Waveshare has recently launched DDSM Driver HAT (B), a compact Raspberry Pi DDSM (Direct Drive Servo Motor) motor driver designed specifically to drive the DDSM400 hub motors. This board is built around an ESP32 MCU and supports wired (USB and UART) and wireless (2.4GHz WiFi) communication. Additionally, the board features a physical toggle switch, which lets it choose between the ESP32 control or USB control modes. On ESP32 control mode you can control the device through a built-in web application. In the USB control mode, the motor driver can be controlled via USB from a host computer sending JSON commands. An XT60 connector is used to power the board, and programming is done through a USB-C port that connects to the ESP32. The board is suitable for robotics projects, especially for mobile robots in 6×6 or 4×4 configurations. Waveshare DDSM Driver HAT (B) specifications: Wireless MCU – Espressif Systems ESP32-WROOM-32E ESP32 […]
Fully enclosed ESP32-S3 board features 1.8-inch AMOLED, microphone & speaker for AI audio applications
Waveshare ESP32-S3-Touch-AMOLED-1.8 is an ESP32-S3 development board with an AMOLED display and AI audio support fully housed in a plastic enclosure. The most interesting feature of this devkit is its 1.8-inch AMOLED display with a 100000:1 contrast ratio and a wide 178° viewing angle, plus support for AI speech using its built-in microphone and speaker, and a built-in battery for IoT and AI applications. Other features include a QMI8658 6-axis IMU for motion detection, a PCF85063 RTC for time, and an ES8311 audio codec for high-quality audio. The ESP32-S3 provides Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity and the board also features a USB-C port for power and programming. The AXP2101 power management IC enables battery charging and optimization, while GPIO, I2C, and UART pads allow expansion. Waveshare ESP32-S3-Touch-AMOLED-1.8 specifications Wireless MCU – Espressif Systems ESP32-S3R8 CPU – Dual-core Tensilica LX7 @ up to 240 MHz with vector instructions for AI acceleration. Memory – […]
Seeed Studio XIAO Plus series adds more GPIOs through castellated holes
In response to community feedback for more I/O options, Seeed Studio has recently launched the Seeed Studio XIAO Plus series with 23 castellated mounting pins (20 GPIOs, 3 power pins) and improved back solder points, improving compatibility with carrier boards for complex projects. The new series includes the XIAO ESP32S3Â Plus, XIAO nRF52840 Plus, and XIAO nRF52840 Sense Plus which are direct upgrades of the XIAO ESP32S3, XIAO nRF52840 BLE, and XIAO nRF52840 Sense boards. The new design allows for easier assembly and scalable production, with double the I/O options. XIAO ESP32S3 Plus The Seeed Studio XIAO ESP32S3 Plus is a compact development board with a total of 23 pins on the board out of which 11 are through-hole GPIO pins 9 additional SMD castellations GPIO pins and 3 through-hole are power pins. The board is built around an ESP32-S3 MCU so it has 2.4GHz WiFi and BLE 5.0 connectivity. Other […]
GuRu’s modular wireless power transfer system can power a drone indefinitely
California-based company GuRu Wireless has recently developed and showcased a scalable and modular wireless power transfer system that is capable of delivering power to a high-power device up to several kilowatts, such as a drone, from up to 30 feet away (a little over 9 meters). They also mention that the system can power low-power devices, like LEDs and consumer electronics, over distances of several kilometers. It’s quite an extension to the GuRu’s desk-range wireless power evaluation kit we covered in 2020. The system uses 24 GHz high-frequency millimeter-wave radio signals to deliver energy over long distances without needing batteries or tethered systems. GuRu’s system uses a phased array transmitter with proprietary RFICs, to precisely deliver power to the receiver called the Recovery Unit (RU). In a recent demonstration video, GuRu Wireless showcased their wireless power transfer system by powering a drone from 30 feet away, operating it continuously for […]
