BeBoPr Boards Available Online!

After about a year (or an eternity in the 3D printer world), the BeBoPr board is FINALLY available for purchase through the folks at Circuitco via their BoardZoo.com site:

http://boardzoo.com/index.php/beaglebone/bone-bebopr.html

With any luck, vendors who have had the BeBoPr listed but unavailable for ages (like Mouser and DigiKey) will also have stock soon.

Note that this is the version of the BeBoPr designed for the BeableBone White (remember that year or so I mentioned?), but these boards will work just fine with the newer BeagleBone Black with a few minor tweaks.  If you don't need the on-board HDMI, you can get the BeBoPr working with a BBB by cutting two pins and soldering two wires.  If you need HDMI or plan to attach an LCD cape, you have to move a bunch of pins around.  The easiest way to do this is to get a bridge-board and build it up with some wire and connectors.  You can order a set of boards directly from OSH Park, or I will probably be getting a quantity made since you probably won't need all three, and lead time on OSH Park PCBs is a couple weeks.  Contact me directly via e-mail: charles (at) steinkuehler (dot) net if you're interested in a set of boards, but note that it will be at least 2-3 weeks until I have any in-hand.

Bas (the BeBoPr designer) has more details on both of these options on his wiki, along with a bunch of other useful information.

The boards from Circuitco  should be exactly the same as the board I got directly from Bas (from an early prototype run) and have been using to drive my 3D printer, so it should work just fine with my MachineKit image.

UPDATE:
Bas has a new version of the BeBoPr, the BeBoPr+, which is a BeBoPr with the bridge board directly soldered on.  These boards are not yet available through BoardZoo or other online retailers, but Bas has a supply available for EUR 117 each.  Contact him directly via e-mail if you're interested: bebopr@aeselectronics.nl

Oh, you might think the bridge board looks a little funny and I agree.  It looks kind of funny...but when I'm hooking all the wires to my 3D printer, I REALLY appreciate the extra space between the BeBoPr and the BeagleBone.  Not only does it allow me to keep my serial terminal connected, but it keeps the HDMI, USB, and micro-SD cards away from all the wires going to the printer.  Having used the BeBoPr both ways, the extra space provided by the bridge board really helps to keep all the connections more accessible.