STMicro VL53L9 is a high-resolution, direct Time-of-Flight 3D LiDAR sensor module

STMicro VL53L9 ToF LiDAR sensor

The STMicro VL53L9 sensor is the latest addition to the company’s FlightSense product family. The direct Time-of-Flight (ToF) 3D LIDAR (light detection and ranging) sensor offers a resolution of up to 2,300 zones. The module is described as all-in-one and easy to integrate. It comes in a small, reflowable package that contains all the necessary components for sensing objects and processing images. The sensor features an array of single photon avalanche diodes (SPADs) for photon detection, a post-processing SoC, and two vertical surface emitting lasers (VCSELs) powered by a dedicated bipolar-CMOS-DMOS (BCD) VCSEL. The VL53L9 is a multi-zone ToF sensor similar to the VL53L7CX and the VL53L8, meaning that it offers multi-zone distance measurements up to 54 x 42 zones with a wide 54° x 42° field-of-view. Unlike most IR sensors, the VL53L9 sensor uses backside illumination direct ToF technology to ensure absolute distance measurement, regardless of the target color […]

AquaPing is an open-source, battery powered acoustic water leak detector module (Crowdfunding)

Acoustic leak detector

The AquaPing is an open-source hardware, ultra-low power acoustic water leak detector sensor based on Texas Instruments MSP430 microcontroller and a microphone that can detect leaks without having to do any plumbing, instead capturing audio for water leak detection, and it even works for leaks behind walls. All signal processing and analysis occur on the MSP430 MCU, so no audio is streamed to the cloud and eavesdropping is impossible, plus the sensor only captures high frequencies out of the range of normal conversations, so eavesdropping is not feasible, plus those higher frequencies are also said to provide highest sensitivity and reliability. AquaPing specifications: MCU – Texas Instruments MSP430FR5994 microcontroller to perform FFT spectral analysis (10x faster/efficient than ARM-Cortex M0+) Audio capture – MEMS microphone covered by a small rectangular plastic structure to form a Helmholtz resonator. Minimum detectable leak rate – 0.01 gpm (gallon per minute) depending on stand-off distance […]

RAKwireless adds more Wisduo and Wisblock modules, launches WisToolBox configuration tool for IoT devices

RAK3172-SIP and RAK4630 Wisduo modules

RAKwireless have launched several Wisduo wireless modules, a dozen of Wisblock modules for IoT prototyping, updated WisDM, WisGateOS, and RUI3 software, and introduced WisToolBox mobile/desktop configuration tool for IoT devices as part of their spring launch 2022 even entitled “Empowering the Innovators: Making IoT your own”. Three new Wisduo modules RAK3172-SIP WisDuo SIP based on STM32WLE5 Wireless SoC with LoRa connectivity. Compared to the original RAK3172, it offers more IO pins, integrates a TCXO, and comes in a smaller size. The module supports LoRa P2P and complies with Class A, B, & C of LoRaWAN 1.0.3 specifications. Cost: $5.99. WisDuo RAK3272-SiP – That’s a breakout board for the RAK3172-SiP System-in-a-Package module for LoRaWAN and allows easy access to all pins via 2.54mm pitch headers. RAK4630 WisDuo Stamp Module – This module supports both LoRa/LoRaWAN and BLE 5.0, and comes with RUI V3 (RUI3) firmware. It can be deployed as an […]

Dragino LDS02 LoRaWAN door and window sensor offers long range and battery life

Dragino LDS02 LoRaWAN door & window sensor

Home automation usually relies on short-range wireless standards such as Bluetooth LE, Zigbee, or WiFi, sometimes with the help of repeaters for larger houses. But if you need to monitor large houses, several houses on a piece of land, or apartments, you’d be glad that you can also do so, at least for doors and windows, with LoRaWAN using Dragino LDS02 sensor. The LDS02 sensor will work like your typical wireless door/window sensor, detection when those are opened and closed, and for how long, but will offer a much longer range of up to 2km in urban settings, as well as battery life meaning it could last for years depending on the frequency of door/window events, as well as uplink frequency configuration. Dragino LDS02 LoRaWAN door sensor specifications: Based on SX1262 LoRa transceiver LoRaWAN v1.0.3 Class A Bands – CN470, EU433, KR920, US915, EU868, AS923, AU915, IN865 Door Open/Close detection […]

