Congratulations on getting a new Coralboard Google I/O Edition!
The Coralboard is designed to be highly capable in a headless configuration
without a display. In the headless configuration, you will need to connect to
the Coralboard from your host machine and program it entirely through a
command-line interface (CLI) using a terminal window.
While the default setup is headless, Coralboard does support an optional MIPI
display if your project requires a visual interface. For more details on
compatible displays, pinouts, and hardware configuration, refer to the [User's
Guide](https://developers.google.com/coral/products/SL2610-user-guide).
The Google I/O Edition kit includes a few accessories for the Coralboard so you
can experiment with on-device AI models. Some assembly is required, so follow
these steps to get started.
### 1. What's in the box?
- Synaptics Coralboard 2GB Limited Edition
- Sensor HAT accessory board
- CSI camera module
- CSI flex ribbon cable
You will also need (not included): A Phillips #0 screwdriver and a USB-C cable
to connect your machine.
### 2. Assemble the sensor HAT
Included with the Google I/O edition only, the sensor HAT is an optional
accessory that attaches to the Coralboard. The sensor HAT adds a camera for
capturing images, two microphones for capturing audio, a piezo buzzer for sound
output, and a few LEDs as programmable indicators.
**Connect the camera module:** First, plug the flex ribbon cable into the camera
module. Pull the lock bar, insert the flex cable as shown, and push the lock bar
back in to secure the flex.
**Connect to the Coralboard:** Next, plug the other end of the ribbon cable into
the CSI connector on the main Coralboard (located between the two sides of the
mikroBUS socket). Pull the lock bar, insert the flex cable as shown, and push
the lock bar to secure it.
**Mount the camera:** Place the camera module on the dedicated position mounts
on the HAT board and use the four provided M1.6 screws to secure it.
**Attach the HAT**: Plug the HAT board down onto the Coralboard. The camera
should
be facing up (outward) with the flex cable folded neatly under the HAT board as
shown.
### 3. Connect and boot up
#### Boot Switch Configuration
Coralboard includes a physical switch that determines the location of the
software boot image. It can be loaded from the eMMC memory (default) or from an
SD card (optional). Ensure the switch is set to the '1' position as shown in the
image.
- **1**: eMMC boot (default, this is the OFF position)
- **ON**: SD card boot (optional, not supported out-of-the-box)
#### Power the Coralboard
Coralboard is powered through a USB-C connector located in the lower right-hand
corner of the board. This power may be supplied through a connection to a host
machine (where a data connection is desired) or a USB-C power supply.
#### Status LEDs
Coralboard features three status LEDs to help you monitor operation:
- **Green LED:** Power indicator (always on when powered up)
- **Red LED:** Heartbeat indicator (two short blinks with a delay)
- **Blue LED:** IO indicator (sporadic based on memory access)
### 4. Open a terminal and log in
In the headless configuration, you will access the operating system
using a terminal window using one of two options:
#### **Option 1** - Use the Android ADB Interface (via the host USB-C cable)
On your host machine, download [Android SDK
Platform-Tools](https://developer.android.com/tools/releases/platform-tools) and
see details on [using the ADB
interface](https://developer.android.com/tools/adb)
Open a terminal on your host machine and use the following command to open a
shell:
adb shell
#### **Option 2** - Use a data cable with the sensor HAT
To connect to the Coralboard using the sensor HAT, plug a USB-C data cable
directly from the HAT to your host machine, open your preferred terminal
emulator and connect using the designated serial port set to a baud rate of
115200.
Login:
- Login: root
- Password: *(none)*
See the [User Guide](https://developers.google.com/coral/products/SL2610-user-guide#method-2-usb-serial) for more
detailed examples of connecting over serial.
## 5. Connect to a network (recommended)
For the best experience, we recommend you connect your Coralboard to a network.
There are a few different methods but we recommend using Network Sharing
through the USB port.
Requirements:
- Host machine that supports network sharing
Follow these steps:
1. With the USB type C cable connected, enable network sharing on your host machine (the method depends on your machine type - Windows, macOS, or Linux supported, see [User Guide](https://developers.google.com/coral/products/SL2610-user-guide#connect-to-a-network-over-usb) for details).
2. Share the network to the "NCM".
3. On the Coralboard, enable DHCP: `udhcpc -i usb0`
If you have an m.2 Wi-Fi module then see the
[User Guide](https://developers.google.com/coral/products/SL2610-user-guide#attach-wifibluetooth-module-optional) for more
details on how to enable it.
## 6. Try out the AI demos!
Once you have successfully logged into the terminal, and connected to a network,
download example applications to start experimenting with on-device AI.
Each demo application is organized into its own subdirectory. Navigate to any of
the subdirectories and open its README file for specific execution instructions
and details. Available Demo Subdirectories:
- `gemma_translate` -- Text translation using Gemma
- `jellectronica` -- Interactive audio and sensor demo
- `Object_detection` -- Real-time object identification using the camera
- `Function_calling` -- LLM tool use and function calling workflows
- `Image_classification` -- Image categorization models
For more on each of these applications, head over to the
[Demos](https://developers.google.com/coral/products/SL2610-demos-examples) page.
To obtain the examples, connect to a Coralboard terminal and clone the examples
to the home directory.
cd /home/root
git clone https://github.com/synaptics-astra-demos/sl2610-examples
Follow the instructions in the top level README.md to get started.
cd sl2610-examples
more README.md
> [!NOTE]
> **Note:** Each example has an option to run with or without a display. See README.md for details.
### Can't get online?
Network sharing is disabled on some host machines. The object detection and
image classification examples support offline dependency install.
Requirements:
- Network-connected host machine
- `git` (optional)
- ADB
Follow these steps:
1. Download [sl2610-examples](https://github.com/synaptics-astra-demos/sl2610-examples) as a zip file or clone with `git` and compress to a zip file to make the transfer easier (e.g. `zip -r sl2610-examples-main.zip sl2610-examples`).
2. Copy with ADB: `adb push sl2610-examples-main.zip /home/root/`
Follow the instructions in the top level README.md to get started. See
[offline dependency
installation](https://github.com/synaptics-astra-demos/sl2610-examples/blob/main/README.md#setup-python-environment).
## Next steps
Ready to go deeper? Once you have gotten started,
visit the full [User guide](https://developers.google.com/coral/products/SL2610-user-guide) for comprehensive details on
advanced hardware configuration, deep-dive software setups, and full technical
specifications.
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