Rockchip has unveiled the RK3688 AIoT SoC with Armv9.3 Cortex-A7xx cores delivering up to 250K DMIPS (RK3588 delivers 93K DMIPS), a 1 TFLOPS GPU, and a 16 TOPS NPU. The new processor succeeds the Rockchip RK3588 octa-core Cortex-A76/A55 first announced in 2019, and also features a 128-bit LPDDR4/4x/5 memory interface, and a UFS 4.0 storage interface. That’s about all we know about the RK3688 right now, but we can also deduct it’s probably based on a new, yet-to-be-announced Arm Cortex-A7xx core, possibly named Cortex-A730 or Cortex-A735, because no Arm cores have been announced with the Armv9.3 architectures. The Arm Cortex-A725 CPU core unveiled last May still relies on Armv9.2, and I’d expect new Arm cores to be introduced within the next few months unless Rockchip made a mistake in the presentation slide above. Two other platforms were also announced at the same time starting with a new entry-level/mid-range RK35XX octa-core […]
UnifyDrive UT2 – A compact NAS powered by Rockchip RK3588C with NVMe SSD support and AI-driven storage management (Crowdfunding)
The UnifyDrive UT2 is a compact network-attached storage (NAS) device powered by the Rockchip RK3588C processor. It supports WiFi 6, and Bluetooth, and has multiple ports for connectivity. Equipped with two M.2 2280 slots for PCIe 3.0 NVMe SSDs, it offers up to 16 TB of storage. The device can connect to networks via 2.5 GbE or WiFi and also function as a WiFi access point, allowing file transfers even without an internet connection. A built-in battery provides uninterruptible power supply (UPS) functionality, enabling continued operation when unplugged. Designed for both home and mobile use, the UnifyDrive UT2 offers AI-driven storage management in a portable form factor. Its versatile networking options allow remote access, backups, and on-the-go file transfers. Despite its size, it delivers robust functionality, serving as a full-featured NAS solution in a variety of settings. I didn’t find any significant differences between the Rockchip RK3588 and RK3588C. This […]
Raspberry Pi AI Camera with Sony IMX500 AI sensor and RP2040 MCU launched for $70
We previously noted that Raspberry Pi showcased a Raspberry Pi Zero 2W with a Raspberry Pi AI camera based on a Sony IMX500 intelligent vision sensor at Embedded World 2024, but it was not available at the time. The good news is that the Raspberry Pi AI camera is now available for $70 from your favorite distributor. This follows the launch of the more powerful Raspberry Pi AI Kit designed for the Raspberry Pi 5 with a 13 TOPS Hailo-8L NPU connected through PCIe. The AI camera based on a Sony IMX500 AI camera sensor assisted by a Raspberry Pi RP2040 to handle neural network and firmware management is less powerful, but can still perform many of the same tasks including object detection and body segmentation, and works on any Raspberry Pi board with a MIPI CSI connector, while the AI Kit only works on the latest Pi 5 board. […]
Congatec conga-TCR8 AMD Ryzen Embedded 8000 COM Express computer-on-module series delivers up to 39 TOPS of AI performance
Congatec has released a new line of Ryzen Embedded 8000-powered COM Express Type 6 Compact computer-on-modules with the conga-TCR8 module series offering up to 39 tera operations per second (TOPS) for AI inference and 128GB of DDR5-5600 memory with error correction code (ECC) for data-sensitive and data-critical applications. The Ryzen Embedded 8000 processor series comes with either six or eight ‘Zen 4’ cores, an integrated XDNA neural processing unit (16 TOPS), and the AMD Radeon RDNA 3 graphics unit which can be used as a general-purpose graphics processing unit with up to 12 compute units (adding up to 39 TOPS for the SoC). Graphics output is supported by four displays with up to 8K resolution, and peripheral options include six PCIe Gen 4 slots, four USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports, four USB 2.0 ports, and three DisplayPort interfaces. The conga-TCR8 Type 6 modules are intended for high-volume applications that require […]
