Hardware Category - CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

April 10, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

Bee Write Back – A Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W-based DIY writerdeck with 5.5-inch OLED and mechanical keyboard

Based on Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W, the Bee Write Back writerdeck is another DIY project that should be relatively easy to reproduce, since it relies on off-the-shelf parts, including an OLED and mechanical key switches and caps, as well as a 3D printed enclosure. Simon (shmimel) had trouble falling asleep and found out that journaling helped him a lot, but he was not so fond of writing in a physical journal. So instead, he created the Bee Write Back journal/writerdeck as a distraction-free writing machine, and the result looks pretty neat. Bee Write Back key components: Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W SBC with Broadcom BCM2711 quad-core Cortex-A53 SoC, 512 MB RAM, WiFi 4 and Bluetooth 4.2 Display – 5.5-inch AMOLED screen with 1280 x 720 resolution($52 on AliExpress) Keyboard accessories 47x switches 47x keycaps YMDK Air40 keyboard PCB (about $30 on AliExpress) Power – Seengreat Pi Zero UPS USB HUB […]

April 10, 2026April 10, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Feature-rich Raspberry Pi CM5 carrier board offers dual Ethernet, quad RS485, 4G LTE/5G connectivity, and more

Waveshare CM5-ETH-RS485-4G-BASE Raspberry Pi CM5 carrier board offers plenty of features such as GbE and 2.5GbE RJ45 jacks, optional 4G LTE/5G connectivity, terminal blocks for RS485, relay, and digital outputs, and more. The board also features a 4K-capable HDMI output, an M.2 Key-M socket for an NVMe SSD or AI accelerator, two MIPI DSI/CSI connectors, ten status and user LEDs, and a wide 7-36V DC power input. Waveshare CM5-ETH-RS485-4G-BASE specifications: Supported system-on-modules – All Raspberry Pi Compute Module 5 variants with up to 16GB RAM, 64GB eMMC flash, Wireless Storage Optional NVMe SSD via M.2 Key-M socket MicroSD card socket for Compute Module 5 Lite only Video Output HDMI 2.0 port up to 4K resolution 2x MIPI DSI connectors (multiplexed with MIPI CSI) Camera I/F – 2x MIPI CSI connectors (multiplexed with MIPI DSI) Networking Gigabit Ethernet RJ45 port 2.5GbE RJ45 port Optional WiFi 5 and Bluetooth 5.2 on Raspberry […]

April 10, 2026April 10, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

Raspberry Pi SBC gets (analog and) digital radio HAT with AM, FM, DAB, DAB+, HD radio

Yesterday, I wrote about a 2-year-old open-source hardware ESP32-based DAB+ receiver project, but it turns out there’s also a digital radio project for the Raspberry Pi that was released about three weeks ago. Raspiaudio’s Digital Radio V1 HAT adds AM/FM, DAB/DAB+, and HD Radio support to any Raspberry Pi SBC with a 40-pin GPIO header and is supported by CLI or web-based software for configuration and control. Digital Radio V1 HAT specifications: Supported SBCs – Raspberry Pi Zero 1/2, Raspberry Pi 4/5, etc… Digital radio receiver chip – Skyworth Si4689-A10 (see product brief) Worldwide FM band support (76 to 108 MHz) Worldwide AM band support (520 to 1710 kHz) DAB, DAB+ Band III support (168 to 240 MHz) Advanced RDS/RBDS decoder FM HD Radio support with on-chip IBOC blend (note from Raspiaudio: subject to licensing. Please verify that you are legally allowed to use it in your country and […]

April 9, 2026April 10, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

Open-source hardware DAB+ receiver combines ESP32 SoC with Skyworks SI4684 digital radio chip

When I wrote about a DIY ESP32-S3 internet radio last week, “raspbeguy” commented he’d rather choose an ESP32-based DIY DAB+ receiver kit, such as the one offered by the PE5PVB project based on a Skyworth SI4684 receiver. I first heard about DAB (Digital Audio Broadcast) in 2003 when we considered adding it to a CD player. It’s basically the digital equivalent of analog FM/AM radios, and I haven’t heard much about it since DAB and the “new” DAB+ standard are mostly a European story (see coverage map below). PE5PVB’s open-source hardware DAB receiver might still be worth a look. PE5PVB’s SI4684 ESP32 DAB+ receiver features: Controller – ESP32 microcontroller with WiFi and Bluetooth (DoIT ESP32 devkit v1) Storage – MicroSD card slot Display – Color LCD screen with 320×240 resolution (SPI) Audio 2x RCA connectors for speakers 3.5mm headphone jack with amplifier DAB+ receiver – Skyworks SI4684 loaded with DAB+ […]

