Arduino News - CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

June 19, 2025 by Debashis Das - No Comments

HackLED Pro LED controller – An Adafruit Sparkle Motion alternative with WS2812 and RGBCW LED support

HACK Lab HackLED Pro is an Adafruit Sparkle Motion-like LED controller that runs a custom version of WLED and supports both WS2812 and RGBCW LEDs, making it ideal for DIY lighting projects, smart home setups, and audio-reactive light displays. Built around an ESP32 MCU, this board includes 2-way WS2812 LED outputs, 5 PWM channels (RGBCW), and an onboard silicon microphone for music reactive LED setup. Like the Sparkle Motion, the outputs of this board are level-shifted, and there’s also a power switch that toggles the output power between 5V and 12V. The board features a USB-C port with a PD controller, with which you can power and program the board. The controller is housed in a thermally protected 3D printed case and is also compatible with the generic version of the WLED firmware. HackLED Pro specifications: Wireless module – ESP32-WROOM-32E-N4 WiFi and Bluetooth module with 4MB Flash LED Control 2x […]

June 17, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 12 Comments

ESP32-S3 development board integrates SI4732 AM/FM radio receiver

LILYGO T-Embed SI4732 is an ESP32-S3 development board with an AM/FM radio, a TFT display, a rotary encoder, a built-in microphone, and a microSD card slot powered through a USB-C port or LiPo battery. As its name implies, it’s based on the earlier LILYGO T-Embed battery-powered WiFi and BLE controller with a display and rotary encoder, but also adds a Skyworks SI4732 AM//FM/SW/LW radio receiver to the mix. LILYGO T-Embed SI4732 specifications: Wireless module – ESP32-S3-WROOM-1 module SoC – ESP32-S3 CPU – Dual-core Xtensa LX7 processor @ 240 MHz with vector extension for AI/ML Memory – 512 KB SRAM, 8 MB PSRAM Storage – 16MB flash Wireless – 2.4 GHz WiFi 4 and Bluetooth 5.0 LE PCB antenna Storage – MicroSD card slot Display – 1.9-inch IPS color TFT LCD with 320 x 170 resolution (ST7789V SPI driver) Audio – 2x microphones, 8 Ohm @ 1W speaker Radio – Skyworth […]

June 16, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

ALIENTEK DNESP32P4M – An ESP32-P4 board without network connectivity

Most ESP32-P4 boards and development platforms we’ve covered so far include an ESP32-C6 or ESP32-C5 wireless module, and in case you don’t want any WiFi and Bluetooth module, the Olimex ESP32-P4-DevKit is one option that comes with Ethernet instead. The ALIENTEK DNESP32P4M board, also called ESP32P4M MINI, adds another option with a form factor similar to Espressif Systems Devkit-C boards. The board does not have network connectivity at all, and exposes all I/Os from the ESP32-P4 through headers, MIPI DSI and MIPI CSI connectors, and two USB-C ports. ALIENTEK DNESP32P4M specifications: Microcontroller – ESP32-P4 (ESP32-P4NRW32) MCU Dual-core RISC-V microcontroller @ 400 MHz with AI instructions extension and single-precision FPU Single-RISC-V LP (Low-power) MCU core @ up to 40 MHz GPU – 2D Pixel Processing Accelerator (PPA) VPU – H.264 and JPEG codecs support Memory – 768 KB HP L2MEM, 32 KB LP SRAM, 8 KB TCM, 32MB PSRAM Storage – […]

June 14, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Valtrack V4 is a programmable 4G LTE GPS vehicle tracker with ESP32-C3 Bluetooth & Wi-Fi SoC (Crowdfunding)

Valetron Systems VALTRACK-V4-VTS-ESP32-C3 (or Valtrack V4 for short) is a 4G LTE GPS vehicle tracker based on ESP32-C3 WiFi and Bluetooth SoC and a SIMCom SIM7672 cellular and GNSS module. Designed to track bicycles, cars, or trucks, the Valtrack V4 GPS tracker is housed in an IP67 waterproof enclosure, takes 12V to 42V DC input from a lead battery or 3.7-4.2V from a backup LiPo or Li-Ion battery, and features an accelerometer to wake up when motion is detected or detect theft, as well as three RGB LEDs for status. Valtrack V4 specifications: Wireless MCU – Espressif ESP32-C3FH4 CPU – 32-bit RISC-V microcontroller @ up to 160 MHz; Memory – 400 KB SRAM Storage – 4 MB flash Wireless – 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi 4 & Bluetooth 5.0 Cellular and GNSS connectivity SIM7672G 4G LTE Cat 1 module with Global LTE band, 2G fallback, and GNSS support Nano SIM card […]

