ePulse Feather C6 – An ESP32-C6 development board with Adafruit Feather form factor, LiPo battery support

ePulse Feather C6

ThingPulse ePulse Feather C6 is a new ESP32-C6 development board with WiFi 6, BLE5, Zigbee, Thread, and Matter connectivity that follows the Adafruit Feather form factor and supports LiPo battery charging through a charger IC and a fuel gauge. Just like its predecessor called ePulse Feather, the ePulse Feather C6 is optimized for low power consumption but replaces an ESP32-WROVER-E-N8R8 module but an ESP32-C6-MINI-1 with a 802.15.4 radio for Zigbee, Thread, and Matter, as well as 2.4 GHz WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.3 LE connectivity. ePulse Feather C6 specifications: Wireless module – ESP32-C6-MINI-1 SoC – ESP32-C6H4 32-bit RISC-V microprocessor up to 160 MHz with 320KB ROM, 512KB HP SRAM, 16KB LP SRAM, 4MB flash Wireless – 2.4 GHz WiFi 6 with Target Wake Time (TWT) support, Bluetooth 5.3 LE and Mesh, 802.15.4 radio with Zigbee, Thread, and Matter PCB Antenna USB – 1x USB Type-C port for power/charging and programming […]

STM32WBA microcontrollers with Bluetooth LE 5.4, Zigbee, Thread, and Matter to comply with US and EU Cybersecurity regulations

STM32WBA54 and STM32WBA55 block diagram

STMicro’s new STM32WBA series, starting with the STM32WBA52, STM32WBA54, and STM32WBA55 devices, is a family of Arm Cortex-M33 wireless microcontrollers with Bluetooth LE 5.4, Zigbee, Thread, and Matter connectivity that achieved the SESIP (Security Evaluation Standard for IoT Platforms) Level 3 security certification and should make them compliant with US Cyber Trust Mark and EU Radio Equipment Directive (RED) regulations due to become mandatory in 2025. The 100MHz STM32WBA54 and STM32WBA55 microcontrollers come with up to 1MB of flash memory, support Arm TrustZone architecture isolating secure processes and storage,  and incorporate background autonomous mode, flexible power-saving states, and analog and digital peripherals found in STMicro STM32U5 ultra-low-power MCUs. STM32WBA54 and STM32WBA55 specifications: MCU core – Arm Cortex-M33 at 100MHz with FPU and DSP Memory – Up to 128KB SRAM Storage – Up to 1 MB flash Wireless Bluetooth Low Energy 5.4 Long Range (LR) capable Up to 2 Mbps Bluetooth […]

Waveshare ESP32-H2-DEV-KIT-N4-M – A Low-cost ESP32-H2 development board going for $6.65

Waveshare ESP32 H2 DEV KIT N4 M Dev Board

The Waveshare ESP32-H2-DEV-KIT-N4-M is a development board based on the ESP32-H2, available for only $6.65 on Aliexpress, but you’ll also find it on Amazon and Waveshare’s official store. This is a significant price drop compared to last year’s official Espressif ESP32-H2-DevKitM-1 board, which was priced at $10 without including shipping costs and with a similar design. In 2021, Espressif Systems introduced the ESP32-H2 to the world. However, it wasn’t until 2023 that they released their first development board. Since then, there haven’t been many products built around this new module. Some exceptions include the Olimex ESP32-H2-DevKit-LiPo, LILYGO T-Panel, and the ESP Thread Border Router/Zigbee Gateway board, all of which feature the ESP32-H2 chip. Waveshare ESP32-H2-DEV-KIT-N4-M specifications: Wireless module – ESP32-H2-MINI-1 MCU – Espressif Systems ESP32-H2 32-bit RISC-V microcontroller at up to 96 MHz with 320 KB SRAM, 128 KB ROM, 4 KB LP memory, Bluetooth 5.2 LE/Mesh, and 802.15.4 (Zigbee/Thread/Matter) radios. […]

ESP32-C6-Bug WiFi 6, Bluetooth LE, and 802.15.4 board takes a PoE Ethernet shield (Crowdfunding)

ESP32-C6 PoE board

We’ve already covered a range of ESP32-C6 boards, but none supporting Ethernet and PoE so far, and the ESP32-C6-Bug board brings that to the table thanks to the Esp32-Bug-Eth shield with a W5500 Ethernet chip, an RJ45 jack and a PoE power module. Like other ESP32-C6 devices, the little board supports Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth LE 5, as well as Thread and Zigbee through its 802.15.4 radio, but it also integrates some other interesting features such as castellated holes for easy soldering on a carrier board and support for LiPo batteries with built-in battery charging and protection circuits. ESP32-C6-Bug board specifications: SoC – ESP32-C6FH4 MCU cores 32-bit RISC-V core @ 160 MHz 32-bit RISC-V core @ 20 MHz low-power coprocessor can run tasks even when the main system is in deep sleep state Memory – 512 KB SRAM Storage – 4 MB Flash Wireless – WiFi 6, Bluetooth LE 5, and […]

