drone News - Page 2 of 10 - CNX Software

June 27, 2025June 27, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

reComputer Mini is a compact carrier board for the NVIDIA Jetson Orin Nano/NX module

reComputer Mini Carrier Board for NVIDIA Jetson Orin Nano NX

Seeed Studio’s reComputer Mini is a small carrier board for the NVIDIA Jetson Orin Nano or Jetson Orin NX module that’s barely larger the the system-on-module itself at 88 x 56 x 17mm, or slightly larger than a credit card, and suitable for robotics and drone applications. Despite its small size, the reComputer Mini still offers a good range of interfaces, including two USB 3.2 Type-A ports, a USB Type-C port with DisplayPort alt-mode, M.2 sockets for NVMe storage and wireless expansion, UART and USB JST connectors, and two 60-pin high-speed connectors for add-on boards. The board is compatible with 48V battery power systems thanks to a wide 12V to 54V DC input range through an XT30 power connector. reComputer Mini carrier board specifications: Compatible SoM – NVIDIA Jetson Orin Nano, Jetson Orin NX with up to 100 TOPS of AI performance Storage – M.2 Key-M PCIe socket for M.2 […]

June 26, 2025June 25, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

82 x 50mm SoM combines NXP i.MX 8M Mini SoC with 25 TOPS DEEPX DX-M1 AI accelerator

Virtium Embedded Artists has just announced the launch of the iMX8M Mini DX-M1 system-on-module (SoM) combining an NXP i.MX 8M Mini quad-core Arm application processor with a 25 TOPS DEEPX DX-M1 AI accelerator in a compact 82 x 50mm footprint. The NXP SoC is paired with 2GB 32-bit RAM and 16GB eMMC flash, while the DEEPX NPU gets 4GB 64-bit RAM and a QSPI flash. The module also features a PMIC, a gigabit Ethernet PHY, an optional WiFI 6E and Bluetooth 5.4 module, and exposes all I/Os through a 314-pin MXM edge connector. They’ve somehow managed to pack a lot of features into such a small module. iMX8M Mini DX-M1 SOM specifications: SoC – NXP i.MX 8M Mini CPU Quad-core Cortex-A53 processor @ up to 1.6 (industrial) or 1.8 GHz (commercial) Cortex-M4F real-time core @ 400 MHz GPU Vivante GC320 2D GPU Vivante GCNanoUltra 2D/3D GPU with support for OpenVG […]

June 19, 2025June 23, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 7 Comments

AAEON de next-RAP8 credit card-sized Raptor Lake SBC features up to Intel Core i7-1365UE CPU

AAEON de next-RAP8 may be the world’s most powerful credit card-sized SBC since it’s powered by a choice of 15W Intel Raptor Lake processor, namely the hexa-core Core i3-1315UE SoC, or the 10-core Core i5-1335UE or Core i7-1365UE CPU. Designed for drones and robotics, the compact Raptor Lake SBC is equipped with up to 16GB LPDDR5x of RAM, supports SATA and M.2 NVMe SSD, features GbE and 2.5GbE networking ports, two USB Type-A ports, HDMI and eDP display interfaces, a PCIe Gen3 x4 FPC connector, RS232/RS485 interfaces, and more. de next-RAP8 specifications: 13th Gen Raptor Lake SoC (one or the other) DENEXT-RAP8-A10-0001 model – Intel Core i7-1365UE 10-core/12-thread processor up to 1.70 GHz / 4.90 GHz (Turbo) with 96 EU Intel Iris Xe Graphics @ 1.30 GHz; TDP/PBP: up to 15 Watts DENEXT-RAP8-A10-0002 model – Intel Core i5-1335UE 10-core/12-thread processor up to 1.30 GHz / 4.50 GHz (Turbo) with 80 […]

June 5, 2025June 5, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 7 Comments

Map Remote ID-enabled drones with ESP32-C3/S3 and Meshtastic LoRa modules

Colonel Panic’s Mesh Mapper is a project designed to map drones emitting the FAA’s Remote ID over WiFi or Bluetooth with location, altitude, pilot position, and identification data. This project utilizes an ESP32-C3 or ESP32-S3 to capture Remote ID transmissions within range, and then feeds the data into a Python Flask web application part of Mesh Mapper that provides real-time visualization and logging. Meshtastic allows multiple detection nodes to share information across a mesh network, so several ESP32 nodes can be deployed in an area and be alerted when drones fly within your property or neighborhood. While you could use your own ESP32-C3/S3 board and Meshtastic hardware for this project, Colonel Panic designed a breakout board for XIAO ESP32C3 or ESP32S3 WiFi & Bluetooth module and Heltec LoRa 32 V3 connected over serial to make things easier. Something like the XIAO ESP32S3 for Meshtastic & LoRa devkit might also do, […]

