automation News - Page 9 of 56 - CNX Software

April 5, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

Add Z-Wave LR (Long Range) to Raspberry Pi or Home Assistant Yellow with Zooz 800 Series USB stick or GPIO Module

Z-Wave Long Range Raspberry Pi Home Assistant Yellow

We wrote about the new Z-Wave Long Range (LR) standard aka “Z-Wave Plus LR” promising four times the range and 10-year battery life in September 2020 but hadn’t heard much about it since then, at least until now, as Zooz has launched the ZST39 LR USB Stick and ZAC93 LR GPIO module based on a Z-Wave 800 Series chip, with the GPIO module compatible with Home Assistant Yellow and Raspberry Pi SBCs. Zooz 800 Series Z-Wave Long Range GPIO Module ZAC93 LR ZAC93 LR specifications: Z-Wave Frequency – 908.42 MHz (US, CA, MX) / 921.4 MHz (AU, NZ) / 868.42 MHz (EU) Wireless Range – Up to 1 mile/1.6 km in open space with Long Range enabled (up to 300 meters in open space, up to 76 meters indoors in traditional mesh networks) Support for up to 200 devices in a single network Host interface – 10-pin header to Raspberry […]

March 31, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

SOPHON BM1684/BM1684X Edge AI computer delivers up to 32 TOPS, decodes up to 32 Full HD videos simultaneously

Firefly EC-A1684JD4 FD and EC-A1684XJD4 FD are nearly identical Edge AI embedded computers based on respectively SOPHON BM1684 and BM1684X Arm AI SoC delivering up to 32 TOPS of AI inference, and capable of decoding up to 32 H.265/H.264 Full HD videos simultaneously for video analytics applications. The BM1684(X) SoCs are equipped with eight Cortex-A53 cores clocked at 2.3 GHz to run Linux, and the systems come with up to 16GB RAM, 128GB flash, two Gigabit Ethernet ports to receive the video streams, one HDMI output up to 1080p30 for monitoring, as well as RS232 and RS485 DB9 connectors, and a few USB ports. Firefly EC-A1684JD4 FD and EC-A1684XJD4 FD specifications: SoC – SOPHGO SOPHON BM1684/BM1684X CPU – Octa-core Arm Cortex-A53 processor @ up to 2.3GHz TPU BM1684 64 NPU arithmetic units with each NPU containing 16 EU arithmetic units, or 1,024 EU in total Up to 17.6 TOPS (INT8), […]

March 30, 2023March 30, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 7 Comments

SONOFF TX Ultimate “T5” smart touch wall switch support gestures, custom covers

Sonoff TX Utimate TX Smart Touch Wall Switch

SONOFF TX Ultimate smart touch wall switch, also known as the SONOFF T5, is another wireless switch from the company with up to 3 gangs, RGB color edge lights around the 86x86mm switch, as well as support for gestures and custom covers. Gestures like swipe left or right are possible because the full area of the SONOFF T5 switch acts as a touch sensor, and the RGB LEDs around the device enable ambient lights in the room at night. The switch can also provide haptic feedback to the user during use with a built-in speaker and vibration motor. SONOFF TX Ultimate specifications: Model numbers – T5-1C-86, T5-2C-86, T5-3C-86 depending on the number of buttons Wireless – 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi Input and Output power 1-gang: 100-240V~50/60 Hz up to 5A 2-gang: 100-240V~50/60Hz up to 10A (5A per gang max) 3-gang: 100-240V-50/60 Hz up to 15A (5A per gang max) Dimensions – […]

March 16, 2023March 17, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 16 Comments

SONOFF MINIR4 review – A Tiny WiFi Smart Switch tested with eWelink app/web, and R5 controller

In this post, we’ll review the SONOFF Mini Extreme, also known as MINIR4, WiFi smart switch based on ESP32 wireless MCU by installing it into a wall-mounted light switch box and controlling it with both the eWelink mobile app for Android and the SONOFF R5 scene controller. SONOFF MINIR4 Installation We’ve already gone through the specifications, unboxing, and teardown in the announcement, so I’ll get straight to the installation part. Note this review was done with a light switch “box” (about 11x6cm) in Thailand, so your mileage may vary. The first challenge is that contrary to the similarly-sized SONOFF ZBMINI Extreme Zigbee switch, the MINIR4 WiFi switch requires a neutral cable, and most lights in Thailand are wired without a neutral wire, so I had to get the neutral wire from the outlet switch box underneath. When I call those “boxes” there are really holes in the wall here… Wiring […]

