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December 15, 2025December 14, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

reTerminal E1001/E1002 Review – B&W and color ePaper displays tested with SenseCraft HMI and Home Assistant

Seeed Studio reTerminal E1001 E002 ePaper Display review

Seeed Studio sent us samples of the reTerminal E1001 (monochrome) and E1002 (color) ePaper displays for review. They are powered by an ESP32-S3 microcontroller providing WiFi and Bluetooth LE wireless connectivity, and are designed for low-power information display applications, consuming power only when updating the screen content. This makes them ideal for tasks requiring long battery life (average of 3 months per charge, depending on how often they are updated) and always-on display capabilities. In this review, we will unbox the devices, go through a teardown, and test them with Seeed Studio’s SenseCraft no-code HMI platform, as well as ESPHome firmware for Home Assistant integration. reTerminal E1001/E1002 unboxing We received two cardboard packages that look identical and are labeled “Seeed Studio reTerminal ePaper Display”. But the sticker on the bottom side of the boxes provides clarity… Inside each box, we’ll find the ePaper display, a USB Type-C cable, a display […]

December 10, 2025December 10, 2025 by Debashis Das - No Comments

52Pi UPS Gen 6 UPS for Raspberry Pi 4/5 supports up to 4x external battery packs, PikaPython scripting

Rapsberry Pi 5 UPS with four external battery packs

The 52Pi UPS Gen 6 is another UPS solution for the Raspberry Pi 5 that supports external battery packs for long-duration projects, and uses I²C plus PikaPython scripting to manage power settings and safe shutdowns. Designed for the Raspberry Pi 5 and 4B, the module mounts on the bottom of the board and delivers power via pogo pins. It also includes an aluminum heatsink with an automatic fan for cooling. It runs on two 18650 batteries, which can be mounted to the Pi with spacers, and there is an option to add three more battery packs in parallel if you need longer runtime. The board also features a physical power button for manual control, a 12V power interface for SATA hard drives, and switching hardware (bumpless power transfer) that instantly falls back to battery power so the system stays on during a power outage. 52Pi UPS Gen 6 specifications: Main […]

December 7, 2025 by Debashis Das - 2 Comments

AQEX qUPS-P-BC-2.0 UPS HAT works with large capacity, multi-chemistry batteries (Li-Ion, LiFePO4, Sodium-Ion)

AQEX qUPS P BC 2.0 multi chemistry UPS HAT

Developed by Hungary-based AQEX, qUPS-P-BC-2.0 is a Raspberry Pi-compatible UPS HAT that supports multi-chemistry batteries, including Li-Ion, LiFePO₄, Sodium-Ion, and even supports large, high-capacity packs up to 300Ah. It is designed for applications that require long backup times and reliable 5V power. It features an offline UPS-like architecture with a highly efficient boost converter, adjustable input voltage and energy thresholds, as well as AUTO/ON/OFF operating modes to prevent reboot loops or unsafe restarts. Communication with the Raspberry Pi is handled through three GPIO pins to provide alerts for power loss and low battery. The board supports up to 7.5A discharge, 2A charging, USB-C and auxiliary 6–28V input, reverse-polarity and thermal protection, and external power-control capability. It’s also stackable with other HATs thanks to a robust soldered 40-pin header. AQEX qUPS-P-BC-2.0 specifications: Compatibility – Raspberry Pi 5 / 4B / 3B+ and other boards with compatible form factor and 40-pin PIO header […]

December 6, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

ESP32-C6-Devkit-Lipo – A small, open-source hardware ESP32-C6 board with battery support, UEXT connector

Olimex ESP32-C6-DevKit-Lipo board is a small open-source hardware board based on the ESP32-C6 WiFi 6, Bluetooth 5.0 LE, and Zigbee/Thread SoC with support for LiPo batteries and UEXT expansion modules. It’s the second announcement from the company this week, and comes after they introduced the MOD-ESP32-C5 to add wireless connectivity to boards equipped with a UEXT connector. The ESP32-C6-DevKit-Lipo adds to the list of small ESP32-C6 USB-C boards, such as the 01Space ESP32-C6 board and Seeed Studio XIAO ESP32C6, among many others. It’s actually larger than most similar boards, but differentiates itself with its open-hardware design, dual USB-C design, breadboard compatibility, LiPo battery circuitry, and a UEXT connector. ESP32-C6-Devkit-Lipo specifications: Wireless module – ESP32-C6-WROOM-1-N4 module Espressif Systems ESP32-C6 SoC CPU – Single-core 32-bit RISC-V processor @ 160 MHz Memory – 512KB SRAM, 16KB low-power SRAM Wireless 2.4 GHz WiFi 6 1T1R with Target Wake Time (TWT) support Bluetooth LE 5.0 […]

