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

November 11, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 9 Comments

Giveaway Week 2020 winners announced

CNX Software’s “Giveaway week 2020” took place last week with 7 different prizes including three MINIX accessories (USB-C hubs and USD PD charger), M5Stack Atom Echo ESP32 based programmable speaker, Miniware DT71 smart tweezers, and two SBC’s namely RockPi 4C and Ryzen Embedded based DFI GHF51. All people had to enter was to leave a comment with the country to which the parcel would have to be sent. With the help of random.org, we now have selected and confirmed winners which all happen to come from the US or Europe this time around: MINIX NEO Storage Plus USB-C Hub with 480GB SSD – Marc, USA Miniware DT71 Smart Tweezers – xdcc_master, GERMANY MINIX NEO C-G USB-C Multiport Adapter – Barnaby, UK RockPi 4C SBC – Garrett, USA M5Stack Atom Echo ESP32 Speaker – Venet, ITALY MINIX NEO P2 100W USB-C Charger – Michal, SLOVAKIA DFI GHF51 Ryzen Embedded SBC – […]

November 10, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

TTGO T-Higrow is a WiFi & Bluetooth connected soil temperature & moisture sensor

LilyGO WiFI Bluetooth soil-sensor kit battery case

LilyGO has made plenty of ESP32 “TTGO” boards with various features be it PoE, battery support, OLED display, cellular connectivity, and even a devkit in watch form factor. The latest product from the company specifically targets smart farming/gardening as TTGO T-Higrow embeds either DHT11 temperature and humidity sensor or BME280 temperature, humidity, and barometric sensor to report soil temperature and moisture over Bluetooth or WiFi. It can also come as a kit with a battery and a 3D printed enclosure. TTGO T-Higrow board specifications: SoC – Espressif Systems ESP32 dual-core LX6 processor @ up to 240 MHz with 520 LB SRAM, Wi-Fi & Bluetooth Storage – 4MB QSPI flash Wireless 2.4 GHz 802.11b/g/n WiFi 4 up to 150 Mbps Bluetooth 4.2 BR/EDR and BLE Sensors Option 1 – DHT11 temperature and humidity sensor Option 2 – BME280 temperature, humidity, and barometric sensor Expansion – 2x 12-pin through holes with UART, […]

November 10, 2020April 1, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 10 Comments

AMD Ryzen Embedded V2000 Zen2 Processors Announced

AMD introduced Ryzen Embedded V1000 processors combining Zen cores and Radeon Vega 3/8 GPU in 2018, and the processors are found in several embedded products including 4K digital signage players, single board computers, computers-on-module, mini PCs, and more. The company has now unveiled an updated family with AMD Ryzen Embedded V2000 SoC’s with up to 8 Zen2 cores, 16 threads, 4MB L2 cache, 8MB L3 cache, DDR4/LPDDR4X memory support, and a TDP range between 10W to 54W depending on the model. Four Ryzen Embedded V2000 SKUs have been leaked so far: AMD Ryzen Embedded V2516 hexa-core/12-thread processor @ 2.1 GHz / 3.95 GHz (Turbo) with 3MB L2 cache, 6 CUs Radeon RX Vega 6 GPU @ 1.5 GHz; TDP: 10-25 W AMD Ryzen Embedded V2546 hexa-core/12-thread processor @ 3.0 GHz / 3.95 GHz (turbo) with 3 MB L2 cache, 6 CUs Radeon RX Vega 6 GPU @ 1.5 GHz; TDP: […]

November 10, 2020November 10, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

AMD Ryzen Embedded V2000 8-core Computer-on-Module supports up to 64GB RAM

AMD Ryzen Embedded V2000 Computer-on-Module

AMD Ryzen Embedded V2000 processors with up to eight Zen2 cores and faster Radeon graphics have been officially announced, and one of the first hardware platforms to take advantage of the new processor is ADLINK cExpress-AR COM Express Type 6 Compact computer-on-module suitable for demanding graphics-based applications such as medical ultrasound, image processing, 4K high-speed video encoding and streaming for broadcasting, embedded gaming, and infotainment. ADLINK cExpress-AR specifications: SoC AMD Ryzen Embedded V2516 hexa-core/12-thread processor @ 2.1 GHz / 3.95 GHz (Turbo) with 3MB L2 cache L2, 6 CUs Radeon RX Vega 6 GPU @ 1.5 GHz; TDP: 10-25 W AMD Ryzen Embedded V2546 hexa-core/12-thread processor @ 3.0 GHz / 3.95 GHz (turbo) with 3 MB L2 cache, 6 CUs Radeon RX Vega 6 GPU @ 1.5 GHz; TDP: 35-54 W AMD Ryzen Embedded V2718 octa-core/16-thread processor @ 1.7 GHz / 4.15 GHz (Turbo) with 4MB cache, 7CUs Radeon RX […]