IoT device monitoring as a product reliability improvement tool

IoT Device Monitoring with Torizon Platform

CNXSoft: This is a guest post by Renato Kiss, Product Manager – Software at Toradex, explaining how IoT device monitoring can be used with open-source software tools like Fluent Bit to improve product reliability, using temperature monitoring as an example. It is impossible to dissociate connected devices from modern life. They are present in homes, offices, industries – basically, in every business, connected devices play vital roles. In a market estimated at 24.1 billion devices and with a revenue of more than USD 1.5 trillion by 2030, IoT will grow based on both consumer and business applications. Hardware will account for about one-third of this value with the majority being distributed in services, including the connectivity for the system. As part of this growth, more services will be added to IoT business and some specialists estimate the economic potential, including IoT products and services, can unlock at least USD 5.5 […]

TTGO T-Block modular ESP32 devkit supports “Trolley” covers acting as display, buttons, sensor, proto area, etc…

TTGO T-Block modular ESP32 devkit

When I first  LilyGO TTGO T-Block ESP32 devkit with an enclosure and a display it reminded me of the M5Stack Core2 devkit, but it’s actually different as LilyGO designed a modular system that allows users to change the functionality of the top cover with expansion boards called “Trolleys”. That means TTGO T- Block can be fitted with a small e-Ink display, a prototyping cover, an RGB LED matrix, a small board that supports various MQ gas sensors, touch buttons, or a Trolley board equipped with headers compatible with common Arduino modules. TTGO T-Block Host 9102 preliminary specifications: WiSoC – ESP32 dual-core processor @ 240 MHz with 520KB SRAM, WiFi 4 and Bluetooth LE 4.2/5.x connectivity Memory – 8MB PSRAM Storage – 16MB SPI flash, MicroSD card slot USB – 1x USB Type-C for power and programming via CH2104 USB to TTL chip Trolley interface – 20-pin connector with 17x GPIO, […]

RAKwireless introduces 16 new WisBlock modules with LoRaWAN, NFC reader, etc…

Wisblock LoRaWAN & NFC Reader wireless modules

RAKwireless will add new modules to its WisBlock IoT modular system every quarter. Last July, WisBlock family welcomed 14 new modules, and in September 2021, RAK11310 Raspberry Pi RP2040 LoRaWAN core was introduced together with a new baseboard and various sensor modules. This time around, the company launched 16 new Wisblock modules with two wireless modules, one adding LoRaWAN to an ESP32 core module, the other acting as an RFID and NFC card reader, as well as six sensor modules, and eight “interface” modules ranging from barcode scanners to keypads. WisBlock Wireless modules RAK13300 WisBlock LPWAN module based on Semtech SX1262 transceiver extends the communication abilities of the RAK11200 ESP32 WiFi & Bluetooth LE module with LoRa / LoRaWAN. RAK13600 WisBlock NFC Reader enables reading and writing of NFC tags like RFID cards and other NFC enabled devices using NXP PN532 chip. WisBlock Sensor modules RAK12013 WisBlock Radar Sensor – […]

Bluetooth LE 5.0 module enables batteryless sensors thanks to Renesas RE01B MCU

RELOC RM-BE1 BLE 5.0 module energy harvesting

RELOC RM-BE1 Bluetooth 5.0 module with embedded energy harvesting capabilities for batteryless sensors adds to the list of energy harvesting news we’ve written about since the beginning of the year, with UEI chip for remote controls, a devkit with a smart coffee cup,  and Atmosic ATM33 BLE 5.3 chip. The RM-BE1 module is powered by Renesas RE01B Arm Cortex-M0+ Bluetooth microcontroller that leverages Renesas’ SOTB (Silicon on Thin Buried Oxide) process technology enabling ultra-low power. We’ve been told the chip can run at 35uA/Mhz with internal LDOs and <20uA/Mhz with additional external DCDCs, as well as around 600nA in standby mode. RELOC RM-BE1 module key features and specifications: MCU – Renesas RE01B Arm Cortex-M0+ microcontroller @ 64 MHz with 1.5MB flash, 256KB SRAM Connectivity Bluetooth LE 5.0 with Long Range (up to 400 m) and high data throughput (2 Mbps) support RF output power – Up to +4 dBm Receiver […]

EDATEC Raspberry Pi 5 fanless case