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

January 13, 2016January 13, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

BeagleBone Blue Board is Designed for Robots and UAVs

Beagleboard.org organization already tried to go Blue with BeagleBone BlueSteel-Basic that was supposed to a the single board computer to be used by OEM to integrate into their design instead of BeagleBone Black development board. For some unknown reasons this never happened, but they’ve now reused the color to introduce BeagleBone Blue board designed for robotics and UAVs. BeagleBone Blue specifications: SoC – Texas Instruments Sitara AM3358 Cortex A8 @ 1 GHz + PowerVR SGX530 GPU System Memory – 512 MB DDR3 Storage – 4 GB 8-bit on-board flash storage Connectivity – 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0 LE USB – USB 2.0 client and host Motor Control – 8x 6V servo out, 4x DC motor out, 4x quad enc in Sensors – 9 axis IMU, barometer “Easy connect Interfaces” – GPS, DSM2 radio, UARTs, SPI, I2C, analog, buttons, LEDs Power / Battery – 2-cell LiPo support with balancing, 6-16V charger input […]

January 13, 2016June 18, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

FOSDEM 2016 Schedule – Open Source Hardware and Software Event in Europe

FOSDEM (Free and Open Source Software Developers’ European Meeting) is a 2-day event that usually takes place on the first week-end of February in Brussels, but this year it will be on January 30-31. The event brings thousands of developers, hackers, and other person interested in open source technology who present their projects and share ideas. FOSDEM 2016 schedule is now available, and There will be 557 speakers, 612 events, and 50 tracks this year including 7 main tracks: Distros, Enterprise, Hardware, Communications, Miscellaneous, Office, Systems Administration, and Virtualization. So I’ve had a look at some of the talks, especially out of “Embedded, Mobile and Automotive” and “IoT” devrooms, and prepared my own virtual schedule although I won’t be able to attend. Saturday 10:30 – 10:55 – MIPS, the other side of the embedded by Alexjan Carraturo For many years MIPS processors have been involved in the embedded market, particularly […]

January 13, 2016October 2, 2019 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Intel RealSense Devkit and Lenovo Smartphone to Feature Project Tango 3D Mapping Technology

Project Tango is a project launched in 2014 by Google ATAP that aims at creating 3D map of your environment using 3D motion tracking with depth sensing for tracking your movements in 3D, precise and quick measurements, augmented reality and more. The first Project Tango development kit was a tablet based on Nvidia TegraK1, but Google recently announced that Lenovo planned to launch the first consumer smartphone with the technology. Beside the announcement that there are going to make a phone, the company did not provide many other details so far, but it should feature a screen smaller than 6.5″ and cost less than $500. The main reason Google posted about this before CES 2016 was probably to reach out to developers who can submit the app idea to be features on the first Tango phone by February 16, 2015 with the following materials: Project schedule including milestones for development […]

January 12, 2016March 10, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 24 Comments

Rockchip RK3229 and RK3399 32-bit and 64-bit Processors Support 4K 10-bit H.265 and HDMI 2.0

Rockchip RK3288 was the first SoC from the company that was supposed to support HDMI 2.0 and 4K 10-bit HEVC, but the HDMI implementation was not perfect since it did not support YUV420 colorspace available on cheaper 4K television like mine (LG 42UB820T), and so I’m limited to 4K @ 30 Hz on RK3288, Rorkchip RK3368 fixed that, but the low cost processor does not support 10-bit HEVC. Rockchip is about to launch two new processor that should bring both features to the low end and high end of the market with RK3229 quad core Cortex A7 processor, and RK3399 hexa core Cortex A72/A53 processor. Rockchip RK3229 specifications: CPU- Quad Core ARM Cortex A7 @ 1.5 GHz GPU – ARM Mali-400MP2 Memory I/F – DDR3-1866/LPDDR3-1333 Video Output – HDMI 2.0 with HDCP 1.4/2.2 + CVBS Video Codec – 4K2K 10-bit H.265 @ 60 fps (Up to 200 Mbps), 4K 10-bit […]

