development kit News - CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

November 14, 2025November 16, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

Qualcomm launches Dragonwing IQ-X SoCs for industrial Windows PCs

Qualcomm Dragonwing IQ-X Windows industrial PC

The Qualcomm Dragonwing IQ-X family, comprised of the IQ-X7181 and IQ-X5181 SoCs, offers eight or twelve Oryon cores clocked at up to 3.4 GHz, an Adreno GPU, and up to 45 TOPS of AI performance for industrial PCs running Windows LTSC. Those are upgrades to the Dragonwing IQ9/IQ8/IQ6 SoCs introduced last year, offering faster cores, higher speed interfaces, and more. The IQ-X chips support up to 64GB LPDDR5x memory, UFS 4.0 and SD 3.0 storage, eDP and USB-C display interfaces, up to six cameras, PCIe Gen4 connectivity for optional Ethernet, WiFi 7, and 5G cellular connectivity, and feature eleven USB interfaces and 221 GPIOs. As industrial-grade parts, they are rated for -40°C to 105°C operation. Qualcomm DragonWing IQ-X7181 and IQ-X5181 specifications: CPU IQ-X5181 – Custom Qualcomm Oryon 8-core 64-bit Armv8 CPU clocked up to 3.4 GHz IQ-X7181 – Custom Qualcomm Oryon 12-core 64-bit Armv8 CPU clocked up to 3.4 GHz […]

November 8, 2025November 10, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 227 Comments

Giveaway Week 2025 – VOIPAC iMX93 Pro industrial development kit

The sixth prize of this year’s Giveaway Week is a VOIPAC iMX93 Pro industrial development kit with an NXP i.MX 93 Cortex-A55/M33 Edge AI SoC, 2GB LPDDR4, and 16GB eMMC flash. The development kit offers dual Gigabit Ethernet, WiFi 6, and Bluetooth 5.3 connectivity, HDMI, DisplayPort, and HDMI display interfaces, three audio jacks, two MIPI CSI camera interfaces, various USB ports, M.2 sockets, and more. It targets artificial intelligence, machine learning, human-machine interface (HMI) solutions, and more. I reviewed the VOIPAC IMX8M industrial development kit and subsequently gave it away in 2023, but I haven’t done a review of the iMX93 development kit. Instead, one lucky winner will get it directly from VOIPAC. Alternatively, they can offer the new iMX91 industrial development kit, if you prefer. You can also write your preferred kit in the comments (optional). The company provides Linux built with Yocto Project 5.0 Scarthgap for the […]

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

Review of Intel-based UP AI development kits – Part 1: Unboxing and first boot to Ubuntu Pro 24.04

AAEON sent me three Intel-based UP AI development kits for review, namely the credit card-sized, Intel N150-based UP TWL, the Intel N150-based UP Squared Pro TWL with M.2 expansion slots and a Hailo-8L module, and the more powerful UP Xtreme ARL equipped with a 14-core Intel Core Ultra 5 225H processor. They offer entry-level, mid-range, and high-end x86-based alternatives to the AAEON NV8600-Nano AI developer kit I reviewed last August, equipped with an NVIDIA Jetson Orin Nano 8GB. All three models ship with Ubuntu Pro 24.04 and support the UP AI Toolkit and Network Optix’ Nx Meta IP video management platform. I’ll review all three models independently, but in this first part, I’ll go through the hardware and quickly try one of the boards. Unboxing Those are development kits that ship with not only the board, but also the same USB VGA camera provided with the NV8600-Nano kit, power supplies, […]

October 13, 2025October 12, 2025 by Debashis Das - 5 Comments

Digilent Analog Discovery Studio Max – A 14-in-1 portable electronics trainer kit with four breadboards

The Analog Discovery Studio Max (ADS Max) is an all-in-one electronics trainer kit with four breadboards developed by Digilent for academic and engineering experimentation. Designed for both classroom and remote learning, it combines the functionality of 14 essential instruments into one, making it ideal for circuit design, signal analysis, and embedded systems education. The instruments include an oscilloscope, waveform generator, logic and spectrum analyzers, DMM, programmable and static power supplies, and a protocol analyzer. It supports WaveForms software, LabVIEW, C, and Python for control and data analysis. With a 100 MS/s, 14-bit oscilloscope, ±15 V power supplies, 16 digital I/O channels, and WaveForms SDK, it provides a complete learning and experimentation ecosystem. Analog Discovery Studio Max specifications: Core Instruments Oscilloscope 4x single-ended BNC channels, 14-bit resolution (16-bit with averaging) ±25 V input range (50 V p-p max), 50 MHz @ –3 dB bandwidth 100 MS/s per channel, 1 MΩ ‖ […]

October 6, 2025October 5, 2025 by Debashis Das - No Comments

1GHz Renesas RA8T2 Cortex-M85 MCUs feature MRAM and EtherCAT for industrial motor control

