automation News - Page 18 of 56 - CNX Software

October 9, 2021October 11, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 10 Comments

Iono RP – An industrial PLC with a Raspberry Pi RP2040 MCU

Raspberry Pi RP2040 MCU has been used in many boards, but I think I had seen the dual-core MCU in a PLC, or even any industrial products just yet. Sfera Labs Iono RP is a compact I/O module (PLC) with a Raspberry Pi RP2040 microcontroller that’s programmable in C/C++ and MicroPython, or even the Arduino IDE. The DIN-Rail mountable, RP2040 based industrial PLC offers digital and analog input and output lines, power relays, and an RS-485 interface, supports power input from 12V-24V with all signals accessible through terminal blocks. Sfera Labs can also provide some optional options such as an RTC or an earthquake sensor module. Iono RP PLC specifications: MCU – Raspberry Pi RP2040 dual-core Arm Cortex-M0+ @ 133MHz with 264kB on-chip SRAM Storage – 16MB SPI flash, optional microSD card slot Communication interface – standard RS-485 interface with electrostatic discharge protection Inputs/Outputs via terminal blocks 4x power relay […]

October 4, 2021October 4, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Sofabaton X1 – IR, WiFi & Bluetooth remote control supports over 500k devices (Crowdfunding)

The Sofabaton X1 remote control system aims to replace all your other remote controls in your house thanks to infrared, WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity implemented through the X1 Hub, plus an integrated 2-inch on the remote itself for configuration and device selection. The company claims that over 500,000 devices are supported including TVs, DVD & Blu-Ray players, set-top boxes, gaming consoles, etc…, and voice commands are also supported through Google Home and Amazon Alexa voice services. SofabatonX1 specifications: X1 Hub Connectivity 2.4 GHz 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi 4 Bluetooth 5.0 LE & Bluetooth 3.0 Infrared – 10 kHz to 100 kHz Power Supply – 5V/2A via USB Type-C port Material – PMMA X1 Remote Connectivity – Not mentioned… Display – 2-inch display with clickable scroll wheel User input – D-Pad, Backlit volume, trick modes, 4x customizable buttons, etc… Battery – 1,050 mAh LiPo battery good for about 2 months on a charge […]

September 29, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

Nicla Sense ME – Arduino PRO meets Bosch SensorTech’s motion and environmental sensors

Arduino is going full steam ahead with its Arduino PRO family of boards for industrial applications. After the announcement of the Portenta H7 Lite board earlier this month, the company has now introduced the Arduino Nicla Sense ME designed in collaboration with Bosch Sensortec. The Nicla Sense ME (Motion & Environment) board comes with a range of Bosch Sensortec sensors notably a 9DoF smart motion sensor and a 4DoF environmental sensor with AI capabilities, and targets industrial IoT applications either for research projects, rapid prototyping, or commercial products. Arduino Nicla Sense ME specifications: MCU – Nordic Semi nRF52832 Cortex-M4 microcontroller @ 64 MHz with 512KB Flash, 64KB RAM, Bluetooth 4.2/5.0 LE connectivity (via U-blox ANNA B112 module) Storage – 2MB SPI flash for storage; 2MB QSPI dedicated for BHI260AP Sensors BHI260AP motion sensor system with integrated AI, “Fuser 2” 32-bit Synopsys DesignWare ARC EM4 core with RISC FPU BMM150 magnetometer […]

September 27, 2021November 15, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

ZB-GW03 ESP32-based Ethernet Zigbee gateway works with Tasmota firmware

ZB-GW03 is an Ethernet Zigbee Gateway compatible with eWelink mobile app and with a design similar to SONOFF ZBBridge gateway but replacing ESP8266 SoC by ESP32 SoC, and adding an Ethernet port. The ZB-GW03 gateway is apparently based on the same Silicon Labs EFR32MG21 Zigbee Arm Cortex-M33 chip and has been hacked to run Tasmota open-source software for people preferring more flexibility and/or integration with OpenHAB or Home Assistant open-source home automation frameworks via Zigbee2MQTT. ZB-GW03 gateway specifications: Main MCU – Espressif Systems ESP32 dual-core Tensilica TX6 processor @ 240 MHz with WiFi 4 and Bluetooth connectivity Zigbee MCU – Silicon Labs EFR32MG21 Arm Cortex-M33 MCU @ 80 MHz with Zigbee 3.0 connectivity Connectivity 10/100M Ethernet, WiFi, and Bluetooth via ESP32 Zigbee 3.0 via Silabs MG21 MCU with support for 128 nodes, up to 200+ meter range One 2.4 GHz Zigbee antenna One 2.4 GHz PCB antenna for WiFi Misc […]