NXP i.MX RT700 dual-core Cortex-M33 AI Crossover MCU includes eIQ Neutron NPU and DSPs
NXP has recently announced the release of NXP i.MX RT700 RT700 AI crossover MCU following the NXP i.MX RT600 series release in 2018 and the i.MX RT500 series introduction in 2021. The new i.MX RT700 Crossover MCU features two Cortex-M33 cores, a main core clocked at 325 MHz with a Tensilica HiFi 4 DSP and a secondary 250 MHz core with a low-power Tensilica HiFi 1 DSP for always-on sensing tasks. Additionally, it integrates a powerful eIQ Neutron NPU with an upgraded 7.5 MB of SRAM and a 2D GPU with a JPEG/PNG decoder. These features make this device suitable for applications including AR glasses, hearables, smartwatches, wristbands, and more. NXP i.MX RT700 specifications: Compute subsystems Main Compute Subsystem Cortex-M33 @ up to 325 MHz with Arm TrustZone, built-in Memory Protection Unit (MPU), a floating-point unit (FPU), a HiFi 4 DSP and supported by NVIC for interrupt handling and SWD […]
reServer Industrial J501 – An NVIDIA Jetson AGX Orin carrier board with 10GbE, 8K video output, GMSL camera support
Seeed Studio’s reServer Industrial J501, a Jetson AGX Orin carrier board designed for building Edge AI systems. With up to 275 TOPS of exceptional AI performance, this carrier board is designed for advanced robotics and edge AI applications for industrial environments. The carrier board features GbE and 10GbE LAN via RJ45 ports, three USB 3.1 ports, an HDMI 2.1 output, and multiple M.2 slots for expansion, including support for wireless connectivity via the M.2 Key B socket. Additionally, it has support for 8K video decoding and up to 8 GMSL cameras via an optional extension board. reServer Industrial J501 Jetson AGX Orin carrier board specification System-on-Module (one or the other) SoM – NVIDIA Jetson AGX Orin 64GB with CPU – 12-core Arm Cortex-A78AE v8.2 64-bit processor with 3MB L2 + 6MB L3 cache GPU / AI accelerators NVIDIA Ampere architecture with 2048 NVIDIA CUDA cores and 64 Tensor Cores @ […]
D-Robotics RDK X3 Development Board features Sunrise X3 quad-core Arm Cortex-A53 SoC with a 5TOPS “Bernoulli” BPU
The D-Robotics RDK X3 development board is designed for edge AI applications and features a Sunrise X3 quad-core Arm Cortex-A53 processor running at 1.5GHz with a dual-core BPU (Brain Processing Unit) with 5 TOPS of edge inference capability. The board includes a 40-pin GPIO interface, ensuring compatibility with Raspberry Pi 4B accessories for versatile project development. The RDK X3 offers 2GB or 4GB of LPDDR4 RAM and includes a MicroSD card slot for storage expansion. Designed for real-time applications like robot control and intelligent monitoring, its 5 TOPS inference capability makes it ideal for computer vision workloads such as object detection, body segmentation, scene parsing, etc… Previously, we covered the Horizon X3 AI development board, which uses the same Horizon Robotics Sunrise X3 processor. We’ve also written about several other edge AI development boards, including the Synaptics Astra Platform SL1680, SagireEdge AI 600, and MYiR Tech’s MYC-LR3568. Feel free to […]
ASUS Tinker Board 3 – A credit-card sized Rockchip RK3566 SBC with 12V to 19V DC input
ASUS Tinker Board 3 is a credit card-sized SBC based on Rockchip RK3566 SoC with an HDMI port, a 3.5mm audio jack, gigabit Ethernet, an M.2 socket for WiFi and Bluetooth, four USB ports, and a 40-pin GPIO header with a layout similar to the Raspberry Pi 3 Model B. When I first wrote about the Tinker Board 3 in 2023, it was a larger (100 x 100 mm) SBC based on Rockchip RK3568 SoC that was later renamed to Tinker Board 3N, now also available as a complete rugged system (more about that in a subsequent post). The new Tinker Board 3 (2024) is a completely different design that competes against Radxa ROCK 3C and Orange Pi 3B boards also based on RK3566 and offered in a business card/credit card form factor similar to the Raspberry Pi 3B. Tinker Board 3 specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3566 CPU – Quad-core […]