development board News - CNX Software

July 8, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

RP2350-PiZero – An RP2350 board with Raspberry Pi Zero form factor, mini HDMI, 16MB flash

Waveshare RP2350-PiZero is an update of the RP2040-PiZero, keeping the Raspberry Pi Zero form factor, but replacing the RP2040 MCU with the more powerful RP2350 dual-core Cortex-M33/RISC-V microcontroller. The RP2350-PiZero still comes with 16MB flash, a micro HDMI/DVI connector, two USB Type-C ports, a microSD card slot, and a 40-pin GPIO header. It supports 5V power input via USB-C, as well as LiPo batteries via a 2-pin connector and a charging circuit. RP2350-PiZero specifications: MCU – Microcontroller – Raspberry Pi RP2350B CPU Dual-core Arm Cortex-M33 @ 150 MHz with Arm Trustzone, Secure boot OR Dual-core RISC-V Hazard3 @ 150 MHz Either two cores can be used. Memory – 520 KB on-chip SRAM Package – QFN-80 Memory – PSRAM chip footprint (7) Storage 16MB SPI flash MicroSD card slot Video – Mini HDMI port that can output DVI signals USB 1x USB Type-C port (3) for data using PIO-USB host/device implementation […]

July 2, 2025July 3, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Renesas R8P1 – A 1 GHz Arm Cortex-M85 microcontroller with Ethos-U55 NPU for Audio and Vision AI applications

Renesas has introduced its most powerful Cortex-A85 microcontroller to date: the R8P1, clocked at 1 GHz and equipped with a 500 MHz Arm Ethos-U55 NPU for edge AI applications, as well as an Arm Cortex-M33 real-time core clocked at 250 MHz. With a 2D GPU, MIPI DSI and parallel RGB display interfaces, MIPI CSI and parallel camera interfaces, and I2S and PDM audio interface, the Renesas RA8P1 is mainly designed to address Voice AI and Vision AI applications requiring real-time analytics. The 1 GHz microcontroller also has plenty of other peripherals and security features, as we can see from the specifications and block diagram below. Renesas RA8P1 specifications: MCU core Arm Cortex-M85 clocked at 1 GHz with Helium MVE (M-Profile Vector Extension) with 32KB I/D caches; 7300+ CoreMarks Arm Cortex-M33 clocked at 250 MHz with 32KB I/D caches GPU – 2D drawing engine NPU – Arm Ethos-U55 NPU delivering 256 […]

July 2, 2025July 2, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 30 Comments

Radxa Cubie A7A is a powerful SBC based on Allwinner A733 Cortex-A76/A55 AI SoC with up to 16GB RAM

Radxa Cubie A7A is an upcoming single board computer (SBC) powered by an Allwinner A733 octa-core Cortex-A76/A55 SoC with a 3 TOPS AI accelerator and up to 16GB LPDDR5 memory. Radxa came back to the Allwinner SoC family after the silicon vendor committed to improving open-source support, starting with the Radxa Cubie A5E SBC powered by an Allwinner A527/T527 SoC. But this was only the start, and we were promised a more powerful Allwinner A733 SBC before moving to the Allwinner A838 down the road. The Allwinner A733 board has now been unveiled. Meet the Radxa Cubie A7A. Radxa Cubie A7A specifications: SoC – Allwinner A733 CPU Dual-core Arm Cortex-A76 @ up to 2.00 GHz Hexa-core Arm Cortex-A55 @ up to 1.79 GHz Single-core RISC-V E902 real-time core GPU – Imagination Technologies BXM-4-64 MC1 GPU VPU 8Kp24 H.265/VP9/AVS2 decoding 4Kp30 H.265/H.264 encoding AI accelerator – Optional, up to 3 TOPS […]

July 1, 2025June 30, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Nexus RP2350 LiPo board improves on Raspberry Pi Pico 2 with LiPo battery support, 16MB flash, USB-C port

Zaitronics Nexus RP2350 LiPo is a Raspberry Pi RP2350 board similar to the Raspberry Pi Pico 2, but with various improvements, namely support for LiPo batteries, a 16MB SPI flash, a USB-C port, and a Qwiic/STEMMA QT expansion connector. The Australian company says that apart from those improvements, the board has the same size and pinout as the original Raspberry Pi Pico 2, and if there’s enough interest, a Nexus RP2350 LiPo W board adding WiFi and Bluetooth may also be designed in the future. Nexus RP2350 LiPo specifications: SoC – Raspberry Pi RP2350A CPU Dual-core Arm Cortex-M33 @ 150 MHz with Arm Trustzone, Secure boot OR Dual-core RISC-V Hazard3 @ 150 MHz Either two cores can be used. Memory – 520 KB on-chip SRAM Security 8KB of anti-fuse OTP for key storage Secure boot (Arm only) SHA-256 acceleration Hardware TRNG Fast glitch detectors. Package – QFN-60 Storage – 16 […]

June 26, 2025June 25, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

82 x 50mm SoM combines NXP i.MX 8M Mini SoC with 25 TOPS DEEPX DX-M1 AI accelerator

