Raspberry Pi News - Page 34 of 152 - CNX Software

October 20, 2022October 20, 2022 by Leo Zachary - 16 Comments

BIGTREETECH CB1 – A Raspberry Pi CM4 compatible Allwinner H616 system-on-module

The BIGTREETECH CB1 core board is an Allwinner H616 quad-core Arm Cortex-A53 system-on-module (SoM) that follows the Raspberry Pi CM4 form factor and was designed by BIGTREETECH, a company whose main business is related to 3D printer motherboards and their peripherals. The BIGTREETECH CB1 comes with 1GB RAM, an HDMI output interface, 2.4GHz WiFi, and 100Mbps Ethernet. The CB1 has better multimedia capability than the CM4 with support for 4Kp60 H.265/H.264 video decoding and 1080p60 H.264 video encoding, while the Broadcom BCM2711 processor on the CM4 can only handle 4Kp60 H.265 and 1080p60 H.264 video decoding, and 1080p30 H.264 video encoding. Some disadvantages include the lack of CSI and DSI interfaces on the Allwinner H616 system-on-module and the presence of only one video output interface against two for the Raspberry Pi CM4 module. BIGTREETECH CB1 specifications: SoC – Allwinner H616 quad-core Cortex-A53 @ 1.5GHz with Mali-G31 MP2 GPU with OpenGL 3.2, […]

October 19, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

Mini Pupper 2 – Raspberry Pi 4 / CM4 robot dog adds ESP32, ROS2 support, servo feedback (Crowdfunding)

Mini Pupper 2 is an improved version of the Mini Pupper robot dog powered by a Raspberry Pi 4 introduced last year. The new model support either the Raspberry Pi 4 SBC or CM4 module, adds an Arduino programmable ESP32 wireless MCU, support for ROS2, and servo feedback. Two variants are offered with the Mini Pupper 2 implementing position servo feedback, and the Mini Pupper 2 Pro position, velocity, and torque servo feedback. Other changes common to both variants include the addition of an IMU, microphone & speaker, a touch sensor, support for autocalibration, as well as a new mobile app for control. Mini Pupper 2 specifications: CPU module – Raspberry Pi 4 SBC or Raspberry Pi CM4 system on module MCU – ESP32 WiFi and Bluetooth dual-core microcontroller programmable with the Arduino IDE Display – 320×240 LCD for facial animation Audio – Built-in Microphone and speaker Camera – Support […]

October 18, 2022December 9, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

UP 4000 x86 SBC review with Ubuntu 22.04

The UP 4000 is a credit-card / Raspberry Pi-sized single board computer based on an Intel Apollo Lake processor. AAEON sent me the model with an Intel Atom x7-E3950 quad-core processor, 4GB RAM, and a 64GB eMMC flash, and in the first part of the review, I installed Ubuntu 22.04 since the board would initially only boot to the UEFI shell out of the box. I’ve now spent more time with the board, and in this article, I will report my experience with the UP 4000 SBC running Ubuntu 22.04 checking out features, performance, video playback, power consumption, and so on. Ubuntu 22.04 System info Let’s check out some information after I’ve upgraded the system to the latest packages:

jaufranc@UP-4000-CNX:~$ lsb_release -a
No LSB modules are available.
Distributor ID:	Ubuntu
Description:	Ubuntu 22.04.1 LTS
Release:	22.04
Codename:	jammy
jaufranc@UP-4000-CNX:~$ uname -a
Linux UP-4000-CNX 5.15.0-48-generic #54-Ubuntu SMP Fri Aug 26 13:26:29 UTC 2022 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux
jaufranc@UP-4000-CNX:~$ inxi -Fc0
System:
  Host: UP-4000-CNX Kernel: 5.15.0-48-generic x86_64 bits: 64
    Console: pty pts/1 Distro: Ubuntu 22.04.1 LTS (Jammy Jellyfish)
Machine:
  Type: Desktop Mobo: AAEON model: UP-APL03 v: V1.0
    serial: <superuser required> UEFI: American Megatrends v: UPAPBM11
    date: 07/01/2022
CPU:
  Info: quad core model: Intel Atom E3950 bits: 64 type: MCP cache: L2: 2 MiB
  Speed (MHz): avg: 1099 min/max: 800/2000 cores: 1: 1109 2: 1009 3: 1114
    4: 1165
Graphics:
  Device-1: Intel Celeron N3350/Pentium N4200/Atom E3900 Series Integrated
  Graphics
    driver: i915 v: kernel
  Display: server: X.org v: 1.21.1.3 with: Xwayland v: 22.1.1 driver: X:
    loaded: modesetting unloaded: fbdev,vesa gpu: i915 tty: 80x24
    resolution: 1280x800
  Message: GL data unavailable in console. Try -G --display
Audio:
  Device-1: Intel Celeron N3350/Pentium N4200/Atom E3900 Series Audio Cluster
    driver: snd_hda_intel
  Sound Server-1: ALSA v: k5.15.0-48-generic running: yes
  Sound Server-2: PulseAudio v: 15.99.1 running: yes
  Sound Server-3: PipeWire v: 0.3.48 running: yes
Network:
  Device-1: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet
    driver: r8169
  IF: enp2s0 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: 00:07:32:a2:cd:17
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 58.24 GiB used: 12.69 GiB (21.8%)
  ID-1: /dev/mmcblk0 vendor: SanDisk model: DA4064 size: 58.24 GiB
Partition:
  ID-1: / size: 56.53 GiB used: 12.68 GiB (22.4%) fs: ext4
    dev: /dev/mmcblk0p2
  ID-2: /boot/efi size: 511 MiB used: 5.2 MiB (1.0%) fs: vfat
    dev: /dev/mmcblk0p1
Swap:
  ID-1: swap-1 type: file size: 3.96 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) file: /swapfile
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 6280.4 C mobo: N/A
  Fan Speeds (RPM): cpu: 6553500
Info:
  Processes: 215 Uptime: 2h 20m Memory: 3.68 GiB used: 1.09 GiB (29.5%)
  Init: systemd runlevel: 5 Shell: Bash inxi: 3.3.13