June 2, 2025 by Debashis Das - No Comments

u-blox ZED-F20P triple-band GNSS module provides 25Hz RTK/PPP-RTK with centimeter accuracy for drones and robots

The u-blox ZED-F20P is a high-precision, triple-band GNSS module designed for fast-scaling applications, such as drones, ground robots, and other dynamic platforms. It supports L1/L2/L5 bands and delivers centimeter-level accuracy using RTK and PPP-RTK correction methods. Designed for low power consumption and fast convergence, the ZED-F20P operates at 25 Hz and integrates various security features, making it suitable for lightweight and mobile platforms. It is fully compatible with the existing ZED module footprint and UBX protocol, allowing easy integration and upgrade paths within the ZED portfolio. The module works with the ANN-MB2 all-band antenna and supports u-blox’s PointPerfect Flex and Live correction services, offering rapid, base station–free accuracy in challenging environments. These features make this suitable for applications like robotic lawnmowers and autonomous aerial systems. u-blox ZED-F20P specifications: Storage – Internal Flash for firmware GNSS receiver u-blox F20 engine (672-channel) GPS – L1C/A, L2C, L5 QZSS – L1C/A, L1C/B*, L2C, […]

April 24, 2025July 31, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

ESPuno Pi Zero ESP32-C6 board takes up to 60V DC input, offers RS-485 interface (Crowdfunding)

ESPuno Pi Zero is a Raspberry Pi Zero-sized board based on an ESP32-C6-MINI-1 WiFI 6, BLE, and 802.15.4 wireless module and an SMPS that allows up to 60V DC input via a 2-pin terminal block. The board also features two USB-C ports, one connected to the ESP32-C6 and the other to a CH343P USB-to-serial chip, a 40-pin GPIO header, a Grove connector, a 3-pin terminal block for RS-485, DMX, Profibus, and a few buttons and LEDs. ESPuno Pi Zero specifications: ESP32-C6-MINI-1-N4 or ESP32-C6-MINI-1U-N4 SoC – Espressif Systems ESP32-C6 CPU Single-core 32-bit RISC-V clocked up to 160 MHz Low-power RISC-V core @ up to 20 MHz Memory/Storage – 320KB ROM, 512KB SRAM Wireless – 2.4 GHz WiFi 6, Bluetooth 5.0, and 802.15.4 radio (for Thread/Zigbee) Storage – 4MB flash Antenna ESP32-C6-MINI-1-N4 – PCB antenna ESP32-C6-MINI-1U-N4 – External antenna Storage – 64Kbit 24C64 I2C EEPROM USB 1x USB Type-C UART (CH343P) port […]

April 8, 2025April 8, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Aerium Lumen – An NVIDIA Jetson carrier board for drones and robots

Aerium System’s Lumen is a carrier board for NVIDIA Jetson SO-DIMM modules designed specifically for drones and robots with a range of low-profile connectors for I/Os for USB, UART, I2C, etc…, and three M.2 sockets for storage and wireless expansion. It targets the same applications as ARK Electronics’ NDAA-compliant Jetson Orin Nano/NX carrier board for drones we covered last year, but it’s not sold as a full kit and lacks NDAA-compliance. On the positive side, it is quite smaller and lighter, so it might be better suited to smaller and/or less complex drones or robots that may still benefit from Vision AI acceleration. Aerium Lumen specifications: Compatible system-on-modules NVIDIA Jetson Nano NVIDIA Jetson Orin NX NVIDIA Jetson Orin Nano NVIDIA Jetson Xavier NX NVIDIA Jetson TX2 NX Potentially other Jetson-compatible SO-DIMM modules like the Mixtile Core 3588E, but those are not listed by the company. Storage MicroSD card slot M.2 Key-B […]

February 14, 2025February 14, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 15 Comments

Orange Pi AIPro (8T) SBC features a 8 TOPS Huawei Ascend AI SoC, runs Ubuntu or openEuler

Orange Pi AIPro (8T) is a new single board computer for AI applications that features an unnamed Huawei Ascend AI quad-core 64-bit processor delivering up to 8 TOPS (INT8) of AI inference performance, although there’s also a 20 TOPS (INT8) variant of the SoC. The SBC comes with up to 16GB LPDDR4X and a 32MB 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, a 3.5mm audio jack, 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 processor delivering up to 8 TOPS (INT8) AI performance and equipped with an unnamed 3D GPU; Likely Ascend 310B with Arm Cortex-A76 equivalent […]