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July 12, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

TermDriver 2 is a USB-to-serial adapter with a built-in color display (Crowdfunding)

TermDriver 2 USB-to-serial debug board display

USB-to-serial debug boards are commonly used for board bring-up, checking for issues when a board does not boot, or accessing the serial console in systems without networking or video output. You’d just connect GND, Tx, and Rx wires to the target board, and a USB cable to the host, before running a terminal program like Putty, Minicom, or Bootterm with the correct parameters, and you should be good to go. That’s the theory, but sometimes Tx and Rx may be inverted, the baudrate is not advertised, and so on. So Excamera Labs decided to make the TermDriver 2, an improved USB-to-serial with a small built-in display to more easily debug those issues. It can also be used in standalone mode, showing the serial console output on the tiny screen without having to connect it to a host. TermDriver 2 specifications: MCU – Raspberry Pi RP2040 dual-core Arm Cortex-M0+ MCU @ […]

July 4, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Bela Gem audio and sensor add-on boards are designed for the PocketBeagle 2 (Crowdfunding)

Bela Gem Stereo and Bela Gem Multi are audio and sensor add-on boards designed for the PocketBeagle 2 SBC powered by a Texas Instruments Sitara AM6232/AM6254 dual-core or quad-core SoC. As its name implies, the Bela Gem Stereo board features two audio outputs and inputs, while the Bela Gem Multi board offers more flexibility with ten audio interfaces for more complex audio projects such as spatial audio systems. Both boards can be expanded through headers with sixteen GPIO and eight analog inputs, as well as a Qwicc I2C connector. Bela Gem Stereo Specifications: Compatibility – PocketBeagle 2 only Audio Inputs – 2 channels, up to 24-bit, 96 kHz (TLV320AIC3104) Outputs – 2 channels, up to 24-bit, 96 kHz (TLV320AIC3104), headphones, differential line out MIDI plug-and-play via either USB port below USB USB Type-C device port USB Type-A host port for Wifi, Bluetooth, or Ethernet peripherals Expansion 16x GPIO with 3.3V […]

June 28, 2025June 28, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

AnyShake Explorer – An affordable, open-source hardware seismic monitoring system (Crowdfunding)

AnyShake Explorer is a relatively affordable, open-source hardware seismic monitoring system that offers an alternative to the Raspberry Shake earthquake monitoring solutions. The device supports up to three 3-axis geophones and integrates a 3-axis accelerometer and a 32-bit ADC for measurements. You just need to connect it to a host like a laptop or an SBC such as a Raspberry Pi, an Orange Pi, a Radxa ROCK, or a NanoPi over a USB to RS232 cable to get started. Anyshake Explorer specifications and key features: MCU – STMicro STM32F103CBTx Arm Cortex-M3 microcontroller Sensors Geophone 3-axis 4.5 Hz velocity geophone (100 V/m/s sensitivity) Three geophone inputs Capture through a high-resolution 32-bit ADC IMU – 16-bit 3-axis accelerometer (±2 g full scale) Data acquisition Modes – Accelerometer-only mode, geophone-only mode, and simultaneous sampling (6 channels) Sampling rates – 50/100/200/250 SPS Networking – SeedLink protocol support, TCP raw data forwarding Host interface 2x RS-232 […]

June 14, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Valtrack V4 is a programmable 4G LTE GPS vehicle tracker with ESP32-C3 Bluetooth & Wi-Fi SoC (Crowdfunding)

Valetron Systems VALTRACK-V4-VTS-ESP32-C3 (or Valtrack V4 for short) is a 4G LTE GPS vehicle tracker based on ESP32-C3 WiFi and Bluetooth SoC and a SIMCom SIM7672 cellular and GNSS module. Designed to track bicycles, cars, or trucks, the Valtrack V4 GPS tracker is housed in an IP67 waterproof enclosure, takes 12V to 42V DC input from a lead battery or 3.7-4.2V from a backup LiPo or Li-Ion battery, and features an accelerometer to wake up when motion is detected or detect theft, as well as three RGB LEDs for status. Valtrack V4 specifications: Wireless MCU – Espressif ESP32-C3FH4 CPU – 32-bit RISC-V microcontroller @ up to 160 MHz; Memory – 400 KB SRAM Storage – 4 MB flash Wireless – 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi 4 & Bluetooth 5.0 Cellular and GNSS connectivity SIM7672G 4G LTE Cat 1 module with Global LTE band, 2G fallback, and GNSS support Nano SIM card […]

May 30, 2025May 30, 2025 by Debashis Das - 1 Comment

Atum A3 Nano development board combines Agilex 3 FPGA and USB-Blaster III programmer (Crowdfunding)