November 18, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Brainchip AKD1500 PCIe/SPI Edge AI co-processor to power battery-operated wearables and IoT devices

BrainChip AKD1500 Edge AI co-processor with PCIe and SPI host interfaces

BrainChip AKD1500 is an ultra-efficient Edge AI co-processor delivering up to 800 GOPS while consuming just 300 mW of power, making it suitable for battery-powered wearables and IoT sensors. It’s based on the same event-based neuromorphic technology found on the earlier AKD1000, relying on spiking neural networks (SNN) to deliver real-time inference in a way that is much more efficient than traditional AI chips. What’s new here is that thanks to PCIe and SPI interfaces, the new ADK1500 co-processor can be paired to a wide range of hosts, ranging from Linux-capable application processors to resource-constrained microcontrollers with x86, Arm, or RISC-V architectures. BrainChip AKD1500 key features and specifications: Akida Neuron Fabric Clocked at 5 to 400 MHz Delivering up to 800 effective GOPS at <1mW/GOPS On-device learning capabilities to enable “secure application personalization, without the need for a Cloud connection or retraining” On-Chip Conversion Complex Memory/Storage 1MB on-chip local memory […]

November 15, 2025November 15, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

FireBeetle 2 ESP32-C5 IoT development board offers GDI display interface, LiPo battery support

Just the other day, I lamented the lack of options when it came to ESP32-C5 boards featuring dual-band WiFi 6 support. The FireBeetle 2 ESP32-C5 IoT development board made by DFRobot shows that I needed to be more patient… The ESP32-C5 board features 4MB flash, a USB-C port, a LiPo battery connector, and two GPIO headers for expansion, as well as a GDI display connector designed to add an SPI/I2C touchscreen display. The new RISC-V board has about the same features and form factor as the FireBeetle 2 ESP32-S3. It adds 5 GHz WiFi and an 802.15.4 radio for Zigbee, Thread, and Matter, but loses a camera connector, and comes with less memory and storage. FireBeetle 2 ESP32-C5 specifications: Wireless module – ESP32-C5-WROOM-1-N4 SoC – Espressif Systems ESP32-C5 CPU Single-core 32-bit RISC-V processor @ up to 240 MHz Low-power RISC-V core @ 40 MHz acting as the main processor for […]

November 13, 2025November 13, 2025 by Debashis Das - 3 Comments

The PV PI HAT adds 10A true MPPT solar charging to the Raspberry Pi (Crowdfunding)

PV Pi A Solar Charging Hat for Raspberry Pi

Developed by Luke Ditria and his team at AutoEcology, the PV PI is a plug-and-play MPPT solar charging HAT designed for Raspberry Pi and other SBCs like the Orange Pi, Banana Pi, and NVIDIA Jetson. Designed for outdoor and remote projects and built around TI BQ25756 charge controller and STM32F103 MCU, it supports LiFePO4 management, true MPPT charging, power monitoring, and automation over the RS-232 UART interface. It also produces 5V output via a high-current buck/boost converter, supports watchdog-based power cycling, RTC wake-up scheduling, and automatic restart at safe voltage levels. With XT30 connectors, stackable headers, and RTC backup, the PV PI HAT is ideal for solar-powered IoT like AI-based wildlife monitors, environmental monitoring, and remote data logging applications. PV PI HAT specifications Compatibility – Raspberry Pi, Orange Pi, Banana Pi, NVIDIA Jetson, etc… Main MCU – STmicro STM32F103 Arm Cortex-M3 microcontroller @ 72 MHz Charge controller – BQ25756 I2C […]

November 12, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

Olimex ESP32-C5-Devkit-Lipo – A dual-band WiFi 6, BLE, and 802.15.4 IoT board with battery support, UEXT connector

Olimex ESP32-C5-Devkit-Lipo is a compact ESP32-C5 board with dual-band WiFi 6, Bluetooth LE, and a 802.15.4 radio for Zigbee, Thread, and Matter connectivity with support for LiPo battery for a charging circuit. It follows the company’s ESP32-C5-EVB board with isolated inputs and relays launched in September 2025, and offers a minimal design with two USB-C ports, a UEXT connector for expansion module, the usual breadboard-compatible GPIO headers, and not much else, which makes it ideal for space-constrained applications and prototyping. Olimex ESP32-C5-Devkit-Lipo specifications: Wireless module – ESP32-C5-WROOM-N8R4 SoC – Espressif Systems ESP32-C5 CPU Single-core 32-bit RISC-V processor @ up to 240 MHz Low-power RISC-V core @ 40 MHz acting as the main processor for power-sensitive applications Memory – 384 KB SRAM on-chip, support for external PSRAM Storage – 320 KB ROM, support for external flash Connectivity Dual-band 802.11ax WiFi 6 in the 2.4GHz and 5 GHz bands, with 802.11b/g/n WiFi […]