arduino

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment on $30 compact multi-sensor board works with any microcontroller with I2C (Crowdfunding)

$30 compact multi-sensor board works with any microcontroller with I2C (Crowdfunding)

SENSE board

SENSE is a compact multi-sensor board supporting measurement of air quality, sound, light intensity, temperature, proximity, etc… and designed by Zack Seifert, a seventeen-year-old electronics enthusiast and president of his school’s robotics team. SENSE can work with any microcontroller or processor with I2C (hardware or implemented with bit-banging), including Arduino and Raspberry Pi boards. and an extra Qwiic connector allows for additional sensors. SENSE board specifications: Storage – MicroSD card holder Sensors BME688 4-in-1 air quality sensors with pressure, humidity,  temperature, and VOC measurements (also used to estimate CO2), as found in Arduino Nicla Sense ME board APDS9960 proximity, light, RGB, and gesture sensor sensor SPK0641HT4H PDM microphone Host interface – 1x Qwiic I2C connector to connect to the host system  Expansion 1x Qwiic I2C connector for an additional sensor 2x 7-pin header with microphone, I2C, SPI, 3.3V, GND signals Misc – PCF8523 RTC + coin-cell battery holder Power Supply […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments on Exo Sense RP – A Raspberry Pi RP2040-based multi sensor module

Exo Sense RP – A Raspberry Pi RP2040-based multi sensor module

Raspberry Pi RP2040 multi-sensor module

Sfera Labs Exo Sense RP is a multi-sensor module with a Raspberry Pi RP2040 microcontroller and various sensors to report temperature, humidity, air quality (VOC), light intensity, audio, and motion. The module can work as a standalone unit but can also communicate with a host through RS485 and USB interfaces, and supports expansion via surge-protected digital inputs and outputs. The Exo Sense RP is designed for indoor residential and commercial applications such as environmental monitoring and data logging, people and assets tracking, room management, access control, and more. Exo Sense RP specifications: MCU – Raspberry Pi RP2040 dual-core Arm Cortex M0+ @ 133 MHz with 264KB SRAM Storage – 16MB flash memory Communication ports RS485 half-duplex up to 115200 bps, with surge protection Micro USB 1.1 Type-B connector Sensors Sensirion SHT40 temperature and humidity sensor Sensirion SGP40 air quality (VOC) sensor Texas Instruments OPT3001 light intensity sensor TDK ICS-43432 digital […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments on “ESP32-C3-0.42LCD” is a tiny WiFi & BLE IoT board with 0.42-inch display, Qwiic connector

“ESP32-C3-0.42LCD” is a tiny WiFi & BLE IoT board with 0.42-inch display, Qwiic connector

ESP32-C3-0.42LCD

01Space “ESP32-C3-0.42LCD” is a small (23.5 x 18 mm) board equipped with ESP32-C3 RISC-V WiFi and Bluetooth microcontroller, a 0.42-inch display, and a Qwicc I2C connector to easily add modules such as sensors. The first time I saw it, the form factor immediately reminded me of the nRF52840-based XIAO BLE Sense board I just used to test Edge Impulse machine learning framework. Both boards should have similar use cases, but XIAO BLE Sense includes a 6-axis IMU sensor, and I had to connect an OLED display, while the ESP32-C3 board already integrates a display, and I would have had to connect an external Qwicc module with an accelerometer. ESP32-C3-0.42LCD specifications: SoC – ESP32-C3FH4 SoC with RISC-V core @ 160 MHz, 4MB flash, 2.4GHz Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth 5 LE with Long-Range support Ceramic antenna Display – 0.42-inch LCD USB – 1x USB Type-C port for power and programming Expansion Qwiic I2C connector […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments on Trying out Edge Impulse machine learning platform on XIAO BLE Sense board

Trying out Edge Impulse machine learning platform on XIAO BLE Sense board

double-sided sticky tape boards

I had seen the Edge Impulse development platform for machine learning on edge devices being used by several boards, but I hadn’t had an opportunity to try it out so far. So when Seeed Studio asked me whether I’d be interested to test the nRF52840-powered XIAO BLE Sense board, I thought it might be a good idea to review it with Edge Impulse as I had seen a motion/gesture recognition demo on the board. It was quite a challenge as it took me four months to complete the review from the time Seeed Studio first contacted me, mostly due to poor communications from DHL causing the first boards to go to customs’ heaven, then wasting time with some of the worse instructions I had seen in a long time (now fixed), and other reviews getting in the way. But I finally managed to get it working (sort of), so let’s […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 7 Comments on Mini keyboards launched with ESP32-C3 or Raspberry Pi RP2040 MCU

