development board News - CNX Software

June 18, 2025June 18, 2025 by Debashis Das - 4 Comments

$3.50 nanoCH57x CH570/CH572 RISC-V development board offers USB-C port, 2.4GHz radio/BLE, and GPIO pins

Designed by MuseLab, the nanoCH57x is a WCH CH570/CH572 development board with a 2.4 GHz proprietary radio (CH570) or Bluetooth LE (CH572) that only costs $3.50 and is more compact than the official CH570 Basic Evaluation Board. We first came across this low-cost MCU back in March this year, and saw that the official development board became available for purchase as early as April. The nanoCH57x development board currently features the 100 MHz CH572D RISC-V microcontroller (the CH570D version is coming later), which includes 256KB of flash memory, 12KB of SRAM, and an onboard 32 MHz crystal. The board also includes a USB 2.0 Type-C Host/Device port and PCB antenna for BLE/RF communication. MuseLab nanoCH57x development board specifications: MCU (one or the other) – WCH CH570D or CH572D CPU – QingKe 32-bit RISC-V3C core @ up to 100 MHz Memory – 12KB SRAM Storage – 256KB non-volatile memory 240KB code […]

June 17, 2025June 17, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

BIOSTAR AI-NONXS – An NVIDIA Jetson Orin NX/Nano Edge AI developer kit

Better known for its affordable motherboards and graphics cards, BIOSTAR has now launched the AI-NONXS Edge AI developer kit for NVIDIA Jetson Orin NX and Orin Nano series of SO-DIMM system-on-modules. The board features two Ethernet ports (2.5GbE + GbE), an HDMI 2.1/1.4 video output port, four USB 3.2 ports, two MIPI CSI camera connectors, three M.2 sockets for storage, wireless, and/or AI expansion, RS232/RS485 connectors, a GPIO header, and a 2-pin terminal for 12V to 20V DC power input. BIOSTAR AI-NONXS specifications: Supported SoMs – NVIDIA Jetson Orin NX or Jetson Orin Nano series Storage – Optional NVMe SSD via M.2 Key-M socket Video Output – 1x HDMI 2.1 (Jetson Orin NX) or HDMI 1.4 (Jetson Orin Nano) Camera interfaces – 2x MISI CSI connectors Audio 3.5mm audio jack Digital audio output via HDMI Networking 2.5GbE RJ45 port with optional PoE Gigabit Ethernet RJ45 port Optional WiFi and Bluetooth […]

June 16, 2025June 18, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 8 Comments

ESP32-C61-DevKitC-1 development board features ESP32-C61 low-cost WiFi 6 and Bluetooth LE 5.0 SoC

The ESP32-C61-DevKitC-1 is a development board based on the ESP32-C61 low-cost WiFi 6 and Bluetooth LE 5.0 SoC that was first unveiled in January 2024, and has just entered mass production this month (June 2025). The board is offered with two USB-C ports, two buttons, an RGB LED, and GPIO headers. In my 2024 year in review report, I noted that Espressif would likely launch the ESP32-C5 dual-band WiFi 6 SoC in 2025, but I completely forgot about the ESP32-C61, which is basically a cost-down version of the ESP32-C6. The ESP32-C61-DevKitC-1 development board and ESP32-C61-WROOM-1 module are now available, so let’s have a closer look. ESP32-C61-DevKitC-1 specifications: Wireless module – ESP32-C61-WROOM-1 SoC – ESP32-C61HR2 CPU – Single 32-bit RISC-V core clocked up to 120MHz Memory – 320KB SRAM, 2MB PSRAM Storage – 256KB ROM Wireless – WiFi 6 and Bluetooth LE 5.0 Storage – 8MB QSPI flash Antenna – PCB […]

June 16, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

ALIENTEK DNESP32P4M – An ESP32-P4 board without network connectivity

Most ESP32-P4 boards and development platforms we’ve covered so far include an ESP32-C6 or ESP32-C5 wireless module, and in case you don’t want any WiFi and Bluetooth module, the Olimex ESP32-P4-DevKit is one option that comes with Ethernet instead. The ALIENTEK DNESP32P4M board, also called ESP32P4M MINI, adds another option with a form factor similar to Espressif Systems Devkit-C boards. The board does not have network connectivity at all, and exposes all I/Os from the ESP32-P4 through headers, MIPI DSI and MIPI CSI connectors, and two USB-C ports. ALIENTEK DNESP32P4M specifications: Microcontroller – ESP32-P4 (ESP32-P4NRW32) MCU Dual-core RISC-V microcontroller @ 400 MHz with AI instructions extension and single-precision FPU Single-RISC-V LP (Low-power) MCU core @ up to 40 MHz GPU – 2D Pixel Processing Accelerator (PPA) VPU – H.264 and JPEG codecs support Memory – 768 KB HP L2MEM, 32 KB LP SRAM, 8 KB TCM, 32MB PSRAM Storage – […]