jaufranc@UP-4000-CNX:~$ lsb_release -a

No LSB modules are available.

Distributor ID: Ubuntu

Description: Ubuntu 22.04.1 LTS

Release: 22.04

Codename: jammy

jaufranc@UP-4000-CNX:~$ uname -a

Linux UP-4000-CNX 5.15.0-48-generic #54-Ubuntu SMP Fri Aug 26 13:26:29 UTC 2022 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

jaufranc@UP-4000-CNX:~$ inxi -Fc0

System:

Host: UP-4000-CNX Kernel: 5.15.0-48-generic x86_64 bits: 64

Console: pty pts/1 Distro: Ubuntu 22.04.1 LTS (Jammy Jellyfish)

Machine:

Type: Desktop Mobo: AAEON model: UP-APL03 v: V1.0

serial: <superuser required> UEFI: American Megatrends v: UPAPBM11

date: 07/01/2022

CPU:

Info: quad core model: Intel Atom E3950 bits: 64 type: MCP cache: L2: 2 MiB

Speed (MHz): avg: 1099 min/max: 800/2000 cores: 1: 1109 2: 1009 3: 1114

4: 1165

Graphics:

Device-1: Intel Celeron N3350/Pentium N4200/Atom E3900 Series Integrated

Graphics

driver: i915 v: kernel

Display: server: X.org v: 1.21.1.3 with: Xwayland v: 22.1.1 driver: X:

loaded: modesetting unloaded: fbdev,vesa gpu: i915 tty: 80x24

resolution: 1280x800

Message: GL data unavailable in console. Try -G --display

Audio:

Device-1: Intel Celeron N3350/Pentium N4200/Atom E3900 Series Audio Cluster

driver: snd_hda_intel

Sound Server-1: ALSA v: k5.15.0-48-generic running: yes

Sound Server-2: PulseAudio v: 15.99.1 running: yes

Sound Server-3: PipeWire v: 0.3.48 running: yes

Network:

Device-1: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet

driver: r8169

IF: enp2s0 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: 00:07:32:a2:cd:17

Drives:

Local Storage: total: 58.24 GiB used: 12.69 GiB (21.8%)

ID-1: /dev/mmcblk0 vendor: SanDisk model: DA4064 size: 58.24 GiB

Partition:

ID-1: / size: 56.53 GiB used: 12.68 GiB (22.4%) fs: ext4

dev: /dev/mmcblk0p2

ID-2: /boot/efi size: 511 MiB used: 5.2 MiB (1.0%) fs: vfat

dev: /dev/mmcblk0p1

Swap:

ID-1: swap-1 type: file size: 3.96 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) file: /swapfile

Sensors:

System Temperatures: cpu: 6280.4 C mobo: N/A

Fan Speeds (RPM): cpu: 6553500

Info:

Processes: 215 Uptime: 2h 20m Memory: 3.68 GiB used: 1.09 GiB (29.5%)

Init: systemd runlevel: 5 Shell: Bash inxi: 3.3.13

Everything looks good with an Intel Atom E3950 processor detected together with 3.68GB RAM and a 56.53GB rootfs EXT-4 partition. UP 4000 features testing There may also be some issues […]