Mini keyboards launched with ESP32-C3 or Raspberry Pi RP2040 MCU

Tiny Keyboards Raspberry Pi RP2040 or ESP32-C3

Last week, when I saw LilyGO T-Keyboard based on ESP32-C3, I didn’t think much of it and did not expect many people to be interested, so I skipped it. But earlier today I also noticed Solder Party launched a very similar-looking product – the BB Q20 Keyboard with Trackpad – based on Raspberry Pi RP2040 MCU. So after all, it might be worthwhile to look into those mini keyboards for makers. LilyGO T-keyboard Hardware specifications: SoC – ESP32-C3 single-core RISC-V processor with Wi-Fi 4 and Bluetooth 5.0 LE connectivity Display – 0.99-inch TFT color LCD QWERTY keyboard Battery – 400mAh built-it battery Power Supply – 5V via USB port Dimensions – 6.9 x 5.3 x 1.7 cm The company promotes it as a mini Bluetooth keyboard for iOS and Android smartphones, as well as Windows machines, but also has plans to make it work with their T-Echo LoRa messaging hardware.  […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments on Bee Motion ESP32-S2 PIR motion sensor offers GPIOs, over a year of battery life

Bee Motion ESP32-S2 PIR motion sensor offers GPIOs, over a year of battery life

Bee Motion ESP32-S2 motion sensor

Smart Bee Designs’ Bee Motion is an ESP32-S2 board with a PIR motion sensor, some GPIOs for expansion, and promising over a year of battery life under the right circumstances. If the name “Bee Motion” rings a bell, it’s because we covered the Bee Motion Mini board last month with an ESP32-C3 processor and a PIR sensor, but no USB port for programming and no expansion ability. It was just designed to be used as a battery-powered wireless PIR motion sensor. The Bee Motion expands the use cases of the solution, although it only features WiFi connectivity, and loses Bluetooth LE. Bee Motion specifications: Wireless module – Espressif ESP32-S2-MINI-1 module with Espressif ESP32-S2FH4 single-core 32-bit LX7 microcontroller @ up to 240 MHz, RISC-V ultra-low-power co-processor, 320 kB SRAM, 128kB ROM, 2.4 GHz WiFi 4 connectivity, 4MB flash, PCB antenna PIR sensor – Passive infrared motion sensor with dome lens, 5-meter […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 7 Comments on T-Dongle ESP32-S2 WiFi development board comes with two USB OTG ports

T-Dongle ESP32-S2 WiFi development board comes with two USB OTG ports

ESP32-S2 USB development board

LilyGO has been very busy in recent weeks, and their latest product is the “T-Dongle ESP32-S2” development board that looks very much like Espressif ESP32-S3-USB-OTG board development board but is equipped with the single-core WiFi-only ESP32-S2 processor instead of the dual-core ESP32-S3 SoC with WiFi 4 and Bluetooth 5.0. The T-Dongle ESP32-S2 board is designed for the development of USB applications and comes with USB OTG female and male ports, as well as the same 1.14-inch color display found on T-Display RP2040/ESP32 and T-PicoC3 boards. T-Dongle ESP32-S2 development board specifications: Wireless SoC – Espressif Systems ESP32-S2 single-core Xtensa LX7 processor @ up to 240 MHz with  320 kB SRAM, 128 kB ROM, WiFi 4 connectivity Antennas – 3D antenna, IPEX antenna connector Storage – MicroSD card socket Display – 1.14-inch full-color IPS LCD Display (ST7789V SPI controller) with 240 x 135 resolution USB 1x USB OTG female port to connect […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 8 Comments on LilyGO T-PicoC3 board merges RP2040 & ESP32-C3, integrates color display

LilyGO T-PicoC3 board merges RP2040 & ESP32-C3, integrates color display

LilyGO T-PicoC3

LilyGO T-PicoC3 is a small development board combining Raspberry Pi RP2040 dual-core microcontroller with ESP32-C3 RISC-V MCU to add WiFi and Bluetooth LE connectivity and adds a 1.14-inch color display to the mix, plus several I/Os. We had previously other designs merging ESP32 and RP2040 with UDOO KEY, Arduino Nano RP2040 Connect, or the Pico Wireless Pack among others, but as far as I know, the T-PicoC3 board is the first to use Raspberry Pi RP2040 and ESP32-C3 RISC-V processor. LilyGO T-Pico3 specifications: Microcontrollers Raspberry Pi RP2040 dual-core Cortex-M0+ MCU with 264 KB of embedded SRAM Espressif Systems ESP32-C3 RISC-V processor with WiFi 4 and Bluetooth 5.0 LE connectivity Storage – 4MB SPI flash connected to RP2040 Display – 1.14-inch full-color IPS LCD Display (ST7789V SPI controller) with 240 x 135 resolution USB – USB Type-C port for power and programming (RP2040 / ESP32-C3) Expansion – 15-pin + 12-pin expansion […]