led.read() ^ 1);
}, 1000);