Karl’s Home Automation Project – Part 4: MQTT Bridge Updated to Use YS-IRTM IR Receiver & Transmitter with NodeMCU

In a previous article, I wrote about an MQTT bridge by 1technophile. I added a DHT temperature and humidity sensor as well as a light sensor. Previously it included a software decoder to decode the IR signal. I never did test the IR transmitter on the gateway, as I didn’t have the parts. But thanks to IC Station, who sent me over a small YS-IRTM hardware based decoder and NodeMCU that I am writing about today. I have replaced the software based version with the YS-IRTM module in the latest update. I found this project challenging. I admit I am a little weak in my programming skills. It was difficult to find documentation but I found a forum talking about this device and basics of how it works. When an IR code is recognized it sends 3 hex codes via serial connection on the transmit pin. To transmit, it expects […]

Xiaomi Mi 6 Smartphone is Powered by Snapdragon 835 Processor, Comes with 6GB RAM, Up to 128GB Storage

Xiaomi has unveiled its latest phone with Mi 6 smartphone equipped with a 5.15″ display, Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 octa-core processor, 6GB RAM, 64 or 128GB storage, and more. Xiaomi Mi 6 specifications: SoC – Qualcomm Snpadragon 835 octa-core Kryo 280 processor with 4x cores @ 2.45 GHz, 4x cores @ 1.9 GHz, Adreno 540 GPU with support for OpenGL ES 3.2, OpenCL 2.0 full, Vulkan, DX12, Hexagon 682 DSP System Memory – 6GB LPDDR4X dual channel memory Storage – 64 or 128 GB UFS 2.0 flash; NO micro SD card Display – 5.15″ capacitive touch display with 1920×1080 resolution, 428ppi Audio – Speakers; microphone; NO 3.5mm audio jack Cellular Connectivity 2G: GSM 2/3/5/8; CDMA: BC0 3G: WCDMA B1/2/5/8; TD-SCDMA: B34/39 4G: FDD-LTE: B1/3/5/7/8, TDD-LTE:38/39/40/41 Dual Nano SIM card dual standby Other Wireless Connectivity – Dual band 802.11 b/g/n/ac WiFi, Bluetooth 5.0, GPS with A-GPS, GLONASS, BEIDOU Camera –  12.0MP+12.0MP dual […]

Arduino MKRFOX1200 Board Combines Microchip SAM D21 MCU with Sigfox Module in MKRZero Form Factor

Arduino MKRFOX1200 is the first official Arduino board to feature LPWAN technology thanks to a Microchip ATA8520 Sigfox module combined with a Microchip SAMD21 ARM Cortex M0+ micro-controller, all that in the same form factor as MKRZero or MKR1000 boards. Arduino MKRFOX1200 specifications: MCU – Microchip SAMD21 ARM Cortex-M0+  MCU @ 48 MHz with 256KB flash, 32KB SRAM Connectivity – Microchip AT8520 Sigfox module operating @ 868 MHz with 2dB “GSM” antenna connected to u.FL connector 2x 14-pin headers for I/Os: 8x digital I/O 8x external interrupts (0, 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, A1 -or 16-, A2 – or 17) 7x analog inputs (8/10/12-bit ADC) 1x analog out (10-bit DAC) 12x PWM pins ((0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, A3 – or 18 -, A4 -or 19) 1x UART, 1x SPI, 1x I2C 3.3V operating voltage DC Current per I/O Pin 7 mA USB – […]

Rockchip Introduces Three Tablet SoCs: RK3126C, RK3326, RK3366, and RK3368H Processor for 2-in-1 Laptops

Rockchip has launched four more processors at the Hong Kong Electronics Fair 2017, with three SoCs specifically targeting tablets namely RK3126C, RK3326 and RK3366, and one SoC, RK3368H modified from RK3368, designed to provide a lower cost alternative to RK3288 and RK3399 for 2-in-1 hybrid laptops and tablets. The company only provided limited information with regards to the tablet SoCs specifications: RK3126C quad core processor supporting 1080p video decoding and HD (720p?) displays for entry-level tablets RK3326 quad core ARM Cortex A35 processor with a quad core Mali GPU, DDR3/LPDDR memory interface, 1080p60 H.264, MPEG-4/-2 video decoding, and 1080p30 H.264 video encoding RK3366 quad core ARM Cortex A53 processor with a quad core Mali GPU, DDR3/LPDDR memory interface, USB 3.0 interface, and 4K H.265 video decoding All three processors will be running Android 7.1. I could not find any tablets based on the processor yet, so we may have to […]

