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

January 16, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

XIAO ESP32-C5 – A tiny USB-C IoT board with dual-band WiFi 6, Bluetooth 5.0 LE, Zigbee, and Thread connectivity

Seeed Studio has just added a new member to its XIAO USB-C board family with the XIAO ESP32-C5 offering dual-band WiFi 6 (2.4 and 5.0 GHz), as well as Bluetooth 5.0 LE, Zigbee, and Thread connectivity for IoT projects and products. It still features a u.FL antenna connector, Reset and Boot buttons, two 7-pin GPIO headers, and 8 pads for JTAG or GPIOs on the back. Compared to the earlier XIAO ESP32C6, the new model is clocked higher (240 MHz vs 160 MHz), supports dual-band Wi-Fi, and offers more memory (384KB SRAM + 8 MB PSRAM vs 512KB SRAM) and storage (8MB vs 4MB flash), but exposes fewer analog pins (5 vs 7). XIAO ESP32-C5 specifications: Wireless MCU – Espressif Systems ESP32-C5HR8 CPU Single-core 32-bit RISC-V processor @ up to 240 MHz Low-power RISC-V core @ 48 MHz acting as the main processor for power-sensitive applications Memory – 384 KB […]

January 15, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Geniatech introduces SMARC and OSM system-on-modules powered by NXP i.MX 95 SoC

Geniatech NXP i.MX 95 SMARC OSM system-on-modules

Geniatech has released two new System-on-Modules (SoMs) powered by the NXP i.MX 95 Edge AI application processor: the OSM 1.1 Size L-compliant SOM-iMX95-OSM and the SMARC 2.1-compliant SOM-iMX95-SMARC. Both ship with up to 16GB LPDDR5 and up to 128GB eMMC flash, and are designed for markets such as smart retail, industrial automation, intelligent transportation, medical devices, and commercial IoT. Geniatech SOM-iMX95-SMARC SOM-iMX95-SMARC specifications: SoC – NXP i.MX 95 CPU Up to 6x Arm Cortex-A55 application cores clocked at 1.8 GHz with 32KB I-cache and D-cache, 64KB L2 cache, and 512KB L3 cache 1x Arm Cortex-M7 real-time core clocked at 800 MHz 1x Arm Cortex-M33 safety core clocked at 333 MHz GPU – Arm Mali-G310 V2 GPU for 2D/3D acceleration with support for OpenGL ES 3.2, OpenCL 3.0 VPU 4Kp30 H.265 and H.264 encode and decode JPEG Encoder, JPEG Decoder AI Accelerator – NXP eIQ Neutron 2 TOPS neural processing […]

January 15, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

Raspberry Pi AI HAT+ 2 targets generative AI (LLM/VLM) with Hailo-10H accelerator

The Raspberry Pi AI HAT+ 2 is an add-on board based on the 40 TOPS Hailo-10H AI accelerator with 8GB of dedicated on-board RAM that brings generative AI capability to Raspberry Pi 5. While it delivers similar computer vision performance as the first-generation Hailo-8-based Raspberry Pi AI HAT+, the AI HAT+ 2 also adds support for large language models (LLMs) and vision-language models (VLMs) running locally without the need for Internet access. Target applications include offline process control, secure data analysis, facilities management, and robotics. Raspberry Pi AI HAT+ 2 specifications: AI accelerator – Hailo Hailo-10H AI accelerator delivering 40 TOPS (INT4) inferencing performance Performance for computer vision models comparable to the Raspberry Pi AI HAT+ (26 TOPS) 8GB on-board RAM Host interface PCIe Gen3 x1 FPC connector to Raspberry Pi 5 40-pin GPIO header (no signal used by the Hailo-10H, it only extends the GPIO header on the Pi) […]

January 14, 2026January 14, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 7 Comments

WeAct CAN485 – A low-cost ESP32 board with CAN Bus and RS485 interfaces

WeAct CAN485 is a low-cost ESP32 board with CAN Bus and RS485 interfaces implemented through transceivers with 2.5kV isolation from Shanghai Chipanalog Microelectronics Co., Ltd. or Chipanalog for shorts. The board supports WiFi and Bluetooth LE through the ESP32 microcontroller and also features a microSD card slot, three switches for 120 Ohm termination and pull-up/pull-down resistors, Reset and User buttons, a USB-C port for programming, and a 2-pin terminal block taking 5 to 36V DC input power. WeAct CAN485 specifications: Wireless SoC – Espressif Systems ESP32-DOWD-V3 CPU – Dual-core processor @ 240MHz Memory – 520 KB SRAM, 16 KB SRAM in RTC Storage – 448 KB ROM Wireless – WiFi 4 and BLE connectivity Storage 8MB flash (W25Q64JVSSIQ) MicroSD card slot (SPI); note: the card needs to be removed when flashing the firmware. USB – USB Type-C port for power and programming ( via CH343P USB to TTL bridge) Serial […]

