Category: Broadcom BCMxxxx

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 27 Comments on RasPad 3 Review – Part 1: Raspberry Pi 4 “tablet” specs, unboxing and assembly

RasPad 3 Review – Part 1: Raspberry Pi 4 “tablet” specs, unboxing and assembly

Raspberry Pi 4 Tablet RasPad OS

RasPad tablet kit for Raspberry Pi 3B+ and other SBC’s was introduced in 2018, but Sunfounder has recently introduced an update, RasPad 3 that supports the more powerful Raspberry Pi 4 SBC. After seeing my review of CrowPi2 Raspberry Pi 4 education laptop, the company asked me whether I’d be interested in reviewing Raspad 3 as well. So here we are, and I’ve received a sample of the tablet kit. As usual, I’ll do a two-part review, with unboxing and assembly of the kit. Since I previously missed the RasPad 3 announcement, I’ll start by listing some of the specifications. RasPad 3 specifications Compatible board – Raspberry Pi 4B with Broadcom BCM2711 quad-core Cortex-A72 processor, up to 8G RAM Storage – MicroSD card socket Display – 10.1-inch touchscreen IPS display with 1280×800 resolution, 10-point touch Video Output – Full-size HDMI output Audio – 3.5 mm headphone jack, stereo speaker Connectivity […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments on MyCobot robotic arm is offered with Raspberry Pi 4 or M5Stack ESP32 modules

MyCobot robotic arm is offered with Raspberry Pi 4 or M5Stack ESP32 modules

myCobot-Pi and myCobot-M5

Elephant Robotics’ MyCobot robotic arm was introduced last year with M5Stack Atom & Basic ESP32 modules with 6-degrees of freedom, a 250 grams max payload, available now for $599. The company has launched a new $699  version – MyCobot-Pi – with most of the same features, except for an upgrade to Raspberry Pi 4B which offers more performance and flexibility. Both versions of MyCobot arm robotic arm support accessories such as a gripper and a suction pump attachable through a LEGO connector, but while the original version – MyCobot-M5 – relies on Arduino programming, the new MyCobot-Pi runs Debian/Ubuntu and ROS operating systems with image recognition algorithms that can work with a variety of cameras. Since we’ve missed last year’s announcement, we’ll cover both models in this article. MyCobot Robotic Arm Despite the mechanical parts being the same, the specifications for MyCobot-M5 and MyCobot-Pi differ quite a lot: Controller MyCobot-M5 […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments on CatsPi Industrial Lite RPi CM4 carrier board features GbE, RS485, Watchdog MCU

CatsPi Industrial Lite RPi CM4 carrier board features GbE, RS485, Watchdog MCU

CatsPi Industrial Lite

We’ve seen a fair deal of Raspberry Pi CM4 carrier boards, and here’s another one courtesy of QwaveSystems with CatsPi Industrial Lite board following Raspberry Pi SBC form factor/dimensions, and equipped with Gigabit Ethernet, RS485, USB ports, as well as a watchdog MCU among other interfaces and features. Contrary to what the name implies, CatsPi Industrial Lite only works with Raspberry Pi CM4 with eMMC flash, but not the CM4 Lite module since there’s no MicroSD card on the baseboard. It’s not the first Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 carrier board with RS485, however, as we previously covered CM Hunter also including CAN and 1-wire interfaces, but QwaveSystems’ solution is more compact and mostly mechanically compatible with Raspberry Pi model B SBC’s. CatsPi Industrial Lite board specifications: Compatible SoMs – Raspberry Pi CM4 with eMMC flash only Video Output – Micro HDMI port Connectivity – Gigabit Ethernet, optional 802.11b/g/n/ac WiFi […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 7 Comments on JTAG Hat for Raspberry Pi eases debugging with OpenOCD

JTAG Hat for Raspberry Pi eases debugging with OpenOCD

JTAG Hat for Raspberry Pi

Low-level debugging can be performed with a JTAG debugger and OpenOCD open-source software, but since not everybody may have a JTAG debugger at home, some have reverted to using the Raspberry Pi as a JTAG debugger, and you’ll find instructions for cabling and installing the software on the Internet. Matt Mets of BlinkinLabs have been using the Raspberry Pi SBC and OpenOCD to debug Arm-based microcontroller boards for a while, but found it to be a pain to find jumper wires and look up the pin-outs manually each time. So he designed a JTAG Hat with properly labeled 20-pin .1″ and 1.27mm Cortex debug connectors to speed up the process. The expansion board also adds level-shifting buffers to interface with targets running at 1.8-5V, transistor-based power reset pins, a power switch for optionally supplying 3.3V to the target, a voltage/current sensor for measuring the target power consumption, and a buffered […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments on Raspberry Pi CM4 based Exo Sense Pi multi-sensor device gets optional earthquake sensor

