tinyVision.ai Pico-Ice is a development board with a Raspberry Pi RP2040 MCU and a Lattice ICE40 UltraPlus 5K FPGA connected through an 8-bit bus. The Arm Cortex-M0+ microcontroller provides the clock for the FPGA and can program the FPGA directly or the dedicated FPGA flash using a drag-drop of a UF2 file. Just a few days ago we wrote about the LILYGO T-FPGA board that combines an ESP32-S3 wireless MCU with a Gowin FPGA connected through a 6-bit bus, and the Pico-Ice board provides a similar option with different chips and without wireless connectivity. Pico-Ice specifications: MCU – Raspberry Pi RP2040 dual-core Cortex-M0+ microcontroller @ 133 MHz with 264KB SRAM with all pins exposed FPGA – Lattice UltraPlus iCE40UP5K FPGA with 5.3K LUTs, 1Mbit SPRAM, 120Kbit DPRAM, 8x multipliers with all pins brought out Memory & storage chips MCU – 4MB QSPI flash FPGA – 4MB QSPI Flash, 8MB low […]
Khadas VIM4 Amlogic A311D2 SBC gets 3.2 TOPS NPU
First introduced in 2022, the Khadas VIM4 SBC will now sell with an Amlogic A311D2-N0D Cortex-A73/A53 processor equipped with a 3.2 TOPS NPU, and the version without AI accelerator will be phased out. I reviewed the Khadas VIM4 with both Android 11 and Ubuntu 22.04 last year, and really liked the user experience notably thanks to the OOWOW system that makes it really easy to try different operating systems downloaded from Khadas servers, although some features like support for GPU acceleration still needed to be worked on at the time. One thing missing compared to the previous generation Khadas VIM3 SBC was an on-chip NPU to accelerate AI workloads, and the latest revision of the Amlogic A311D2 processor (with N0D suffix) fixes that on the Khadas VIM4. “Khadas VIM4 with NPU” specifications: SoC – Amlogic A311D2-N0D octa-core processor with 4x Arm Cortex-A73 cores @ up to 2.2 GHz and 4x […]
MangoPi mCore-R818 module powers CyberPad 3.1-inch handheld android “tablet”
mCore-R818 is the first time that MangoPi adopts the design combination of a core-lite module and a carrier board. As its name suggests, it is an AllWinner R818 SoM whose SoC integrates an Imagination PowerVR GE8300 GPU for UI rendering, can drive MIPI DSI, LVDS, and RGB displays, as well as cameras through a MIPI CSI interface, 8MP/5MP/2MP interfaces. The Allwinner R818 system-on-module powers a feature-rich carrier board as well as an upcoming Cyberpad Android “tablet” with a 3.1-inch display. MangoPi mCore-R818 The package design of the processor itself is small, so the MCore-R818 core board is only 3x3cm in size, but still contains four components with the Allwinner R818, the eMMC flash, LPDDR4 memory, and the AXP717 PMU. MangoPi provides two hardware configurations: 2GB DDR with 16GB eMMC flash, and 4GB DDR with 32GB eMMC flash. MCore-R818 Core Lite Specifications: SoC – Allwinner R818 CPU – Quad-core Arm Cortex-A53 […]
ARIES v3.0 development board features India-made VEGA RISC-V processor
ARIES v3.0 is an Arduino-inspired development board with the made-in-India 100 MHz THEAJS32 ASIC with the VEGA ET1031 RISC-V microprocessor, 256KB of internal SRAM, and various I/Os. Not to be confused by the recent FIVEberry RISC-V SBC made by ARIES Embedded… We first wrote about VEGA RISC-V processors designed in India in February 2022, and at the time, the government worked on five RISC-V processor designs ranging from a single-core 32-bit RISC-V microcontroller-class processor to a Linux-capable quad-core 64-bit out-of-order processor, with the entry-level THEJAS32 and THEJAS64 SoCs based on respectively VEGA ET1031 and VEGA AS1061 cores running on an ARTY A7 FPGA board. But good progress has been made since then, and they have tapped out the THEJAS32 processor and manufactured some development boards such as the ARIES v3.0. ARIES v3.0 development board specifications: MCU – THEJAS32 VEGA ET1031 32-bit 3-stage in-order RISC-V ( RV32IM) microcontroller @ 100 MHz […]
LILYGO T-FPGA devkit combines ESP32-S3 WiSoC with Gowin GW1NSR-4C FPGA