March 10, 2023March 11, 2023 by Paisit Wongsongsarn - 4 Comments

Review of SONOFF ZBCurtain Zigbee Smart Curtain Motor

Recently, Sonoff has released a new Zigbee product – called ZBCurtain – that turns your ordinary curtains into smart curtains. With this product, you can experience new benefits when using your curtains, such as automatic opening/closing, remote control through your mobile device, or setting up advanced automation to control your curtains based on factors such as temperature, humidity, or even using input from the other sensors. These smart capabilities provide benefits for your home or workplace, such as increased safety, energy savings, and convenience. The Sonoff Zigbee Curtain Motor (or ZBCurtain for shorts) can be integrated with your existing ordinary curtains, transforming them into smart curtains that can be controlled remotely via your smartphone, your voice commands, or even from a traditional remote controller. ZBCurtain Unboxing Within the package, we can find a wireless remote control, main motor units with a 3.5-meter long cable, and mounting brackets to attach the […]

March 9, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 7 Comments

SONOFF iHost Smart Home Hub enables local control of SONOFF, Tasmota, Matter home automation devices

SONOFF iHost is a Smart Home Hub that enables local control of SONOFF smart switches, lightbulbs, Zigbee sensors, and so on without having to require a connection to the cloud (e.g. eWelink). Future software upgrades will also add more devices such as the ones flashed with Tasmota firmware and any device compatible with the Matter IoT protocol. The gateway is based on either a Rockchip RV1109 SoC with 2GB RAM or a Rockchip RV1126 with 4GB RAM and offers 10/100M Ethernet, WiFi, Bluetooth LE, and Zigbee 3.0 connectivity, as well as a USB 2.0 port to allow for more connectivity. SONFF iHost Smart Home Hub specifications: SoC and Memory Rockchip RV1109 dual-core Arm Cortex-A7 @ 1.5 GHz with RISC-V MCU @ 400 MHz, 2D graphics engine, 1.2 TOPS NPU, 5MP H.264 and H.265 hardware video decoder and encoder, and 2GB DDR4 Rockchip RV1126 quad-core Arm Cortex-A7 @ 1.5 GHz with […]

March 8, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

Home Assistant compatible “ESP 360 Remote” controls infrared and 433MHz appliances over WiFi (Crowdfunding)

ESP 360 Remote is an ESP32-based IR and 433 MHz RF remote with built-in sensors used to control home appliances over WiFi and that also integrates with Home Assistant open-source home automation framework. The open-source hardware design is comprised of a mainboard with an ESP32-WROOM-32E module, temperature, humidity, and light sensors, and a board on the top with nine infrared LEDs, one IR receiver, as well as a 433 MHz (or 315 MHz) RF receiver and transmitter with the receivers used for learning the code from the remote controls. ESP 360 Remote specifications: Wireless module – ESP32-WROOM-32E with ESP32 dual-core microcontroller 4MB flash 2.4 GHz WiFi and Bluetooth LE connectivity, built-in PCB antenna, fully compatible with ESPHome firmware Control interface 9x High Power IR LEDs to control devices in all directions (hence the 360 name) IR receiver to learn remote control codes 433 MHz (or 315 MHz) RF transmitter 433 […]

March 6, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

Elfin-EW11 is a compact WiFi to RS485 unit with Modbus TCP support

Elfin EW11/EW11A is a small WiFi to RS485 unit with Modbus TCP/IP support that works either in the 5 to 18V DC (EW11) or the 5 to 36V DC (EW11A) input range. The WiFi to RS485 adapter is offered with either an internal or external WiFi antenna, the RS485 interface is exposed through an RJ45 port, and an RJ45 to terminal block cable is usually included, as well as a DIN Rail mount. Elfin EW11/EW11A specifications: MCU (I’m not sure which one is used, and the specs depend on where you look..) Unnamed Arm Cortex-M3 microcontroller @ 96 MHz with 2MB flash, 128KB SRAM (on the product page) OR Unnamed microcontroller @ up to 160MHz with 2MB flash, 352KB SRAM (on Aliexpress) Networking Wireless – 2.4 GHz WiFi 4 with up to WPA2PSK security, station, AP, or station+AP modes; internal or external WiFi antenna depending on the model. Wired – […]