Chapter 1. Getting Started with the Galileo

You've chosen Intel's new Galileo processor board and you are ready to start some amazing projects. However, you might be new to this kind of processor, or you might have used another similar processor but not the Galileo. This book is designed to lead you step-by-step through a number of examples that will provide you with the knowledge you need to access the power of the Galileo. You'll also learn how to add additional hardware to sense the world around you, display information, and even control motors or servos.

In this chapter, you'll start by unpacking and connecting the Galileo to your host machine, then you'll learn how to use the Galileo from your remote computer. If you know how to use Mac or Linux machines, this chapter will show you how to use them. You'll take a peek into the internals of the Galileo and learn about the Linux machine hiding behind the simple Galileo exterior.

For this chapter, the objectives are as follows:

• Unpacking and connecting the Galileo to a host computer
• Loading and configuring the Galileo IDE, based on the Arduino IDE
• Downloading and running some simple example programs
• Taking a peek at the Linux machine at the heart of the Galileo