October 12, 2022October 12, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

SBC Case Builder 2.0 released with GUI

SBC Case Builder 2.0 tool to create enclosures for single board computers has been released with a customizer graphical user interface, additional cases & SBCs, support for variable height standoffs, and more. We wrote about the SBC Case Builder tool to easily generate various types of 3D printable enclosures using OpenSCAD earlier this year. The SBC Model Framework used in the solution was focused on ODROID boards, and you had to type the parameters in a configuration file. SBC Case Builder 2.0 software changes that with a convenient-to-use graphical interface allowing for the dynamic adjustment of any of the case attributes. The new version of the software also supports variable height standoffs, multi-associative parametric accessory positioning, and offers 8 “base cases”, namely shell, panel, stacked, tray, round, hex, snap, and fitted. The solution works with 47 SBCs defined in the latest version of the SBC Model Framework. The following SBCs […]

October 11, 2022October 20, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Maker Pi Pico Mini adds battery, buzzer, GPIO LEDs to Raspberry Pi Pico (W)

Cytron’s Maker Pi Pico Mini is an add-on board for the Raspberry Pi Pico and the latest Raspberry Pi Pico W with a battery port, GPIO status LEDs, a WS2812B Neopixel RGB LED, passive piezo buzzer, user and reset button, as well as “Maker” ports for expansion. It comes with most of the features found in the company’s Maker Pi Pico board, but in a much more compact form factor, since the add-on board is only slightly larger than the Raspberry Pi Pico to allow for soldering using the castellated holes. Maker Pi Pico Mini specifications: Fitted with Raspberry Pi Pico / Pico W LEDs – 6x Status indicator LEDs for GPIOs, 1x RGB LED (WS2812B Neopixel) Audio – 1x Passive piezo buzzer (to play musical tones or melody) Buttons – Reset and user buttons Expansion 3x Maker ports compatible with Qwiic and STEMMA QT, as well as Grove modules […]

September 28, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

Raspberry Pi RP2040 gets into BBC Micro:bit lookalike board

ELECFREAKS Pico:ed V2 is a Raspberry Pi RP2040 board heavily inspired by the BBC Micro:bit with an edge connector exposing rings suitable for crocodile clips, a 17×7 LED matrix display, and designed for the classroom. We’ve seen several BBC Micro:bit clones – or rather adaptations – over the years with boards such as the SiFive Learn Inventor, Elecrow Mbits, and HiHope “Big Brother” board. The Pico:ed V2 adds to the list, and the main differences are that it is based on the Raspberry Pi RP2040 microcontroller instead, and does not come with wireless connectivity relying on a USB interface only. ELECFREAKS Pico:ed V2 specifications: MCU – Raspberry Pi RP2040 dual-core Cortex-M0+ microcontroller @ up to 133Mhz with 264kB of SRAM Storage – 2MB QSPI flash Display – 17×7 dot-matrix display USB – 1x micro USB 1.1 port for power, data, and programming I/Os 25-pin notched “Wavy” connector with up to […]

September 27, 2022September 27, 2022 by Sponsored Post - No Comments

PCBWay – A community-focused PCB manufacturer (Sponsored)

There are many PCB manufacturers in China, but PCBWay has been around for over a decade providing PCB prototype and manufacturing services, and is one of the companies that care the most about the community with project sharing and various community events organized over the years. If you use PCBWay services, you will join the more than 70,000 customers who already used their services, and the company claims an over 99% on-time delivery rate thanks in part to having factories in Shenzhen that work in three shifts per day. In order to better serve its customer around the world, the PCB manufacturer also has offices in Hong Kong, as well as Paris, for European customers. PCBWay services include PCB prototyping and PCBA assembly services for small volume production, and the company highlights its SMT expertise and capabilities with high-speed Pick-and-Place machines that can place up to 28000 components per hour […]

September 26, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 9 Comments

$5.5 Banana Pi BPI-PicoW-S3 ESP32-S3 board follows Raspberry Pi Pico W form factor

Banana Pi BPI-PicoW-S3 Raspberry Pi Pico W alternative

Banana Pi’s BPI-PicoW-S3 is a development board following the Raspberry Pi Pico W form factor, but based on Espressif System ESP32-S3 dual-core microcontroller offering both WiFi 4 and Bluetooth LE connectivity. The Raspberry Pi SBCs have inspired many designs, but the Raspberry Pi Pico MCU boards less so. So far, I had only seen the WeAct RP2040 board with the same layout except for a USB Type-C port and a 16MB flash. But the Banana Pi BPI-PicoW-S3 provides a direct alternative to the Raspberry Pi Pico W with a more powerful microcontroller, vector instructions for AI acceleration, BLE, and about the same price at $5.5 plus shipping. Let’s see how the BPI-PicoW-S3 specifications compare to the ones of the Raspberry Pi Pico W in the table below. While the power signal (5V, 3.3V, GND) and GPIO numbers are the same on both boards, there are a few variations here and […]