GIGABYTE GA-J3455N-D3H Apollo Lake Mini-ITX Motherboard Comes with 2x Gigabit Ethernet Interfaces, 4x SATA Ports

GIGABYTE has introduced an update to Bay Trail based GA-J1900-D3V and Braswell based GA-N3150N-D3V motherboards with the launch of GIGABYTE GA-J3455N-D3H mini-ITX motherboard powered by an Intel Celeron J3455 Apollo Lake processor, and equipped with two Gigabit Ethernet ports, four SATA interfaces, and support for up to 16GB RAM. GA-J3455N-D3H specifications: SoC – Intel Celeron J3455 quad core processor @ 1.50 / 2.3 GHz with 12EU Intel HD Graphics 500, 2 MB Cache; 10W TDP System Memory – 2x DDR3L SO-DIMM sockets supporting up to 16 GB RAM; Dual channel; DDR3L 1866/1600/1333 MHz non-ECC memory modules supported Storage 2x SATA 6Gb/s connectors (SATA3 0 & 1) via SoC, 2x SATA 6Gb/s connectors (SATA3 2 & 3) via ASMedia ASM1061 chip 1x 64 Mbit flash for licensed AMI UEFI BIOS with PnP 1.0a, DMI 2.7, WfM 2.0, SM BIOS 2.7, ACPI 5.0 Video Output 1x D-Sub port (VGA) supporting a maximum […]

RDA Micro RDA8810 Android SDK with Linux & U-boot Source Code for Orange Pi 2G IoT Board Released

Orange Pi 2G IoT board was released a couple of weeks ago, shortly followed by Android and Ubuntu images, but since it was not based on Allwinner, but an RDA Micro  8810PL processor, we did not have any source code so far, which can be a real problem for a development board… Shenzhen Xunlong has now managed to upload a 6.7GB Android SDK to MEGA, with the link published via Orange Pi Resources page. MEGA has a download limit which depends on how much traffic they get at the time, and after 5.3 GB download,  I was asked to register for a PRO account, or wait for four hours before resuming the download. If you want to avoid this limit for any large MEGA download, you can run megadl instead. That’s what I did in Ubuntu 16.04 (remember to escape any special characters with \):

Once the download is […]

PocketBone Board Based on Octavo Systems OSD3358 SiP Fits into an “Altoids Smalls” Mint Tin Box

Last year, Octavo Systems introduced OSD3358 System-in-Package (SiP) that includes Texas Instruments Sitara AM3358 processor, 256MB to 1GB RAM, a PMIC and an LDO into a single package. Since then the SiP has been found in BeagleBone Black Wireless and BeagleBone Blue, and at the time of launch there was also some development around PocketBone, a tiny open source hardware Smalls mint tin sized board based on OSD3358, which is smaller than a CHIP board, but a little bigger than NanoPi NEO board. There’s now been some progress with prototypes of the board manufactured with the following specifications: SiP (System-in-Package) – Octavo Systems OSD3358 with TI Sitara AM3358 ARM Cortex-A8 processor @ up to 1 GHz,  PowerVR SGX530 GPU, PMIC + LDO, and 512MB DDR3 Storage – micro SD slot USB – 2x micro USB port one for power, one OTG port Expansion – 10-pin header (unpopulated) with SPI, I2C, […]

Bben to Launch an Apollo Lake HDMI TV Stick Powered by Intel Celeron N3450 Processor

Intel is planning to launch “Michigan City” Apollo Lake Compute Sticks sometimes with year, but Bben, after launching MN17A Apollo Lake mini PC, may be able to launch their own Celeron N3450 TV stick before Intel does, as Netbook Italia reports the company showcased such product at the Hong Kong Global Sources Electronics Fair. Bben Micro computer  specifications: SoC – Intel Celeron N3450 quad core processor @ 1.1 GHz / 2.2 GHz, 12 EU Intel HD graphics 500 @ 200 MHz / 700 MHz; 6W TDP System Memory – 2 to 4GB DDR3 Storage – 32 or 64 GB eMMC flash + micro SD slot Video Output – HDMI port (likely limited to 1.4 version with 4K @ 30 Hz max resolution/framerate) Audio – HDMI + 3.5mm audio jack Connectivity – Dual band 802.11 b/g/n/ac WiFi, and Bluetooth 4.2 USB – 2x USB 3.0 ports Misc – Fan and ventilation […]

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