In everyday life, we have seen many of the new SBCs (Single Board Computer) getting released and one of the most used SBCs is beaglebone which is no less than a computer as it has almost every functionality and is capable of performing almost every operation which can be performed using the computer or any laptop. 

It is the reason why Beaglebone is one of the most demanded Single board computers or SBC. Beaglebone SBC is developed by its parent company Texas Instruments and it is available on the internet for buying. 

The Beaglebone Black is an open hardware single-board computer. The Beaglebone Black focuses on an extraordinary market so there is performance guaranteed. It is an engineering-focused board as well as it is a cost-efficient board

Beaglebone black comes with a compact package consisting of a processor, memory, graphic acceleration, etc. It is based on a powerful processor which is sitara AM3358BZCZ100 which is an ARM CORTEX A8 processor with 1GHz AM335x. 

One more extraordinary functionality which Beaglebone has is that it does not require any extra operating system to be installed by the user as it comes with a Debian version of Linux in which a Linux terminal is available which is then used to run common Linux commands and operate it as per requirement. 

That is all in the introduction of the Beaglebone black, let us now have a look at the board components of the board:

Board components of the Beaglebone black

The components of the Beaglebone black are as follows:

1. Processor – The Beaglebone black comes with a compact yet powerful processor which is Sitara AM3358BZC ARM Cortex-A8 which runs at 1 GHz. This processor makes Beaglebone black more efficient. 

2. Memory – The Beaglebone blackboard comes with 512 MB of DDR3L RAM(Random Access Memory). It consists of 4 GB of eMMC or embedded Multi-Media Card storage for operating systems and storage of data.

3. Ethernet – Beaglebone Blackboard comes with an in-built ethernet 10/100 for network connectivity. 

4. USB – There are two USB 2.0 ports available on the Beaglebone blackboard. These two USB 2.0 ports are used for connecting to a computer, adding peripherals, and for powering the board respectively.

5. MicroHDMI –  There is a micro HDMI port available on the board for connecting to the display.

6. MicroSD Card Slot – For the need of additional storage and for the purpose of booting the operating system there is a Micro SD card slot available on the beaglebone black board.

7. Serial UART Headers – There are serial headers available on the board for connecting the serial devices.

8. Power Input – For powering up the board a barrel jack(5V) is available on the board.

9. Reset Button – There is a RESET button available on the board for resetting the board.

10. User LEDs – Four onboard LEDs that can be controlled by software.

11. Boot button – There is a boot button available on the board for booting the board.

12. EEPROM – The board has an EEPROM which contains information about the board and can be used for customization.

That is all in the components of the board. Let us now have a look at the specifications of the Beaglebone black board. 

Specification of Beaglebone black 

That is all in the specifications of the Beaglebone blackboard. Let us now have a look at the pinout description of the board.

Pinout of Beaglebone black 

Power Input

Beaglebone black has two ways to get power inputs which are using a DC power jack input port and USB. The power ratings of both of the ports are different.

Power Output

The power output pins of the Beaglebone black are used to give power to external devices. The description of the pins are as follows:-

1. The first pin gives 3 Volts of voltage. The incoming power of this pin comes directly from the LDO or we can say that Low Dropout. This pin can be used for transmitting a maximum of 250mA current to the devices which are rated for this value of current.  In P9 – Pin 3 and Pin 4.

2. The second power port of Beaglebone black provides 5 volts of output. The power of this pin comes directly from the DC Jack power supply pin. There will be no power in this pin if the beaglebone blackboard is operated using a USB power pin. The current supply of this pin is limited to 1000mA hence it is used for devices which are rated for this value. In P9 – Pin 5 and Pin 6.

3. The third power port of the beaglebone black board utilizes a regulator. The power of this pin comes from both USB and DC power ports. The value of the voltage on this pin will be 5 volts but the value of current will depend on the power input of this pin. In P9 – Pin 7 and Pin 8.

Ground Pin

To operate multiple devices a common ground is required and guess what Beaglebone has multiple pins for this which are connected internally with each other and other peripherals. Ground pins of Beaglebone black are as follows:

In P8:

DGND – Pin1, Pin2

In P9:

DGND – Pin 1, Pin 2, Pin43, Pin44, Pin45, Pin46

GPIO pins of Beaglebone black 

There are a total of 69 Input/Output pins available on the Beaglebone black board however not all pins are dedicated for this purpose as some of them can also be used for other functions. These I/O pins of Beaglebone blackboard contain 3.3 volts. The I/O pins of Beaglebone black board are given below: 

In P8 header

In P9 Header

Communication pins of Beaglebone black

1. I2C Pins

The Beaglebone blackboard contains 2 pairs of the I2C communication protocol. I2C stands for “Inter-Integrated Circuit.” It is a two-wire serial communication protocol. It uses two pins for communication purposes. One of them is used to send data while the other pin is used to receive data. 

The two pins of the I2C protocol are the “serial Clock Pin(SCL)” and “Serial Data Pin(SDA)”.

• SCL – It is defined as the line or pin which transfers the clock data. SCL pin is used to synchronize the shift of data in between two devices. This signal is generated by the master device.

It is a clock line.

• SDA – It is defined as the line or pin which is used by slave devices to send and receive data. It is a data line.

