can News - CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

November 4, 2025November 6, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 272 Comments

Giveaway Week 2025 – Elecrow Pi Terminal Raspberry CM4 industrial HMI display

Elecrow CrowPanel CM4 Pi Terminal Demo application

Sometimes we receive samples even though we did not ask for them, said we would have time to review them, or due to miscommunication. That’s exactly what has happened with the Elecrow Pi Terminal, a Raspberry Pi CM4-powered industrial HMI with a 7-inch touchscreen display. So instead of letting it go to waste, I decided to offer it as the second prize of the CNX Software Giveaway Week 2025 contest. Elecrow Pi Terminal specifications: SoM – Raspberry Pi CM4 Lite SoC – Broadcom BCM2711 CPU – Quad-core Cortex-A72 SoC @ 1.5GHz GPU – VideoCore VI with support for OpenGL ES 3.1 and Vulkan 1.0 VPU Decode – H.265/HEVC up to 4Kp60, H.264 up to 1080p60 Encode – H.264 up to 1080p30 Memory – 4GB LPDDR4-3200 Storage – N/A Wireless – Dual-band WiFi 5 and Bluetooth 5.0 Storage 64GB microSD card preloaded with the Raspberry Pi OS + Node-RED software M.2 […]

October 28, 2025October 27, 2025 by Debashis Das - 3 Comments

Microchip PIC32-BZ6 BLE 6.0, Thread, and Matter wireless MCU integrates touch and motor control

Microchip IC32 BZ6 single chip wireless MCU

Microchip has recently introduced the PIC32-BZ6 family of single-chip, multiprotocol wireless MCUs, also available as RF-certified modules, and designed for smart home, industrial automation, and automotive applications. The module supports Bluetooth LE 6.0, IEEE 802.15.4-based Thread and Matter, and proprietary mesh protocols. For wired connectivity, there are two CAN-FD ports, a 10/100 Mbps Ethernet MAC, and a USB 2.0 full-speed transceiver. Other features include CVD-based touch sensing and motor control interfaces for interactive and real-time applications. As a secure MCU, the PIC32-BZ6 integrates a hardware-based security engine, a secure boot ROM, and encryption accelerators, along with OTA update capability for long-term device management. The microcontroller offers up to 54 GPIO pins, multiple pin and package options (up to 132-pin VQFN), and automotive-grade variants rated for -40°C to +125°C operation. Microchip PIC32-BZ6 specifications: MCU Core – 128 MHz Arm Cortex-M4F with FPU and DSP extensions Memory 512 KB multi-port SRAM (with […]

October 20, 2025October 20, 2025 by Debashis Das - 1 Comment

LILYGO T-2CAN upgrades TTGO T-CAN485 with ESP32-S3, dual Isolated CAN Bus

LILYGO T 2CAN ESP32 S3 dual CAN development board top

LILYGO T-2CAN is an updated version of the earlier TTGO T-CAN485, with a more powerful ESP32-S3 MCU and two isolated CAN bus interfaces. Like its predecessor, it is designed for vehicle diagnostics, industrial CAN monitoring, and wireless CAN-to-cloud gateways. The board features an ESP32-S3 MCU with 16MB Flash and 8MB PSRAM, along with two MCP2515 CAN controllers supporting CAN V2.0B at up to 1 Mb/s. It also offers Qwiic connectors and a 26-pin GPIO header (unpopulated) for expansion, and supports both USB Type-C (5V) and DC (12–24V) power inputs. Additional features include BOOT and RESET buttons, an external antenna connector, and onboard debugging via USB. LILYGO T-2CAN specifications: ESP32-S3-WROOM-1U wireless module SoC – ESP32-S3 dual-core Tensilica LX7 microcontroller @ up to 240 MHz with 2.4 GHz 802.11n WiFi 4 and Bluetooth 5.0 LE connectivity Memory – 8MB PSRAM Storage – 16MB SPI flash IPEX antenna connector Industrial control interfaces via 2x […]

August 29, 2025August 29, 2025 by Debashis Das - No Comments

NXP MCX A34 mixed-signal Cortex-M33 MCU delivers 17x faster math acceleration for motor control and HVAC systems

NXP has launched the MCX A34 mixed-signal Arm Cortex-M33 industrial MCU, an upgrade of the MCX A14x and MCX A15x MCUs, which were introduced in 2024. While the A14x/A15x offered Cortex-M33 cores up to 96 MHz, 128 KB Flash, 32 KB SRAM, a 12-bit ADC, the A34 scales up with a 180 MHz core, up to 1 MB Flash, 256 KB SRAM, four 16-bit ADCs (3.2 Msps), four OpAmps, a 12-bit DAC, and FlexPWM with enhanced quadrature decoding. It also features a dedicated Math Acceleration Unit (MAU) that executes trigonometric, reciprocal, and square root operations up to 17x faster than CMSIS-DSP, a SmartDMA coprocessor for offloading data transfers, and advanced security features with tamper detection and secure boot. Connectivity is also richer, with up to six UARTs, four I²C, two SPI, and a CAN FD interface. MCX A34 specifications: MCU core – Arm Cortex-M33 core clocked at up to 180 […]