January 14, 2026January 14, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

ESP-SensairShuttle ESP32-C5 kit supports Bosch Sensortec’s BME690, BMI270, BMM350 environmental and motion sensors

Jointly developed by Espressif Systems and Bosch Sensortec, the ESP-SensairShuttle kit comprises an ESP32-C5 development board that can be interfaced with a choice of two sensor daughterboards. It is designed for motion sensing and large language model human-computer/machine interaction scenarios. More specifically, the ESP-SensairShuttle mainboard relies on an ESP32-C5-WROOM-1-N16R8 module with dual-band Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5 (LE), Zigbee, and Thread (802.15.4) wireless connectivity, and interfaces with the provided Bosch Sensortec Shuttle Boards, a 1.83-inch touch display, a microphone, and a speaker, and can be powered via USB or a LiPo battery. ESP-SensairShuttle kit content and specifications: ESP-SensairShuttle mainboard Main control module – ESP32-C5-WROOM-1-N16R8 SoC – Espressif Systems ESP32-C5 CPU Single-core 32-bit RISC-V processor @ up to 240 MHz Low-power RISC-V core @ 40 MHz acting as the main processor for power-sensitive applications Memory – 384 KB SRAM on-chip Storage – 320 KB ROM Connectivity Dual-band (2.4/5 GHz) 802.11ax WiFi 6, […]

January 14, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

eWeLink CUBE OS enables all SONOFF WiFi and Zigbee devices to connect to Matter

All SONOFF WiFi and Zigbee home automation devices can now work with the Matter protocol. This can be done in two ways: Software path (free of charge) – Use eWelink CUBE OS on a Raspberry Pi or other host computer to bridge SONOFF WiFi & Zigbee devices to Matter. Hardware path — Install a certified Matter gateway such as SONOFF iHost, ZBBridge-U, or NSPanel Pro, and pair your WiFi/Zigbee devices to use them with Matter. The main benefit is that you no longer need to use the eWelink app, and any SONOFF devices can now work with Matter-compatible platforms, such as Apple Home, Google Home, SmartThings, Amazon Alexa, and Home Assistant. I’ll focus on the software solution in this post. Most users will likely install eWelink CUBE OS on a Raspberry Pi 4/5 connected to a supported USB Zigbee dongle if they have Zigbee devices. SONOFF lists their own ZBDongle-MAX, […]

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

StackChan is a cute, community-build, open-source AI desktop robot (Crowdfunding)

StackChan is an open-source AI desktop robot based on the M5Stack CoreS3 ESP32-S3 IoT controller that works as an AI Voice Assistant and can notably be used for Smart Home & IoT control. It features a 2-inch touchscreen display, a VGA camera, a dual microphone array and a 1W speaker for voice interaction, a few sensors, an infrared receiver, an infrared transmitter/blaster, two servos for horizontal and vertical movement, and a few buttons and LEDs. StackChan specifications: Core module – M5Stack CoreS3 IoT controller Wireless MCU – Espressif Systems ESP32-S3FN16R8 CPU – Dual-core 32-bit Xtensa LX7 microcontroller with AI vector instructions up to 240MHz, RISC-V ULP co-processor Memory – 512KB SRAM, 8MB PSRAM Storage – 16MB flash, Wirleess – 2.4GHz WiFi 4 (802.11b/g/n), Bluetooth 5.0 BLE + Mesh Antenna – Internal 3D antenna Storage – MicroSD card slot Display – 2-inch IPS display with 320×240 resolution, 65,536 colors via ILI9342C […]

January 13, 2026January 13, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

HalowLink 2 Wi-Fi HaLow access point and extender offers up to 1 km range, supports up to 1,000 IoT end devices

GL.iNet HaLowLink 2 WiFi HaLow access point extender

Designed in collaboration with Morse Micro, GL.iNet’s HalowLink 2 is a Wi-Fi HaLow (802.11ah) access point and extender that offers up to 1 km range and supports up to 1,000 IoT end devices. It’s an update to the earlier HaLowLink 1 Wi-Fi HaLow gateway with the exact same functionality, except it replaces a Morse Micro MM6108-based module with an MM8108-based module that offers a higher max link rate (43.3 Mbps vs 32.5 Mbps), broader region support, higher device capacity, and potentially better /performance range with up to 26 dBm Tx power (vs 23dBm in the first generation model). HalowLink 2 specifications: SoC – Mediatek MT7621 dual-core, quad-thread MIPS1004K processor @ up to 880MHz System Memory – 256MB DDR3 Storage – 32MB NAND Flash Connectivity Wi-Fi HaLow (802.11ah) AzureWave AW-HM677 module with Morse Micro MM8108 HaLow chipset supporting Wi-Fi HaLow, IEEE 802.11ah, Sub-GHz, 43.3 Mbps, ultra-low power, WPA3 Sub-GHz frequency range […]