I2C pins on the board are as follows:

I2C1_SCL – Pin17

I2C1_SDA – Pin18

I2C2_SCL – Pin19

I2C2_SDA – Pin20

2. SPI Pins

The Beaglebone blackboard supports the “Semi – Peripheral Communication Protocol” or SPI. The SPI protocol is used to develop communication between the controller device and its peripheral devices. Three pins are needed for SPI communication protocol which are:- 

• MISO/D1 – It stands for Master Input/Slave Output. This data line sends data to the master device. 
• MOSI/D0 – It stands for Master Output/Slave Input. This data line is used for sending data to slaves/peripheral devices.
• SCK – This pin is used to synchronize the data transfer between the master and slave device.

SPI pins on the board are listed below:

SPI0_CS0 – Pin17

SPI0_D0 – Pin21

SPI0_D1 – Pin18

SPI0_SCLK – Pin22

SPI1_CS0 – Pin28

SPI1_D0 – Pin29

SPI1_D1 – Pin30

SPI1_SCLK – Pin31 

3. UART Pin

The Beaglebone black consists of a UART communication protocol which is used for serial communication of data. It needs two pins for the communication purpose which are Rx and TX.

• Rx – This pin is used to transmit the serial data.
• TX – This pin is used to receive the serial data.

UART pins on the board are listed below:

In P8:

UART5_TX – Pin37

UART_RX – Pin38

In P9:

UART1_TX – Pin24

UART1_RX – Pin26

UART2_TX – Pin21

UART2_RX – Pin22

UART4_TX – Pin11

UART4_RX – Pin13

PWM Pins

The beaglebone blackboard consists of 8 PWM(Pulse Width Modulation) pins in P8 and 6 PWM pins in P9. The work of these PWM pins is to generate the desired output square pulse to control any operable devices connected to the board. The PWM pins of the Beaglebone blackboard are as follows:

In P8:

PWM0A – Pin22

PWM0B – Pin21

PWM0A – Pin31

PWM0B – Pin29

PWM1A – Pin14

PWM1B – Pin16

ECAPPWM0 – Pin42(Can also be programmed for PWM input signal)

ECAPPWM2 – Pin28(Can also be programmed for PWM input signal)

In P9:

PWM1A – Pin36

PWM1B – Pin34

PWM2A – Pin45

PWM2B – Pin46

PWM2A – Pin19

PWM2B – Pin13

MCASP Pin 

These pins are used for multi-channel serial applications. It uses a separate clock, frame sync, and data pin. The MCASP pins of the Beaglebone blackboard are in the P9 header.  

1. MCASP0_FSX (Frame Sync) – Pin29
2. MCASP0_ACLKX (Clock Sync) – Pin25
3. MCASP0_AHCLKX (Data Out) – Pin31
4. MCASP0_AXR2 (Data In) – Pin28

MMC support pin

MMC stands for “Multimedia Controller”. These pins allow the devices to boot from the built-in eMMC in place of an SD card. In BeagleBone Black there is an embedded 2GB MMC available. The MMC pins are:

1. MMC1_CMD – Pin20
2. MMC1_CLK – Pin21
3. MMC1_DAT0 – Pin25
4. MMC1_DAT1 – Pin24
5. MMC1_DAT2 – Pin5
6. MMC1_DAT3 – Pin6
7. MMC1_DAT4 – Pin23
8. MMC1_DAT5 – Pin22
9. MMC1_DAT6 – Pin3
10. MMC1_DAT7 – Pin4

HDMI LCD Interface pins

These pins are used to drive the LCD by using the HDMI. The HDMI LCD interface pins are as follows:

1. LCD_VSYNC – Pin27
2. LCD_PCLK – Pin28
3. LCD_HSYNC – Pin29
4. LCD_AC_BIAS – Pin30
5. LCD_DATA14 – Pin31
6. LCD_DATA15 – Pin32
7. LCD_DATA13 – Pin33
8. LCD_DATA11 – Pin34
9. LCD_DATA12 – Pin35
10. LCD_DATA10 – Pin36
11. LCD_DATA8 – Pin37
12. LCD_DATA9 – Pin38
13. LCD_DATA6 – Pin39
14. LCD_DATA7 – Pin40
15. LCD_DATA4 – Pin41
16. LCD_DATA5 – Pin42
17. LCD_DATA2 – Pin43
18. LCD_DATA3 – Pin44
19. LCD_DATA0 – Pin45
20. LCD_DATA1 – Pin46

Analog to digital converter 

The analog-to-digital converter is used to convert analog signals to digital signals. Beaglebone black has a total of 7 analog to digital converting channels and all of them use a single 12-bit ADC channel but it needs to be activated first by giving it 1.8V of power through ADC power pins. 

The ADC pins of beagle bone black are available on the header P9 and the pins are as follows:

1. AIN0 – Pin39
2. AIN1 – Pin40
3. AIN2 – Pin37
4. AIN3 – Pin38
5. AIN4 – Pin33
6. AIN5 – Pin36
7. AIN6 – Pin35
8. VDD_ADC – Pin32
9. GND_ADC – Pin34

That is all in the pin description of Beaglebone black. If you still have any doubt left then no need to worry as we have added some frequently asked questions below:

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1 – Does beaglebone black have wifi?

No, beaglebone black does not have an in-built WiFi. 

Q2 – How do I configure a GPIO pin as an input or output?

To configure a GPIO pin as an input and output you can use Libraries like the Adafruit BeagleBone Python library or the GPIO sysfs interface.

Q3 – Can I use the GPIO pins for analog input?

No, you can not use GPIO pins for analog input as it is primarily digital. You can use Analog pins for analog input.