sooo… it’s just RAMPS for RaspberryPi with custom linux distro? 
It’s very similar to RAMPs although it has a few extra features like an expansion header. That said, the big thing is that it runs on the Pi, which existing firmware like Marlin cannot do.
@Allison_Hubbell What sort of experience in the 3D printing space does the design staff have? The bios don’t mention anything 3D printing specfic.
I like the concept of an all in one controller that accepts plug ins though I’m skeptical it could provide better performance than the RAMPS or Rambo boards I use with Marlin and Octoprint. Particlarly at the price point for a RAMPS solution.
The toolchain isn’t a hardware issue, it’s an integration issue. The hardware is good and available but it’s the integration of all the bits that get most new users.
Unless the devs have written somehting groundbreaking the Pi as a slicing engine is a disappointment compared to using a PC. It does it but it’s painfully slow. The Beaglebone Black is better but still well behind even the most modest PC. The current crop of SOCs aren’t quite up to the math.
This would be the kind of SoC board you’d want to use: http://www.hardkernel.com/main/products/prdt_info.php
I’m ordering one to get octoprint working on with sli3r just to see what I can do.
And by the looks of it, RAMPS has /far/ more IO expansion. And that’s just on an ATMega, it looks very behind-the-times compared to Smoothieboard or even RAMPS-FD.
@Electra_Flarefire Thanks, I hadn’t seen those before. The big dogs have designs in various stages for more powerful parts but nothing that I know of right now like the Odroid that is shipping.
@Erik_van_der_Zalm I don’t think anybody here but the OP is suggesting using the Pi for machine controller. For every CNC machine we use to make our kits from the Flow down to the MM2 printers use a separate controller card. That’s Tormach, Shopbot, Torchmate, Universal, Trotec and Epilog as well. I’m not aware of anyone that’s done a good RTOS machine control application using an off the shelf PC instead of embedded electronics.