January 12, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Misfit Specter is a Bluetooth Headset with Fitness Tracking Functions

Smart wearables are quite a new type of devices, and I inf interesting companies are trying various solutions from the now ubiquitous smart watches and fitness tracker, to smart clothings such as connected T-Shirts. Misfit, a company specialized in wearables and fitness trackers, have decided it could be a good idea to have Bluetooth earphones that can track your activity and sleep, beside allowing you to listen to music, or answering calls.The company did not release the technical specifications, but Misfit Specter headset features the following functions: Connectivity – Bluetooth Smartpause magnetic ear buds Dedicated voice call microphone Stereo microphones for ambient noise Track activity and sleep – Monitor steps, distance, calories, and sleep duration and quality Battery – Good for 10 hours of music Since you are probably not going to wear earbuds 24/7, these are mostly useful while you exercise and listen to music, and while sleep tracking […]

January 12, 2016September 21, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 20 Comments

Amlogic S905X Processor Specifications

[Update September 2016: Removed Video Input Unit and Gigabit Ethernet MAC, since the latest documents have removed them] A few weeks ago, I wrote about the upcoming Amlogic S905M quad core Cortex A53 processor support 4K VP9 and 10-bit HEVC, but the silicon manufacturer seems to struggle with sticking with a name, as after the initial S908 part, they moved to S905M, before hopefully settling on Amlogic S905X, for which I received more information include a block diagram, and more detailed specifications. These are most of the specifications currently available for Amlogic S905X processor with highlights in bold: CPU Sub-system – Quad core ARM Cortex-A53 CPU up to 1.5GHz (DVFS) with Neon and Crypto extensions 3D Graphics Processing Unit – Penta-core ARM Mali-450 GPU up to 750MHz+ (DVFS) with two geometry/vertex processors, three pixel processors supporting OpenGL ES 1.1/2.0 and OpenVG 1.1. 2.5D Graphics Processor – Fast bitblt engine with […]

January 11, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 7 Comments

Texas Instruments MSP432 LaunchPad Development Board Sells for $4.32 (Promo)

Texas Instruments has started the year by offering a deal on their 32-bit MSP432 LaunchPad Development Kit, dropping the cost from $12.99 to $4.32 for a limited time with coupon code 432@432. MSP432 Launchpad’s key features: MCU – Texas Instruments MSP432P401R ARM Cortex M4F MCU @ 48 MHz with FPU and DSP, 256KB flash, 64KB RAM Expansion – 40 pin BoosterPack Connector, and support for 20-pin BoosterPacks Misc – 2 buttons and 2 LEDs for user interaction Debugging – Back-channel UART via USB to PC, Onboard XDS-110ET emulator featuring EnergyTrace+ Technology Power – Micro USB connector The kit includes the board, micro USB cable and a quick start guide. There’s plenty of technical documentation for the board, although for some unknown reasons, I can’t download any PDF documents from TI website tonight. The coupon is still working, but free shipping on TI eStore seems to be a thing of the […]

January 11, 2016January 11, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

Multi-function Power Banks Can Jump Start Your Car Beside Charging Your Phone

Many people carry a USB power bank with them to make sure their smartphone does not run out of battery, but based on my experience failing to start your car because of a depleted or dead battery will bring ever more anxiety. Interestingly/funnily enough, while this happened to my neighbors last week-end, today I was informed that TM08 multi-function power bank was designed to both charge your phone or laptop, and help start your car. TM08 specifications: Input – 12V/1A Output – 5V-2A via USB and 12V jump starter for car with 200A starting current, and 400A peak current Battery Capacity – 12000mah Charging Time – 3 to 4 hours Life cycle – Over 1,000 cycles Dimensions – 130x70x25 mm Weight – 311 grams Operating Temperature – -20℃-85℃ The kit comes with adapters to charge your phone or other devices, as well as cables to connect to your car’s battery. […]