Renesas has recently introduced the new RA8T2, an AI-powered motor control Cortex-M85 MCU that can be considered a direct upgrade to the RA8T1, which launched last year. The RA8T2 offers higher performance along with networking options for industrial, robotics, and other motor control systems. The RA8T2 features a 1GHz Arm Cortex-M85 core, an optional 250MHz Cortex-M33 core, up to 1MB MRAM and 2MB SRAM, a 300MHz PWM timer, dual 16-bit ADCs with simultaneous sampling, high-speed comparators, fast PWM shutdown, and more. Connectivity options include dual Gigabit Ethernet, EtherCAT slave, USB, CAN FD, I3C, and SPI, while security features include TrustZone and a cryptographic engine. Renesas RA8T2 key features and specifications: MCU core Arm Cortex-M85 up to 1 GHz (Armv8.1-M, TrustZone, FPU, MVE, ETM) Arm Cortex-M33 up to 250 MHz (Armv8-M, DSP, TrustZone, ETM) Memory & Storage Up to 1 MB MRAM 2 MB SRAM (with ECC) 256 KB TCM for […]

October 1, 2025September 30, 2025 by Debashis Das - 1 Comment

ARIES MSRZG3E OSM-compliant SiP with Renesas RZ/G3E MPU targets industrial HMI and Edge AI

ARIES Embedded MSRZG3E OSM compliant SiP

ARIES Embedded MSRZG3E is an OSM-compliant system-in-package (SiP) built around the Renesas RZ/G3E MPU, designed for HMI, industrial, medical, and edge AI applications. The Renesas RZ/G3E SoC integrates a quad-core Arm Cortex-A55 CPU, a Cortex-M33 real-time core, and an Ethos-U55 NPU delivering up to 512 GOPS for AI power. Other features include PCIe Gen3, USB 3.2, dual Gigabit LAN, plus CAN FD, UART, I2C, SPI, and ADC. Multimedia support includes dual displays, MIPI-CSI camera input, and H.264/H.265 video codec. The SiP ships with 512 MB to 8 GB LPDDR4 RAM and 4 GB to 64 GB eMMC flash, with commercial and industrial-grade temperature support. MSRZG3E MSRZG3E SiP specifications: SoC – Renesas RZ/G3E dual or quad Arm Cortex-A55, Arm Cortex-M33 core MCU Memory – 512 MB to 8 GB LPDDR4 RAM Storage 4 GB to 64 GB eMMC NAND flash 2 Mbit to 512 Mbit SPI NOR flash 476-pad land grid […]

September 26, 2025September 26, 2025 by Debashis Das - No Comments

Nordic nRF54LM20A Cortex-M33 wireless MCU doubles the SRAM to 512 KB, increases flash capacity

Nordic Semiconductor nRF54LM20A Low Power Matter Bluetooth MCU

Nordic Semi’s nRF54LM20A is a new Cortex-M33-based high-memory wireless MCU part of the nRF54L Series with double the SRAM and higher flash capacity compared ot the nRF54L15. It targets consumer, industrial, healthcare, and smart home applications, and is especially suitable for HID peripherals and gaming devices. The SoC integrates a 128 MHz Arm Cortex-M33 core with a RISC-V coprocessor, 2 MB NVM, and 512 KB RAM, alongside up to 66 GPIOs, high-speed USB, and Nordic’s fourth-generation ultra-low-power 2.4 GHz radio supporting Bluetooth LE, Thread, Zigbee, Channel Sounding, and Matter. It offers twice the processing power, three times the efficiency, and up to 50% lower power consumption than the nRF52 Series. nRF54LM20A key specifications and comparison with other nRF54 Series SoCs: The nRF54LM20A comes in two packages: a CSP98 (3.9 x 3.7 mm) package for compact designs with 66 GPIOs, and a QFN52 (6 x 6 mm) package with 35 GPIO […]

September 26, 2025September 25, 2025 by Debashis Das - 2 Comments

Espressif’s EchoEar ESP32-S3 voice-controlled AI chatbot runs esp-brookesia firmware

Espressif EchoEar Smart AI Development Kit

Espressif Systems’ EchoEar is a compact ESP32-S3 AI chatbot designed for voice interaction and edge AI applications, for smart toys, voice-enabled speakers, and control systems. It features a 1.85-inch circular touch display, a dual microphone array with local wake-word detection, and support for large AI models from OpenAI, Xiaozhi AI, and Gemini. The kit is built around the ESP32-S3-WROOM-1 Wi-Fi 4 and Bluetooth 5 module, and also integrates a 3W speaker for audio interaction, and a microSD card slot for data storage. Other hardware features include a BMI270 IMU, a green LED, a USB-C port, a magnetic connector, and a battery management chip. Espressif EchoEar Specifications Wireless Module – ESP32-S3-WROOM-1 SoC – Espressif Systems ESP32-S3R8 CPU – Dual-core Tensilica LX7 up to 240 MHz with vector extension for AI/ML workloads RAM – 512KB SRAM, 8MB PSRAM ROM – 284KB Wireless – WiFi 4 and Bluetooth LE 5 Storage – 16MB […]