CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

June 25, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Bambu Lab X1 – A color 3D Printer with LIDAR and AI for improved accuracy, ease of use (Crowdfunding)

3D printing can be time-consuming and challenging, and even today, it’s still not as easy as using a photocopier, but the team at Bambu Lab has taken it upon itself to make a better, easier-to-use 3D printer with the X1 color 3D printer combining LIDAR and AI technology to level the bed, calibrate the prints, and detect anomalies. The Bambu Lab X1 3D printer supports up to 16 colors, is making removing support easier with snap-away material or dissolvable filament, can handle PC and PA-CF filaments beyond the traditional PLA and PETG filaments, manage up to 500 mm/s prints, and provides better prints with features such as active vibration compensation. Oh, and you don’t need to assemble it, since it comes fully assembled and ready to use out of the box. There are two models of the 3D Printer with X1 and X1 Carbon with the latter featuring more sturdy […]

June 24, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

Quectel SG560D 5G & WiFi 6E module runs Android 12, targets AIoT applications

Quectel SG560D 5G Android 12 AIoT module

Quectel SG560D is a 5G Sub-6GHz & WiFi 6E module for AIoT applications that runs Android 12 on a Qualcomm QCM6490 SoC with an octa-core Kryo 670 64-bit Arm CPU and a Qualcomm Adreno 643L GPU. The SG560D module is equipped with 4GB LPDDR4X RAM and 64GB UFS storage by default, supports up to 2520×1080 MIPI display at a refresh rate of 144Hz, and can deliver up to 14 TOPS for AI inference. Quectel SG560D key features and specifications: SoC – Qualcomm QCM6490 octa-core processor with one Kryo 670 Gold plus high-performance core up to 2.7 GHz, 3x Kryo Gold cores at 2.4 GHz, 4x Kryo Silver low-power cores @ 1.9 GHz, Adreno 643L GPU, 6th gen AI Engine delivering up to 14 TOPS, up to 4Kp30 H.265/H.264 video encode, 4Kp60 video decode; 6nm process. System Memory – 4GB LPDDR4X by default Storage – 64GB UFS flash by default Display […]

June 24, 2022June 24, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 11 Comments

A RISC-V laptop or mini PC with Rockchip RK3588-class performance may be coming soon

Mark Himelstein, Chief Technology Officer, RISC-V International, and Dr. Philipp Tomsich, Chief Technologist & Founder, VRULL GmbH hinted that we may see a RISC-V laptop in 2022 in a presentation entitled “From Technology to Product – Maturing the RISC-V Ecosystem” with one of the slides showing what could be a RISC-V laptop prototype and The Register suspected it might come from the Institute of Software at the Chinese Academy of Sciences (ISCAS) since it was planning to build 2,000 RISC-V laptops by the end of 2022. But there’s at least one more potential RISC-V laptop project coming our way with StarFive asking users to fill out a survey about a laptop, mini PC, or development board/SBC based on a RISC-V SoC with performance comparable to Rockchip RK3588 or MediaTek MT8192 octa-core Cortex-A76/Cortex-A55 processors. The hardware and software specifications of the device will depend on the answers to the survey. First, it’s […]

June 24, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Renesas SmartBond DA1470x Bluetooth 5.2 LE SoC features a 2D GPU

I would not usually ask myself “is there a GPU?” in a Bluetooth LE SoC, but that’s exactly what Renesas SmartBond DA1470x Bluetooth 5.2 LE microcontroller offers with a 2D GPU used to accelerate the rendering of user interfaces in wearables, healthcare devices, home appliances with displays, industrial automation and security systems, as well as consoles in e-bikes and gaming equipment. The DA1470x also comes with a Cortex-M33 application core, a Cortex-M0+ sensor node controller, 1.5MB SRAM, and an ultra-low-power hardware VAD for always-on audio processing, as well as various peripherals. Specifications: CPU cores Arm Cortex-M33 core @ up to 160 MHz for the application Arm Cortex-M0+ core acting as a sensor node controller (SNC) GPU – 2D GPU for advanced graphics processing Memory – 1.5MB SRAM Storage 4 kB OTG, 32KB ROM on-chip Decrypt-on-the-fly Octa/Quad SPI flash interface Dedicated QSPI PSRAM and QSPI flash interfaces eMMC interface supporting up […]

June 23, 2022June 24, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 10 Comments