September 25, 2021September 29, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

SONOFF Smart Stackable Power Meter supports up to 128 20A relays

ITEAD has introduced many smart switches over the year under the SONOFF brand, and their latest SONOFF Smart Stackable Power Meter is DIN mountable and made for larger industrial applications with up to 128 devices. The solution is comprised of the “SPM-Main” WiFi connected main unit controlling up to 32 “SPM-4Relay” units with 4 relays each using RS485 daisy-chaining. SPM-Main specifications: Storage – MicroSD card slot up to 32GB to store up to 180 days of energy usage data Connectivity Ethernet 2.4 GHz 802.11b/g/n WiFi 4 RS485 master Power Input – 100-240V 50/60Hz up to 50mA max Dimensions – 142.5 x 90 x 66.5 mm (PC V0 material) SPM-4Relay specifications: Connectivity – RS485 Power Input – 100-240V 50/60Hz up to 20A per relay, 80A total Power Output – 100-240V 50/60Hz up to 20A per relay, 80A total Safety – Current, voltage, and power overload protection with delay function from 0 […]

September 24, 2021August 20, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

NVIDIA Jetson Nano/Xavier NX carrier board offers 5 SATA, 6 CSI camera, dual GbE, and more

Leetop A205 Jetson Nano/Xavier NX carrier board

Leetop has introduced two carrier boards for NVIDIA Jetson Nano or Xavier NX modules, with Leetop A205 a full-featured carrier board offering five SATA ports, six MIPI CSI camera interfaces, an M.2 Key E slot, dual Gigabit Ethernet, four USB 3.0 ports, dual HDMI output and more, as well as the more compact Leetop A203 about the size of the modules themselves and offering Gigabit Ethernet, HDMI output, USB 3.0/2.0 ports, a camera interface, and an M.2 slot for optional WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity. We’ll focus on the former in this article, as it offers more features, and the smaller board provides less functionality than the NVIDIA Jetson Nano developer kit at a much higher price, although I understand it can still be useful for space-constrained applications. Leetop A205 specifications: Supported SoMs – NVIDIA Jetson Nano and Jetson Xavier NX Module Compatibility Storage – 5x SATA ports, MicroSD card slot […]

September 23, 2021July 9, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

Gateworks GW16146 is an 802.11ah WiFi HaLow Mini PCIe module

GW16146v3 802.11ah WiFi Halow mPCIe module

Gateworks GW16146 is an 802.11ah WiFi HaLow Mini PCIe card designed to provide long-range wireless to IoT applications utilizing the company’s Venice and Newport single board computers. We first noticed 802.11ah WiFI LPWAN standard operating at 900 MHz for the Internet of Things in 2014, followed by Newracom NRC6101 chip in 2015, and the following year the Wi-Fi Alliance decided to call the new standard “Wi-Fi HaLow“. I was expecting it to compete with the likes of LoRa and NB-IoT, but I have not heard much about it, and when I asked a WiFi module and board supplier earlier this year, they seemed surprised I would even be interested in this type of hardware and, obviously, did not have any… So it’s good to see some new hardware coming out. Gateworks GW16146 specifications: 802.11ah Halow connectivity Silex SX-NEWAH 802.11ah Module based on Newracom NRC7292 System-on-Chip (US only) Compliant with IEEE […]

September 16, 2021April 5, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 9 Comments

Home Assistant Yellow – A Raspberry Pi CM4 based automation gateway (Crowdfunding)

The team behind the popular Home Assistant open-source home automation framework has just launched their second hardware with Home Assistant Yellow automation gateway based on Raspberry Pi CM4 module. This follows last year’s ODROID-N2+ based Home Assistant Blue which was a limited edition and has now been discontinued, albeit still supported. The carrier board for Home Assistant Amber is designed from scratch and notably includes Silicon Labs MGM210P Mighty Gecko Module with support for Zigbee 3.0, OpenThread, and Matter (Soon), as well as M.2 socket that can take an NVMe SSD, or an AI accelerator card. Home Assistant Yellow specifications: Supported SoM – Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 (CM4) with Broadcom BCM2711 quad-core Cortex-A72 processor @ 1.5 GHz, up to 8GB RAM, up to 32GB storage. (Note: optional WiFI 5 and Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity not covered by regulatory approval) Storage – Support for NVMe SSD via M.2 socket, bootable for […]