ctxLink Open Hardware WiFi Debug Probe is based Black Magic Probe (Crowdfunding)

ctxlink

Last month, we wrote about Blip nRF52840 dev board that also included an STM32F103 MCU running the open source Black Magic Probe (BMP) firmware for debugging and programming. Based on the original Black Magic Probe hardware product page, BMP is a JTAG and SWD adapter used for programming and debugging ARM Cortex MCUs, and does not require intermediate programs such as OpenOCD or STLink server. Instead, you can run GNU Debugger (GDB) and select the virtual COM port offered by the debug board. The reason I’m bringing BMP again today, is because a new open source hardware wireless debugging probe for Cortex-M based on Black Magic Probe has been launched in the last few days. ctxLink key features and specifications: Microcontroller – STMicro STM32F401RE Arm Cortex -M4F MCU at up to 84 MHz Connectivity – 802.11b/g/n WiFi via Microchip WINC1500 module USB – 1x micro USB port for connection to […]

Tiny USB WiFi Camera Supports Motion and AI Human Detection

USB WiFi Camera

When I first saw U21 HD camera it reminded me of SOOCOO G1 is action camera with a flexible stick, since the camera also comes with a flexible hose which allows you to orient it as you please. But it’s a different bear, as U21 is a surveillance camera powered over USB and featuring WiFi connectivity. I can’t see any motion detection, so it may have some dose of “AI” since it claims to support motion and human detection so you only get relevant alerts. It is currently sold (pre-orders) on Banggood for $33.65 including shipping with order starting to be processed on October 30th. U21 USB WIFI camera key features and specifications: MCU / WiSoC – No information (yet) Storage – MicroSD card slot up to 128GB for up to one month of recording (8GB = 2 days); Cloud storage via third party (paid) Camera – 14mm lens, HD […]

BASIC Compiler & Programming on Arduino Zero Boards (Crowdfunding)

BASIC Compiler Arduino

Arduino boards are normally programmed using Arduino “programming language” that’s more like an API using C/C++ language.  But when I started in high-school I remember learning Pascal and BASIC programming languages. Bruce Eisenhard also learned BASIC in the past, so he decided to port his company’s ARM BASIC compiler to Arduino Zero, and it should also work on other boards based on Microchip SAMD21G Arm Cortex-M0+ microcontroller. The compiler includes floating-point, strings, inline assembly, interrupts, pre-processor, and the BASIC firmware supports direct access to hardware registers so you can control digital and analog I/Os, ADCs, and other peripherals using BASIC programming language. A runtime monitor also facilitates debugging. The IDE used for development is called BASICtools that’s a free 30MB download which install programs and documentation. There are also libraries and examples from blinky to more complex code. It’s been possible to run interpreted BASIC on Arduino for a while, […]

Atomic Pi x86 SBC Meets Intel Neural Compute Stick 2 in $99 Neural Computing DevKit (Crowdfunding)

Atomic Pi Neural Computing Development Kit

IoT Team launched the $34 Atomic Pi SBC powered by an Intel Atom x5-Z8350 processor via a Kickstarter campaign last December. At the time, it only ships to the US, and looked too good to be true. But the thing is real coming from a failed robotics project, and the low-cost x86 board went back for sale via Amazon and other channels with worldwide availability last spring. The price has even gone a bit lower as you’ll find it for $32.95 on Amazon. Note that it requires some technical skills to get started and with 16GB eMMC flash it only supports Liux distributions such as Ubuntu 18.04, and installing Windows 10 is possible, but you’ll be seriously limited. Atomic Pi is back in the news, as IoT Team has now launched another Kickstarter campaign for the board, except it’s not sold standalone, but instead as part of a $99 neural […]

