Toys for Techies: BUG

BUG is a collection of easy-to-use electronic modules that snap together to build any gadget you can imagine. Each BUGmodule represents a specific gadget function (ex: a camera, a keyboard, a video output, etc). You decide which functions to include and BUG takes care of the rest letting you try out different combinations quickly and easily. With BUG and the integrated programming environment/web community (BUGnet), anyone can build, program and share innovative devices and applications. We don't define the final products - you do.

The BUGbase (an ARM CPU and lots of interfaces) and four BUGmodules (GPS; Digital Camera/Videocam; Touch-sensitive, Color LCD Screen; and Accelerometer, Motion Sensor) will be available later this quarter. Four more BUGmodules are promised for Q2, but as one of them is a teleporter I would take that with grain of salt.

The software is Open Source and has a Java-based SDK:

BUG is built entirely with open source software. BMI, the BUG Module Interface, attaches devices to the BUG. Device-based services and applications are dynamically available based on which modules are connected to the BUG. Higher up the stack is Java, which hosts a service-oriented component runtime called OSGi. Java and OSGi make creating new BUG applications simple and intuitive, as BUG applications are essentially one or more bundles. In addition, each BUGmodule launches an OSGi bundle which in turn creates services for other components to consume. BUG applications are created using the BUG SDK (internally named Dragonfly), and are shared with other developers and users through BUGnet, our online community.

When I contacted BUG Labs about review units, they pointed me at "Dragonfly, the Eclipse-based BUG SDK, which includes a virtual BUG emulator."

The "getting started" guide is at http://bugcommunity.com/wiki.