CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

November 9, 2026November 9, 2026 by Sponsored Post - 5 Comments

Black Friday Deal: Over $200 Off the VZMORE AX9 Max Mini PC! (Sponsored)

Mini PC manufacturer VZMORE has launched an early Black Friday deal for its AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 470-powered VZMORE AX9 Max model: $229 off, bringing the regular price down to $1,270 from $1,499. The VZMORE AX9 Max mini PC ships with 32GB DDR5 and a 1TB NVMe SSD preloaded with Windows 11 Pro. It features four video outputs (2x HDMI 2.1, 2x USB-C) , a 3.5mm audio jack, two 2.5GbE ports, and WiFi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4 connectivity, as well as a range of USB 2.0, USB 3.2, and USB4 ports. VZMORE AX9 Max specifications: SoC – AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 470 CPU – 12-core/24-thread processor (4x Zen 5, 8x Zen 5c) clocked at up to 5.2 GHz GPU – 16-core AMD Radeon 890M clocked at up to 3.1 GHz AI accelerator – 55 TOPS Ryzen AI NPU; Up to 86 combined TOPS Power Modes Silent – 45 […]

November 10, 2026November 10, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

LabWired allows engineers to test compiled firmware on simulated MCU boards (CPU and peripherals)

Andrii Shylenko’s LabWired is an MIT-licensed MCU firmware simulation core that runs compiled firmware against modeled CPUs and peripherals, captures UART and bus output, register state, and supports repeatable checks in CI. The simulator works on Arm Cortex-M0+, Cortex-M3, Cortex-M4, Cortex-M7, Cortex-M33 cores, RISC-V architecutre, and Xtensa LX6 and LX7 (some ESP32 parts). The main benefit of the project is speeding up firmware testing since doing some on real boards is slow. The hardware must be ready, then the firmware must be flashed to the board each time you want to test it, and if something breaks, developers get a dark LED and no trace. If a firmware project needs to support multiple boards, this quickly adds up. The project is different from a CPU/MCU emulator for two main reasons: The full board is modeled, not only the chip. Sensors, displays, and bus devices are also simulated. So you can […]

KiCad 10 now (unofficially) runs in a web browser or Android

It’s now possible to run KiCad 10 directly in a web browser or as an Android app thanks to two separate open-source projects, unaffiliated with the official KiCad project. Let’s have a look at both. Ziro Designer/ZiroEDA – KiCad 10 in your web browser Akshay Rukade (ZiroEDA), an engineering student in India, ported KiCad 10.0.6 to the browser through the Ziro Designer/ZiroEDA Designer project. It’s a TypeScript translation of KiCad’s C++, kept file-for-file against the KiCad implementation, so the real schematic editor, PCB editor, interactive router, and ERC/DRC run in a browser tab and read and write normal KiCad projects. That means you can open local KiCad projects or designs hosted on GitHub directly in a web browser without having to install KiCad 10 itself on your computer, and it should also enable machines that do not natively support KiCad (e.g., RISC-V, Android tablet, iPad…) to run it. Akshay highlights […]

November 10, 2026November 9, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

ControlBox Home Assistant solution is designed for floor heating systems, house lighting, 1-wire sensors (Crowdfunding)

ControlBox floor heating controller home assistant

DomeCtrl’s ControlBox is a Raspberry Pi 5-based controller running Home Assistant and primarily designed for hydronic radiant floor heating (RFH) systems. It also supports lighting solutions and integration with energy devices such as solar collectors, photovoltaic installations, heat pumps, hydraulic pumps & valves. The system controls thermal valves, hydraulic PWM pumps, and related RFH devices, and can read multiple 1-wire temperature sensors over long cables (>6 m). The ControlBox also features 32 LED-strip output channels, for up to 2 kW output. ControlBox specifications: Main board – Raspberry Pi 5 SBC with 4GB RAM Storage – 128GB NVMe SSD pre-loaded with Home Assistant Wired Communication Gigabit Ethernet on SBC Half-duplex RS485 communication bus (5 V) Wireless WiFi 5 and Bluetooth 5 on SBC W32-ESP01 header for control via ESPHome 433 MHz transmitter & receiver modules for communication with wireless peripherals like ‘ClickOnClickOff’, curtain rails, screens, garage doors, etc. I/Os via terminal […]

