Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft), Author at CNX Software

August 2, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

STEVAL-VOICE-UI Amazon qualified Alexa Smart Home evaluation kit is based on STM32H7 MCU

We’ve already covered plenty of Amazon-qualified development kits working with Alexa Voice Services. But here’s another one with STEVAL-VOICE-UI evaluation kit making it to the list of Smart Home Dev Kits, which Amazon describes as “reference designs for creating smart home products such as light switches, thermostats, or Wi-Fi routers”. STEVAL-VOICE-UI voice user interface (VUI) evaluation kit features an STMicro STM32H7 Arm Cortex-M7 microcontroller with 2 MB embedded flash, 1 MB embedded SRAM, 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi, and a microphone array with three MEMS microphones, as well as a loudspeaker, and some buttons and LEDs. STEVAL-VOICE-UI key features specifications: Microcontroller – STMicro STM32H753VIT6E Cortex-M7 MCU @ up to 550 MHz with 2 MB flash, 1 MB SRAM Connectivity – 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi subsystem (Murata 1DX module) coupled to 2MB NOR flash (ISSI IS25LP016D) Audio 3x MP23DB01HP MEMS microphones with 36 and 30 mm spacing FDA903D class D digital input automotive audio […]

August 2, 2021August 2, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 mini router keeps cool with aluminum alloy cover

There are many hardware platforms based on Raspberry Pi CM4 system-on-module, but in most instances, only the baseboard is provided, and you have to handle mounting and/or make an enclosure by yourself. One of those boards was Seeed Studio’s “Dual Gigabit Ethernet Carrier Board for Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4”, which as the name implies, offers two Gigabit Ethernet ports, as well as two USB 3.0 ports, and a micro HDMI port for video output. I say “was” because the company has now designed a PC/ABS case with an aluminum alloy cover acting as a heatsink to keep the RPi CM4 module cool. Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 mini router’s specifications: SoM – Raspberry Pi CM4 with up to 8GB RAM, 32GB eMMC flash, dual-band WiFi 5 and Bluetooth 5.0 module; replaceable by any Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 Storage – MicroSD card slot (only accessible with RPi CM4Lite module) […]

August 1, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

SmartBug smart switch integrates neatly into in-wall sockets (Crowdfunding)

SmartBug is a smart switch based on ESP32 wireless SoC, equipped with several sensors to measure temperature, humidity, power usage, and listen to sounds. It is designed to fit neatly into most in-wall sockets found around the world. Each SmartBug relies on mesh networking to communicate with each other and extend the range, WiFi for Internet connection, and Bluetooth low energy (BLE) to control additional devices without the need for any additional hub. SmartBug’s key features: MCU – 32-bit dual-core microcontroller with WiFi, wireless mesh, Bluetooth LE Connectivity 2.4GHz WiFI 4 Wireless mesh to let SmartBug act as a signal repeater Bluetooth 4.0 and BLE to control home appliances Audio Digital microphone for voices commands, baby crying (only enable if the plugin is downloaded in the app). Buzzer On-Off Relay up to 2200W, both AC and DC. Sensors – Temperature & humidity sensor, built-in power meter (current, voltage, and power) […]

July 31, 2021July 31, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 14 Comments

Jupiter Nano – Tiny Cortex-A5 board runs Linux or NuttX RTOS (Crowdfunding)

Jupiter Nano looks like one of those small MCU boards, but instead of a microcontroller, it packs a 500 MHz Microchip SAMA5 Cortex-A5 processor with 128MB RAM capable of running Linux or NuttX operating systems. The board reminds me of the Adafruit Feather compatible Giant Board made by Groboards, with the same system-in-package, but Juniper Nano offers more I/Os via 48 through holes, and its size is said to be similar to Teensy 4.1 board (but not quite). Jupiter Nano specifications: SiP – Microchip SAMA5D27C-LD1G with Cortex-A5 processor running at 498 MHz, 128MB LPDDR2 DRAM Storage – MicroSD card socket (bootable) USB – 1x Micro USB 2.0 host/device port, 1x USB 2.0 host on header Expansion – 2x 24-pin headers with GPIOs, USB, SPI, I2C, up to 4x Flexcom interfaces configurable as SPI, UART or I2C Programming – JTAG port, Micro USB 2.0 FS debug console via MCP2200 USB-UART converter […]

July 31, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 11 Comments

BeagleV Starlight SBC won’t be mass manufactured, redesigned BeagleV RISC-V SBC expected in Q1 2022

There was lots of excitement when BeagleV Starlight single board computer was announced in January of this year. With a price tag of $119 and up, it promises to be an affordable RISC-V SBC with StarFive JH7100 dual-core SiFive U74 Vision SoC with AI accelerator, H.265/H.264 hardware video decoding, up to 8GB RAM, HDMI output, Gigabit Ethernet, and so on. Several beta testers even received BeagleV Startlight prototypes, providing instructions for buildroot, boot Linux, or even a video review with Fedora. The first version lacked a GPU, and the initial schedule planned for a new revision with an Imagination GPU to be manufactured in September. But there have been some changes, as BeagleV Starlight SBC will not go into mass production, but not all is lost, as the Foundation and Seeed Studio are working on a new BeagleV community board slated to be released in Q1 2022. Drew Fustini made […]

July 30, 2021July 30, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Amazon Alexa certified ESP AFE leverages ESP32-S3 AI & DSP instructions

While most Amazon Alexa certified products are hardware designs, Amazon website also includes a Software Audio Front End (AFE) Dev Kits section that lists software algorithms that optimize audio detection in noisy environments, and the latest addition is Espressif’s Audio Front-End algorithms, or ESP AFE for shorts, that have recently been qualified for Amazon Alexa devices. It’s not the first Alexa certified solution from Espressif Systems, as both companies have worked together in the past with audio products like the ESP32-PICO-V3-ZERO Alexa Connect Kit Module or ESP32-Vaquita-DSPG board The algorithms were created by Espressif’s AI Lab team who used the AI and DSP instructions inside ESP32-S3 processor to optimize the code. The algorithms only utilized 12 to 20% of the CPU, as well as 220 KB of internal and 240 KB of external memory, leaving extra resources for other applications running in the wireless SoC. The ESP AFE is said […]

July 30, 2021July 30, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

XGO Mini Pro robot dog features Kendryte K510 AI processor (Crowdfunding)

Kendryte K510 RISC-V AI processor is the successor of Kendryte K210 with much more AI processing power (2.5/3 TOPS) that makes it suitable for robotics projects demanding much lower latency and quasi-real-time inference. One of the first products to make use of Kendryte K510 capabilities is Luwu Intelligence Technology’s XGO Mini Pro, a four-legged robot that looks like a dog with a tiny head providing the “smarts” for the system including face detection, image recognition, object tracking, voice recognition, and so on. The description of the robot on Canaan’s website is rather short with an explanation that when equipped with is equipped with a 9-axis IMU and joint positioning sensors, providing behavioral and joint feedback. The head is exchangeable and when using the earlier Kendryte K210, the robot is capable of omnidirectional movements, six-dimensional navigation control, and stabilization support, as well as multiple movement modes. Kendryte K510 enables more features […]