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November 8, 2013November 8, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

Ninja Pi Crust Let You Connect Arduino Shields to the Raspberry Pi

There are quite a few projects using both the Raspberry Pi and an Arduino board and its shields together. These are working but the cabling may get messy. People have already found solutions to plug Arduino shields into the Raspberry Pi with products such as Cooking Hacks’ Raspberry Pi to Arduino shield connection bridge (40 Euros) or Open Electronics’ Raspberry Pi bridge (22.50 Euros). Those two boards are fine, but do not include an Atmel MCU, and use Raspberry Pi GPIOs directly, except for their ADC. Another solution is the Paperduino Pi, a DIY Arduino board that can be plugged on top of the Raspberry Pi, and compatible with Arduino shields. But if you want an Arduino board that can easily be stacked between the Raspberry Pi, and Raspberry shield, the upcoming Ninja Pi Crust by Ninjablocks may be an interesting option, especially if you plan to use the 433MHz […]

August 29, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 23 Comments

Broadlink SP1 Wi-Fi Smart Socket Can Be Turned On/Off by Android or iOS Devices

Broadlink SP1 is a smart socket with Wi-Fi connectivity that you can control remotely with your Android or iOS mobile device through a specific app in order to turn on and off lights, water heater, and other electrical appliances. This type of product already exists for example with Belkin Wemo, but Broadlink SP1 is cheaper as it sells for $32.90 including shipping, against $49.99 + shipping for Belkin Wemo Switch. So let’s have a closer look. For this type of device there aren’t that many technical specifications, but they are very important as you need to make sure it matches your electrical grid specs, equipment power rating, and socket type: Material – ABS Power Plug – Three flat-pin plug (Australia type) Voltage – 90~245V @ 50-60 Hz Output Current – 10A Output Power – 2200W Dimensions – 8.9 cm x 7.7 cm x 5.8 cm Temperature Range – -10’C to […]

July 20, 2013May 29, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

WigWag Simplifies Home Automation, Provides Raspberry Pi and Arduino Shields

WigWag is an home automation kit aiming at simplifying home automation, yet allowing developers to roll their own system via Arduino and Raspberry Pi Shields. Wigwag is currently composed of three devices: WigWag Sensor Block – Universal sensor device with 8 environmental sensors (light, detect motion, sound, temperature, humidity, movement…), 4 control features (relay, IR blaster…), and 2 expansion ports. It can be powered by 4x AA batteries (possibly for up to 1 year), or a USB power adapter. This device runs Contiki OS on Freescale MC1322 MCU (with built-in 6LoWPAN radio). WigWag Relay – Connects WigWag and third party devices to their cloud service, allowing interaction with Internet services, such as email, Dropbox and Twitter. It acts a bit like a central server managing all your WigWag Sensor Blocks or other connected devices such as Phillips Hue light bulbs or Belkin WeMo outlets in your house. IP networks (Wi-Fi & Ethernet) […]

July 19, 2013June 23, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

DIY Stripboard/Veroboard Enclosure for Raspberry Pi (Part 2)

Following up my previous post entitled “DIY Modular Stripboard / Perfboard Casing for Raspberry Pi (Part 1)” where I explained how I created an modular enclosure made of perfboard, or the overall concept, I’ve now designed two “smart” sides for the enclosure: a 16-LED stripboard side, and a 5V relay stripboard side. Today, I’ll detail how I’ve done this, with details about electronics, soldering, assembly, the Linux distribution (built with Yocto), as well C programs, HTML page, and (CGI) shell scripts used to light up the 16 LEDs, and control a standard 220V lamp with a relay via my phone’s web browser. 16-LED Stripboard Top Schematics, Soldering, and Testing I had decided to design the top board of the enclosure with several LEDs, 3 LEDs on both side, and a Raspberry fruit (6 red LED) and 2 leaves (4 green LED) in the middle. Before getting started, I did some […]

June 20, 2013June 20, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Linor Technology Fargo are Ethernet Boards with 4 to 8 Relays

There are more and more “IoT” solutions for home or industrial automation which allow you to control your lights or other equipments remotely with your smartphone or tablet. Many of them are DIY with boards such Arduino or Raspberry Pi combined with an expansion board featuring one or more relays, and some of them can be used out of the box such as Linor Technology Fargo boards. The company designed 4 boards that are powered by a Microchip PIC32 MCU with a small NOR flash, provide Ethernet connectivity, and run a small webserver that allows you to monitor and control the relays with any connected device that can run a web browser. Here are the hardware specifications for the boards (Fargo R8, R4, R4ADI and R4DI): MCU – Microchip PIC32 32-bit MCU Storage – 8MB flash on Fargo R8 for firmware and log storage (up to 10,000 items log) Sensors: […]

May 20, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Win Enterprises MB-60830 Single Board Computer Powered by AMD Embedded G-Series SoC

At the end of last month, AMD announced their first Embedded SoC family that combines a CPU, a GPU, and a controller hub into one chipset. Win Enterprises is one of the first companies to release a board based on the platform with MB-60830, a single board computer powered by AMD G-Series dual core or quad core SoCs. The board is designed for embedded applications such as digital signage, gaming, medical imaging, kiosks/POS, thin client and factory automation. The board specifications are as follows: SoC – AMD Embedded G-Series SoC dual or quad core. System Memory – 1x DDR3 @ 1600MHZ / SODIMM up to 4GB Storage – 1x SATA 6.0 Gb/s, 1x Half-size Mini-PCIe supporting mSATA for SSD Connectivity – Intel i211 AT Gigabit Ethernet Video Outputs: 1x VGA 1x dual channel 24-bit LVDS 1x HDMI with Optional Chrontel CEC Support Digital I/O – 8-bit programmable LPC – 1x […]

April 25, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

AMD Unveils AMD G-Series SoCs For Embedded Applications

In 2011, AMD launched the G-Series APUs (Accelerated Processing Unit) that combines the CPU and GPU into one chipset which then connects to a controller hub to handle I/Os, and recently the company announced AMD G-Series SoC at Design West 2013. The new solution combines a “Jaguar” CPU, a Radeon HD8000 series GPU and a controller hub into one and only SoC, further integrating functions. Both AMD G-Series APU and SoC target embedded systems such as industrial control and automation, digital signage, electronic gaming systems, SMB storage, IP-TV, medical and network appliances, set-top boxes and more. AMD claims G-Series SOCs offer up to 113 percent improved CPU performance compared to G-Series APU, and up to a 125 percent advantage compared to the Intel Atom (Dhyrstone, EEMBC CoreMark). The platform also includes support for DirectX 11.1, OpenGL 4.2x and OpenCL 1.2 yielding up to a 20 percent graphics improvement over G-Series […]

January 8, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

Belkin Wemo Light Switch Can Be Controlled by Android Devices

Wemo Wi-Fi-based home automation solution was announced at CES 2012 last year, and included products such as a control switch and a motion control switch, that can detect your presence and only turn on/off the lights or other electrical equipment when needed. At the time however, the only supported platform was iOS. At CES 2013, Belkin has announced a new product with the WeMo Light Switch, an Wi-Fi connected light switch to remotely control wired household lighting from anywhere, and support for Android. The WeMo Light Switch can replace an existing light switch and connects into your home’s existing electrical wiring. Once in place, you can turn a full bank of lights on and off from anywhere, put them on a schedule, or use other WeMo or online triggers to control them through a smartphone or tablet. The WeMo Light Switch is controlled via the same WeMo app as the […]