CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

April 13, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Trail Mate open-source firmware leverages Meshtastic and MeshCore for ESP32 off-grid handhelds

vicliu624’s Trail Mate is an open-source firmware for off-grid communication and GPS coordinates sharing, leveraging the Meshtastic, MeshCore, and other projects, and designed for ESP32 handhelds such as LILYGO’s T-LoRa Pager or M5Stack’s Tab5 with a LoRaWAN module. The Trail Mate firmware provides a fixed north-up GPS map, direct LoRa text messaging through Meshtastic or MeshCore mesh networks without relying on a smartphone, and prioritizes stability, efficiency, and interoperability over feature density. Trail Mate user interface highlights: Simple main menu with four icons: GPS, LoRa chat, tracker, and system utilities. GPS map Fixed North-Up map orientation (no rotation) Fully offline map rendering from SD card tiles (png/jpg files) Three switchable base layers: OSM / Terrain / Satellite Optional contour overlay for terrain shape awareness Real-time position marker for the current GPS fix Discrete zoom levels optimized for embedded systems Simple breadcrumb trails for path awareness Fast in-page layer switching via […]

April 13, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

Linux 7.0 Release – Main changes, Arm, RISC-V, and MIPS architectures

Linus Torvalds has just released Linux 7.0 on LKML: The last week of the release continued the same “lots of small fixes” trend, but it all really does seem pretty benign, so I’ve tagged the final 7.0 and pushed it out. I suspect it’s a lot of AI tool use that will keep finding corner cases for us for a while, so this may be the “new normal” at least for a while. Only time will tell. Anyway, this last week was a little bit of everything: networking (core and drivers), arch fixes, tooling and selftests, and various random fixes all over the place. Let’s keep testing, and obviously tomorrow the merge window for 7.1 opens. I already have four dozen pull requests pending – thank you to all the early people. Linus This follows the Linux 6.19 release about two months ago, which brought us PCIe link encryption and […]

Homture Magic Frame smart photo display integrates generative AI and 60 GHz mmWave radar (Sponsored)

The Homture Magic Frame is the world’s first smart photo display that integrates generative AI video and a 60 GHz mmWave radar. Artificial intelligence transforms static photos into interactive, living windows of memory, while the 60 GHz radar detects a person’s presence within a 2-meter range. So when someone walks by, the frame’s AI model gives life to the character(s) in the photo to greet people or follow their movement with their gaze. Homture Magic Frame specifications: Storage 64GB local storage Unlimited cloud storage hosted on US-based AWS servers. Display – 10.1-inch Full HD (1920×1200) touchscreen display Wireless – Dual-band WiFi (2.4GHz / 5GHz) Sensor – 60 GHz mmWave radar AI features AI Photo-to-Video Magic – Generates multiple dynamic videos from a single photo Old Photo Restoration – Scans vintage physical photos, repairs fading, and animates them. Smart Motion Interaction – The frame can greet you or have characters look […]

April 12, 2026April 12, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

UmbrelOS – A Debian-based personal home cloud OS with a slick user interface

UmbrelOS is a Debian-based home cloud OS with a neat web-based interface that works on devices like Raspberry Pi SBCs, mini PCs, old computers, and more. Having been first released in 2020, the OS is not exactly new, but I only discovered it today after noticing it was one of the supported operating systems for the Pironman 5 Pro Max enclosure for the Raspberry Pi 5. It initially launched as a tool for running a Bitcoin full node on a Raspberry Pi easily, but eventually turned into a home cloud OS that competes against other open-source solutions such as OpenMediaVault or CasaOS/ZimaOS. UmbrelOS highlights: Intuitive web dashboard at umbrel.local or your device’s IP. Umbrel App Store — Over 300 apps, including Nextcloud or Immich for media and document storage, Jellyfin for media streaming, Home Assistant automation framework, Vaultwarden password manager, Bitcoin and Lightning nodes, AdGuard Home adblocker, and AI-related tools […]

April 11, 2026 by Debashis Das - 1 Comment

$15 STM32U575 development board features FPC display connector, microSD card slot, two 48-pin GPIO headers

