education

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments on Arduino Braccio++ robotic arm is designed for high-school and university students

Arduino Braccio++ robotic arm is designed for high-school and university students

Arduino Braccio++ robotic arm

Arduino Education has just launched the Braccio++ robotic arm for advanced students in high school or at university in order to let them experiment with a 6 DOF, industrial, assembly line-inspired robot. The new robotic arm provides an upgrade to the Tinkerkit Braccio robot and has been designed to assist in teaching real-world manufacturing techniques,topics such as physics and robotics, and concepts like motions, forces, torque, gear ratio, stability, and weight of payload.   The Arduino Braccio++ is comprised of the Braccio carrier board equipped with an Arduino Nano RP2040 Connect that controls six Arduino RS485 Smart Servo Motors with specifically four SR418D servo motors for the arm joints, and two SR312 servo motors for the claw. Four lessons and two projects are included in the kit, and it’s made for up to three students. Arduino says the new robotic arm is made of recycled and eco-friendly materials with the […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments on E-Ink Digital Paper Tablet is about the size of an A4 or US Letter paper

E-Ink Digital Paper Tablet is about the size of an A4 or US Letter paper

While there’s now a bunch of devices with an e-paper display, be it tablets or eReaders, it’s harder to find a model that is about the size of A4 (297 x 210mm) or US letter (279 x 216mm) papers. E-Ink Digitial Paper Tablet solves this issue with an NXP i.MX 8M Mini-powered Android 9 tablet offering a 13.3-inch display (301.1 x 222.8mm), as well as a smaller 10.1-inch display, for business applications. Both digital paper tablets feature E-Ink Carta 1250 screen technology with a higher contrast ratio and faster refresh rate, come with a digital pen supported by Wacom’s battery-free EMR technology, and are said to last about three weeks per charge for light usage. E-ink digital paper tablet specifications: SoC –  NXP i.MX 8M mini quad-core Cortex-A53 processor @ up to 1.8GHz Storage – 32 GB eMMC flash including 24GB for user data, or enough for about 10,000 typical […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment on Maker Nano RP2040 offers Arduino Nano, Grove and Qwiic modules compatibility

Maker Nano RP2040 offers Arduino Nano, Grove and Qwiic modules compatibility

Cytron Maker Nano RP2040 is board similar to Raspberry Pi Pico but with Arduino Nano form factor, a proper reset button, two RGB LEDs, single color LEDs for some GPIOs, a buzzer, as well as two Qwicc/STEMMA QT connectors that can also be used to connect Seeed Studio Grove modules using provided conversion cables. While the board mostly aims to be an Arduino Nano/Maker Nano upgrade, there are some notable differences with the I/O voltage being limited to 3.3V without 5V tolerance, and there are only four ADC inputs (A0 – A3) instead of eight on the Arduino Nano. Maker Nano RP2040 specifications: MCU – Raspberry Pi RP2040 dual-core Arm Cortex-M0+ microcontroller @ 125 MHz with 264KB internal RAM Storage – 2MB flash Audio – Piezo buzzer with mute switch Expansion 2x 15-pin headers with 22x GPIOs, 14x of which with LEDs,2x I2C, 2x UART, 2x SPI, 14x PWM, 4x […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments on Wappsto:bit GO – An ESP32 board with plenty of sensors, Micro:bit compatibility (Crowdfunding)

Wappsto:bit GO – An ESP32 board with plenty of sensors, Micro:bit compatibility (Crowdfunding)

Wappsto:bit GO is an ESP32 board compatible with BBC Micro:bit accessories thanks to a compatible edge connector, but adding WiFi to Bluetooth LE, and offering some extras compared to Elecrow Mbits ESP32-based BBC Micro:bit clone. The new board is notably equipped with a wider range of sensors including a light sensor, a magnetometer, and sound sensor beside the temperature sensor and accelerometer present in the original board, and it also exposes GPIO through a more traditional 2.54-pitch header to facilitate the integration of a wider variety of add-on boards. Wappsto:bit GO specifications: Wireless modules ESP32-WROOM-32E module with ESP32 dual-core microcontroller, 4MB flash, 2.4 GHz WiFi and Bluetooth LE connectivity, built-in PCB antenna Raytac MDBT50Q-512K Bluetooth 5.2 module based on nRF52833 with 512KB Flash MCU – NXP Kinetis KL2 Arm Cortex-M0+ microcontroller (MKL27Z256VFM4 ) with 256KB Flash (for USB port handling) Display – 25 LED matrix Sensors Temperature sensor, Light sensor […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 18 Comments on Build a DIY FM Radio with this $12 kit

