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Raspberry Pi AI HAT+ 2 review – A 40 TOPS AI accelerator tested with Computer Vision, LLM, and VLM workloads

Raspberry Pi AI HAT+ 2 review VLM chat test

Raspberry Pi sent me a sample of their AI HAT+ 2 generative AI accelerator based on Hailo-10H for review. The 40 TOPS AI accelerator is advertised as being suitable for LLMs (Large Language Models) and VLM (Vision Language Models), while delivering about the same performance as the first-generation AI HAT+ (Hailo-8) for AI vision/computer vision models. After going through an unboxing, I’ll assemble the AI HAT+ 2 to a Raspberry Pi 5 with 2GB of RAM fitted with a Raspberry Pi Camera Module 3, before quickly checking whether AI vision models work as expected, and spending more time on testing LLM and VLM samples. Raspberry Pi AI HAT+ 2 unboxing My sample had a somewhat long and rough trip from the UK to Thailand, and the package did not look that good when DHL delivered it. But luckily, nothing was damaged, and I got the AI HAT+ 2 with a […]

2-channel GMSL camera adapter board supports Raspberry Pi 5 and NVIDIA Jetson Orin Nano/NX

Waveshare 2 Ch GMSL Camera Adapter Board

After phasing out the earlier MAX9296-GMSL-Camera-Board, Waveshare has now released the MAX9296-GMSL-DESER-MODULE 2-channel GMSL camera adapter board designed for high-speed, low-latency video transmission on the Raspberry Pi 5 and NVIDIA Jetson Orin Nano/NX developer kits. The adapter is built around the MAX9296A deserializer, and supports two MATE-AX FAKRA Z coaxial inputs for long-distance video transmission and two 22-pin CSI outputs for connection to the host. It supports both GMSL1 and GMSL2 cameras (such as the Sony ISX031) via software configuration and is compatible with serializers like the MAX9295, MAX96717, and MAX96705. These features make it suitable for applications such as robotics, autonomous driving, surround-view systems, and more. Waveshare MAX9296-GMSL-DESER-MODULE specifications: Compatible boards – Raspberry Pi 5, Jetson Orin Nano, Jetson Orin NX developer kits Deserializer IC – Maxim (ADI) MAX9296A GMSL Inputs – Supports two GMSL2 cameras(ISX031) via MATE-AX FAKRA Z connectors (backward compatible with GMSL1) Output Interfaces – 2x 22-pin […]

Raspberry Pi CM0-powered low-cost industrial box PCs offer RS-485, 4G LTE, and wide DC input options

EDATEC ED IPC1100 and ED IPC1000 low cost industrial box PCs

EDATEC has recently released the ED-IPC1000 and ED-IPC1100 Raspberry Pi CM0-based industrial box PCs with DIN-rail mounting options. The ED-IPC1000 is the low-cost version, featuring standard connectivity options such as Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. In contrast, the ED-IPC1100 offers RS-485 and 4G CAT-1 connectivity, along with a wider power input, making it suitable for more advanced industrial applications. As a reminder, the Raspberry Pi CM0 is a solder-on module based on a Broadcom BCM2710A1 quad-core Arm Cortex-A53 CPU with 512 MB RAM, optional 8 GB/16 GB eMMC flash, and optional 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi/Bluetooth. It’s only available to manufacturers in China; expect finished products like the ED-IPC1000/IPC1100 box PCs can be sold worldwide. Other features of the computers include 1080p30 HDMI output, dual USB 2.0, 10/100 Mbps Ethernet, an integrated RTC with CR2032 backup, a watchdog timer, 5V USB-C power input, passive cooling, and DIN-rail mounting. The ED-IPC1100 adds an onboard 4G LTE […]

reComputer Industrial R2135-12 review – A Raspberry Pi CM5-powered fanless Edge AI PC with Hailo-8 AI accelerator

kt69 recomp cover photo

Hello, today I am going to review the reComputer AI Industrial R2135-12 from Seeed Studio. This is an industrial edge computer built around the Raspberry Pi Compute Module 5 platform. The model is configured with 8 GB LPDDR4 memory and 32 GB eMMC storage. It provides a rich set of I/O options, including dual Gigabit Ethernet, USB 3.0/USB 2.0, HDMI output, and industrial interfaces such as RS-485/RS-232, CAN, and GPIO, along with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth support and a wide DC power input range suitable for industrial environments. In addition to standard checking and benchmarking the device, I will also include a hands-on demo application in which the system runs an AI model for real-time people detection from a USB camera, then sends detection results to an external ESP32 microcontroller to drive LED matrices for visually highlighting the locations of detected people. I made the following YouTube video to quickly demonstrate […]

