Raspberry Pi 400 Keyboard Computer Features 1.8 GHz BCM2711C0 Processor

Raspberry Pi 400

The Raspberry Pi Foundation has gotten us used to wait for a while between new hardware releases, but right after having announced Raspberry Pi CM4 and CM4 Lite a couple of weeks ago, the company has now introduced Raspberry Pi 400 keyboard computer with many of the same features as Raspberry Pi 4 single board computer, but as a fully integrated computer inside a 78-key keyboard, and equipped with a slightly faster Broadcom BCM2711C0 processor clocked at 1.8 GHz instead of 1.5 GHz. Raspberry Pi 400 keyboard computer specifications: SoC – Broadcom BCM2711C0 quad-core ARM Cortex-A72 processor @ 1.8GHz System Memory – 4GB LPDDR4-3200 SDRAM Storage – Push-push MicroSD card slot for OS (USB boot also works) Video & audio output – 2x micro HDMI ports up to 1 x 4Kp60, or 2 x 4Kp30 Connectivity Gigabit Ethernet RJ45 2.4GHz and 5GHz 802.11.b/g/n/ac WiFi 5, Bluetooth 5.0 and BLE (Bluetooth […]

SwarmDrive is an ESP32 motor driver board for brushless motors (Crowdfunding)

ESP32 Motor Driver Board

Netherlands based NickStick BV has developed a motor driver board powered by an ESP32 dual-core WiFI and Bluetooth module and capable of controlling brushless DC motors. The SwarmDrive board targets users who want to start experimenting with motor control, and learn about commutation strategies, PID for balance plateau or balance robots, cartesian gantries and spatial navigation, drive by wire and wireless, swarm intelligence experiments, etc. SwarmDrive specifications: Wireless module – Espressif Systems ESP32-WROOM-32D module with ESP32 dual-core processor @ 240 MHz, 4 Mbit flash Connectivity 2.4 GHz 802.11 b/g/n WiFi up to 150 Mbps Bluetooth v 4.2 BR/EDR and BLE Motor Control L6234 triple half-bridge motor driver, 5 A peak current 3-pin terminal block for motor output 3x enable pins are broken out to a bridging connector Programming and debugging – Micro USB serial port via USB to UART bridge, Misc – Boot and reset push-buttons Power Supply Supply Voltage – […]

BBC micro:bit v2 board Unveiled with Nordic nRF52833 SoC, Microphone and Speaker

BBC micro:bit v2

The original BBC micro:bit educational board was launched in July 2015 with a Nordic nRF51822 Arm Cortex-M0 MCU @ 16 MHz providing Bluetooth LE connectivity,  a few I/Os, some buttons, and a LED matrix acting as a small display. The British company has now launched a new update with BBC micro:bit v2 with the same form factor, but equipped with a more powerful Nordic Semi nRF52833 Bluetooth 5.1 Arm Cortex-M4 MCU clocked at 64 MHz and adding a microphone and a speaker. BBC micro:bit v2 specifications: Wireless MCU – Nordic Semi nRF52833 Arm Cortex-M4 MCU clocked at 64 MHz with 128 KB RAM, 512 KB flash, Bluetooth 5.1 LE connectivity “Display” – 25x red LED indicator lights in a 5×5 matrix USB – 1x micro USB port for power and programming via NXP Kinetis KL27Z Cortex-M0+ microcontroller Audio – Built-in MEMS microphone and speaker Expansion 25 pins on edge connector […]

Petoi Bittle Palm-sized Robot Dog uses Arduino and Raspberry Pi for STEM education (Crowdfunding)

Petoi Bittle

You’ve probably already watched a video featuring Boston Dynamics Spot, a headless robot dog used in various industries including healthcare, public safety, construction, oil & gas, etc.. It could also be yours if you wanted a robotic pet dog at home, as long as you have $75,000 US to spare. Petoi Bittle looks eerily similar, but it’s much smaller as it fits in your palm, and could be yours for $225 on KickStarter as a kit to assemble yourself that you may get as soon as December. Bittle robot dog is designed for STEM education and can be programmed using the Arduino IDE, Python, or even Codecraft visual programming IDE. Bittle is comprised of 4 main hardware components: Plastic parts and fixtures – Body, four legs,  head (which can be used to hold Arduino modules), springs, screws, etc… Actuators – 9x P1S servo with a controllable angle of 270 degrees, […]

