Is the Handy Cricket system open-source like the Handy Board?
No, the Handy Cricket system is not open-source. The university at which the Cricket was developed has retained rights to the design. There are technical papers published that explain the architecture of the Cricket in fair detail (for example, an article in the IBM Systems Journal), so much of the Cricket design is public. Fred is publishing additional articles that document the hardware design, software APIs, and interfacing methods. See the Cricket Tech section of the Handy Cricket web site. (Last updated 2002-06-21) The Handy Cricket seems bigger than the MIT Cricket. It’s true the Handy Cricket is bigger than the research Cricket. The reason is that the Handy Cricket runs off of four AA batteries, while the research Cricket used a 9v battery. The 9v battery is a cool form factor, but in real-world use, the research Cricket burns through them pretty quickly. We’re talking a battery life of under an hour in some applications. At $2 a pop for a 9v alkaline, that gets expensive fast.
No, the Handy Cricket system is not open-source. The university at which the Cricket was developed has retained rights to the design. There are technical papers published that explain the architecture of the Cricket in fair detail (for example, an article in the IBM Systems Journal), so much of the Cricket design is public. Fred is publishing additional articles that document the hardware design, software APIs, and interfacing methods. See the Cricket Tech section of the Handy Cricket web site. (Last updated 2002-06-21) The Handy Cricket seems bigger than the MIT Cricket. It’s true the Handy Cricket is bigger than the research Cricket. The reason is that the Handy Cricket runs off of four AA batteries, while the research Cricket used a 9v battery. The 9v battery is a cool form factor, but in real-world use, the research Cricket burns through them pretty quickly. We’re talking a battery life of under an hour in some applications. At $2 a pop for a 9v alkaline, that gets expensive fast.