June 13, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

MicroSui lightweight, open-source C framework brings the Sui Network to microcontrollers

MicroSui (Sui Embedded Framework) is a lightweight, modular, open-source C framework that brings the Sui Network to microcontrollers from low-end 8-bit MCUs like AVR to more powerful 32-bit SoCs like the ESP32. Wait… What’s the Sui Network / Protocol exactly? It’s a blockchain platform designed for high-speed, scalable, and low-cost decentralized applications, which was introduced in May 2023 by Mysten Labs, a company founded by former Meta engineers. It competes with networks like Solana and Ethereum but with better performance. So far, the Sui Network works with web and mobile applications, but MicroSui aims to expand its usage to resource-constrained embedded devices. We’re told MicroSui provides support for all core operations such as key management, transaction construction, signing, and broadcast. It is a pure-C library with no OS dependency or dynamic memory usage, so it can be deployed on a wide range of microcontrollers. Higher-end microcontrollers with Internet access, such […]

June 13, 2025June 13, 2025 by Debashis Das - No Comments

Renesas RA2L2 – The first low-power MCU with USB-C Revision 2.4 support

Renesas RA2L2 is the world’s first low-power MCU to support the USB-C Revision 2.4 standard with 15W CC detection, USB FS support. It also offers support for CAN Bus, I3C, and low-power UART. The announcement follows other devices from the Renesas RA series, such as the RA2A2 Arm Cortex-M23 MCU introduced in 2024, and the RA4L1 ultra-low-power MCU unveiled earlier this year with just 168 µA/MHz operation, dual-bank flash, and capacitive touch. The RA2L2 Cortex-M23 microcontroller also embeds up to 128KB of code flash, 16KB SRAM, and 4KB data flash for EEPROM-like storage. It supports a wide 1.6V to 5.5V supply voltage and an industrial-grade -40°C to +125°C temperature range. The MCU also integrates a ±1% high-accuracy on-chip oscillator, multiple timers including 16-bit and 32-bit PWM and low-power asynchronous timers, a 12-bit ADC, a real-time clock, and an internal temperature sensor. It’s available in 32- to 64-pin packages and offers […]

June 9, 2025June 16, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

$6.5 RAK11160 LoRaWAN, WiFi, and BLE module pairs ESP32-C2 with STM32WLE5 for low-power, long-range IoT

RAK11160 ESP32-C2 STM32WL LoRaWAN module

RAKwireless RAK11160 is a new low-cost, low-power LoRaWAN, WiFi 4, and Bluetooth LE module based on ESP32-C2 (ESP8684) wireless microcontroller and STM32WLE5 LoRa SoC for LPWAN IoT applications. The company noticed that many people would combine their STMicro STM32WL-based RAK3172 WisDuo LoRaWAN module with an ESP32 module to add WiFi and/or Bluetooth connectivity to their projects besides LoRaWAN. So RAKwireless decided to offer a module combining both STM32WL and ESP32-C2 to offer a cheap and much more compact solution to their customers. RAK1160 was born. RAwireless RAK11160 specifications: LPWAN SoC/SiP – STMicro STM32WLE5 Core – Arm Cortex-M4 MCU @ 48 MHz Memory – 64 KB RAM Storage – 256 KB flash memory with ECC Wireless – Sub-GHz radio based on Semtech SX126x LoRaWAN 1.0.4 specification compliant Supported bands – EU433, CN470, IN865, EU868, AU915, US915, KR920, RU864, and AS923 LoRaWAN Activation by OTAA/ABP LoRa Point-to-Point (P2P) communication Tx Power Output – […]

June 9, 2025June 9, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

Arduino UNO SPE Shield adds Single Pair Ethernet and RS485 to Arduino boards

Arduino UNO SPE Shield adds Single Pair Ethernet (SPE) and RS485 to Arduino UNO and compatible boards, notably the Arduino UNO R4, via a Microchip LAN8651 SPE controller. Single Pair Ethernet relies on just two wires to carry data and power, allowing for much more compact designs and simpler wiring compared to traditional RJ45-based solutions with Cat 5 cables. It especially benefits IoT and IIoT applications for buildings, factories, and process automation. Arduino UNO SPE specifications: Networking – Single Pair Ethernet (SPE) via Microchip LAN8651B1 10BASE-T1S MAC-PHY Ethernet Controller with SPI Data rate: 10 Mbit/s over a single balanced pair T1SP and T1SN available on screw terminal block Dedicated T1S SPE connector Maximum Distance – Supports up to 25 meters in multidrop topology (multiple nodes on a single segment) Up to eight nodes in a multidrop network Serial – RS485 via MaxLinear XR33058 Half duplex RS485 Data rate: 20 Mbit/s […]