Terasic’s Atum A3 Nano is a compact FPGA development board built around Altera’s largest Agilex 3 FPGA (A3CZ135BB18AE7S). The FPGA features 135K logic elements, embedded memory blocks (6.89 Mbit M20K, 1.4 Mbit MLAB), and 368 multipliers, making it suitable for demanding applications such as robotics, automotive systems, smart city infrastructure, consumer electronics, and advanced image processing. Measuring just 85 x 70 mm, the Atum A3 Nano board includes 64 MB SDRAM, Gigabit Ethernet, HDMI output, a microSD card slot, and an onboard USB-Blaster III programmer accessible via a USB Type-C port. Expansion options include a 40-pin GPIO header and two PMOD headers, and the board also features user I/Os like LEDs, buttons, and switches. Additionally, it supports add-ons such as displays, cameras, wireless modules, and motor control kits. Atum A3 Nano specifications: FPGA – Altera Agilex 3 A3CZ135BB18AE7S 135,110 logic elements 6.89 Mbit M20K, 1.4 Mbit MLAB 368 18×19 multipliers 4 I/O […]

May 29, 2025June 2, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

OBJEX Link S3LW ultra-low-power ESP32-S3 LoRaWAN board takes up to 100W power input

OBJEX Link S3LW is a small development board based on the ultra-low-power ELPM-S3LW module with ESP32-S3 MCU and LoRaWAN connectivity and the ability to take 100W input via USB-C or a 2-pin terminal block for driving motors, controlling RGB LED strips, and other high-power projects. It’s compliant with the USB PD standard, features two 28-pin headers and a STEMMA I2C connector for expansion, as well as a built-in CP2102/CP2104 USB to serial bridge for debugging, and a few buttons. The company also offers an OBJEX ELPM-S3 module and OBJEX Link S3 board with the same features, minus LoRa/LoRaWAN support. OBJEX Link S3LW specifications: Wireless module ELPM-S3LW v1.2 Wireless SoC – ESP32-S3FN8 CPU – Dual-core 32-bit Xtensa LX7 microcontroller with AI vector instructions up to 240MHz, RISC-V ULP co-processor Memory – 512KB SRAM Storage – 8MB flash Wireless – 2.4GHz WiFi 4 (802.11b/g/n), Bluetooth 5.0 BLE + Mesh LoRa support LoRa […]

May 16, 2025May 16, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

PitFusion thermal imager for Raspberry Pi combines Melexis MLX90640 sensor and RGB camera (Crowdfunding)

IVMECH Mechatronics’ PitFusion is a thermal imager designed for the Raspberry Pi based on a Melexis MLX90640 32×24 thermal sensor and an Adafruit 0V5647 RGB sensor comparable to the Raspberry Pi Camera Module v1.3. The kit enables users to capture thermal and visible images simultaneously, and can be useful for automation, robotics, security (human/pet motion detection), non-contact temperature measurement, and environmental monitoring applications. PiFusion specifications: Thermal Sensor – Adafruit LX90640 with 32 x 24 pixel array Camera Sensor – Adafruit 0V5647 comparable to the RPi Camera Module v1.3 with 2592 x 1944 resolution Temperature Range – -40°C to 300°C Frame Rate – Up to 32 Hz (thermal), 30 fps (camera) Spectral Range – 8 µm to 14 µm (optimal for human body and object detection) Host Interfaces – I2C for thermal sensor, CSI for camera) Dimensions – 40 x 30 x 10 mm Weight – 15 grams IVMECH says the […]

May 8, 2025May 8, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

HydraLink USB-to-Automotive Ethernet dongle works over a single twisted pair (Crowdfunding)

HydraLink is a compact USB-to-Automotive Ethernet dongle that supports 100BASE-T1 and 1000BASE-T1 standards over a single twisted pair (no large RJ45 connector needed) and provides a solution for diagnosing, testing, and prototyping automotive networks. The rationale behind HydraLink is that the automotive sector is undergoing a shift from CAN-based systems to advanced Automotive Ethernet networks like BroadR-Reach (802.3bw) that allow multiple in-vehicle systems to simultaneously access information over unshielded single twisted pair cables. So as I understand it, the HydraLink is the modern equivalent of OBD-II USB scanners relying on Ethernet instead. HydraLink specifications: Networking – 100 Mbps or 1000 Mbps automotive Ethernet via 2.54 mm pin header (Note: the board below features a Broadcom BCM89811 BroadR-Reach automotive Ethernet RGMII transceiver limited to 100BASE-T1 data rate) USB – USB 3.0 Gen 1 Type-C port Misc – Link activity and link speed LED indicators Power Supply – 5V via USB interface […]