Hardware Reference
In-Depth Information
Here's a definition of capes according to the creators of BeagleBone:
Adding cape plug-in boards to the popular BeagleBone computer allows hobbyists,
makers and developers to quickly and easily augment BeagleBone's capabilities
with LCD screens, motor control and battery power as well as the ability to create
their own circuits
This hardware openness lets you add functional boards, as you'd do from the
application markets (the Apple store, Google Play, and so on) and thus enables
you to add any functionality for your projects. You just have to plug your cape
onto the two expansion connectors so that it is directly powered and recognized
by the system. For a good overview, take a look at the capes' wiki page, available
Here, you will find documentations and presentations from professionals and
hobbyists who have designed capes.
Exploring capes' categories
At the beginning of BeagleBone Black, the Wiki was composed of 20 capes that
weren't compatible with the Black series. At the time of writing this topic, this list
has grown to 77 capes with 51 capes for BeagleBone Black; this gives us an idea of
the community's effort behind this market. Here's an extract:
