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

April 5, 2016April 5, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

Rockchip PX3 and PX4 Processors Are Designed for Automotive Infotainment & Dashboards

Rockchip PX2 processor, similar to Rockchip RK3066 but targeting industrial and automotive applications, was launched in 2014. Rockchip now has at least two new member in their PX family with PX3 and PX4 specifically designed for automotive infotainment and car dashboards thanks to dual display support, at least according to one article on Elezine. Rockchip PX3 is definitely confirmed with its own page on Rockchip website, and features a quad core Cortex A9 @ 1.4 GHz with a Mali-400MP4 GPU, and while there’s no info about PX4 yet on the company website, the SoC should come with a quad core Cortex A53 processor @ 1.3 GHz with a Mali-T722 GPU, as well as HDMI 2.0 video output, and H.265 video decoding. The article also lists 7 key function of Rockchip solutions: “Quick startup and fast revert track” Navigation system with free updates HD video recording (car DVR) Advanced ADAS algorithm […]

April 5, 2016April 5, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 9 Comments

Review of U4 Quad Hybrid Android Set-top box with DVB-T2/C and DVB-S2 Tuner

U4 Quad Hybrid is an Android 4.4 satellite, cable and terrestrial TV receiver powered by HiSilicon Hi3796M V100 quad core Cortex A7 supporting video decoding for H.264 and H.265 up to 4K @ 30 Hz. I’ve already taken a few pictures of the device and the board and tuner, shown how to easily configure another device or computer to stream live TV from this Android TV box, so today, I’ll write more about the Android and DVB parts both in terms of features and performance in the full review. First Boot, Settings and First Impressions I’ve started by connecting USB peripherals and cables: USB 3.0 hard drive to USB 3.0 port, USB keyboard, and RF dongles for MINIX NEO A2 Lite air mouse and Tronsmart Mars G01 gamepad, as well as Ethernet and HDMI cables, and the terrestrial and satellite antenna cables. The DVB-T2 connector is using an F-connector, so […]

April 4, 2016April 4, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 20 Comments

Tiny Microwave Radar Module Detects Movements Up to 9 Meters Away for $2

PIR sensors are used to detect motion for example to turn on or off a light bulb when motion is detection. One such sensor is HC-SR501 motion detector, which costs around $1, and is tiny (32 x 24 mm), but not quite thin due to the design that needs to capture infrared light, with an height of around 2 centimeters. If you’d like something almost as cheap, just as small, but much thinner, microwave radar modules could be a good alternative. XYC-WB-DC is one of those modules with the following specs: Operating Frequency – 5.8 GHz Detection angle – 360° Detection range – 6-9 meters Working Voltage – 3.3-20VDC; Standby current – <3mA; Transmit power – <2mW; Dimensions – 32 x 23 mm Operating temperature range – -20 ~ +80 Centigrade; Potential advantages over PIR sensors include wider detection angle, and lower power consumption, HC-SR501 datasheet reports respectively 120 degrees […]

April 3, 2016May 29, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

Open Source Mali-200 / Mali-400 GPU Lima Driver Gets New Commits

The Lima driver, a project aimed at providing an open source driver for ARM Mali-400 and Mali-200 GPUs, was introduced 4 years ago, and after some reverse engineering work, a Quake 3 demo was showcase later in 2013 with an intermediate version of the Lima drivers. However, the main developer (libv) eventually lost interest or lacked time to further work, and the latest commit was made in June 9, 2013. But another developer (oklas) committed some code to limadriver-ng just a few days ago. But don’t get too excited, as the modifications are minor with some build fixes, some other Makefile modifications, and only one C file modified with 6 new lines of code. But maybe that’s just the beginning… We’ll see. Mali-400 GPU is now rather old, so why would somebody work on this? One explanation could be C.H.I.P and Pine A64 boards are both based on Allwinner SoCs […]

April 2, 2016May 29, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 22 Comments

Low Cost Development Boards Linux Benchmarks – Raspberry Pi vs Banana Pi vs Orange Pi vs ODROID

LoveRPi, a distributor and reseller of electronic boards and accessories, has run benchmarks from the Phoronix Suite on several low cost development boards: $46* Banana Pi M2 based on Allwinner A31s quad core Cortex A7 processor @ 1.0 GHz with Armbian (Ubuntu 14.04) $74* Banana Pi M3 based on Allwinner A83T octa core Cortex A7 processor @ 1.80 GHz with Debian 8.3 $32 ODROID-C1+ based on Amlogic S805 quad core Cortex A5 processor @ 1.5 GHz with Ubuntu 14.04 $40 ODROID-C2 based on Amlogic S905 quad core Cortex A53 processor @ 2.0 GHz with Ubuntu 16.04 $74 ODROID-XU4 based on Samsung Exynos 5422 quad core ARM Cortex-A15 @ 2.0GHz quad core ARM Cortex-A7 @ 1.4GHz with Ubuntu 15.10 $10 Orange Pi One based Allwinner H3 Cortex A7 processor @ 1.2 GHz with Armbiam (Debian 8.3) $15 Orange Pi PC based on Allwinner H3 Cortex A7 processor @ 1.3 GHz with […]

April 1, 2016April 1, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 24 Comments

Orange Pi Brick is a $1 Raspberry Pi Zero Compatible Smart Block

Shenzhen Xunlong Orange Pi boards are popular with some developers and hobbyists thanks to their low price, but the company is also aware that some are critical of their products. Some of the complaints include that their boards are too difficult to use due to lack of proper firmware and documentation, they are called “Orange Pi”, but aren’t even made with orange color, with some people even going as far as saying their boards are just bricks just good enough to collect dust. The company has taken all remarks into consideration, and has come up with a product that’s simple to use and orange, while breaking the price barrier, as it will be sold for just $1. Yep. You read that right. One Dollar. I’ve worked with the company to get the exclusive, believe me you won’t find this on any other sites, and they’ve sent me an early sample. […]

April 1, 2016April 1, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

Ultracker US360 360 Degrees Camera Features 4 Wide-Angle Lenses, Runs Android

We’ve already seen 360 degrees cameras with some rather expensive setups with multiple GoPros, as well as more affordable solutions (around $500) such as Gyroptic 360 Camera and ALLIe cameras. Taiwan based Ultracker Technology is now promising a 360 degree camera for around 300 dollars with their US360 model featuring four lenses for up to 1080p30 or 6144×1760 @ 6 fps video recording or live streaming. US360 camera specifications: FPGA implementation Camera Image Sensors – 4x 2.4 MP Sony Exmor CMOS Sensor Lens – 4x 2.3mm wide angle lenses View angle – 360° x 200° Image Settings Image Adjustment – Brightness, Contrast, Saturation, Sharpness, DWDR, AEC, AGC, AWB, Noise Reduction (2D/3D) Image Orientation – Flip, Mirror, 360˚ Rotation Photo format – JPEG Video Codec – H.264 or MJPEG Resolution & frame rate – 6144 x 1792 @ 6 fps , 1920 x 1080 @ 30 fps , 1280 x 720 […]

March 31, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 10 Comments

Unboxing and Teardown of Zidoo X1 II Android TV Box

MXQ-4K, the first Android TV box based on Rockchip RK3229 I received, was a massive disappointment to me as it was unusable to play 4K videos possibly due to CPU throttling and/or poorly optimized USB storage support. So I was eager to try another device based on the latest Rockchip media processor with support for 4K 10-bit H.265 and H.264 video playback, and Zidoo sent their Zidoo X1 II TV box for review on CNX Software. Today, I’ll start by checking the device and the hardware, before testing the firmware later on. Zidoo X1 II Unboxing I got the device by DHL in the usual Zidoo’s white and green package with some icons representing the key features: 4K, 3D, ZIUI user interface, WiFI, 10-bit HEVC… ZDMC is the custom version of Kodi developed by the company, and that makes Zidoo one of the rare companies to respect Kodi’s trademark. The […]