automation News - Page 38 of 56 - CNX Software

December 29, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Google Assistant SDK Now Supports Device Actions, More Languages (French, German, Japanese)

Back in May 2017, Google released the Assistant SDK that worked on Raspberry Pi 3, and other ARM boards, essentially transforming low cost development boards into Google Home equivalent. The SDK became more popular once Google’s AIY Voice Kit was launched since it offered an easy and inexpensive way to use it with Raspberry Pi 3 board. Since all you need was a Linux board with an Internet connection, a microphone, and speaker, I tried Google Assistant SDK on one of the cheapest platform available: Orange Pi Zero Set 6 Kit including Orange Pi Zero board, but also an expansion board with built-in microphone and audio output jack, and a cute little case. I added my own pair of speakers, micro SD card, and USB power supply, and after setting up the software, I was able ask question, and get answers with female voice using the demo app. At the […]

December 27, 2017December 29, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 12 Comments

$17 Sonoff S31 Wireless Smart Socket Includes Energy Monitoring Function

ITEAD Studio has just launched another Sonoff Smart Home product with Sonoff S31 WiFi smart socket with energy monitoring. Just like Sonoff switches, light bulbs, and their other products, the device can be controlled using eWelink app for Android or iOS, and supports integration with Amazon Alexa, and Google Assistant. It should be noted that the company only provide a US plug version for now, and so far, there’s no Wiki link, so while it’s likely based on ESP8266 or ESP8285 like their other Sonoff devices, it may not be designed to be easily hackable, although I suspect the electronics may be similar to Sonoff POW switch (TBC). Sonoff S31 hardware specifications listed by ITEAD: Voltage Input – 90~264V AC, 50/60HZ Max. Current – 16A Max. Power – 4200W (Note package above reads max load: 220V/10A) Gang – 1x US type with ground Connectivity – 802.11 b/g/n WiFi with support […]

December 10, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 15 Comments

Anavi Light pHAT Adds RGB Light Strip Support to Raspberry Pi Boards (Crowdfunding)

He works as a software engineer for his main job, but Leon ANAVI is apparently enjoying his hobby of designing open source hardware, as after RabbitMax Flex home automation HAT, and ANAVI Infrared pHAT with IR transmitter and receiver, he has come up with as third project: Anavi Light pHat, an add-on board for Raspberry Pi 3/Zero (W) that adds support for RGB light strips. Light pHAT specifications: Compatible with 40-pin Raspberry Pi header EEPROM with board manufacturer information and a device tree fragment Terminal block for a 12V RGB LED strip 3x 4-pin I2C headers for sensor modules 1x 3-pin header for PIR motion sensor 1x 4-pin UART header for debugging Dimensions – pHAT form factor You first need to connect the pHAT to your board, and then LED strip, and you can then control the lights using Home Assistant open source home automation platform, with the strip integrated […]

December 5, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

This Tiny ESP8266 Board is Designed for DIY WiFi Switches

Various breadboard-friendly boards based on ESP8266 or other chips are available on the market, but some readers are not quite satisfied with the offerings, and need more available pins on the breadboard so they ended up hacking the board matching their needs by either bending header pins, or soldering modules to stripboards. As I browsed new arrivals on ICstation website, I found a tiny board with ESP8266 module that exposes I/Os via what looks like 2.54 mm pitch header that should fit right into a breadboard. But after further checking only three I/Os are exposed, and the board is actually specifically designed for wireless switches, and comes with firmware that works with eWelink app used in Sonoff devices. So the module could be useful for people wanting to control devices without doing programming at all, and limited to no soldering. Just connect the module, and control it without smartphone. Board […]

November 28, 2017November 28, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 11 Comments

Xiaomi Unveils Their Very Own ESP32 Development Board, Module & SDK

We now have plenty of modules and board based on Espressif System ESP32 dual core wireless SoC, and a fairly good software support with ESP IDF SDK, Arduino Core, MicroPython, Espruino and other solutions. So I was surprised when I saw Teo Swee Ann, Espressif CEO, posted photos about an event – Xiaomi IoT Developer Conference – where Xiaomi apparently introduced their own ESP32 development board, together their own SDK (still empty right now) compatible with the company’s Mijia ecosystem, as part of their “Open IoT platform” The slide below translates as “WIFI module – Automated manufacturing / 4-fold foolproof mechanism / whole process tracing / cost price (about 15 RMB)” and “Open source SDK”, with the price likely the price of Xiaomi ESP32 module (ESP-WROOM-32C) shown on board above (Thank to hm for translation). I could not find much information at this early stage, except new partnership between Baidu […]

November 26, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Review of ITEAD Studio IP66 Waterproof Case for Sonoff Wireless Switches (and Other Boards)

ITEAD Studio recently launched a waterproof enclosure for $2.90 (now at still a decent $3.90), rated IP66, for their family of Sonoff wireless switches, so you can safely use them outdoors protected from rain and dust. The company sent me one sample together with Sonoff RF switch supporting WiFi and 433MHz RF connectivity so that I can test the case, and write a review describing my experience. I’ll focus on the waterproof since this is the main focus of this review, and beside Sonoff RF, you can also use Sonoff basic, various other Sonoff boards (POW, TH10/T16), and even other development boards as we’ll seen below. I’ll be using the stock firmware with eWelink app, but if you prefer alternative firmware like ESPurna or Sonoff-Tasmota, you may want to flash it to your Sonoff now. The waterproog case has two parts, a rubber cord, two waterproof PG7 connectors, and four […]

November 21, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Nexell NXC100 Voice Recognition Chip, NXP4330Q Processor, and ALTO Development Board

I wrote about NanoPi Fire2 & Fire3A boards based on Nexell S5P processors a few days ago, and at the time, as I checked out Nexell website, I found out about the company’s NXC100 Voice Recognition SoC that can be used in 4-mic array board. The chip can then be connected through SPI to a host processor, and Nexell appears to have a NXP4330Q Smart Voice kit based on their quad Cortex A9 processor of the same name. But since documentation is really limited, I looked for more details, and came across NXP4330Q based ALTO board design by InSignal, which sold the Exynos powered Arndale boards a few years back. Nexell NXC100 Voice Recognition SoC The chip is the only product from the “A.I related” section of therir website, but more are likely to come out as the company is working on GP-GPU (General Purpose GPU), machine learning, and even registered […]

November 3, 2017November 3, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 9 Comments

Lab in a Box Concept Embeds x86 Server and 6 ARM Boards into a PC Case for Automated Software Testing

The Linux kernel now has about 20 millions line of code, Arm has hundreds of licensees making thousands of processors and micro-controllers, which end up in maybe hundreds of thousands of different designs, many of which are not using Linux, but for those that do, Linux must be tested to make sure it works. The same stands true for any large software used on multiple hardware platforms. Manual testing is one way to do it, but it’s time consuming and expensive, so there are software and hardware continuous integration solutions to automate testing such as Linaro LAVA (Linaro Automated Validation Architecture), KernelCI automated Linux kernel testing, and Automotive Grade Linux CIAT that automatically test incoming patch series. Both CIAT and KernelCI focus on Linux, and rely on LAVA, with KernelCI leveraging hardware contributed by the community, and proven to be effective as since it’s been implemented, failed build configs dropped […]