A few days ago, we looked at the WeAct Studio STM32U585CIU6 development board, which features an ultra-low-power STM32U5 Cortex-M33 MCU and was added to MicroPython v1.28. If you’re looking for another STM32U5-based option, especially for compact UI projects, Maker Go now offers an STM32U575 board with a display connector, a microSD card slot, and many more GPIOs While the STM32U585 on the WeAct board features cryptographic accelerators, the STM32U575VGT6 MCU on the Maker Go board is closely related and still offers the same high-performance Cortex-M33 core running at 160 MHz, along with ultra-low-power capabilities. This new board also adds 8MB of external flash and is designed to accept 1.47-inch or 2.0-inch LCDs directly via a ribbon cable. STM32U575VGT6 board specifications: Microcontroller – ST STM32U575VGT6 Core – Arm Cortex-M33 Armv8-M core clocked at up to 160 MHz with FPU, Arm TrustZone Memory – 786 KB SRAM Flash – 1024 KB (1 […]

April 10, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

Bee Write Back – A Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W-based DIY writerdeck with 5.5-inch OLED and mechanical keyboard

Based on Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W, the Bee Write Back writerdeck is another DIY project that should be relatively easy to reproduce, since it relies on off-the-shelf parts, including an OLED and mechanical key switches and caps, as well as a 3D printed enclosure. Simon (shmimel) had trouble falling asleep and found out that journaling helped him a lot, but he was not so fond of writing in a physical journal. So instead, he created the Bee Write Back journal/writerdeck as a distraction-free writing machine, and the result looks pretty neat. Bee Write Back key components: Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W SBC with Broadcom BCM2711 quad-core Cortex-A53 SoC, 512 MB RAM, WiFi 4 and Bluetooth 4.2 Display – 5.5-inch AMOLED screen with 1280 x 720 resolution($52 on AliExpress) Keyboard accessories 47x switches 47x keycaps YMDK Air40 keyboard PCB (about $30 on AliExpress) Power – Seengreat Pi Zero UPS USB HUB […]

April 10, 2026April 10, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

Feature-rich Raspberry Pi CM5 carrier board offers dual Ethernet, quad RS485, 4G LTE/5G connectivity, and more

Waveshare CM5-ETH-RS485-4G-BASE Raspberry Pi CM5 carrier board offers plenty of features such as GbE and 2.5GbE RJ45 jacks, optional 4G LTE/5G connectivity, terminal blocks for RS485, relay, and digital outputs, and more. The board also features a 4K-capable HDMI output, an M.2 Key-M socket for an NVMe SSD or AI accelerator, two MIPI DSI/CSI connectors, ten status and user LEDs, and a wide 7-36V DC power input. Waveshare CM5-ETH-RS485-4G-BASE specifications: Supported system-on-modules – All Raspberry Pi Compute Module 5 variants with up to 16GB RAM, 64GB eMMC flash, Wireless Storage Optional NVMe SSD via M.2 Key-M socket MicroSD card socket for Compute Module 5 Lite only Video Output HDMI 2.0 port up to 4K resolution 2x MIPI DSI connectors (multiplexed with MIPI CSI) Camera I/F – 2x MIPI CSI connectors (multiplexed with MIPI DSI) Networking Gigabit Ethernet RJ45 port 2.5GbE RJ45 port Optional WiFi 5 and Bluetooth 5.2 on Raspberry […]

April 10, 2026April 10, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 7 Comments

Raspberry Pi SBC gets (analog and) digital radio HAT with AM, FM, DAB, DAB+, HD radio

Yesterday, I wrote about a 2-year-old open-source hardware ESP32-based DAB+ receiver project, but it turns out there’s also a digital radio project for the Raspberry Pi that was released about three weeks ago. Raspiaudio’s Digital Radio V1 HAT adds AM/FM, DAB/DAB+, and HD Radio support to any Raspberry Pi SBC with a 40-pin GPIO header and is supported by CLI or web-based software for configuration and control. Digital Radio V1 HAT specifications: Supported SBCs – Raspberry Pi Zero 1/2, Raspberry Pi 4/5, etc… Digital radio receiver chip – Skyworth Si4689-A10 (see product brief) Worldwide FM band support (76 to 108 MHz) Worldwide AM band support (520 to 1710 kHz) DAB, DAB+ Band III support (168 to 240 MHz) Advanced RDS/RBDS decoder FM HD Radio support with on-chip IBOC blend (note from Raspiaudio: subject to licensing. Please verify that you are legally allowed to use it in your country and […]