drone News - CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

December 4, 2023December 4, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 13 Comments

Orange Pi AIPro SBC features a 20 TOPS Huawei Ascend AI SoC

Orange Pi AIPro is a new single board computer for AI applications that features a new (and unnamed) Huawei Ascend AI quad-core 64-bit processor delivering up to 20 TOPS (INT8) or 8 TOPS (FP16) of AI inference performance. The SBC comes with up to 16GB LPDDR4X and a 512Mbit SPI flash but also supports other storage options such as a microSD card, an eMMC flash module, and/or an M.2 NVMe or SATA SSD. The board also features two HDMI 2.0 ports, one MIPI DSI connector, and an AV port for video output, two MIPI CSI camera interfaces, Gigabit Ethernet and WiFi 5 connectivity, a few USB ports, and a 40-pin GPIO header for expansion. Orange Pi AIPro specifications: SoC – Huawei Ascend quad-core 64-bit (I’d assume RISC-V) processor delivering up to 20 TOPS (INT8) or 8TOPS (FP16) AI performance and equipped with an unnamed 3D GPU System Memory – 8GB […]

June 29, 2023June 30, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

NEWRACOM NRC7394 WiFi HaLow SoC delivers higher power efficiency and cost-effectiveness

NEWRACOM has just introduced the NRC7394 Wi-Fi HaLow Arm Cortex-M3 SoC with higher power efficiency and lower cost than the previous generation NRC7292 Cortex-M3/M0 HaLow SoC and available in a 6x6mm package. I first wrote about the 802.11ah standard in 2014. Also known as the WiFi HaLow (consumers name), it operates in the 900 MHz band, offers a longer range and lower power consumption for items like IP cameras, and the first products came to market in 2021. I was expecting a flood of new WiFi HaLow devices in 2022 in my year 2021 round-up and it was not exactly a prescient prediction as it never happened. But maybe the new NRC7394 SoC will help make WiFi HaLow devices more popular by lowering the costs and further improving battery life. NEWRACOM NRC7394 key features: CPU – Arm Cortex-M3 core @ 32 MHz for IEEE 802.11ah WLAN and application Connectivity Full […]

May 19, 2023May 19, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

NXP S32K344 evaluation board for mobile robots offers one 100BaseT1, six CAN-FD interfaces

MR-CANHUBK344 is an evaluation board based on NXP S32K344 Arm Cortex-M7 automotive general-purpose microcontroller designed for mobile robotics applications such as autonomous mobile robots (AMR) and automated guided vehicles (AGV) with a 100baseT1 Ethernet interface and six CAN-FD ports. The six CAN bus connectors come in three pairs of CAN-FD, CAN-SIC (signal improvement), and CAN-SCP (secure) interfaces using NXP chips. The board can notably be used for tunneling CAN over Ethernet using IEEE1722, plus the board is equipped with an SE050 Secure element with NFC for authentication, and various general-purpose peripheral interfaces via DroneCode standard JST-GH connectors. MR-CANHUBK344 evaluation board specifications: MCU – NXP S32K344 lockstep Cortex-M7 microcontroller @ up to 160 MHz with 4MB flash, 512KB SRAM, 6x CAN bus interfaces, up to 218 I/Os, AEC-Q100 compliant Ethernet – ASIL-B compliant 100BASE-T1 Ethernet PHY (TJA1103) 6x CAN-FD interfaces with 2x CAN Bus with flexible data rate through TJA144x automotive […]

April 19, 2023April 19, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 8 Comments

AAEON BOXER-8224AI – An NVIDIA Jetson Nano AI Edge embedded system for drones

BOXER 8224AI board AI Edge NVIDIA Jetson Nano embedded system

AAEON BOXER-8224AI is a thin and lightweight AI edge embedded system solution based on NVIDIA Jetson Nano system-on-module and designed for drones, or other space-constrained applications such as robotics. AAEON BOXER products are usually Embedded Box PCs with an enclosure, but the BOXER-8224AI is quite different as it’s a compact and 22mm thin board with MIPI CSI interfaces designed to add computer vision capability to unmanned areal vehicles (UAV), as well as several wafers for dual GbE, USB, and other I/Os. BOXER-8224AI specifications: AI Accelerator – NVIDIA Jetson Nano CPU – Arm Cortex-A57 quad-core processor System Memory – 4GB LPDDR4 Storage Device – 16GB eMMC 5.1 flash Dimensions – 70 x 45 mm Storage – microSD slot Display Interface – 1x Mini HDMI 2.0 port Camera interface – 2x MIPI CSI connectors Networking 2x Gigabit Ethernet via wafer connector (1x NVIDIA, 1x Intel i210) Optional WiFi, Bluetooth, and/or cellular connectivity […]

