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August 19, 2024August 19, 2024 by Debashis Das - No Comments

Pimoroni Explorer board is a Raspberry Pi RP2350-based learning platform with 2.8-inch LCD, breadboard sensors and more

The Pimoroni Explorer board is an electronic prototyping board built around the Raspberry Pi RP2350 chip with a 2.8-inch LCD screen, a speaker connector, and various I/Os, which makes it easy to build circuits, prototype projects, and even make small robots. It also features a mini breadboard, tactile buttons, and crocodile clip terminals, making it suitable for both beginners and experienced makers. The RP2350 MCU was recently released by Raspberry Pi Limited along with the $5 Raspberry Pi Pico 2 board. Since that initial release, we have seen many RP2350-based development boards like the Cytron MOTION 2350 Pro, the Bus Pirate 5XL and 6, and many other development boards released, feel free to check those out if you are looking for development boards built around the RP2350 MCU. Pimoroni Explorer board specifications Microcontroller – Raspberry Pi RP2350B MCU CPU Dual-core Arm Cortex-M33 @150MHz with Arm Trustzone for secure boot Dual-core 32-bit […]

August 14, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Twotrees SK1 3D printer review – Part 2: Enclosure kit and AI camera

Twotrees SK1 Enclosure Kit AI camera review

We reviewed the Twotrees SK1 CoreXY 3D printer capable of delivering high printing speeds last March, but here’s a second part of the review as the company sent us additional accessories namely the enclosure kit For SK1 and the AI camera for SK1 which we will report on today. The main structure of the enclosure is made of metal sheets plus a door that opens from the front and a top plate made of tempered glass. The SK1 3D printer enclosure makes the 3D printer more beautiful, protects it from dust, is easy to install, and features a fan and air filter system. It’s also designed to mount the AI Camera for SK1 to help users monitor the SK1 while printing is in progress. TwoTrees Enclosure Case Kit For SK1 The interior of the Twotrees SK1 3D printer enclosure is mostly made of metal and includes a tempered glass door […]

August 14, 2024August 13, 2024 by Paisit Wongsongsarn - 7 Comments

Mixtile Edge 2 Kit review with Home Assistant, 2-in-1 Zigbee & Z-Wave mPCIe module

We received the Edge 2 Kit IoT gateway on the Rockchip RK3568-powered Edge2 single board computer (SBC) and a 2-in-1 Zigbee and Z-Wave mPCIe card from Mixtile which we will be reviewing from the perspective of smart home applications using Home Assistant open-source home automation framework. Let’s dive into the details. Unboxing Mixtile Edge 2 Kit CNX Software previously reported on the Mixtile Edge 2 Kit in 2022 and you can check the detailed specifications and block diagram in that earlier article. Since then, Mixtile has found a wider range of applications for the device and is also promoting it as an Edge AI Box that performs AI object detection using the Edge 2 Kit (or the more powerful Mixtile Blade 3) using the built-in NPU (Neural Processing Unit) with up to 1 TOPS of AI performance for tasks such as object detection. Let’s unbox it and take a closer […]

August 6, 2024August 7, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 13 Comments

Linamp – A Raspberry Pi 4-based audio box with Winamp look and feel

Linamp is a media player box based on Raspberry Pi 4 SBC and a touchscreen display with a GUI that replicates the popular Winamp media player’s GUI that older readers may remember from the late 90s and early 2000s when it was one of the most popular music players for Windows. Rodmg found some renders of what a real Winamp player could look like online, and it inspired him to create his own. As its name implies Linamp runs on Linux (DietPi) instead of Windows, and the hardware is based on a Raspberry Pi 4, a 7.9-inch touchscreen display, a USB DAC, and various connectors and cables, all housed in a custom-designed metal enclosure and a 3D-printed front cover both designed with Onshape. Here’s the complete list of off-the-shelf items used for the build: SBC – Raspberry Pi 4 with a 32 GB microSD card, a set of passive heat […]

July 12, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Beginner friendly Arduino Plug and Make Kit features Arduino UNO R4 WiFi and Modulino I2C modules