June 16, 2025June 16, 2025 by Debashis Das - 1 Comment

BentoIO CMX1 – A low-profile Raspberry Pi CM5 carrier board that’s just 11mm thick

The BentoIO CMX1 is a compact, low-profile Raspberry Pi CM5 carrier board, developed by Terioto in Germany. With an 85 x 85 mm footprint and a height of just 11 mm, it’s designed for space-constrained applications like embedded systems, industrial control, and compact edge devices. After the official launch of the Raspberry Pi CM5 module and its carrier board, we’ve seen boards like Waveshare CM5-NANO-B and Orange Pi CM5 “Tablet” Base Board get released. There is no doubt that they are compact, but they are not as slim as this board. While it’s slim, that doesn’t mean it lacks I/Os; it includes a 40-pin Raspberry Pi-compatible GPIO header, two USB 3.0 ports, two internal USB 2.0 headers, a MIPI DSI connector and an optional HDMI port for video output, optional gigabit Ethernet, a PCIe M.2 M-Key for expansion, and it uses a USB-C for power. Other features include an RTC battery connector, […]

June 13, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

GigaDevice GD32C231 entry-level Arm Cortex-M23 MCU ships with 12KB ECC SRAM, 32KB or 64KB ECC flash

GigabiDevice GD32C231 low cost Cortex M23 MCU

GigaDevice GD32C231 entry-level microcontroller is built around a 48 MHz Arm Cortex-M23 core with up to 64KB ECC flash, 12KB ECC SRAM, and is offered in 20-pin to 48-pin packages with up to 45 GPIOs, a range of peripherals, analog inputs, and timers. The company says the GD32C231 series targets cost-effective small home appliances, BMS (Battery Management Systems), small-screen display devices, battery-powered handhelds, industrial auxiliary controls, and automotive aftermarket systems. GigaDevice GD32C231 key features and specifications: Core – Arm Cortex-M23 @ up to 48 MHz Memory – 12KB SRAM with ECC Storage – 32KB or 64KB flash with ECC Audio – 1x I2S Low-speed Peripherals Up to 45x GPIO Up to 3x USART, 2x I2C, 2x SPI Analog 12-bit ADC with 13 channels 2x analog comparators Timers 4x 16-bit general-purpose (GP) timers 16-bit Advanced (AD) timer RTC IWDG, WWDG 24-bit SysTick Misc – CRC module Supply Voltage – 2.3 to […]

June 13, 2025June 13, 2025 by Debashis Das - No Comments

Renesas RA2L2 – The first low-power MCU with USB-C Revision 2.4 support

Renesas RA2L2 is the world’s first low-power MCU to support the USB-C Revision 2.4 standard with 15W CC detection, USB FS support. It also offers support for CAN Bus, I3C, and low-power UART. The announcement follows other devices from the Renesas RA series, such as the RA2A2 Arm Cortex-M23 MCU introduced in 2024, and the RA4L1 ultra-low-power MCU unveiled earlier this year with just 168 µA/MHz operation, dual-bank flash, and capacitive touch. The RA2L2 Cortex-M23 microcontroller also embeds up to 128KB of code flash, 16KB SRAM, and 4KB data flash for EEPROM-like storage. It supports a wide 1.6V to 5.5V supply voltage and an industrial-grade -40°C to +125°C temperature range. The MCU also integrates a ±1% high-accuracy on-chip oscillator, multiple timers including 16-bit and 32-bit PWM and low-power asynchronous timers, a 12-bit ADC, a real-time clock, and an internal temperature sensor. It’s available in 32- to 64-pin packages and offers […]

June 12, 2025 by Debashis Das - No Comments

Avalue ACP-PI – A Raspberry Pi-like industrial SBC family with long-term supply, Rockchip or NXP SoC

ACP 3566 PI and ACP IMX8 PI Raspberry Pi industrial SBCs

Avalue Technology’s ACPI-PI is a Raspberry Pi-compatible, industrial SBC family, starting with the ACP-3566-PI and ACP-IMX8-PI, designed for edge computing and industrial IoT applications with long-term supply. The ACP-3566-PI is built around a Rockchip RK3566 quad-core Cortex-A55 processor with 4GB RAM and 32GB eMMC. Other features include 4K HDMI output, MIPI DSI/CSI, GbE LAN, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and a 40-pin GPIO header for UART, SPI, I2C, and RS-232/RS-485 expansion. The ACP-IMX8-PI, on the other hand, is built around an NXP i.MX8M Mini processor (quad Cortex-A53 + Cortex-M4), 4GB LPDDR4, 32GB eMMC, HDMI, MIPI display, and camera support. Additionally, it has four USB 2.0 ports, an SD slot, an audio jack, and GPIO/UART expansion. Measuring 85×55 mm, both boards can be used for smart retail, healthcare, factory automation, and AI edge deployments. ACP-3566-PI specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3566 CPU – Quad-core Cortex-A55 processor @ up to 1.8/2.0 GHz GPU – with Arm […]