education News - CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

July 11, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

Hugging Face’s Reachy Mini is an open-source AI robot for your computer or Raspberry Pi 5

Better known for its artificial intelligence software solutions, Hugging Face has now introduced the Reachy Mini open-source desktop robot, designed to deploy AI applications that interface with the physical world. The robot comes with a camera, microphones, and a speaker, and can move its 6 DoF (degrees of freedom) head, rotate its body, or wave its antennas. Two versions are available: The Reachy Mini Lite designed for computers running Mac, Linux, and soon Windows, and the Reachy Mini autonomous robot, powered by a Raspberry Pi 5, adding wireless connectivity, a few more microphones, an accelerometer, and battery support. Both models share most of the same specifications: The Reachy Mini is programmable in Python for now, but JavaScript and Scratch will soon be supported too. We’re also told that over 15 robot behaviors will be provided at launch on the Hugging Face hub, so users will be able to get started […]

July 8, 2025July 8, 2025 by Debashis Das - 3 Comments

Kappa4310Rasp – A Modbus RTU HAT for Raspberry Pi based on IS4310 Slave stack chip

The Kappa4310Rasp is a Raspberry Pi-compatible Modbus RTU HAT designed to evaluate the IS4310 Modbus RTU Slave stack chip. This allows engineers to simulate sensor and actuator interactions using a push-button and RGB LED without requiring a custom board or soldering. The board features an RS-485 interface with two RJ45 connectors for daisy-chaining Modbus networks. The board communicates with the Raspberry Pi over I²C and supports 500 Holding Registers along with Function Codes 3 (Read Holding Registers), 6 (Write Single Register), and 16 (Write Multiple Registers). The HAT operates at 3.3V and includes jumpers to enable or disable onboard I²C pull-ups. Additional features include dedicated Tx/Rx indicator LEDs, a power LED, GPIO-connected RGB LEDs, and a push-button for real-time interaction. Kappa4310Rasp board specifications: Modbus RTU stack chip – IS4310 (I²C interface, 500 Holding Registers) Protocol support – Function Codes 0x03 (Read), 0x06 (Write Single), 0x10 (Write Multiple) Communication – RS485 […]

July 3, 2025July 2, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

OpenWheely is a 4WD robot car based on ESP32-S3-WROOM-1 WiFi and BLE module (Crowdfunding)

Sanket Garg’s OpenWheely is a 4WD robot car based on Espressif ESP32-S3-WROOM WiFi and Bluetooth LE module that is equipped with a 2-inch display, a 5MP camera, and various sensors. The robot car can drive upside down, follow sound and light, stream live video, and operate in a swarm. It can be controlled from a Phone, a PC, or an infrared TV remote, but Sanket also designed an ESP32-S3 gamepad with a 2.0-inch display and two joysticks to control the car. We’re also told OpenWheely can be used by students, educators, developers, gamers, and robotic enthusiasts. OpenWheely robot car specifications: Wireless Module – ESP32-S3-WROOM-1 SoC – Espressif Systems ESP32-S3 CPU – Dual-core Tensilica LX7 up to 240 MHz with vector extension for AI/ML workloads RAM – 512KB SRAM Storage – TBD Wireless – WiFi 4 and Bluetooth LE 5 Antenna – PCB antenna Display – 2.0-inch LCD screen Camera – […]

June 6, 2025June 7, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Raspberry Pi 5-based portable AI learning platform features 41 modules, supports Arduino Nano, RPi Pico, and Micro:bit boards (Crowdfunding)

CrowPi 3 is a Raspberry Pi 5-powered all-in-one portable AI learning and development platform with a 4.3-inch touchscreen display, plenty of plug-and-play electronic modules, a breadboard area, and support for Arduino Nano, Raspberry Pi Pico, and BBC Micro:bit MCU boards for expansion. It’s basically another take on the CrowPi 2 laptop based on the Raspberry Pi 4 with similar modules placed under the keyboard, but in a different form factor. The CrowPi 3 portable learning platform replaces the 11.6-inch Full HD display with a 4.3-inch display and does away with the keyboard, but is equipped with a more powerful Raspberry Pi 5 SBC capable of handling real-time AI tools such as ChatGPT and LLaMA (with smaller, distilled models). CrowPi 3 specifications: Main Board – Raspberry Pi 5 SBC Compatible MCU boards Arduino Nano boards BBC Micro:bit boards Raspberry Pi Pico boards Display – 4.3-inch IPS touchscreen display with 800×480 resolution […]

May 2, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

SO-ARM101 open-source dual robotic arm kit works with Hugging Face’s LeRobot

SO-ARM101 robotic arm with hugging face support

SO-ARM101 “Arm Servo Motor Kit” is an open-source dual robotic arm kit that works with Hugging Face’s LeRobot robotics framework and is designed to interface with NVIDIA Jetson AI modules and computers. It is an update to the SO-ARM100 DIY open-source robotic arm kit introduced last year with LeRobot framework support. The new SO-ARM101 is still comprised of leader and follower arms but features improved wiring to prevent disconnection issues previously seen at joint 3, motors with optimized gear ratios, and a few functionality where the leader arm can now follow the follower arm in real-time, which will be used for reinforcement learning (RL) where a human can intervene and correct the robot’s actions. SO-ARM101 specifications: Degrees of Freedom (DOF) – 6 per Arm Motor control Total servo – 12x STS3215 bus servos (6x for each Arm) Leader Arm 1x (7.4V) 1:345 gear ratio motor for No.2 joints 2x (7.4V) […]

April 24, 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 single-core 32-bit RISC-V clocked up to 160 MHz 320KB ROM, 512KB SRAM, low-power RISC-V core @ up to 20 MHz 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 […]

April 10, 2025April 10, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

PiEEG kit – A Raspberry Pi 5-based bioscience lab in a suitcase (Crowdfunding)

Yesterday we wrote about using quantum sensors for brain-computer interfaces (BCI) and other biomedical applications. But that’s the future, and if you want to experiment with brain-computer interface technology and bioscience, the PiEEG kit has everything you need to get started, with all components fitting in a suitcase easy to carry around between your home and university or school. The bioscience home lab is based on the PIEEG Shield for Raspberry Pi introduced in 2023, and features a Raspberry Pi 5 8GB, a 9-inch display, a sensor board, EEG electrodes and cables for brainwave measurement, and electrodes for EMG (muscles), EKG (heart), and EOG (eye) signal recording. The PiEEG kit is comprised of the two main custom boards with the following specifications/features: PiEEG Shield on top of the Raspberry Pi 5 ADC – Texas Instruments ADS1299 Analog-to-Digital Converter for biopotential measurements Host interface – 40-pin GPIO header with SPI protocol […]

March 28, 2025March 28, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Pico Indicator adds LEDs to GPIO and power signals of the Raspberry Pi Pico and compatible boards

8086 Consultancy has designed a simple board called the Pico Indicator to add LEDs to the GPIO and power pins of the Raspberry Pi Pico and other boards with the same pinout. In the past, we’ve seen some educational boards like the Cytron Maker Uno RP2040 include LEDs for each GPIO that make it more visual for students, but can also help debug projects without having to connect a multimeter or oscilloscope. Most MCU boards only include a few LEDs, and that includes the Raspberry Pi Pico family, which only features one user LED. The Pico Indicator fixed that by adding 29 LEDs for use with the Pico, Pico W, Pico 2, Pico 2 W, and compatible boards to show which pins are logic level high. Pico Indicator highlights: Compatible with any board following the 2x 20-pin headers layout of the Raspberry Pi Pico 29x LED indicators GPIO – 26x […]