Arduino has just launched a “Plug and Make” kit designed for beginners with an Arduino UNO R4 WiFi board, several “Modulino” modules, a “Modulino” base to neatly attach the UNO R4 and modules, and various cables, spacers, screws, and nuts. When thinking about Arduino projects, breadboards or even soldering may come to mind, but the new Arduino Plug and Make Kit does not require any of those. No breadboard, jumper wires, or soldering needed. Users can simply connect the modules to the Arduino board through Qwiic cables, neatly attach everything together on the provided base, and follow one of the seven projects complete with step-by-step instructions provided with the kit. The Arduino Plug and Make Kit content Arduino UNO R4 WiFi board 7x Modulino I2C nodes Modulino Knob* – Encoder for value adjustments Modulino Pixels* – 8x LC8822-2020 RGB LEDs Modulino Distance – STMicro VL53L4 Time-of-Flight (ToF) proximity sensor to […]

June 14, 2024June 14, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

ESP32-based CNC controller board targets pen plotters and lasers, runs FluidNC open-source firmware

FluidNC “TMC2209 Pen/Laser CNC Controller” is an ESP32-based 2-axis CNC controller that runs FluidNC open-source firmware and takes up to two TMC2209 stepper drivers to drive pen plotters and laser engravers ESP32 wireless modules have been used in a range of 3D printer and CNC controllers for years with boards such as Grbl_ESP32 CNC breakout board, Phi MainBoard 5LC 3D printer controller, and the Makerbase MKS DLC32 board we found in TwoTrees TS2 laser engraver and TTC 450 CNC router running MKS-DLC32-FIRMWARE open-source firmware. The FluidNC TMC2209 Pen/Laser CNC Controller offers yet another option and a different open-source FluidNC firmware that is an evolution of the firmware for the aforementioned Grbl_ESP32 that also happens to work on the MKS DLC32 board… FluidNC “TMC2209 Pen/Laser CNC Controller” specifications: Wireless module – Espressif Systems ESP32-WROOM-32E ESP32 dual-core microcontroller 4MB flash 2.4 GHz WiFi and Bluetooth LE connectivity, built-in PCB antenna Storage – MicroSD […]

June 2, 2024June 17, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

TOOCAA L2 Review – A fully enclosed 20W laser engraver & cutter with a focus on safety

TOOCAA L2 review 20W laser engraver cutter

TOOCAA L2 is a fully enclosed laser engraver and cutter with a 10W or 20W laser module using orange acrylic covers and various sensors for additional safety. The laser module complies with Class 1 Laser Safety certification and the engraving and cutting machine works with a range of materials suitable for creators who want to cut or/and carve workpieces or manufacture high-resolution parts. The company sent us a sample of the TOOCAA L2 with a 20W laser model, an air assist pump, a honeycomb plate, and a few consumables for review. We’ll first go through an unboxing of all items and assembly, before testing the laser engraver and cutter under various scenarios. TOOCAA L2 unboxing The review kit we received includes three packages from TOOCAA. Each package contains various components. with foam drilled into shape to support each part and right-angled cardboard along all four corners of the package to […]

May 16, 2024May 16, 2024 by Tomisin Olujinmi - No Comments

Easily build a robot car with the Car Base Board for the STM32F411 “Black Pill” board

The Car Base Board from Applying Microcontroller Solutions is a modular platform for building robot car projects powered by the WeAct Studio Black Pill development board. The Black Pill board is an upgrade to the “Blue Pill 2” board and features the STM32F411CEU6 microcontroller running at 100MHz with 512 KB of flash memory, 128 KB SRAM, and a USB Type-C port for power and programming. The Care Base Board printed circuit board is a base controller that takes hardware expansions such as wireless modules, servos, and sensors to monitor and control a robot car. The onboard headers provide a straightforward way to wire these connections and help prevent a tangled mess (rat’s nest) of wires. The PCB’s design makes it easy to use widely-available, “generic” devices and boards in development and to power all of them with batteries. It also allows the developer to select their favorite wireless communication device. […]