March 9, 2023March 9, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

BeaglePlay – A $99 Texas Instruments AM625 industrial SBC with plenty of communication and expansion options

The BeagleBoard.org Foundation has just launched their latest single board computer with the BeaglePlay SBC powered by a Texas Instruments AM625 Cortex-A53/M4/R5 processor with 16GB eMMC flash, 2GB DDR2, and a wide range of I/Os, wired and wireless communication options, and support for expansion module compatible with MikroBus, Grove, and Qwiic connectors. Two wired Ethernet are offered, namely a typical Gigabit Ethernet RJ45 port, as well as a single-pair Ethernet RJ11 port limited to 10 Mbps but with a much longer range and power over data, and wireless connectivity includes dual-band WiFi 4, Bluetooth LE, and Sub-GHz. The board also features HDMI and MIPI DSI display interfaces and a MIPI CSI camera interface. BeaglePlay specifications: SoC – Texas Instruments Sitara AM625 (AM6254) with Quad-core 64-bit Arm Cortex-A53 processor @ 1.4 GHz Arm Cortex-M4F at up to 400 MHz Arm Cortex-R5F PowerVR Rogue 3D GPU supporting up to 2048×1080 @ 60fps, […]

December 15, 2022December 15, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

Business card-sized SBC ships with Intel Core Tiger Lake or AMD Ryzen V2000 processor

We’ve recently reviewed the UP 4000 SBC as a more powerful x86 alternative to Raspberry Pi 4, but if it still does not cut it, AAEON de next-TGU8 or de next-V2K8 should, as the business card-sized single board computers (SBC) are equipped with respectively an Intel Tiger Lake processor up to a Core i7-1185G7E, and an AMD Ryzen Embedded V2000 SoC up to Ryzen Embedded V2516. But the comparison stops at the size, as both SBCs offer sets of features different from the usual Raspberry Pi form factor with notably up to 16GB RAM, SATA and NVMe storage, dual Ethernet (1x 2.5GbE, 1x Gigabit Ethernet), dual 4K display output via HDMI and eDP, some USB 3.2 ports, as well as serial and I/O interfaces via headers. de next-TGU8/V2K8 SBC specifications: SoC de next-TGU8 Intel Core i7-1185G7E quad-core/octa-thread processor @ 1.80GHz / 4.40GHz with Intel UHD graphics; TDP: 15W (TPD up: […]

September 23, 2022November 30, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

Miniature dual camera Full HD or 4K encoder boards support RGB and thermal cameras

Z3 Technology has introduced several miniature dual-camera encoder boards with the PoE-capable FV2K-13A and FV4K-13A boards capable of handling two visible and/or thermal cameras at Full HD or 4K resolution respectively, along with the FV2K-15A and FV4K-15A variants equipped with low-profile connectors. All four models enable H.265/H.264 video streaming of a single or dual camera system, support ONVIF Profile S and T profile, and comply with the NDAA law in the US. This set of features as well as low power consumption and the lightweight designs make the boards suitable for UAV, inspection, surveillance, and other weight-constrained applications. Z3 Technology FV2K-13A and FV4K-13A dual-camera encoder boards specifications: SoC – Ambarella CV22 quad-core Cortex-A53 processor with 4Kp60 encoder (see PDF product brief) Storage – MicroSD, USB, or NFS Camera interfaces FV2K-13A Visible Camera Formats – Sony FCB-EV7520(A) and FCB-EV9500L HD and SD IR Formats – RS170, NTSC/PAL, and LVDS FV4K-13A Visible […]

September 19, 2022September 22, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

Ochin Raspberry Pi CM4 carrier board is made for drones and robots

Ochin Raspberry Pi 4 carrier board for robots drones

There are plenty of carrier boards for Raspberry Pi CM4, but the Ochin looks a bit different, as it is specifically designed for drones and robots, and the compact carrier board exposes most interfaces through low-profile GHS connectors instead of standard ports or headers. About the size of the Raspberry Pi CM4 itself, the board also comes with a USB Type-C port to flash the eMMC flash, two MIPI CSI connectors and four USB 2.0 GHS connectors to add cameras to your robotics projects, and supports LiPo batteries. Ochin specifications: Supported modules – Raspberry Pi CM4 with Broadcom BCM2711 quad-core Cortex-A72 processor, up to 8GB RAM, up to 32GB eMMC flash (the CM4 Lite is not supported since there’s no microSD card on the board), 4Kp60 H.265 decode, 1080p30 H.264 encode, and optional WiFI 5 and Bluetooth 5.0 USB – 1x USB 2.0 Type-C port Camera I/F – 1x 4-lane […]