LILYGO T-FPGA development kit is comprised of an M.2 module with an ESP32-S3 WiFi and Bluetooth wireless microcontroller and a Gowin GW1NSR-4C FPGA with 4,608 LUTs, and a carrier board that gives easy access to I/Os and comes with a 18650 battery holder. The module comes with a USB -C OTG port connected to the ESP32-S3, and a USB-C FPGA port for the FPGA. The “T-FPGA shield” carrier board includes four Pmod interfaces and a STEMMA Qt/Qwiic connector for expansion, plus several pins for 3.3 and GND, and another 20-pin I/O header. LILYGO T-FPGA specifications: Wireless MCU – Espressif Systems ESP32-S3R8 dual-core Tensilica LX7 @ up to 240 MHz with vector instructions for AI acceleration, 512KB RAM, 8MB PSRAM, wireless connectivity Storage – 16MB flash FPGA – Gowin Semiconductors GW1NSR-LV4CQN48PC6/I5 with 4,608 LUT4, 256Kb flash, 64Mb PSRAM, 64Mb Hyperflash, 32Mb NOR flash Connectivity via ESP32-S3 2.4 GHz 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi […]
Olimex ESP32-SBC-FabGL board runs DOS, offers VGA , PS/2 keyboard and mouse connectors
Olimex ESP32-SBC-FabGL is an ESP32 single board computer that can serve as the brain of a retro computer with a VGA port, a 3.5mm audio jack, and two PS/2 ports for a keyboard and mouse that are handled by the open-source FabGL graphics library. The board also comes with a microSD card slot, a buzzer, and various expansion interfaces, and can be powered via its USB port or a LiPo battery. FabGL implements several emulators including an Intel 8080 CPU emulator that allows the system to run various versions of DOS among other things. ESP32-SBC-FabGL specifications: Wireless module – ESP32-WROVER dual-core WiFi and Bluetooth module with 4MB flash, 8MB PSRAM Storage – MicroSD card slot Display – VGA connector, 12-pin LCD HAT connector to enable handheld designs Audio – 3.5mm audio jack, built-in buzzer USB – 1x USB-C port for power and programming User inputs – PS2 keyboard connector, PS2 […]
ARIES FIVEberry – A Community RISC-V SBC powered by Renesas RZ/Five processor
ARIES Embedded has unveiled the FIVEberry 64-bit RISC-V community board for fast prototyping fitted with an OSM-compatible MSRZFive system-in-package (SiP) powered by a 1GHz Renesas RZ/Five microprocessor. The board is equipped with a module with 512 DDR4, a 128MBit SPI NOR flash, a microSD card on the bottom of the board, two Gigabit Ethernet ports, two USB 2.0 ports, a micro USB port for serial console, and a JTAG header for further debugging, as well as a 40-pin GPIO header for expansion. FIVEberry specifications: SoM – ARIES Embedded MSRZFive-A0A system-on-module SoC – Renesas RZ/Five R9A07G043F01GBG single-core RISC-V AX45MP processor @ to 1.0 GHz System Memory – 512MB DDR4 RAM Storage – 128Mbit SPI NOR flash 332 contacts as per OSM Size-S specifications Storage – MicroSD card slot Networking – 2x Gigabit Ethernet ports USB – 1x USB 2.0 host port, 1x micro USB 2.0 OTG port Expansion – 40-pin GPIO […]
FireBeetle 2 ESP32-S3 camera board ships 16MB flash, 8MB PSRAM, PCB or external antenna
DFRobot “FireBeetle 2 ESP32-S3” is a 2MP camera board with ESP32-S3N16R8 dual-core WiFi and Bluetooth microcontroller fitted with 16MB flash and 8MB PSRAM, and offered in two versions: a more compact variant with a PCB antenna, and one with an external antenna offering a better signal quality. The FireBeetle 2 ESP32-S3 also features two rows of I/Os with GPIO, I2C, SPI, ADC, USB 2.0, etc…, a USB-C port for power and programming, a few buttons, and support for a LiPo battery through a 2-pin JST connector and a charging circuit. FireBeetle 2 ESP32-S3 specifications: ESP32-S3-WROOM-1 wireless module SoC – ESP32-S3FN16R8 dual-core Tensilica LX7 microcontroller @ 240 MHz with 2.4 GHz 802.11n WiFI 4 and Bluetooth 5.0 LE connectivity Memory – 8MB PSRAM Storage – 16MB SPI flash Camera – Camera connector fitted with 2MP OV2640 camera with 68° FoV, up to 1600×1200 resolution Display – GDI connector for optional 1.54-inch, […]