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

March 7, 2023March 8, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

Review of micro:bit XGO Robot Kit – An educational robot dog with a Bluetooth joystick

ELECFREAKS micro:bit XGO Robot Kit is a robotic dog designed for robotics education. It moves realistically and acts like a real pet dog, and can help teach various technology concepts related to mechanical engineering, electronics, programming, and artificial intelligence (AI). The kit support both the BBC Micro:bit V1 and V2 boards which can be programmed with Microsoft MakeCode, Python, the Arduino IDE, and other languages. The XGO robot is compact and can be easily used on a desk or table. The robot is made of aluminum metal coated with a beautiful anodized finish. Each leg has 12 high-quality digital servos moving each joint, 3 on each side, totaling 12, helping the robot dog to move smoothly and flexibly. The robot can be controlled with apps, a joystick, and up to 19 ready-made postures, such as holding hands, looking for food, sitting down, squatting, etc… Content of the XGO robot kit: […]

March 6, 2023March 7, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 10 Comments

Riotee batteryless stackable IoT board embeds an nRF52833 module (Crowdfunding)

Nessie Circuits’ Riotee board features a Riotee module based on Nordic nRF52833 WiSoC with a 2.4 GHz radio that targets batteryless IoT applications thanks to a stackable design taking a capacitors add-on board and a solar panel. Batteries introduce maintenance costs and environmental issues with millions of batteries disposed of every day. That’s why companies are trying to provide solutions for batteryless IoT designs such as the Everactive batteryless IoT devkit or Telink energy harvesting wireless module for remote controls. The Riotee module, board, and ecosystem also aim to play their part in reducing the use of batteries in wireless IoT devices. Riotee board specifications: Riotee module Wireless MCU – Nordic nRF52833 Arm Cortex-M4F microcontroller @ 64 MHz with 512 kB flash, 128 kB RAM, 2.4 GHz radio Memory – 128 kB of non-volatile memory (MSP430FR5962 FRAM) for “automatic checkpointing of application state” Castellated holes with 11x GPIOs including two […]

March 6, 2023March 6, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 8 Comments

Allwinner R128 wireless SoC features 64-bit RISC-V core, Arm Cortex-M33 core, and HiFi 5 audio DSP

Allwinner is mostly known for its low-cost Arm processor running Android or Linux, but the Allwinner R128 is a wireless audio SoC with a C906 64-bit RISC-V application core, an Arm Cortex-M33 real-time time core, a HiFi 5 DSP, and built-in WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity. The SoC also comes with 1MB SRAM, up to 16MB flash, up to 32MB PSRAM, display and camera interfaces, support for microphone arrays, and plenty of I/Os that should make it suitable for smart speakers and other voice-controlled home appliances with or without display. Allwinner R128 specifications: Application core – Xuantie C906 64-bit RISC-V core clocked at 600 MHz. DSP – Cadence HiFi 5 audio DSP clocked at 400 MHz Communication core – Arm M33 Star (Cortex-M33 from Arm China?) core clocked at 240 MHz with Trustzone support Memory 1MB SRAM 8MB, 16MB, or 32MB PSRAM (SiP = System-in-Package) OPI PSRAM controller Storage QPI flash […]

March 6, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

Elfin-EW11 is a compact WiFi to RS485 unit with Modbus TCP support

Elfin EW11/EW11A is a small WiFi to RS485 unit with Modbus TCP/IP support that works either in the 5 to 18V DC (EW11) or the 5 to 36V DC (EW11A) input range. The WiFi to RS485 adapter is offered with either an internal or external WiFi antenna, the RS485 interface is exposed through an RJ45 port, and an RJ45 to terminal block cable is usually included, as well as a DIN Rail mount. Elfin EW11/EW11A specifications: MCU (I’m not sure which one is used, and the specs depend on where you look..) Unnamed Arm Cortex-M3 microcontroller @ 96 MHz with 2MB flash, 128KB SRAM (on the product page) OR Unnamed microcontroller @ up to 160MHz with 2MB flash, 352KB SRAM (on Aliexpress) Networking Wireless – 2.4 GHz WiFi 4 with up to WPA2PSK security, station, AP, or station+AP modes; internal or external WiFi antenna depending on the model. Wired – […]

March 4, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

IoT board supports WiFi, Bluetooth, NB-IoT, Cat-M and GNSS with ESP32-S3 and SIM7080G modules

