In order to use the BeagleBoard, we will need to connect it with peripheral hardware and install an operating system. This chapter will look at setting up the BeagleBoard for rapid prototyping. We will start by setting up the BeagleBoard hardware. We then install some software and tools on a Windows 7 PC, on which we will install an embedded Linux operating system onto an SD card. Once this is done, you insert the SD card into the BeagleBoard's SD card slot and power on. Then you will have a BeagleBoard running Linux and working like a desktop PC.

This chapter will cover the following topics in a step-by-step manner:

By the end of this chapter, we will be ready to get started with our rapid prototyping and developing our applications.

Let's start by setting up the hardware for rapid prototyping.