Renesas RZ/V2H Cortex-A55/R8/M33 MPU comes with 80 TOPS AI accelerator for robotics and autonomous applications

Renesas RZ/V2H block chart

The RZ/V2H is the latest addition to the Reneasas family of 32-bit and 64-bit microprocessors. Renesas RZ/V2H microprocessor features four Arm Cortex-A55 application processing cores, dual Arm Cortex-R8 real-time processing cores, and one Cortex-M33 core for system management, as well as an AI accelerator with up to 80 TOPS (sparse) of performance. The RZ/V2H MPU includes the third generation of Renesas’ dynamically reconfigurable processor for AI (DRP-AI3) accelerator, a staple of the RZ/V series. The DRP-AI accelerator can run complex image AI models at a power efficiency of 10 TOPS per watt (TOPS/W), as much as 10 times higher than conventional microprocessors. Additionally, the RZ/V2H has another DRP that can be used in image processing and robotics applications. The board also comes with PCIe Gen3, USB 3.2, and Gigabit Ethernet for high-speed applications such as autonomous robotics and factory automation machine vision. It offers a performance boost over previous products […]

Microchip announces the PolarFire SoC Discovery Kit, a low-cost devkit for Linux and real-time applications

Microchip PolarFire SoC Discovery Kit

The SoC Discovery Kit is the latest addition to Microchip’s list of development kits for the PolarFire series. The series is the first SoC FPGA family powered by a deterministic, coherent RISC-V CPU cluster. They provide low power consumption, thermal efficiency, and defense-grade security for smart, networked systems. They also support a deterministic L2 memory system for Linux and real-time applications. Microchip launched the Icicle Kit for the PolarFire SoC in 2020 and it was followed by the Video and Imaging Kit which was intended for mid-bandwidth imaging and video applications. Now, Microchip has announced the Discovery Kit which is billed as a low-cost alternative to the Icicle. The Discovery Kit retains the full range of features needed for testing concepts quickly, developing firmware applications, and programming/debugging user code. According to Microchip, the kit will bring “a low-cost RISC-V and FPGA development for learning and rapid innovation” to new and […]

This New X-Fly drone mimics a bird’s flight (Crowdfunding)

x fly the drone designed to soar like a bird

Aeronautical engineer Edwin Van Ruymbeke has introduced X-Fly, a drone that emulates the flight pattern of a bird. The drone communicates via Bluetooth using the STM32WB15CC microcontroller, has a range of 100 meters, and can fly for 8-12 minutes with a swappable battery system. The company mentions that they have collaborated with the French military to develop the flapping wings mechanism, which incorporates gyroscopes and g-sensors, ensuring a stable flight. The drone can be controlled with a smartphone app or an attachable optical joystick and It’s also durable against crashes, has a quick-swap battery system, and improved wing mechanics for longer flights. We’ve previously covered drones such as the Qualcomm Flight RB5-based drone Kudrone Nano Drone and some drone kits like Qualcomm Flight Pro. Feel free to explore these if you’re interested. Key Features and Specification of X-Fly Drone: Control Board – The PCB features an STM32WB15CC Bluetooth microcontroller, motor […]

Persee N1 – A modular camera-computer based on the NVIDIA Jetson Nano

Orbbec Parsee N1 camera computer kit

The Persee N1 is a modular camera-computer kit recently launched by 3D camera manufacturer, Orbbec. Not too long ago, we covered their 3D depth and RGB USB-C camera, the Femto Bolt. The Persee N1 was designed for 3D computer vision applications and is built on the Nvidia Jetson platform. It combines the quad-core processor of the Jetson Nano with the imaging capabilities of a stereo-vision camera. The Jetson Nano’s impressive GPU makes it particularly appropriate for edge machine learning and AI projects. The company also offers the Femto Mega, an advanced and more expensive alternative that uses the same Jetson Nano SoM. The Persee N1 camera-computer also features official support for the open-source computer vision library, OpenCV. The camera is suited for indoor and semi-outdoor operation and uses a custom application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) for enhanced depth processing. It also provides advanced features like multi-camera synchronization and IMU (inertial measurement […]

