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

May 6, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

BeagleBone Air is a BeagleBone Black & Green Compatible Development Board with WiFi, Bluetooth LE, and Zigbee Connectivity

So far, if you wanted to add wireless connectivity to BeagleBone Black or BeagleBone Green, you’d either use a USB dongle, or a wireless CAPE, but Neuromeka, a Korean company has recently launched BeagleBone Air “IoT gateway” board, fully compatible with the two aforementioned boards (minus HDMI output), but adding on-board WiFi, Bluetooth LE, and Zigbee connectivity. BeagleBone Air specifications: SoC – Texas Instruments Sitara AM3358BZCZ100 Cortex A8 @ 1 GHz with NEON + PowerVR SGX530 GPU System Memory – 512 MB DDR3L @ 800 MHz Storage – 4GB eMMC + micro SD slot USB HS USB 2.0 client port (micro USB) HS USB 2.0 host poty (USB type -A) HS USB 2.0 host port on expansion header Connectivity 10/100M Ethernet (RJ45) WiFi 802.11 b/g/n via Realtek RTL8188US with SMA connector for antenna Bluetooth 4.0 LE via TI CC2541 with SMA connector for antenna Zigbee via TI CC2531 with SMA […]

May 5, 2016May 5, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

NEXBOX 809VI Octa core Android TV Stick is Powered by Rockchip RK3368 Processor

While there are many Rockchip RK3368 TV boxes, I had not seen an RK3368 TV stick until today, with NEXBOX 809VI that combines the octa-core processor with 2GB RAM, and 8GB flash. NEXBOX 809VI specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3368 Octa-core Cortex A53 processor @ 1.2GHz with PowerVR G6110 GPU System Memory – 2GB DDR3 Storage – 8GB flash Video Output – HDMI 2.0 up to 4K*2K 60Hz Connectivity – 802.11 b/g/n WiFi @ 2.4GHz, Bluetooth 4.0 USB – 2x USB 2.0 host ports, 1x micro USB port for power Power Supply – DC 5V/2A via micro USB port Dimensions – TBD The stick will run Android 5.1 just like all other RK3368 devices. The company claims the 809VI is available now, but they have a (short) history of promoting devices quite early in the development cycle, so it could be that only have a few engineering samples, and retail availability […]

May 5, 2016May 5, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

Phonoclipper PT-300 Plays Vinyl Discs, Records them to MP3 on USB Drives or SD Cards

If you are old wise enough to have a vinyl record collection, a Japanese company called Bearmax (or Kumazaki-aim in Japanese), has designed Phonoclipper PT-300 vinyl disc player and recorder that may make you want to listen your old songs again, or digitize them to MP3. PT-300 is powered by four AA batteries or 5V via USB, consumes about 3 watts, and output audio to a single 3W speaker, but you can also connect better speakers via two RCA audio connector. The top of the device features a small display, and control buttons. The vinyl drive system plays discs at 33 rpm or 45 rpm, and uses a sapphire needle. You can convert your vinyl records to MP3 files @ 128 Kbps on the SD cards (up to 8GB) or USB driver using the port on the side. The device measures 290 x 115 x 95 mm, and weights 950 […]

May 4, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

PocketCHIP Hackable & Portable Linux Game Console Can Be Pre-ordered for $49

If you are interested in portable game consoles to run emulator, but can’t quite justify paying hundreds of dollars for device like Pyra or GPD Win, and Android game consoles don’t exactly fit your needs or match your expectations, PocketC.H.I.P based on the $9 C.H.I.P board, and part of the original Kickstarter campaign could be an interesting option, as it is now available for pre-order for $49. PocketCHIP specifications: SoC – Allwinner R8 Cortex A8 processor @ 1 GHz with Mali-400 GPU System Memory – 512 MB RAM Storage – 4GB NAND flash Display – 420 x 272 LED backlit display Keyboard – QWERTY keyboard Connectivity – 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi + Bluetooth 4.0 Video Output – 3.5mm jack for composite video and audio (HDMI and VGA available via adapters) USB – 1x USB host port, 1x micro USB OTG port Expansion – Through holes on the top giving access to […]

May 4, 2016May 29, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 11 Comments