Build a DIY FM Radio with this $12 kit

I’ve not used an FM radio for years, but if you’d like to teach younger generations about older technology and show them how to solder components there’s an RDA5807 based kit that would allow you to build DIY FM Radio operating in the 87 MHz to 108 MHz range. The JC-300 kit comes with a bare PCB, and all components required including a speaker, an antenna, and a holder for a 18650 battery. Some of the main components of the kit include: RDK Microelectronics RDA5807 single-chip broadcast FM radio tuner operating in the 87MHz -108MHz frequency range DA2822 Power Amplifier 66mm speaker 75 Ohm FM antenna 18650 battery holder Feet/brackets to hold the PCB vertically The system also comes with four buttons to adjust the volume and switch FM stations, plus a power switch. Nothing is pre-soldered on the bare PCB at all, so everything will have to be soldered […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments on LEGO Technic meets Raspberry Pi with the Build HAT

LEGO Technic meets Raspberry Pi with the Build HAT

A new official Raspberry Pi expansion board is introduced today. The Built HAT provides four connectors for LEGO Technic motors and sensors from the SPIKE Portfolio, as well as an 8V DC jack to power both the Raspberry Pi and LEGO motors, sensors, LED matrix, and more. Designed in collaboration with LEGO Education, the Build HAT features the Raspberry Pi RP2040 dual-core ARM Cortex M0+ MCU for I/O control, and will enable more complex models benefiting from more powerful Broadcom BCM2xxx processors, as well as a Python library for easy programming. Build HAT key features and specifications: MCU – Raspberry Pi RP2040 microcontroller for low-level control of LEGO Technic devices 4x LPF2 connectors for LEGO Technic motors and sensors included in the SPIKE Portfolio 40-pin GPIO header for connection to Raspberry Pi 4 Model B, 3B+, 3B, 3A+, or Pi Zero family (Raspberry Pi 400 not supported) Misc – 2x […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 12 Comments on Kano PC 11.6-inch Windows 10 Laptop for kids sold for $99.99 (Promo)

Kano PC 11.6-inch Windows 10 Laptop for kids sold for $99.99 (Promo)

Kano PC is a laptop designed for kids with an 11.6-inch touchscreen display, a Celeron N4000 dual-core Gemini Lake processor coupled with 4GB RAM, and 64GB eMMC flash, and running Windows 10. Nothing really special here, except for the price. Kano PC would normally sell for $299.99, but BestBuy offers it for just $99.99, which makes it an incredible deal, at least if you are based in the US, or you purchase through a forwarder. Let’s see what you could get for just under $100 with Kano PC specifications: SoC – Intel Celeron N4000 dual-core Gemini Lake processor @ 1.10 GHz with Intel UHD graphics; 6W TDP System Memory – 4GB DDR3L RAM Storage – 64GB eMMC flash, MicroSD slot Display – 11.6″ touchscreen display with 1366 x 768 resolution Audio – 3.5mm headphone jack, 3.5mm speaker level jack, 1x microphone Video – 1x HDMI port Connectivity – Dual-band Wi-Fi […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments on Magicbit is a wire-free, modular STEM education platform (Crowdfunding)

Magicbit is a wire-free, modular STEM education platform (Crowdfunding)

Magicbit board joins other ESP32 platforms for the STEM education market such as the Crowbits Master Kit or ESP32-based Micro:bit clones with visual programming and Arduino and/or MicroPython support, a mobile app, and training materials such as project tutorials and online courses. Magicbit is designed to be wire-free with the hexagonal board offering four module’s connectors, an OLED display, buttons, a buzzer, and more. You can still use cables if you’d like with six crocodile clip holes and an expansion connector. Magicbit hardware specifications: Wireless module based on ESP32 dual-core processor @ 240 MHz with 520kB RAM and 2.4 GHz WiFi & Bluetooth 4.2/5.x LE connectivity, plus 4MB flash storage Display – OLED display Audio – Buzzer USB – 1x Micro USB port for power and programming Expansion 4x module expansions Motor driver Misc – Reset button, 2x user buttons, potentiometer, light sensor, LEDs Power Supply – 5V via MicroUSB […]