About us

Pineboards is the brainchild of two individuals: Michał Gapiński and Mirosław Folejewski. We are enthusiasts, aficionados, and evangelists of Embedded systems, particularly projects and products based on the incredibly popular single-board computer.

Inspired and captivated by the launch of the new 5th generation single board computer with support for PCIe Express expansion, we founded Pineboards at the end of September 2023.

Our team is a duo of individuals with complementary skills. Michał specializes in software and firmware, as well as in trade and sales. On the other hand, Mirek is in charge of hardware design, PCB circuits, and oversees their prototyping, testing, and mass production.

We are not just professional software and hardware engineers; as makers and independent creators, we are also the authors of many of our own constructions and DIY projects.

Our experience extends to working for international corporations in Europe and the USA, including stints in California's Silicon Valley. We have had the opportunity to collaborate with leading tech companies, gaining valuable insights and experiences that fuel our passion for innovation.

Pineboards represents our commitment to advancing the world of Embedded systems and our dedication to creating and sharing innovative solutions that inspire and empower the tech community.


Founders

Michał Gapiński
mgapinski@pineboards.io
x.com/mikegapinski

A seasoned Android Open Source Project (AOSP) and Linux kernel developer, Michał Gapiński has been working on mobile embedded solutions since 2011. Their journey began with enhancing the LG Optimus (GT-540), including porting Froyo and Gingerbread, and a kernel bring-up that enabled the Ice Cream Sandwich port. This expertise extended to creating 3rd party AOSP builds for various devices from Sony, LG, and Samsung, and maintaining CyanogenMod (now LineageOS) for Sony's 2011 phone lineup via the LegacyXperia organization. A notable achievement includes porting Android to the Samsung Wave, replacing its bootloader with Das U-Boot for a complete kernel bring-up.

Michał also spearheaded the innovative Tesla Android Project, transforming Tesla's inbuilt browser into an interactive Android tablet. This ambitious endeavor began with an initial release after six months of intensive development. The project evolved through several versions, each adding significant improvements like the integration of essential software within AOSP, simplifying installation through Raspberry Pi, and introducing advanced features such as DRM support, hardware-accelerated video, USB tethering, OTA updates, and GPS functionality. After almost two years the Tesla Android Compute Hardware Bundle entered the market as a plug and play solution for Tesla owners looking to expand their ownership experience with 3rd party apps.

Mirosław Folejewski
mfolejewski@pineboards.io
x.com/Mirko_DIY

Hardware and PCB designer with over 18 years of commercial experience, and over 30 years of experience as a DIY maker and amateur hobbyist. His main areas of interest include advanced digital systems and Embedded technologies, based on SoC, MCU, FPGA, and DSP type circuits, utilizing super-fast digital interfaces such as HDMI, PCIe, Gigabit Ethernet, USB, and MIPI. One of his passions outside of professional work is creating his own DIY (Do It Yourself) hobby projects, mainly based single board computers, such as Compute Module 4 (CM4) and the RP2040 microcontroller. In his free time, he loves to design multilayer PCB circuits, as evidenced by numerous hardware projects available on his GitHub profile. Mirosław Folejewski is very eager to work for the Open Source community, actively supporting such initiatives. Many of his projects have been published under Open Hardware principles and have received certification from the Open Source Hardware Association (OSHWA).

Mirosław Folejewski's collaboration with Jeff Geerling, a renowned enthusiast of Embedded technology and Raspberry Pi products, has been a significant part of his journey for over two years. Together, they have developed notable projects such as MirkoPC and Pi4GPU. The MirkoPC project, in particular, gained attention for its role in testing new booting functionalities of the CM4 module from an SSD NVMe in 2021.



Folejewski's assistance was crucial in 2022 when he worked with Geerling on integrating high-performance GPU cards with the Compute Module 4, a venture extensively documented on Geerling's blog and in various YouTube videos. Adding a touch of personal charm to their professional interactions, Folejewski once shared traditional Polish candies, "krówki," with Geerling in a lighthearted moment during a video review.