November 10, 2020November 10, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 13 Comments

Nemeio is a true international keyboard thanks to ePaper keys (Crowdfunding)

Nemeio true international keyboard epaper keys

I remember in my younger years, I had an international student meeting at university, and when students went to the computer room, all I could hear were complaints about that stupid AZERTY keyboard. Later on, I also did some English to French translation work with a Thai/English keyboard, and it was a pain for some of the characters. So would it be nice if there was a keyboard that could easily be reconfigured to match whatever layout you’d like to work with? That keyboard now exists. Meet Nemeio, a true international keyboard, that can be customized thanks to ePaper keys. Nemeio comes with 81 mechanical transparent keys, backlight (since ePaper display can’t be seen in the dark), Bluetooth connectivity, as well as a USB-C for charging or connection to your PC via USB instead of Bluetooth, a USB Type-A port to charge other devices, a power on/off button, and two […]

November 9, 2020November 9, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 19 Comments

$6 WT32-ETH01 is a Tiny ESP32 board with Ethernet

Espressif Systems ESP32 processor supports WiFi, Bluetooth, and Ethernet connectivity. There are only a few boards coming with an Ethernet RJ45 jack out of the box including esp32MX-E ESP32 board, TTGO T-Internet-POE, and Olimex ESP32-Gateway board among others. Those boards are fine, but they sell for $16 and up, so if you’d like a cheaper and tinier ESP32 board with Ethernet, Wireless Tag WT32-ETH01 may be an option for projects not requiring PoE support. WT32-ETH01 board specifications: Wireless Module – Wireless Tag WT32-S1 based on ESP32 dual-core WiSoC with 4MB flash, on-board antenna Connectivity 10/100M Ethernet via LAN8720A transceiver 2.4 GHz 802.11b/g/n WiFi 4 up to 150 Mbps Bluetooth 4.2 BR/EDR and LE Expansion – 2x 13 through holes and castellated holes with GPIOs, I2C, SPI, 2x UART, EN, LINK, 5V, 3.3V, and GND signals Power Supply – 3.3V or 5.5V via headers, minimum 500 mA; typical operating current: 80 […]

November 9, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 10 Comments

Selpic Star-A is a low-cost, compact 3D printer and laser engraver (Crowfunding)

$99 3D printers are announced nearly every year with varying quality, and Selpic, which made the Selpic S1+ handheld 2D printer, joined the fray with Selpic Star-A multi-function 3D printer that was offered as for as little as $99 as an early bird reward on Kickstarter. The 3D printer is still up on Kickstarter with pledges starting at $129 and support for laser engraving for $39 extra, meaning it offers many of the same features as SC-10 SHARK multi-function 3D printer but at a lower price point, a much smaller form factor also meaning a smaller build volume, and slower printing speeds. Selpic Star-A 3D printer specifications: Build volume – 12 x 12 x 12 cm Display – Optional 2.4-inch touch screen Printing materials – PLA, TPU, PETG, ABS Print resolution – >= 0.1 mm Layer thickness – 0.05 to 0.3 mm Printing speed – 30 to 60 mm/s Nozzle […]

November 9, 2020May 3, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 36 Comments

XuanTie C906 based Allwinner RISC-V processor to power $12+ Linux SBC’s

Alibaba unveiled Xuantie-910 RISC-V core (aka XT910) in 2019 for powerful SoC with up to 16 cores, but an update in 2020 revealed the company planned to have a complete RISC-V core family for a wide range of application from low-power microcontrollers to server SoCs. At the time, I just assumed the company planned to keep their cores to themselves, but time proved me wrong as T-Head, the Alibaba subsidiary in charge of developing RISC-V cores, started to cooperate with Allwinner to develop open-source processors, which should lead to low-cost Linux capable RISC-V SBC very soon according to a tweet from Sipeed. Good News: We get first chip which based on XuanTie C906 (RV64GCV), it have abundant interface (HDMI/RGB/DVP/MIPI/GMAC/…), and will be able to run Debian system.Last and most important, the basic dev board price is start at 12.5$ (1% of HiFive Unleashed)。 pic.twitter.com/EJbXTJ5eMb — Sipeed (@SipeedIO) November 6, 2020 […]