Xibo open-source digital signage solution now works with Raspberry Pi 5 thanks to the Arexibo project

Xibo Raspberry Pi 5

Xibo digital signage solution is now compatible with the Raspberry Pi 5 thanks to Axeribo, an unofficial alternative to the digital signage player for Xibo, that is implemented in Rust, and designed for Linux platforms. Long-time readers of CNX Software may remember that I played around with the Xibo open-source digital signage player many years ago (2011-2012). I notably managed to run Xibo for Arm in QEMU,  test Xibo digital signage in the Raspberry Pi emulator, and even try it on real hardware: a MeLE A1000 Android TV box to which I installed Linux. It kind of works, but without hardware video decoding and no 3D graphics acceleration, performance was rather on the low side. I eventually stopped playing around with Xibo Arm Linux once Xibo for Android was released in late 2012, and the developers decided to drop support for the Linux client (although they relaunched it in 2019 […]

Broadcom updates its Wi-Fi 8 access point chips portfolio with BCM4918 APU, BCM6714 and BCM6719 dual-band radios

Broadcom Wi-Fi 8 chips BCM4918 BCM6719 BCM6714

Broadcom has just announced the launch of its next-generation chips for Wi-Fi 8 access points at CES 2026 with the BCM4918 Accelerated Processing Unit (APU), and two new dual-band Wi-Fi 8 radios: BCM6714 and BCM6719. The last two build upon the Broadcom BCM6718 WiFi 8 tri-band SoC with different antenna configurations, namely 4×4 2.4GHz and 4×4 5 GHz for the BCM6719, and 3×3 2.4GHz and 4×4 5 GHz for the BCM6714, and integrated 2.4 GHz PAs. The AP4918 builds upon the AP4916, but I was unable to obtain information about the improvements from a company representing Broadcom. Broadcom BCM4918 Wi-Fi 8 APU BCM4918 key features: High-performance Quad-core Armv8 CPU complex for general-purpose software workloads Integrated Broadcom Neural Engine (BNE) for on-device AI/ML inference and acceleration Advanced networking engines to offload both wired and wireless data paths, enabling complete CPU bypass of all networking traffic Integrated cryptographic protocol acceleration end-to-end data […]

Year 2025 in Review, CNX Software stats, and looking ahead to 2026

Happy New Year 2026 CNX Software

Time for the last post of 2025, as the year is almost over. I’ll look back at key developments and notable products launched in 2025, share some CNX Software website traffic statistics, and look ahead to 2026. Year 2025 in Review After 22 product releases in 2024, Raspberry Pi calmed down a little bit in 2025, and the highlights of the year included the Raspberry Pi 500+ mechanical keyboard, the 5-inch variant of the Raspberry Pi Touch Display 2, and a Raspberry Pi 5 1GB RAM. What didn’t quite stop were the accessories from third parties for Raspberry Pi SBC and Raspberry Pi Pico boards. The most exciting Arm SoC release of 2025 was probably the 12-core CIX P1 Armv9 SoC found in Radxa Orion O6 SBC, MINISFORUM MS-R1 Arm mini PC, and Orange Pi 6 Plus board, but while performance was fine, it was overhyped in 2024, and software […]

Add four Gigabit or 2.5Gbps Ethernet ports to the Raspberry Pi 5 with this expansion board

Waveshare PCIe TO 4 Ch Gigabit for Raspberry Pi 5

Waveshare PCIE TO 4-CH Gigabit/2.5G ETH Board (B) is a 4-port Gigabit or 2.5 Gbps Ethernet board designed for the Raspberry Pi 5. This board connects four RJ45 ports to the Pi’s 16-pin PCIe interface and also includes a mounting option for the Pi5 Connector Adapter (C). The only limiting factor is the Pi’s PCIe Gen2/Gen3 x1 interface, as the 2.5GbE ports share the available bandwidth and cannot operate at full speed simultaneously. The Gigabit Ethernet variant features Realtek RTL8153 USB to Ethernet controllers, while the 2.5GbE variant relies on RTL8156 controllers, and both integrate a VL805 PCIe to USB bridge chip. The board also includes status LEDs for link and activity indication, and draws power directly from the PCIe interface without requiring an external power supply. The device is plug-and-play and supports Raspberry Pi OS out of the box with no additional drivers required. Applications include routers, firewalls, network […]