August 25, 2025August 26, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

Forlinx FET3506J-C is an ultra-small (40 x 29mm) Rockchip RK3506J SoM with board-to-board connectors

Forlinx Embedded FET3506J-C is an ultra-small system-on-module (SoM) based on Rockchip RK3506J triple-core Cortex-A7 SoC measuring just 40 x 29mm, and equipped with up to 512MB DDR3, and 256MB NAND flash, or 8GB eMMC flash. I first thought I had already written about it, but the Forlinx FET3506J-S module introduced last March has a different design. It measures 44 x 35mm and exposes all I/Os through castellated holes, while the FET3506J-C features two 80-pin board-to-board (B2B) connectors instead. The company also provides the OK3506J-C single board computer for evaluation, but considering the module is inserted into the carrier board, as opposed to soldered, the carrier board could potentially be used with future modules using the same B2B connectors design. Forlinx FET3506J-C system-on-module Specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3506J/B CPU 3x Arm Cortex-A7 core up to 1.5 GHz (RK3506J) or 1.6 GHz (RK3506B) Arm Cortex-M0 real-time core @ 200 MHz GPU – […]

August 19, 2025August 18, 2025 by Debashis Das - 4 Comments

Ebyte ECB31-PB – A Raspberry Pi Model A-sized industrial SBC with Allwinner T113-S3 or T113-S4 SoC

Ebyte ECB31 PB Allwinner T113 S industrial SBC

The Ebyte ECB31-PB is a low-cost industrial SBC powered by an Allwinner T113-S3/S4 dual-core ARM Cortex-A7 processor that comes in a Raspberry Pi 3 Model A+ form factor, which is fairly rare to see in the age of Raspberry Pi 5 (Model B). There are two variants of the board: one with 128 MB DDR3 (Allwinner T113-S3) and the other with 256MB DDR3 (Allwinner T113-S4). Both feature 8GB eMMC flash, Gigabit Ethernet, dual-band Wi-Fi, optional 4G LTE via mini PCIe module and a NanoSIM card slot, a microSD card, dual CAN bus, a USB 2.0 port, and a GPIO header. Multimedia interfaces include MIPI DSI and CVBS outputs, two CVBS video inputs, and audio input/output. With an industrial operating temperature of -40°C to 85°C, this SBC is useful for smart home, IoT gateways, digital signage, and other embedded applications. Ebyte ECB31-PB specifications SoC – Allwinner T113-S3 or T113-S4 CPU Dual-core […]

August 5, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

ESP32 Bus Pirate open-source firmware works on off-the-shelf hardware

ESP32 Bus Pirate is an open-source firmware inspired by the original Bus Pirate from Dangerous Prototypes, which turns off-the-shelf (ESP32-S3) hardware into a multi-protocol hacker’s tool. It supports sniffing, sending, scripting, and interacting with various digital protocols (I2C, UART, 1-Wire, SPI, etc.) via a serial terminal or web-based CLI. It’s been tested on Espressif ESP32-S3-DevKitC-1 development board, M5Stack Cardputer, M5StickC Plus2, Atom S3 Lite, M5Stamp S3, and LILYGO T-Embed (CC1101) boards. ESP32 Bus Pirate firmware highlights: Interactive CLI via USB serial – For faster performance and high responsiveness Web interface (over WiFi) – No cable needed to the host, works from any web browser Supported Modes HiZ (default) – High-Z is a safe mode where all outputs are disabled and all power supplies are turned off I2C (scan, glitch, slave mode, dump) SPI (flash, SD card, slave mode) UART / Half-Duplex UART (bridge, read, write) 1-WIRE (ibutton, temp sensor) 2-WIRE […]

August 2, 2025August 16, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

NV8600-Nano AI developer kit Review – Part 1: NVIDIA Jetson Orin Nano 8GB devkit unboxing and first boot

AAEON has sent me an NV8600-Nano AI developer kit equipped with an NVIDIA Jetson Orin Nano 8GB for review. I’ll start the review with an unboxing to check out the board itself and accessories, before booting it to the preinstalled Ubuntu 22.04 OS (JetPack 6.2). In the second part of the review, I’ll test the board and software in more detail, including some benchmarks and features testing with a focus on AI demos using the provided USB and Raspberry Pi cameras. NV8600-Nano AI developer kit Unboxing I received two packages: one for the NV8600-Nano AI developer kit itself, and a smaller one for a “Full HD Machine USB 2.0 camera”. The exact part number can be found on a sticker: NV8600-KIT-JP620N-A1-1010. It also lists basic information like Orin Nano 8GB, four Ethernet ports, six USB 3.0 ports, two MIPI connectors, a 40-pin GPIO header, CAN Bus and COM ports, and […]