Mekotronics R58 review – Part 1: Rockchip RK3588 mini PC unboxing & teardown

Mekotronics R58 review Rockchip RK3588 mini PC

Mekotronics R58 is a cost-optimized Rockchip RK3588 mini PC and SBC that sells for as low as $169 with 4GB and 32GB eMMC flash. The company has now sent me a model with 8GB RAM and 64GB flash for evaluation, and in the first part of the review, I’ll do an unboxing, check out the hardware more closely, and boot it up for a quick check. Mekotronics R58 Unboxing There’s no retail package so to speak with just a white box and a sticker reading “MINI 8+64G” indicating the RAM and storage capacity for the device. The mini PC ships with a 12V/3A power adapter and cord, an IR remote control with two AAA batteries, two WiFi antennas, an HDMI cable, and a USB-A to USB-C cable probably to flash the firmware if needed. The mini PC is housed in a metal enclosure with plenty of ventilation holes at the […]

June 23, 2022June 23, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

DevTerm portable Linux terminal now supports Raspberry Pi CM4 via a $19 adapter

DevTerm modular, portable Linux terminal initially designed for modules based on Raspberry Pi CM3 form factor, can now work with Raspberry Pi CM4 for extra performance and memory thanks to a $19 adapter. The Devterm was initially launched in 2020 with a 6.8-inch IPS screen, a keyboard with 67 keys, and a battery module, all connected through the ClockworkPi v3.14 carrier board taking a choice of core modules based on Allwinner H6 or Rockchip RK3399 (now supported in Armbian), besides the Raspberry Pi Compute Module 3 mentioned above. More recently, it also got an Allwinner D1 RISC-V module. The Raspberry Pi CM4 module should bring performance similar to the Rockchip RK3399 module for most tasks, although it may vary a lot depending on workloads, and for regular Raspberry Pi users, software that will be more familiar, and may be better supported. I’ve just a bit surprised it took so long, […]

June 23, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Kontron D3723-R – An AMD Ryzen Embedded R2000 motherboard in mini-ITX form factor

AMD Ryzen Embedded R2000 mini-ITX motherboard

Kontron D3723-R is an industrial mini-ITX motherboard equipped with the just-announced AMD Ryzen Embedded R2000 processor family that delivers higher performance than Ryzen R1000 Series while keeping the costs lower than AMD Ryzen Embedded V2000 solutions, and enabling Windows 11 support. Manufactured in Germany, the Kontron D3723-R will be offered with Ryzen R2312, R2314, R2514 and R2544 SKUs, and be particularly suitable for embedded graphics applications such as professional casino gaming systems, medical displays, thin clients, industrial PCs, infotainment, and digital signage systems. Kontron D3723-R specifications: SoC (one of the other) AMD Embedded R2312 dual-core/quad-thread processor @ 2.7 / 3.5 GHz (Turbo) with 3-core AMD Radeon Vega Graphics; 12-35W TDP AMD Embedded R2314 quad-core processor @ 2.1 / 3.5 GHz (Turbo) with 6-core AMD Radeon Vega Graphics; 12-35W TDP AMD Embedded R2514 quad-core/eight-thread processor @ 2.1 / 3.7 GHz (Turbo) with 8-core AMD Radeon Vega Graphics; 12-35W TDP AMD Embedded […]

June 23, 2022June 23, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

MaaXBoard 8ULP SBC leverages NXP i.MX 8ULP Cortex-A35/M33 SoC for Edge audio and HMI applications

Avnet MaaxBoard 8ULP will be one of the first single board computers (SBC) based on the new NXP i.MX 8ULP Cortex-A35/M33 processor designed for Edge audio and HMI applications, and featuring NXP’s EdgeLock for device-to-cloud security. The board will come with 2GB RAM, 32GB eMMC flash, a MIPI DSI display connector, a MIPI CSI camera connector, Fast Ethernet and WiFi 5 connectivity, a digital microphone, and a 3.5mm stereo audio jack, and provide expansion capabilities via a 40-pin header for Raspberry Pi HATs and a 16-pin Shuttle Click header for MikroE Click add-on boards. MaaXBoard 8ULP SBC specifications: SoC – NXP i.MX 8ULP processor with 2x Arm Cortex-A35 core @ 1.0 GHz, 1x Arm Cortex-M33 real-time core @ 216 MHz, 1x HiFi 4 audio DSP @ 600 MHz, 1x Fusion DSP @ 200 MHz for low-power voice and sensor hub processing, as well as 2D and 3D GPUs and 768 […]