November 10, 2026November 9, 2026 by Debashis Das - No Comments

280 MHz STMicro STM32G5 Cortex-M33 mixed-signal MCU targets digital power and motor control applications

The STM32G5 series is a family of 280 MHz Arm Cortex-M33 mixed-signal MCUs designed for industrial power supplies, photovoltaic inverters, EV chargers, robotics, and motor control systems. It doubles the performance of the older STM32G4 series unveiled in 2021. The new MCU family features up to 512KB flash, 112KB SRAM with ECC, a 111 ps high-resolution timer (HRTIM) with up to 12 PWM outputs on some variants, and 12-bit ADCs supporting up to 5 MSPS. Other features include position encoder interfaces, a 16-element programmable logic array, CORDIC and FMAC mathematical accelerators, and security features such as Arm TrustZone, secure boot, and post-quantum cryptography support. STM32G5 series specifications: MCU Core 32-bit Arm Cortex-M33 CPU @ up to 280 MHz with TrustZone, single-precision FPU, DSP instructions, and MPU 8 KB instruction cache and 4 KB data cache (data cache on STM32G55x/56x only) 20 KB or 32 KB CCM-SRAM routine booster (20 KB […]

November 9, 2026November 9, 2026 by Debashis Das - 2 Comments

Seeed Studio XIAO STM32C5 development board features dual CAN FD and a 6-axis IMU with programmable heating

Seeed Studio XIAO STM32C5 is the company’s first XIAO development board based on an STMicroelectronics MCU, namely a 144 MHz STM32C5A3CG Arm Cortex-M33 microcontroller. It features two CAN FD controllers and a 6-axis IMU with programmable heating for robotics, industrial control, and motion-sensing applications. The board also includes 16MB of external flash, a 48 MHz external crystal, a USB-C port, and battery charging circuitry. One CAN FD channel is connected to an onboard transceiver, while the second requires an external transceiver. The integrated IMU heater allows firmware to control sensor temperature and reduce measurement drift from temperature changes. XIAO STM32C5 specifications: MCU – STMicroelectronics STM32C5A3CG CPU – 144 MHz Arm Cortex-M33 with FPU and DSP instructions Memory – 256KB SRAM Storage – 1MB internal flash Storage – 16MB external flash USB – USB Type-C port with USB 2.0 Full-Speed support (12 Mbps) CAN Bus 2x CAN FD controllers (FDCAN1 and […]

November 9, 2026November 9, 2026 by Debashis Das - No Comments

SparkFun IoT RedBoard ESP32-P4 – Arduino UNO-like ESP32-P4 v3.x development boards with WiFi 6 or PoE options

SparkFun IoT RedBoard ESP32 C5 (left) and ESP32 P4 PoE (right) development boards

SparkFun introduced two new development boards called IoT RedBoard, both based on the ESP32-P4 v3.x (ESP32-P4X) and compatible with the Arduino UNO R3 form factor. The main difference is that one features an ESP32-C5 for Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5 LE, Zigbee, and Thread connectivity, while the PoE version includes 10/100 Mbps Ethernet and Power over Ethernet (PoE) support. They also include MIPI CSI/DSI camera and display connectors, two USB-C ports, a microSD card slot, Qwiic expansion, Arduino R3-compatible headers, and LiPo battery charging and monitoring. These features make it suitable for HMI, edge computing, and IoT applications. SparkFun IoT RedBoard ESP32-P4 specifications: SoC – Espressif Systems ESP32-P4NRW32X v3.x CPU Dual-core 32-bit RISC-V HP (High-performance) processor @ up to 400 MHz with AI instruction extensions and single-precision FPU Single-core 32-bit RISC-V LP (Low-power) processor @ up to 40 MHz Memory – 768 KB HP L2MEM, 32 KB LP SRAM, 8 KB […]

November 9, 2026November 9, 2026 by Debashis Das - No Comments

M5Stack Core Matrix ESP32-C61 IoT controller features 16×16 LED matrix, WiFi 6, and 6-axis IMU

M5Stack’s Core Matrix is an ESP32-C61-based IoT controller with a 16×16 white LED matrix for displaying icons, animations, device status, and notifications. It supports 2.4 GHz WiFi 6 connectivity and is designed for IoT applications, sensor data monitoring, and interactive displays. It also includes a 6-axis BMI270 IMU, a microSD card slot, a passive buzzer, three user buttons, a power button, and a USB-C port. The board supports external modules and sensors through M5-Bus and Grove interfaces, with battery-power management circuitry that lets it run on either USB power or an external battery. M5Stack Core Matrix specifications: SoC – Espressif Systems ESP32-C61HR8 CPU – Single 32-bit RISC-V core clocked up to 160MHz Memory – 320KB SRAM, 8MB PSRAM Storage – 256KB ROM, 16MB QSPI flash Wireless – WiFi 6 and Bluetooth LE 5.0 Storage – microSD card slot Display – 16×16 white LED matrix (256 LEDs) driven by TM1680 Audio […]