LILYGO T-SIM7080G-S3 is an ESP32-S3 WiFi and Bluetooth IoT board with a SIMcom SIM7080G LTE Cat-M (eMTC), NB-IoT, and GNSS module for low-power long-range connectivity and asset tracking. The board also comes with a 18650 battery holder, a solar panel input, a microSD card slot, a camera port, and several I/Os and provides an alternative to the TTGO T-Beam ESP32 board that relies on LoRaWAN for long-range connectivity instead. LILYGO T-SIM7080G-S3 specifications: Wireless modules Espressif ESP32-S3-WROOM-1-N16R8 module with ESP32-S3 dual-core LX7 microprocessor @ up to 240 MHz with Vector extension for machine learning, 16MB flash, 8MB PSRAM, WiFi 4 and Bluetooth 5 LE/Mesh SIMCom SIM7080G global multi-band Cat-M and NB-IoT module with GNSS Bands: Cat-M – B1/B2/B3/B4/B5/B8/B12/B13/B14/B18/B19/B20/B25/B26 /B27/B28/B66/B85 NB-IoT – B1/B2/B3/B4/B5/B8/B12/B13/B18/B19/B20/B25/B26/B28 /B66/B71/B85 Data rate Cat-M – Uplink: 1,119 Kbps, downlink: 589 Kbps NB-IoT: Uplink: 150 Kbps downlink: 136 Kbps LTE RF Power Class: 5 (Typ. 21dbm) GNSS – GPS, GLONASS, […]

March 3, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

SparkFun Thing Plus Matter – MGM240P board supports Matter, Zigbee, OpenThread, and Bluetooth Low Energy 5.3

SparkFun Thing Plus Matter – MGM240P board targets the development of applications using the Matter IoT protocol and features the MGM240P module based on Silicon Labs EFR32MG24 Arm Cortex-M33 wireless microcontroller with an 802.15.4 radio for Zigbee and OpenThread plus a Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) 5.3 radio. The board also offers two rows of I/Os for upto 21 GPIOs and a Qwiic connector for expansion, another EFRM32 MCU acting as a J-link debugger, a microSD card, and can be powered via USB-C or a LiPo battery. SparkFun Thing Plus Matter – MGM240P specifications: MGM240P wireless module SoC – Silicon Labs EFR32MG24 microcontroller CPU – 32-bit Arm Cortex-M33 @ 39 MHz (MCU/module specs say up to 78 MHz, but maybe it’s clocked lower in this board for some reason, maybe lower power consumption?) Memory/Storage – 1536kB Flash Memory, 256kB RAM Wireless – 802.15.4 wireless protocols (Zigbee and OpenThread) and Bluetooth Low […]

March 3, 2023March 3, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 7 Comments

Arduino GIGA R1 WiFi board launches with STM32H7 MCU, up to 76 I/O pins

Arduino GIGA R1 WiFi board brings the STM32H7 dual-core Cortex-M7/M4 microcontroller found in the Portenta H7 boards to the larger Arduino Mega/Due form factor with up to 76 GPIO pins. As its name implies, the board also comes with a WiFi 4 (and Bluetooth 5.1) module, as well as an audio jack, a USB Type-C port for programming, a USB 2.0 Type-A host port, and extra connectors for a display and a camera. Arduino GIGA R1 WiFi board specifications: Microcontroller – STMicro STM32H747XI Cortex-M7 @ 480 MHz + M4 @ 200 MHz MCU with 2MB dual-bank Flash memory, 1 MB RAM, Chrom-ART graphical hardware accelerator System Memory – 8MB SDRAM Storage – 16MB QSPI NOR flash Connectivity – 2.4GHz WiFi 802.11b/g/n up to 65 Mbps and Bluetooth 5.1 BR/EDR/LE via Murata 1DX module Display – 20-pin header (J5) Camera – 20-pin Arducam camera header (J6) USB 1x USB Type-C port […]

March 2, 2023March 3, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 14 Comments

Firefly AIO-3588SG – A compact, low-profile 8K SBC with WiFi 6 and Gigabit Ethernet

Firefly AIO-3588SG is a compact, low-profile SBC with Gigabit Ethernet, WiFi 6, and an 8K capable USB-C port with DisplayPort that is based on the company’s Core-3588SG module powered by a Rockchip RK3588S octa-core Cortex-A76/A55 processor with up to 32GB RAM and 256GB eMMC flash. The board is designed to be as thin as possible and includes a low-profile RJ45 Ethernet jack which should make it suitable for projects and products that require high performance in a thin form factor such as robotics, digital signage, virtual reality headsets, etc… Firefly AIO-3588SG specifications: System-on-module – Firefly Core-3588SG with SoC – Rockchip RK3588S octa-core processor with 4x Cortex-A76 cores @ up to 2.4 GHz, 4x Arm Cortex-A55 cores, Arm Mali-G610 MP4 GPU, 6 TOPS NPU, 8Kp60 video decoder, 8Kp30 video encoder System Memory – 4GB, 8GB, or 16GB (32GB optional) 64-bit LPDDR4, LPDDR4x, or LPDDR5 Storage – 16GB, 32GB, 64GB, 128GB, or […]