Raspberry Pi CM4 based Exo Sense Pi multi-sensor device gets optional earthquake sensor

Exo Sense Pi

Sfera Labs’ Exo Sense Pi is a device with multiple environmental sensors based on the 2GB version of the Raspberry Pi CM4 module designed for residential and commercial applications such as environmental monitoring and data gathering, BLE positioning, indoor people and assets tracking, rooms management and access control, voice control, and more. The Exo Sense Pi devices include optional WiFI 5 and Bluetooth 5.0 LE connectivity depending on the RPI CM4 module selected, and ships with temperature, humidity, air quality (VOC), light intensity, microphone, and PIR motion sensors by default, but there’s also an optional earthquake sensor. Exo Sense Pi specifications: SoM – Raspberry Pi CM4 (16GB eMMC flash) or CM4 Lite module with 2GB RAM by default. But obviously compatible with other models. Storage – MicroSD card socket for CM4 Lite module Wireless connectivity – 2.4 GHz, 5.0 GHz IEEE 802.11 b/g/n/ac wireless; Bluetooth 5.0, BLE depending on installed […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 9 Comments on Flashback: This is what the Raspberry Pi USB Computer looked like 10 years ago

Flashback: This is what the Raspberry Pi USB Computer looked like 10 years ago

raspberry pi prototype

The first Raspberry Pi single board computer was officially launched on February 29, 2012. Raspberry Pi Model B included a Broadcom BCM2835 ARM11 processor with 256 RAM, an HDMI port, and the familiar form factor we know today. But the very first time I wrote about the board was on May 8, 2011, exactly ten years ago, with a post entitled “25 USD ARM11 Linux Computer” showing the prototype of Raspberry Pi USB Computer that looks nothing like what was launched the next year. This just looked like a stick with an HDMI port on one hand and a USB port at the other. We did not even know it was based on a Broadcom processor at the time. Those were the preliminary specifications: CPU – 700MHz ARM11 processor GPU – OpenGL ES 2.0 capable Memory – 128MB of SDRAM Storage – SD/MMC/SDIO memory card slot Video & Audio Outputs […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments on ClusBerry-2M Industrial IoT controller takes two Raspberry Pi Compute Modules 4

ClusBerry-2M Industrial IoT controller takes two Raspberry Pi Compute Modules 4

ClusBerry-2M Industrial IoT controller

Earlier this year, Techbase introduced the ClusBerry 9500-CM4 cluster system for industrial IoT that can take up to eight Raspberry Pi Compute Modules 4 housed in a DIN rail enclosure. But for smaller projects and IoT prototyping, the company has now designed ClusBerry-2M, a smaller cluster device including two independent ModBerry I/O mainboards and two Compute Module 4’s that’s equivalent to two ModBerry 500-CM4, but with support for software cluster management tools such as Docker and K3s Lightweight Kubernetes. The company did not share the full ClusBerry-2M specifications, but we can derive most of the features from the photos, previous products features, and the announcement: SoM – 2x Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 with Broadcom BCM2711 quad-core Cortex-A72 processor @ 1.5 GHz, 1 to 8GB RAM, up to 32GB eMMC flash. Storage – 2x M.2 slots for NVMe SSDs Video Output – 2x HDMI 2.0 ports Connectivity 4x Gigabit Ethernet […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments on AIO-CM4-101 “All-in-One Pi” is a Raspberry Pi CM4 based 10.1-inch industrial PC

AIO-CM4-101 “All-in-One Pi” is a Raspberry Pi CM4 based 10.1-inch industrial PC

AIO-CM4-101 All-in-One Pi industrial PC

We’ve previously written about Chipsee CM4-70 Industrial Pi  7-inch Panel PC based on Raspberry Pi CM4 module that is offered either as an embedded model to be integrated into the customer enclosure or as a fully integrated panel ready to be mounted into a wall or machine. The company has now launched another model with AIO-CM4-101 “All-in-One Pi” industrial PC offering a 10-inch touchscreen display that can be mounted by using 75x75mm VESA holes, for example on a display stand. AIO-CM4-101 All-in-One Pi specifications: SoM – Raspberry Pi CM4 with Broadcom BCM2711 quad-core Cortex-A72 processor at 1.5 GHz, up to 8GB RAM, up to 32GB eMMC flash Storage – MicroSD card slot for storage expansion Display – 10.1-inch IPS LCD with 1280×800 resolution, 10-point capacitive touchscreen, 350 nit brightness: Camera – Optional front-facing camera Audio – Mic input on the front panel, 2W internal stereo speaker, 3.5mm audio In/Out connector, […]