Virtium Embedded Artists has just announced the launch of the iMX8M Mini DX-M1 system-on-module (SoM) combining an NXP i.MX 8M Mini quad-core Arm application processor with a 25 TOPS DEEPX DX-M1 AI accelerator in a compact 82 x 50mm footprint. The NXP SoC is paired with 2GB 32-bit RAM and 16GB eMMC flash, while the DEEPX NPU gets 4GB 64-bit RAM and a QSPI flash. The module also features a PMIC, a gigabit Ethernet PHY, an optional WiFI 6E and Bluetooth 5.4 module, and exposes all I/Os through a 314-pin MXM edge connector. They’ve somehow managed to pack a lot of features into such a small module. iMX8M Mini DX-M1 SOM specifications: SoC – NXP i.MX 8M Mini CPU Quad-core Cortex-A53 processor @ up to 1.6 (industrial) or 1.8 GHz (commercial) Cortex-M4F real-time core @ 400 MHz GPU Vivante GC320 2D GPU Vivante GCNanoUltra 2D/3D GPU with support for OpenVG […]

June 25, 2025June 25, 2025 by Debashis Das - 3 Comments

ESP32-Stick-PoE-A-Cam – An ESP32-S3 camera board with active PoE, machine learning examples

Esp32 Stick PoE A Cam(N16R8) ESP32 s3 camera PoE board

The ESP32-Stick-PoE-A-Cam(N16R8) is an open-source ESP32-S3 development board with Ethernet, camera, and active PoE support designed for machine learning applications. Compared to similar boards like M5Stack M5PoECAM-W V1.1 and the Waveshare ESP32-S3-ETH, this board features 17 usable GPIO, active PoE (IEEE 802.3af) with 700mA power delivered, built-in USB-UART, and pin-to-pin compatibility across Stick-Cam boards. Built around the ESP32-S3 SoC, this module supports OV2640 and OV5640 cameras and integrates the W5500 Ethernet controller and Si3404-A PoE chip for power and connectivity. The board has a total of 36 GPIOs, of which 17 are free when using Ethernet and a camera. Applications include remote surveillance, smart home automation, edge AI processing, and other IoT applications. ESP32-Stick-PoE-A-Cam(N16R8) specifications: Wireless module ESP32-S3R8 MCU – ESP32-S3 dual-core LX7 microprocessor @ up to 240 MHz with Vector extension for machine learning Memory – 8MB PSRAM Storage – 16MB SPI flash Connectivity – WiFi 4 and Bluetooth 5 with […]

June 25, 2025June 25, 2025 by Debashis Das - 1 Comment

XIAO W5500 Ethernet Adapter: PoE-enabled ESP32-S3 device aims to improve network reliability

Seeed Studio has recently announced the XIAO W5500 Ethernet Adapter with Power over Ethernet (PoE) support and built around the XIAO ESP32S3 Plus WiFi and Bluetooth module, and a WIZnet W5500 10/100 Mbps Ethernet SPI controller. PoE is implemented through an MQ7813T120 module and a 5V regulator with a TPS563201 buck converter. The XIAO W5500 also features an external 2.4GHz antenna for WiFi and BLE, a reset button, status LEDs, and a USB-C port for power and programming, all enclosed in a 3D printed case. XIAO W5500 Ethernet Adapter specifications: Main Module – XIAO ESP32-S3 Plus module Networking Wireless – External 2.4GHz antenna (2.81dBi) for WiFi and BLE Ethernet W5500 Ethernet controller 10/100 Mbps Ethernet with RJ45 connector Integrated isolated PoE module for data + power USB – USB Type-C connector for power and programming Misc Power and User LED Reset buttons Power MQ7813T120 PoE module with isolation (IEEE 802.3af-compliant); 86% […]

June 25, 2025June 25, 2025 by Debashis Das - 8 Comments

Battery-powered knob display board pairs ESP32-S3 and ESP32 wireless SoCs, features audio DAC for audio visualization

ESP32 S3 Knob Touch LCD 1.8, dual ESP knob display dev board

The Waveshare ESP32-S3-Knob-Touch-LCD-1.8 is a batterry-powered knob display board designed for HMI applications that combines ESP32-S3 and ESP32 SoCs in a dual MCU architecture. The design differs from other ESP32-based knob / rotary encoder with a built-in display such as the MaTouch SmartKnob, M5Dial, and LILYGO T-Encoder Pro. The Waveshare device also stands out with a larger 1.8-inch capacitive touch display, integrated audio DAC, and real-time audio visualization. It comes with a CNC-milled full-metal enclosure for a more premium and durable build. The devkit supports swipe gestures and volume control, and can be used as a Pomodoro timer, a text reader, a secondary PC screen, and a Bluetooth audio player through a 3.5mm audio jack. Other features include a digital microphone, a vibration motor, and a microSD card slot for storage. ESP32-S3-Knob-Touch-LCD-1.8 Specifications: MCUs Espressif ESP32-S3R8 CPU – Dual-core Tensilica LX7 microcontroller up to 240 MHz with vector instructions for AI […]