CrowPi2 Raspberry Pi 4 Education Laptop Review

CrowPi2 Raspberry Pi Laptop Review

I started my review of CrowPi2 Raspberry Pi 4 Learning Kit a while ago and at the time I showed content from the kit and its first boot. I’ve now spent more time with this very special Raspberry Pi 4 laptop and will focus this review on the education part, namely CrowPi2 software, but will also look at thermal cooling under stress with and without a fan, and try to install another Raspberry Pi compatible board inside the laptop shell. CrowPi2 Education Software It’s quite important to read the user manual before getting started as there are a few non-intuitive steps you may have to take. First I assume the wireless keyboard would just connect after pressing the power button, but it did not. The user manual explains the RF dongle is inside the mouse, and once you connect it you’ll be able to use the keyboard that has some […]

VIA Pixetto Hi3518E V300 HD Camera Board Targets Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning Education

VIA Pixetto HD Camera Board AI Education

VIA Technologies has launched the VIA Pixetto vision sensor aims to teach artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to students aged twelve and above. The Linux board features an Hisilicon Hi3518E V300 Cortex-A7 HD camera SoC combined with 64MB RAM, 128MB SPI flash, a MicroSD slot, as well as GalaxyCore GC2053 2M CMOS sensor offering 1920 x 1080 resolution and a 130° field of view. VIA Pixetto hardware specifications: SoC – Hisilicon Hi3518E V300 Cortex-A7 HD camera SoC @ 900 MHz with H.264, H.265, MJPEG/JPEG encoder System Memory – 64MB DDR, MicroSD card slot Storage – 128MB SPI flash Camera – GalaxyCore GC2053 2M CMOS sensor with 1920 x 1080 resolution,  130° FoV Audio – Microphone USB – 1x Micro USB 2.0 port Connectivity – WiFi 4 via Hisilicon Hi1131 low-power Wi-Fi chip  and ceramic antenna Expansion – Grove connector Misc – 3x LEDs (Power, OS boot, active status), […]

CrowPi2 Raspberry Pi 4 Learning Kit Review – Part 1 – Unboxing and First Boot

CrowdPi2 Unboxing Review

Last month, we wrote about Elecrow introducing CrowPi2 Raspberry Pi 4 laptop and electronics learning kit for its launch on Kickstarter crowdfunding website. The company has now sent one of its kits to CNX Software for evaluation and review. I’ll start by checking out the content of the package, and boot it up, before publishing a more detailed review in a few weeks. The package is fairly big and highlights it’s made for kids over 8 years old with close to 100 course resources and over 20 electronics modules. The back of the package list the main features and package contents with for example a 11.6″ Full HD display, Raspberry Pi 4 4GB board running a customized (Linux) system or Retropie for game emulation, electronics components and modules like servos and motors, as well as some resources for gaming including two USB gamepads. The first things we get when opening […]

Kano PC 2-in-1 DIY Hybrid Laptop is Powered by an Intel Celeron N4000 Gemini Lake SoC

kano pc diy laptop

Kano PC DIY computer kit was launched last year with a low-end Intel Atom x5-Z8350 processor and designed to help kids learn about computers. The company has now launched the second-generation Kano PC with a faster Intel Celeron N4000 dual-core processor, and longer battery life making the 2-in-1 DIY Hybrid laptop/tablet capable of rivaling with entry-level laptops and Chromebooks. 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 with 164 MB/s write speed, MicroSD slot Display – 11.6″ touchscreen 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 4 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 5.0 USB – 2x USB 3.0, 1x USB-C LEDs – 1x power on (red), 1x barrel connector (red), 1x battery […]

EDATEC Raspberry Pi 5 fanless case