$10 WiFiMCU Board is a NodeMCU Clone Based on EMW3165 Module

Yesterday I wrote a short tutorial for NodeMCU board, and one visitor mentioned WiFiMCU board that has a similar form factor as NodeMCU, and while it is more expensive at about $10 on Aliexpress or Ebay, it is also more powerful and provides more I/Os thanks to its EMW3165 module including an STM32 Cortex M4 micro-controller with 128KB RAM, 512KB flash, a Broadcom WiFi module, and 2MB SPI flash. WiFiMCU specifications: MCU – STMicro STM32F411CE Cortex-M4 microcontroller @ 100MHz with 128KB RAM, 512KB flash Storage – 2MB SPI flash WiFi –  Broadcom 802.11 b/g/n RF Chip: Modes – Station, Soft AP and Station+Soft AP Security – WEP, WPA/WPA2, PSK/Enterprise 16.5dBm@11b, 14.5dBm@11g, 13.5dBm@11n Receiver sensitivity – -87 dBm 2x 15-pin headers with 17x GPIO Pin 3x UARTs 5x ADC, 1x SPI, 1x I2C, 1x USB SWD debug interface 11x PWM Misc – Boot and Reset buttons Power Supply – 5V via […]

Brillo Android based OS for IoT Projects Supports ARM, Intel and MIPS Platforms

You’d think there are already enough lightweight operating systems that could provide a good enough platform for IoT and embedded projects, but Google decided to make their own Brillo operating system for IoT, based on Android, most probably to leverage the existing Android tools, and make it easier for app developers to move to the Internet of Things space. Brillo ‘s hardware requirements are pretty low as the operating system can run on devices with  32MB of RAM, and 128MB of storage. Google will provide a complete ecosystem with an embedded OS, core services, and a developer kit with tools to build, test, and debug. Just like in Android, three architectures will be be officially supports, starting with the following hardware platforms: ARM – TechNexion Pico-i.MX6UL system-on-module based on Freescale i.MX6 UltraLite and Broadcom BCM4339 802.11ac + Bluetooth 4.0 wireless module, combined with PICO-DWARF baseboard. MIPS – Upcoming MIPS Creator […]

giggleBits Hackable ARM & FPGA Router Comes with an SFP Cage and 5 Gigabit Ethernet Ports (Crowdfunding)

Remember Snickerdoodle board? If you don’t, the board is one of the cheapest Xilinx Zynq available on the market, and the project is currently on CrowdSupply, and 75% funded with 28 days left. They’ve just posted an update about a new daughterboard that I found interesting: giggleBits which provides 5 Gigabit Ethernet and an SFP cage on top of WiFi 802.11 b/g/n and Bluetooth connectivity already found on Snickerdoodle board. giggleBits + snickerdoodle specifications: SoC/Memory/Storage/WiFi via Snickerdoodle board: SoC Xilinx Zynq-7010 dual core Cortex A9 processor @ 667 MHz + FPGA with 430K gates or Xilinx Zynq-7020 dual core Cortex A9 processor @ 866 MHz + FPGA with 1.3million gates (~430K ASIC gates) System Memory – 512MB or 1GB LPDDR2-800 Storage – micro SD card slot, 16MB boot flash Ti Wilink 8 –  single or dual band 802.11 b/g/n WiFi + Bluetooth 4.0 Expansion – 4x 40-pin TFM headers for access […]

Inforce Computing 6401 Micro SOM is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 System-on-Module

Inforce Computing announced their 6501 Micro SOM system-on-module based on Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 processor in Q2 2015, and the company informed me that they had just unveiled a lower power version based on Snapdragon 600 processor called 6401 Micro SOM, and still featuring WiFi, Bluetooth 4.0, and GPS connectivity on module. Inforce 6401 Micro SOM: SoC – Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 (APQ8064) quad core Krait processor up to 1.7 GHz with Adreno 320 GPU, and Hexagon DSP v4 up to 500MHz System Memory – 2GB PoP LPDDR2 @533Mhz (Optional 3GB) Storage – 4GB eMMC v4.4.1/v4.5, with options up to 64GB Connectivity – BT 4.0 , dual band 802.11n/ac Wi-Fi (QCA6234), and GPS (WGR7640) with WiFi and GPS antennas on carrier board Peripherals and I/O via two 100-pin SoM connectors: Video / Display – 1x HDMI, 2x MIPI-DSI (4-lane) & touch screen Audio 4x Line out, 3x Mic-in, 1x headphone out 8-channel […]