Qualcomm QCS6490-based Rubik Pi 3 AI SBC supports Android, Linux, and LU operating systems
Thundercomm has officially launched the Rubik Pi 3 SBC built around the Qualcomm QCS6490 SoC with a 12.5 TOPS AI accelerator. The SBC comes in a “PI-CO ITX” form factor that combines the Pico-ITX standard and the 40-pin GPIO header found on Raspberry Pi SBCs. The SBC comes with a standard set of interfaces, including USB, HDMI out, MIPI-CSI camera support, Ethernet, Wi-Fi 5, Bluetooth 5.2, and much more. Additionally, the SBC features a 40-pin header for GPIO, UART for debugging, audio output, and RTC battery support. The company mentions that it is the first Pi-based system using Qualcomm’s AI platforms, hence it supports Raspberry Pi HAT/HAT+ expansion boards, making it suitable for various AI, IoT, and edge computing projects. Rubik Pi 3 SBC specifications: SoC – Qualcomm QCS6490 CPU – Octa-core Kryo 670 with 1x Gold Plus core (Cortex-A78) @ 2.7 GHz, 3x Gold cores (Cortex-A78) @ 2.4 GHz, 4x […]
$12 Plant Bot is an ESP32-C3 soil sensor and pump driver for fully automated indoor plant care
The Plant Bot is an open-source, Internet-enabled plant monitor powered by the ESP32-C3 microcontroller and integrating a corrosion-resistant capacitive moisture soil sensor and a pump driver on a single printed circuit board, eliminating the need for additional cabling. The Plant Bot is designed to automate indoor plant care by combining moisture sensing, light sensing, and pump activation. It can be powered via USB or a single coin cell battery which lasts up to a week with daily updates. An onboard multi-color LED visually represents the current soil condition, ranging from red (dry) to blue (moist). The “Soil Level” line on the board indicates the maximum depth to which the sensor or device should be inserted into the soil. According to the maker, the Plant Bot will remain unaffected by corrosion if the soil level does not exceed this line. Other solutions we’ve covered with a soil sensor usually separate the […]
Seeed Studio introduces ESP32-C3-based Modbus Vision RS485 and SenseCAP A1102 LoRaWAN outdoor Edge AI cameras
Seeed Studio has recently released the Modbus Vision RS485 and SenseCAP A1102 (LoRaWAN) outdoor Edge AI cameras based on ESP32-C3 SoC through the XIAO-ESP32C3 module for WiFi and the Himax WiseEye2 processor for vision AI. Both are IP66-rated AI vision cameras designed for home and industrial applications. The RS485 camera is designed for industrial systems and features a Modbus interface, making it suitable for factory automation and smart buildings. The SenseCAP A1102 uses LoRaWAN for long-range, low-power monitoring in remote locations. Both offer advanced AI for tasks like object detection and facial recognition. Besides its built-in RS485 interface, the Modbus Vision RS485 also supports LoRaWAN and 4G LTE connectivity via external Data Transfer Units (DTUs). With over 300 pre-trained AI models, the camera can do object detection and classification tasks making it suitable for industrial automation, smart agriculture, environmental monitoring, and other AI-driven applications requiring high performance. The SenseCAP A1102 […]
ASROCK Industrial launches NUC(S) Ultra 200 (Intel Arrow Lake-H) and 4X4 AI300 (AMD Ryzen 300 AI) motherboards and BOX PCs
Following new SoC announcements by Intel and AMD at CES 2025, ASRock Industrial has launched the NUC(S) Ultra 200 BOX Series and NUC Ultra 200 Motherboard Series powered by Intel Core Ultra 200H Arrow Lake-H processors with of to 99 TOPS of AI inferencing power, and the 4X4 BOX AI300 Series and 4X4 AI300 Motherboard Series based on AMD Ryzen AI 300 processors with up to 50 TOPS of NPU performance. ASROCK NUC(S) Ultra 200 BOX PCs & NUC ULTRA 200 motherboards NUC(S) Ultra 200 specifications: Arrow Lake-H/U SoC (one or the other) Intel Core Ultra 7 255H (6P+8E) processor up to 5.1 GHz with 24MB cache, Intel Arc 140T GPU (74 TOPS), and Intel AI Boost (13 TOPS); PBP: 28 Watts Intel Core Ultra 5 225H (4P+8E) processor up to 4.9 GHz with 18MB cache, Intel Arc 130T GPU (63 TOPS), and Intel AI Boost (13 TOPS); PBP: 28 […]