SMLIGHT launches Zigbee Ethernet/WiFi coordinators and USB adapters based on TI CC2652P7 or CC2674P10 wireless chips

SMLIGHT SLZB-06p7 SLZB-06p10 Zigbee Ethernet coordinator

SMLIGHT has recently released Zigbee Ethernet/WiFi/USB coordinators and USB dongles based on either Texas Instruments CC2652P7 or CC2674P10 wireless microcontrollers that update on the company’s SLZB-06 Zigbee 3.0 to PoE Ethernet, USB, and WiFi adapter and Silicon Labs EFR32MG21-based SLZB-07 Zigbee 3.0 USB adapter. That’s a total of four new devices with the SLZB-06p7 and SLZB-07p7 based on CC2652P7 and designed to work with vendor-agnostic software such as Zigbee2MQTT and Home Assistant ZHA, and the similar SLZB-06p10 and SLZB-06p10 based on the CC2674P10 whose Zigbee firmware is still under development according to SMLIGHT. SLZB-06p7/SLZB-06p10 Zigbee to Ethernet/WiFi/USB coordinator SLZB-06p7/SLZB-06p10 specifications: Wireless SoCs SLZB-06p7 – Texas Instruments CC2652P7 Arm Cortex-M4F microcontroller @ 48-MHz with 704KB flash, 256KB ROM for protocol and library functions, 8KB of SRAM, integrated +20 dB power amplifier, Bluetooth 5.2 Low Energy, Matter, Thread, Zigbee 3.0 SLZB-06p10 – Texas Instruments CC2674P10 Arm Cortex-M33 microcontroller @ 48 MHz with […]

SparkFun Thing Plus – ESP32-C6 board comes with 16MB flash, LiPo battery support

SparkFun Thing Plus ESP32-C6

SparkFun has launched yet another ESP32-C6 board with the “Thing Plus – ESP32-C6”  based on the ESP32-C6-WROOM-1-N16 module with 16MB flash and a PCB antenna and  range of I/Os and power options. The board features 28 through holes with up to 23 multi-function GPIOs and a Qwicc connector for expansion, and supports 5V or LiPo battery power through respectively a USB-C port a 2-pin JST connector combined with a charging chip, and a fuel gauge. SparkFun Thing Plus – ESP32-C6 specifications: Wireless module – ESP32-C6-WROOM-1-N16 MCU – ESP32-C6 32-bit single-core RISC-V microcontroller with 2.4 GHz WiFI 6, Bluetooth 5 LE, and 802.15.4 radio (Zigbee and Thread); Matter-compatible Storage – 16 MB flash PCB Antenna Storage – MicroSD card slot USB – 1x USB Type-C port for power and programming Expansion 12-pin + 16-pin headers with 23x multifunctional GPIOs Up to 7x 12-bit ADC channels Up to 2x UART channels (with […]

Hubitat Elevation Model C-8 Pro Home Automation Hub supports Zigbee, Z-Wave, and Matter devices

Hubitat Elevation Model C-8 Pro gateway

Hubitat has recently launched the Elevation Model C-8 Pro Home Automation hub with a Z-Wave 800 radio, a Zigbee 3.0 radio, Wi-Fi, and Ethernet connectivity that upgrade on the earlier C-8 model with more memory (2GB RAM), and a faster 2.0 GHz Cortex-A55 processor. I’ve never written about Hubitat Smart Home solutions, but they seem to have an active community of users,  so I’ll check out their latest Elevation Model C-8 Pro gateway and what they have to offer in terms of software and device support. Hubitat Elevation Model C-8 Pro specifications: SoC – Arm Cortex A55 processor @ 2.016 GHz (that could be the Amlogic S905X3 found in the ODROID-C4 SBC) System Memory – 2GB RAM Storage – TBD Connectivity Ethernet RJ45 port WiFi Z-Wave 800 radio Zigbee 3.0 radio Matter support 2x external antennas Power Supply – 5V via USB-C port Dimensions – 8.2 x 7.5 x 1.7 […]

Review of SONOFF SNZB-03P new Zigbee motion sensor with eWelink and Home Assistant

Sonoff SNZB-03P Cover

SONOFF continues to release new Zigbee products series including the wireless switches/buttons (SNZB-01P) and temperature and humidity sensors (SNZB-02P) that we reviewed last year. Today, we will review another new sensor, that is the Zigbee 3.0 motion sensor (SNZB-03P) and we’ll need a Zigbee Hub/Bridge/Dongle to receive Zigbee signals to make it work. The technology of this sensor remains PIR, which uses infrared waves similar to before. This is different from the Human Presence sensors that are gaining popularity, which use mmWave (millimeter wave, frequency 3-30GHz). Both types have their pros and cons. SONOFF has also recently released a Human Presence sensor, namely the SNZB-06P which we will review soon. The SONOFF SNZB-03P is suitable for applications where motion needs to be detected (staying standstill won’t work) and places where it is not feasible or practical to run power cables. The latter is advantageous compared to Human Presence sensors because […]

EDATEC Raspberry Pi 5 fanless case