Flip & Click Board with Atmel SAM3X8E MCU Features 4 mikroBUS Sockets & Arduino Headers

HummingBoard Gate introduced last month was the first board I saw with a mikroBUS socket that can be used with over 150 “Click boards” by MikroElektronika adding functionalities such as sensors, OLED displays, relays, servos, and so on. But if you project don’t quite need the power of a full featured Linux board, or you simply prefer working with the Arduino IDE, MikroElektronika has just launched Flip & Click board powered by an Atmel SAM3X8E Cortex-M3 micro-controller and featuring four mikroBUS sockets on the back of the board, as well as Arduino compatible headers on the top. Flip & Click board specifications: MCU – Atmel AT91SAM3X8E Cortex M3 micro-controller @ 84MHz with 512 KB flash, 100 KB SRAM (64+32+4), also used in Arduino Due. Expansions Headers Arduino UNO compatible headers on the top 4x mikroBUS socket on the bottom USB – micro USB port for programming and power Misc – […]

$9 ESP8266 D1 Board Features Arduino UNO Headers

We’ve already seen the Arduino IDE supports ESP8266(-EX) WiFi SoC, and some companies have designed Arduino shields for ESP8266 modules, but so far I had never seen an ESP8266 board with Arduino UNO form factor supporting Arduino shields, and that’s exactly what showed up in DX new arrivals RSS feed with a white label ESP-12E UNO board selling for $11.75 including shipping. The “D1” board has the following specifications: ESP8622 Module – AI-Thinker ESP12-E module (as found in NodeMCU) based on ESP8266-EX SoC @ 80 or 160 MHz with 4MB flash Connectivity – 802.11 b/g/n with PCB antenna. Supports station / softAP / SoftAP + station modes, WPA/WPA2 security. I/Os 11x Digital I/O pins 1x Analog Input pin I/O logic level: 3.3V ADC pin (A0) input voltage: 0-3.3V Debugging – Via micro USB using CH340G USB-TTL serial chip Misc – Reset button Power Supply – 6-24VDC via DC jack, 5V via […]

Arduino 101 Board Features Intel Curie Module, Bluetooth LE, and Sensors

I’ve recently learned that the battle between the two Arduino teams, namely Arduino SRL (arduino.org) in Italy, and Arduino LLC (arduino.cc) in the US, had taken another turn with Arduino LLC now branding their boards as Arduino in the US, and Genuino in the rest of the world. This may certainly bring confusion to new comers, especially as they have to deal with different version of the Arduino IDE. With that backdrop, Arduino LLC has now introduced Arduino 101 (aka Genuino 101) board powered by Intel Curie module with Quark SE x86 SoC with Bluetooth LE and a 6-axis combo sensor. Arduino 101 specifications: SoC – Intel Curie compute module including an Intel Quark SE x86 32-bit microcontroller @ 32 MHz and an a DSP sensor hub @ 32Mhz with 384 KB flash, 80 KB SRAM (24KB available for sketches), , Bluetooth LE, and 6-axis combo sensor with accelerometer and […]

UP Board is a Raspberry Pi Clone with an Intel Atom X5 Processor (Crowdfunding)

Many ARM based “insert-fruit-name-here” Pi boards are available on the market, and they all look like the Raspberry Pi board to some extends, but thanks Emutex we’ll soon get the “UP board” powered by Intel Atom x5-Z8300 and in Raspberry Pi form factor including the ubiquitous 40-pin Raspberry Pi headers, DSI and CSI connectors, and mostly the same port placements, with some extra goodies like a USB 3.0 port and Gigabit Ethernet. Up Board specifications: SoC – Intel Atom x5-Z8300 “Cherry Trail” quad core processor @ 1.44 GHz (Burst frequency: 1.84 GHz) with Intel Gen8 HD graphics @ 500 MHz System Memory –  1 GB DDR3L-1600 Storage – 16 or 32 GB eMMC Video Output / Display – HDMI, DSI connector Audio I/O – HDMI Connectivity – Gigabit Ethernet USB – 4x USB 2.0 host ports, 1x USB 2.0 pin header, 1x micro USB 3.0 port (under the board) Camera […]