Lite3DP Gen 2 is a tiny, open-source resin 3D printer (Crowdfunding)

lite3dp gen 2 resin printer

The Lite3DP Gen 2 3D Printer builds on the success of its predecessor. With a new and improved design, an ESP32 microcontroller replacing the Arduino Pro Mini, and several other improvements, the Lite3DP Gen 2 is well-suited for making small, detailed resin prints. It is slightly bulkier than the Lite 3DP S1 3D printer but is still compact enough to fit into a bag. Gen 2 has been designed to maintain backward compatibility with the older model, and owners of existing Lite3DP printers can use the Gen 2 dev kit to upgrade their printers. The resin 3D printer is completely open-source (firmware, hardware, and software), and you can use the schematics, Gerber files, code, and other resources hosted in the GitHub repository to build a different kind of mSLA resin printer. Lite3DP Gen 2 key features & specifications: Electronics – All-in-one PCB with ESP32 microcontroller, high-res LCD, an ultra-silent TMC2209 […]

M5StickC PLUS2 IoT development kit features ESP32-PICO-V3-02 SiP, larger 200 mAh battery

M5StickC Plus2 IoT development kit

M5Stack M5StickC PLUS2 is a battery-powered ESP32 IoT development kit with a 1.14-inch display, a built-in microphone, a 6-axis gyroscope and accelerometer, a few buttons, a buzzer, a Grove connector and a GPIO header for expansion. It builds upon the M5StickC Plus released in September 2020, but replaced the ESP-PICO-D4 SiP with an ESP32-PICO-V3-02 still based on ESP32 WiSoC but having 8MB SPI flash and 2MB flash and also features a larger 200 mAh battery along with a new CH9102 USB to TTL chip and does without a PMIC. M5StickC PLUS2 key features and specifications: ESP32-PICO-V3-02 SiP – Espressif Systems ESP32-PICO-V3-02 system-in-package with ESP32 dual-core WiFI and Bluetooth IoT processor @ up to 240 MHz, 8MB SPI flash, 2MB PSRAM Display – 1.14-inch Color TFT LCD with 135×240 resolution (ST7789v2 driver) Audio – SPM1423 microphone, buzzer USB – 1x USB-C port for power and programming using CH9102 USB to TTL chip […]

Giveaway Week 2023 – VOIPAC iMX8M industrial development kit

VOIPAC IMX8M Industrial Development Kit Review

The 10th edition of CNX Software giveaway week is on! We’ll have seven items to give away this time around: six items that I will send myself from my review samples and one from a company that will offer one of its own IoT development kits… We’ll start this year’s giveaway week with the VOIPAC iMX8M industrial development kit equipped with an “iMX8M Industrial Pro” system-on-module powered by an NXP i.MX 8M quad-core Cortex-A53 processor, fitted with 2GB RAM, 16GB eMMC flash, and a WiFi and Bluetooth module. The VOIPAC iMX8M industrial development kit is quite a feature-rich development board whose main purpose is to evaluate the company’s system-on-module for integration into final products. I tested it last summer showing how to get started with the Yocto BSP by building the image from scratch, booting from the eMMC flash or a microSD card, and testing several features such as networking, […]

MediaTek Genio 1200 Arm Cortex-A78/A55 EVK gets official Ubuntu 22.04 support

Mediatek Genio 1200 Ubuntu

Canonical and MediaTek announced optimized Ubuntu images for the Genio 1200 EVK during Embedded Word 2023 last March, but at the time, I could not find any images for download, and there was just an invitation to come check out Ubuntu Core running on the MediaTek Genio platform at the event. But things have progressed well, and Canonical has now announced the availability of Ubuntu 22.04 Desktop and Server for not only the high-end Genio 1200 EVK, but also the mid-range Genio 700 EVK, and the entry-level Genio 350 EVK. That should be good news, as when I tested the i-Pi SMARC 1200 devkit earlier this year (June 2023), the Genio 1200 Arm Cortex-A78/A55 processor (aka MediaTek MT8195) showed really good performance in benchmarks, but at the time, the only option was to use a Yocto image, which is great, but there were still some unresolved software issues and the […]

EDATEC Raspberry Pi 5 fanless case