Date invented 2014 Manufacturer Kosagi Frequency 1.2GHz (quad-core) | Design firm Bunnie Studios Introduced 2014 | |
 | ||
Processor ARM Cortex-A9 (Freescale i.MX6 Quad) | ||
Novena is an open-source computing hardware project designed by Andrew "bunnie" Huang and Sean "Xobs" Cross.
Description
The initial design of Novena started in 2012. It was developed by Sutajio Ko-usagi Pte. Ltd. and funded by a crowdfunding campaign which began on April 15, 2014. The first offering was a 1.2 GHz Freescale Semiconductor quad-core ARM architecture (i.MX6) computer closely coupled with a Xilinx FPGA. It was offered in "desktop", "laptop", or "heirloom laptop" form, or as a standalone motherboard.
On May 19, 2014, the crowdfunding campaign concluded having raised just over 280% of its target. The extra funding allowed the project to achieve 4 "stretch goals": the development of free software graphics drivers for the on-board video accelerator (etnaviv); the inclusion of a general-purpose breakout board; the inclusion of a "ROMulator" breakout board; and the inclusion of the MyriadRF software defined radio with the "system-level" offerings. The goals were achieved during May, 2014.
The Novena shipped with a screwdriver, as users are required to install the battery themselves, screw on the LCD bezel of their choice, and obtain speakers as a kit instead of using speaker boxes. Owners of a 3D printer can make and fine tune their own speaker box. The main boards were manufactured by AQS, an electronics manufacturing services provider.