MUSTOOL MT99 is a $14 Smartphone-shaped Digital Multimeter

About a year ago we covered MUSTOOL MT8206, an inexpensive 2-in-1 multimeter & oscilloscope, and today we noticed another product from the company on Banggood. MUSTOOL MT99 is yet another cheap digital true RMS multimeter, but what’s different is the form factor. The tool looks like a smartphone and as such is more portable than competing multimeters. MUSTOOL MT99 specifications: Display – 3.5″ EBTN LCD with 3-line for voltage, frequency and analog bar… Mesurements DC voltage – 0.5 to 600V/0.1V ±(0.8%+3); input impedance: 10M Ohm AC Voltage – 1V to 600V/0.1V ±(1.2%+5); input impedance: 10M Ohm Resistance – 1Ω-10MΩ (1.2%+3); overload protection 250V AC/DC Capacitance 0.5 uF to 1000uF/0.1uF (3.5%+8) Up tp 6000uF/1uF (4.5%+10) Overload protection 250V AC/DC Frequency – 10Hz-1000Hz (2%+10); RMS above 1V AC Automatically identify diode and continuity Maximum display value – 9999 Live/neutral wire check Data hold, automatic power off Misc Automatic shutdown Portable hanging hole […]

TechNexion XORE is a tiny NXP i.MX 8M Mini LGA System-on-Module

TechNexion XORE LGA System-on-Module

There are several ways to design a system-on-module to carrier board interface, and the most common solutions are edge connectors (e.g. SO-DIMM), board-to-board connectors (placed under the module), and castellated holes where the board is soldered directly to the baseboard. Another less common method is to design an LGA (Land Grid Array) module, which also have to be soldered straight unto the carrier board, but enables much more compact system-on-modules, and that’s exacty what TechNexion has done with their XORE family of LGA system-on-module currently powered by the 14-nm NXP i.MX 8M Mini processor. XORE-IMX8M-Mini Module TechNexion XORE module specifications: SoC (one of the other) NXP i.MX8M Mini Solo single Arm Cortex-A53  @ 1.8 GHz + M4 processor, Vivante GC7000Lite 3D GPU NXP i.MX8M Mini Dual 2x Arm Cortex-A53 @ 1.8 GHz + M4 processor, Vivante GC7000Lite 3D GPU NXP i.MX8M Mini Quad 4x Arm Cortex-A53 @ 1.8 GHz + M4 […]

Beelink J45 Mini PC Review – Windows 10 Works as Expected, but Linux is Unstable

Beelink J45 Windows 10 OK, Linux Fails

[Update December 14, 2019: We’ve now found out that Ubuntu 18.04 can work fine on Beelink J45, but the Realtek Ethernet driver needs to be manually installed] Beelink has added a new mini PC to their ‘Gemini’ range (X45 and X55) namely the Beelink J45 (aka Beelink Gemini J45). What is rather unusual about the naming of this mini PC is that it uses the slightly older Intel Apollo Lake Pentium J4205 CPU which is a quad-core 4-thread 1.50 GHz processor boosting to 2.60 GHz with Intel’s HD Graphics 505. The J45 is another ‘NUC’ style mini PC and physically consists of a 115 x 102 x 43 mm (4.53 x 4.02 x 1.69 inches) box case with a front panel that includes the power button, a headphone jack and a couple of USB 3.0 ports and then on the rear, two more USB 3.0 ports, two HDMI (1.4)ports up […]

Blip Nordic nRF52840 Dev Board Includes STM32 Black Magic Probe Programmer & Debugger (Crowdfunding)

The Latest Electronut Labs Nordic nRF52840 Based Dev Board Electronut Labs has started its Crowd Supply campaign for Blip, a Nordic nRF52840 based development board. With many onboard sensors and systems, the boards are aimed at prototyping and projects in a wide variety of BLE and 802.15.4, wireless application scenarios.  It has a programmer and debugger built-in. Past Articles  Electronut Labs has a series of Nordic Semiconductor SoC projects previously reported on including  Papyr, a Bluetooth E-Paper Display and Bluey, a BLE Development board using the Nordic nRF52832, and CNXSoft also published an article comparing several of the Nordic SoC available in development boards for Bluetooth 5 (BLE5). The Features the Stand Out Blip has a Black magic Probe compatible programmer and debugger built-in, along with a temperature/humidity sensor, ambient light intensity sensor,  and a three-axis accelerometer.  The board is designed to prototype very low power devices and an ability […]