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May 21, 2025 by Debashis Das - No Comments

Adafruit Sparkle Motion Stick – A compact ESP32-S3 USB WLED controller board with dual 5V LED outputs, an I2S Mic, and a snap-fit enclosure

Adafruit Sparkle Motion Stick + Enclosure Kit

Adafruit has recently released the Adafruit Sparkle Motion Stick, a compact, WLED-friendly Neopixel USB controller board built around an ESP32-S3 Module designed for audio-reactive LED projects, cosplay props, holiday lighting, and more. The module comes with a USB Type-A port for programming and power input (5V, 2A max), and a simple enclosure for protection (not weatherproof). It includes a built-in I2S microphone for audio-reactive effects, an IR receiver for remote control. Other than that it has a user-programmable button, an onboard NeoPixel LED, and a red status LED with two 5V-level shifted signal outputs with power and to connect the LEDs a screw terminal blocks. Adafruit Sparkle Motion Stick specifications SoC – ESP32-S3 dual-core Xtensa LX7 MCU @ 240MHz with 2.4GHz Wi-Fi and BLE 5 LED Control – 2x level-shifted output channels (5V logic) with terminal blocks (26–20AWG support) Audio Input – Built-in I2S MEMS digital microphone for audio-reactive lighting Infrared […]

May 16, 2025May 16, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

Satellite1 Dev Kit is an Home Assistant-compatible DIY voice assistant with ESP32-S3 module, XMOS XU316 audio processor

DIY Voice Assistant in 3D printed enclosure

FutureProofHomes’ Satellite1 Dev Kit is a DIY voice assistant comprised of an ESP32-S3 WiFi and Bluetooth board running ESPHome and an audio “HAT” based on XMOS XU316 audio processor designed for Home Assistant compatibility. It can be used as a smart speaker with a 25W amplifier, a headphone jack, and a built-in 4-microphone array, a music player, and an environmental monitoring system with temperature, humidity, luminosity, and presence sensors. The HAT can also be used with a Raspberry Pi with a 40-pin GPIO header, and two extra 40-pin connectors are reserved for future accessories. Satellite1 Dev Kit specifications: Wireless SoC – Espressif Systems ESP32-S3 CPU – Dual-core 32-bit LX7 processor running at 240 MHz Memory – 512 KB SRAM, 8 MB PSRAM. Storage – 16 MB Flash Wireless – WiFi 4 and Bluetooth 5.x Audio Processor – XMOS XU316 (XU316-1024-QF60V-I32) 16-core 32-bit RISC processor running at 800 MHz with […]

May 6, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Tiliqua – An hackable Lattice ECP5 FPGA-based audio multitool for Eurorack (Crowdfunding)

Tiliqua is a Lattice ECP5 FPGA multitool board designed for audio and visual synthesis and compatible with the Eurorack modular synthesizer format. The board features four audio input jacks and four audio output jacks, all of which can be used as touch-sensitive inputs when not connected. Other interfaces include a USB 2.0 Host/Device port, MIDI support, two PMOD expansion connectors, and a display interface to connect the Tiliqua screen for visual effects. All those features make it suitable for audio-rate modulation, low-latency effects, video synthesis, high-speed USB audio, or emulating retro hardware. Tiliqua specifications: FPGA – Lattice ECP5 (LFE5U-25F-6BG256) FPGA supported by the open-source FPGA flow System Memory – 32MB PSRAM (tested up to 200MHz DDR / 400MB/s) Storage 16MB SPI flash for the FPGA 16MB SPI flash for the Raspberry Pi RP2040 2Kbit I2C EEPROM: for storing calibration constants Video Output – Digital video GPDI (General Purpose Differential Interface) […]

May 1, 2025 by Debashis Das - 2 Comments

Adafruit Sparkle Motion – An ESP32-based addressable LED controller with four outputs, 100W USB-C power, and WLED/xLights support

The Adafruit Sparkle Motion is an ESP32-based LED controller board designed to drive addressable LEDs, including WS2812B, APA102, SK6812, LPD8806, UCS2904, and SM16704. It supports both WLED and xLights projects and features an onboard 100W USB-C PD port to drive even high-voltage LED setups. The board includes dual power input options (USB-C PD with 5/12/20V selection and 2.1mm DC jack), a 5A fuse, and level-shifted output terminals for controlling addressable LEDs. The board also features a built-in I2S digital microphone, IR receiver, Stemma QT I2C port, USB-serial with auto-reset, GPIO breakout pads, onboard NeoPixel and status LED, and multiple JST and terminal connectors for sensor and control integration. It comes pre-assembled with terminal blocks for easy wiring, making it suitable for applications such as wearable electronics, home decor lighting, audio-reactive displays, and remote-controlled installations. Adafruit Sparkle Motion Specifications: SoC – ESP32-S3 dual-core Xtensa LX7 MCU @ 240MHz with 2.4GHz Wi-Fi and […]