Olimex A20-OLinuXino-LIME2-eMMC Board Replaces NAND by eMMC Flash for Better Performance & Reliability

A20-OLinuXino-LIME boards are the most popular development board sold by Olimex, likely thanks to reasonable pricing, and Allwinner A20 is one of the rare low cost processor to features an actual SATA interface and Gigabit Ethernet support. The company has now launched a new version A20-OLinuXino-LIME2-eMMC, based on A20-OLinuXino-LIME2-4GB, but replacing the NAND flash by an eMMC flash that should offer both better performance and reliability. A20-OLinuXino-LIME2-eMMC specifications: SoC – Allwinner A20 dual-core ARM Cortex-A7 CPU @ 1.0 GHz with dual-core Mali 400 GPU System Memory – 1GB DDR3 Storage – 4GB eMMC flash (Micron), SATA data and power connectors, micro SD slot, 2KB EEPROM for MAC address and custom data Connectivity – Gigabit Ethernet Video Output – HDMI up to 1080p60 USB – 2x USB 2.0 host ports with power control and current limiter, 1x micro USB-OTG with power control and current limiter Expansion – 160 GPIOs on four […]

May 4, 2016May 4, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 9 Comments

LEDE (Linux Embedded Development Environment) Project is a Fork of OpenWrt

2016 appears to be the year of splits in open source communities with Kodi losing its main Android developer, LibreELEC being born out of disagreements within OpenELEC community, and now LEDE project, a fork of OpenWrt, has been created because some people are not satisfied with the way the project is managed, and now “includes a significant share of the most active members of the OpenWrt community”. LEDE, which stands for “Linux Embedded Development Environment” , has three stated goals: Building a great embedded Linux distribution with focus on stability and functionality. Having regular, predictable release cycles coupled with community provided device testing feedback. Establishing transparent decision processes with broad community participation and public meetings. You can find more on LEDE Project website, and the source code is available on the project’s git server:

git clone http://git.lede-project.org/source.git

1	git clone http://git.lede-project.org/source.git

Thanks to Zoobab for the tip. Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft)Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as […]

May 3, 2016May 7, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 8 Comments

Arduino UNO WiFi Board Combines Atmel ATmega328P MCU with ESP8266 SoC

Arduino.org (Arduino Srl) has launched Arduino UNO WiFi board, bringing Arduino (Atmel ATMega328P MCU) and ESP8266 together, and adding WiFi to the popular Arduino UNO board, while keeping all existing interfaces and headers. Arduino UNO WiFi (A000133) board specifications: Arduino part MCU – Atmel ATmega328 8-bit AVR MCU @ 16 MHz with 32 KB flash Memory, 2KB SRAM, 1KB EEPROM Digital I/O pins – 14, with 6 PWM and UART Analog Input Pins – 6 DC Current per I/0 – 40 mA Misc – Reset button Operating Voltage – 5 V ESP8266 part SoC – Expressif ESP8266EX Tensilica Xtensa LX106 processor @ 80 MHz Storage – 4MB SPI flash Connectivity – 802.11 b/g/n WiFi @ 2.4 GHz, wake up time < 2 ms; Antenna: PCB and IPX Misc – Bootloader button, WiFi LED Operating Voltage – 3.3 V Common specs USB – 1x USB device port Input Voltage – 5-12 […]

May 3, 2016May 3, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Tacterion Brings Capacitive Touch to Smart Clothing and Various Materials or Surfaces

With the advance of smartphones and other mobile devices, we’ve all been used to capacitive touch screens, but Tacterion, a German company born out of the Institute of Robotics and Mechatronics, at the German Aerospace Center, has designed “artificial skin” sensors that bring capacitive touch and other features to all sort of materials. Since the company wants to protect its IP they don’t disclosed much details about the inner working of their sensors: The patent protected technology is completely polymer-based. The technological principle are sensitive elements that measure based on transition resistivity: The more pressure is exerted on the polymer-based, electrically conducting elements, the lower the transition resistivity is, which is being measured continuously. Using our highly integrated high-speed readout electronics, a matrix of sensor elements can be combined to form sensitive surfaces. The readout electronics provides information regarding pressure and its distribution at a frame rate of 400 Hz. […]