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October 25, 2021October 25, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 38 Comments

Allwinner D1s/F133 RISC-V processor integrates 64MB DDR2

Allwinner D1s (aka F133) is a cost-down version of Allwinner D1 RISC-V processor introduced earlier this year together with a Linux capable development board, with the main difference being the integrated 64MB DDR2. Besides the built-in RAM, Allwinner D1s comes with many of the same features as D1 RISC-V SoC, but loses HDMI output and the HiFi 4 audio DSP, and Allwinner made some tweaks to the IOs with one less I2S audio interface, and general-purpose ADC. Allwinner D1s/F133 specifications: CPU – RISC core with 32 KB I-cache + 32 KB D-cache (CNXSoft: not specified, but probably the same Alibaba/T-Head Xuantie C906 RISC-V core as used in Allwinner D1) DSP – HiFi4 DSP 600MHz with 32 KB I-cache + 32 KB D-cache, 64 KB I-ram + 64 KB D-ram Memory – 64 MB DDR2 (SIP) Storage I/F – SD3.0, eMMC 5.0, SPI Nor/Nand Flash Video Engine Video decoding H.265 up […]

October 24, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 11 Comments

$99 Lepton FS module cuts the cost of FLIR thermal cameras by half

Thermal cameras based on FLIR Lepton modules are pretty cool, but also quite expensive. Teledyne FLIR Lepton FS offers a much more cost-effective solution with the non-radiometric 160 x 120 resolution micro thermal camera module going for $99, or about 50% less than other FLIR thermal camera modules. The lower cost was achieved with some tradeoffs, notably a reduction of thermal sensitivity and scene dynamic range, as well as up to 3% inoperable pixels. But Ron Justin, GroupGets founder, told CNX Software that the lower specs are more than worth it for users only needing an imager, as opposed to a radiometric sensor. Lepton FS module specifications: Sensor technology – Uncooled VOx microbolometer Spectral range – Longwave infrared, 8 μm to 14 μm Array format – 160 x 120, progressive scan Pixel size – 12 μm Effective frame rate 8.7 Hz (commercial application exportable) Thermal sensitivity – <75mK NEDT (noise […]

October 11, 2021October 11, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

M5Stack UnitV2 AI module gets USB camera and M12 camera versions

M5Stack UnitV2 is an ultra-compact Linux AI camera powered on Sigmastar SSD202D SoC with a dual-core Cortex-A7 processor @ 1.2 GHz, and 128MB on-chip DDR3 that was launched in April 2021 with a Full HD camera featuring a 68° field-of-view. M5Stack has now introduced two new models, one called M5Stack UnitV2 USB without any camera at all, instead relying on an external USB UVC camera, and the other named M5Stack UnitV2 M12 equipped with an M12 socket and shipping with both a normal focal length camera with an 85° FoV and wide-angle focal length with a 150° FoV. M5Stack UnitV2 USB M5Stack Unitv2 USB specifications: SoC – SigmaStar SSD202D dual-core Cortex-A7 processor @ 1.2 GHz with 128MB on-chip DDR3 Storage – 512MB on-chip NAND flash with around 100MB free space, MicroSD card socket Camera – N/A Audio – Built-in microphone Connectivity – 2.4GHz WIFi 4 up to 150 Mbps (RTL8188FTV), […]

October 5, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

miriac AIP-LX2160A 16-core embedded platform delivers up to 130 TOPS with 5 Hailo-8 modules

MicroSys Electronics miriac AIP-LX2160A embedded platform combines a 16-core Cortex-A72 NXP LX2160A networking processor with up to five Hailo-8 AI accelerator modules delivering up to 130 TOPS of AI inference performance. The board supports up to 128 GB RAM, up to 4x SATA hard drives, up to 100GbE connectivity, and appears to be especially suited to applications with multiple IP video streams requiring real-time video analytics. miriac AIP-LX2160A specifications: SoC – NXP Layerscape LX2160A with 16 Arm Cortex-A72 cores @ up to 2.2 GHz AI accelerators – 2x Hailo-8 M.2 AI Acceleration Modules, upgradeable to up to 5 Modules via NGFF M.2 Key M card System Memory – Up to 128 GB DDR4 RAM & optional ECC, up to 3200MT/sec, up to 4 ranks (combined design: 2x discrete & 2x SODIMM) Storage 4x SATA III ports Up to 256 GB eMMC 5.1 flash, additional eMMC device on carrier board Up […]

September 30, 2021September 30, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 18 Comments

Open-source Allwinner V3 ISP driver to enable blob-free camera support in mainline Linux

Bootlin has just submitted the first patchset for the Allwinner V3 image signal processor (ISP) driver in mainline Linux which should pave the way for a completely open-source, blob-free camera support in Linux using V4L2. There are several blocks in an SoC for camera support including a camera input interface such as MIPI CSI 2 and an ISP to process the raw data into a usable image. Add to this the need to implement the code for sensors, and there’s quite a lot of work to get it all working. Allwinner SDK comes with several binary blobs, aka closed-source binary, but Bootlin is working on making those obsolete, having first worked on Allwinner A31, V3s/V3/S3, and A83T MIPI CSI-2 support for the camera interface driver in the V4L2 framework (and Rockchip PX30, RK1808, RK3128 and RK3288 processors), as well as implemented support for Omnivision OV8865 and OV5648 image sensors earlier […]

September 24, 2021September 23, 2021 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 22, 2021September 22, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

$25 “Raspberry Pi 3 mini” board comes with a camera interface, USB & I/Os headers

TPCast-VR, aka “Raspberry Pi 3 mini”, is a compact board based on Broadcom BCM2837 quad-core Cortex-A53 processor, and that should come as part of Element14’s Raspberry Pi customization program, just like the custom Raspberry Pi 3 SBC with eMMC flash designed for laundry gateways that I noticed a few months ago. The board was initially integrated into the power box of the TPCAST Wireless Adaptor for HTC Vive and Oculus Rift virtual reality headsets, but eventually found its way into other applications notably FPV drones, and it’s now sold separately, as we’ll see further below. I found about the board via a tweet from Will Whang who purchased it for under $20 at the beginning of the year, and discovered the connection with the TPCast wireless adapter. TPCast-VR board specifications: SoC – Broadcom BCM2837 quad-core Cortex-A53 processor @ 1.2GHz with Videocore IV GPU System Memory – 1GB RAM Storage – […]

September 21, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

OpenNCC Nighthawk – A face blurring AI camera based on Myriad X VPU

We’ve just written about OpenCV Ai Kit Lite computer vision camera based on Intel Myriad X VPU, and OpenNCC Nighthawk is another such programmable camera based on the Intel AI accelerator, but with an IR filter for night vision, and working with OpenNCC-SDK notably supporting real-time face blurring for enhanced privacy. OpenNCC Nighthawk specifications: VPU – Intel Movidius Myriad X MA2085 up to 4 TOPS RAM – 8 Gbits (1GB) LPDDR4 Camera 2MP camera up to 1920 x 1080 @ up to 30fps ~114° Field of View (DFOV) 2.2mm focal length Lens TTL (through the lense) – 24mm Mount – M12 x 0.5mm thread size Day&Night IR Filter – Solenoid excitation type, automatically switch between 0.1~2 lux IR LED – 850nm up to 5m Output Data format – YUV420, YUV422, MJPG, H.264 Misc – Reset, GPIO Host Interface – USB 3.1 TYPE-C port Temperature Range – 0°- 50° The camera […]