April 23, 2025April 23, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

SPARK Microsystems SR1120 UWB ultra-low-power transceiver delivers up to 41 Mbps throughput

SPARK Microsystems SR1120 is the company’s second-generation ultra-wideband (UWB) wireless transceiver capable of up to 41 Mbps throughput at ultra-low power and up to 100 times lower power ranging than UWB competitors. The Canadian company also highlights the outperformance of their UWB solution over Bluetooth with the new SR1120 offering 40 times higher data rates than Bluetooth chips, while consuming 25 times less power than Bluetooth and offering 60 times lower latency. However, readers should note that Bluetooth LE is supposed to support up to 2 Mbps, so it should (only) be up to about 20 times faster, and Bluetooth HDT is coming soon with data rates of up to 7.5 Mbps to further narrow the gap. SPARK SR1120 key features and specifications: Compliant with the upcoming IEEE 802.15.4ab low-energy UWB PHY standard Dynamically reconfigurable UWB spectrum 6.2–9.5 GHz band Up to 3 dBm TX power RX sensitivity of -81 […]

April 16, 2025April 15, 2025 by Debashis Das - 4 Comments

Luckfox Nova Audio IoT board features 8-channel mic input, voice activity detection, and PoE

Luckfox has recently released the Luckfox Nova Audio IoT board built around the Rockchip RK3308B quad-core 64-bit Arm Cortex-A35 SoC clocked at up to 1.3GHz, and featuring 8-channel microphone inputs and voice activity detection (VAD). The board comes with 512MB DDR3 RAM, 8GB eMMC flash storage, and a microSD card slot. It also features dual 26-pin GPIO headers that support UART, SPI, I2C, and more. The Luckfox Nova is also equipped with a PoE-capable Ethernet RJ45 port, and optionally supports Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2/BLE. Other onboard interfaces include a USB Type-C port for power and programming, a speaker, microphone headers, and more. All these features and various I/O options make this device suitable for applications where multi-channel audio capture, voice recognition, and real-time audio signal processing are required. Luckfox Nova specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3308B Quad-core 64-bit Arm Cortex-A35 @ up to 1.3GHz Integrated high-performance audio codec Built-in Voice Activity […]

April 3, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

LILYGO T-Deck Pro – An ESP32-S3 LoRa messenger with e-paper touch display, keyboard, and 4G LTE or audio codec option

LILYGO T-Deck Pro is a LoRa messenger based on an ESP32-S3 WiFi 4 and Bluetooth 5.x SoC, and offered with a 3.1-inch e-paper display with touchscreen, a Blackberry-like QWERTY keyboard, a GPS module, speaker, microphone, and a 3.5mm audio, as well as IMU and light sensors. It builds upon the T-Deck Plus design, but replacing the 2.8-inch IPS display with a 3.1-inch e-paper display allows for a slimmer design and should offer longer battery life despite the smaller 1,400 mAh battery used in the new model. Two versions of the T-Deck Pro are available: one with a Simcom 4G LTE modem and a cheaper one with a PCM5102A audio codec. LILYGO T-Deck Pro specifications: SoC – ESP32-S3FN16R8 CPU – Dual-core Tensilica LX7 microcontroller @ up to 240 MHz 2.4 GHz 802.11n WiFi 4 and Bluetooth 5.0 LE connectivity Memory – 8MB PSRAM Storage – 16MB SPI flash Storage – MicroSD card […]

March 28, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 19 Comments

A LoRa-based Walkie-Talkie? Meet LILYGO T3-S3 MVSR LoRa voice communication kit

LoRa Voice Communication Kit Walkie Talkie

With its low-power, long-range capabilities, LoRa has been used for P2P and Mesh messaging with firmware like MeshTastic, but due to its limited bandwidth, we haven’t seen quite as many LoRa audio applications. This has not stopped LILYGO from designing the T3-S3 MVSR LoRa voice communication kit, integrating LoRa radio, a microphone, and a speaker to use the board as a walkie-talkie solution working over Semtech SX1262 or SX1280 RF transceiver. LILYGO T3-S3 MVSR specifications: SoC – Espressif Systems ESP32-S3FH4R2 CPU – Dual-core Tensilica LX7 microcontroller @ up to 240 MHz Wireless – 2.4 GHz 802.11n WiFi 4 and Bluetooth 5.0 LE connectivity Memory – 2MB PSRAM Storage – 4MB SPI flash Storage – MicroSD card slot Display – 0.96-inch 128×64 OLED display with SSD1306 I2C driver Audio MAX98357A Speaker MSM261S4030HOR Microphone LoRa module (one or the other) LORA32 SX1262 with 868MHz or 915 MHz radio LoRa 2.4G module based […]