April 9, 2026April 9, 2026 by Debashis Das - 5 Comments

Sipeed T256s – A USB thermal camera with 256×192 LWIR sensor, 640×480 AI super resolution

Thermal camera standalone mode PCB inspection

Sipeed T256s is a portable USB thermal camera equipped with a native 256×192 Long-Wave Infrared (LWIR) sensor and a built-in 2.4 TOPS NPU for hardware-level AI super-resolution (ISR) up to 640×480 resolution in real time, effectively suppressing image noise without external software. The UVC camera device supports standard output (Y16 raw and MJPEG) and features both male and female USB Type-C ports on opposite ends for connection to PCs and smartphones. It also includes a 1.69-inch touchscreen for standalone operation with live viewing, palette switching, hotspot tracking, and image capture. Other features include an optional macro lens (~5 cm focus) for inspecting small components, internal storage for snapshots, <50 mK thermal sensitivity, a 25 Hz frame rate, and a durable CNC aluminum enclosure for efficient heat dissipation. The device is designed for electronics R&D, industrial maintenance, and HVAC diagnostics. Sipeed T256s specifications: SoC – Axera AX620Q (updated, see comments section); […]

April 9, 2026April 9, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Flash Bee – An ESP32-C3-based DIY handheld lightning detector

Flash Bee is an easy-to-make DIY handheld lightning detector based on off-the-shelf parts such as the XIAO ESP32C3 board and the Round Display for XIAO, as well as a 3D-printed enclosure. The design relies on the AMS AS3935 Franklin lightning sensor that’s been around for years, and found in kits like Sparkfun’s Arduino IoT weather station, which is capable of detecting lightning up to 40 km away with 1km accuracy. While it’s not quite new technology, I found the Flash Bee design to be rather cute and convenient, and it looks really easy to reproduce. Flash Bee key components: Seeed Studio XIAO ESP32-C3 with Wi-Fi 4 & Bluetooth LE 5.0 connectivity ($4.90) Round Display for XIAO – 1.28-inch touchscreen display with 240×240 resolution, 65K colors, 100 Hz refresh rate ($18) Grove Lightning Sensor AS3935 ($26.90, alternative link if out of stock) 3.7V 400mAh LiPo battery Slide switch 2x M2 5mm […]

April 8, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

WeAct STM32U585CIU6 Core Mini – An $8 STM32U5 board supported by MicroPython v1.28

WeAct Studio STM32U585CIU6 Core Mini board

While checking out MicroPython v1.28 changelog, I noticed a board from WeAct Studio based on ST’s STM32U5 Cortex-M33 microcontroller: the WeAct STM32U585CIU6 Mini Core board (WEACTSTUDIO_MINI_STM32U585 in MicroPython code). I found it interesting/newsworthy, as while I had written about the initial STM32U5 MCU release in 2021, and followed up with beefier STM32U5 SKUs with NeoChrom 2.5D GPU and up to 4MB flash in 2023, we had yet to cover a third-party board based on an STM32U5 MCU, excluding the Arduino UNO Q SBC running Linux on a Qualcomm QRB2210 MPU and using an STM32U585 for real-time and I/O control. The WeAct STM32U585CIU6 Core Mini changes that as a low-cost, standalone STM32U5 MCU board. WeAct STM32U585CIU6 Core Mini specifications: Microcontroller – ST STM32U585CIU6 Core – Arm Cortex-M33 Armv8-M core clocked at up to 160 MHz with FPU, Arm TrustZone Memory – 768 KB RAM Flash – 2048 KB flash GPU – […]

April 8, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

ASUS Zenbook A16 – A $1699 Qualcomm Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme CoPilot+ laptop

ASUS Zenbook A16 is one of the first Copilot+ PCs/laptops based on the Qualcomm Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme 18-core Armv9 SoC and is now available for $1,699 on BestBuy or $1,999 on the ASUS website. The laptop features a 16-inch “3K” OLED with touchscreen, 48GB of RAM, a 1TB NVMe SSD, HDMI 2.1 video output, WiFi 7 and Bluetooth connectivity, and a few Thunderbolt and USB ports. ASUS Zenbook A16 (UX3607) specifications: SoC – Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme (X2E-96-100) CPU – 18x Armv9 cores with 12 Prime cores up to 5.0 GHz (single/dual core) / 4.4 GHz (multicore), and 6 Efficiency cores up to 3.6 GHz GPU – Adreno X2-90 @ 1.85 GHz with support for DirectX 12.2 Ultimate, Vulkan 1.4, OpenCL 3.0 VPU Encode: HEVC, AVC: Dual 8K UHD @ 30 FPS, AV1: 8K UHD @ 15 FPS, UHD @ 60 FPS Decode: AV1, HEVC, AVC: Dual 8K @ 60 […]