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August 7, 2026August 7, 2026 by Debashis Das - No Comments

Token Monitor – An ESP32-S3 desktop display that tracks AI coding assistant usage (Crowdfunding)

TokenMonitor supports Claude Code, Codex, Antigravity, and customizable dashboard views

Fractal Manifold has introduced the Token Monitor, a 4-inch ESP32-S3-based desktop display for monitoring real-time AI coding assistant usage. The device features a 4-inch 480×480 IPS touchscreen with 5-point capacitive touch, Wi-Fi 4 and Bluetooth LE 5 wireless connectivity, USB-C power, optional 1-cell Li-ion battery support via an AXP2101 PMIC, and two side buttons for power and boot functions. It shows usage information including quota consumption, session limits, token counts, reset timers, and estimated token costs. A local broker service fetches the usage data and transfers it to the device over a secure connection, keeping credentials on the user’s machine. Token Monitor specifications: SoC – Espressif Systems ESP32-S3 CPU – Dual-core Tensilica LX7 up to 240 MHz with vector extension for AI/ML workloads RAM – 512KB SRAM; 8MB PSRAM Wireless – WiFi 4 and Bluetooth LE 5 Storage – 16MB flash Display – 4-inch 480×480 capacitive touchscreen with ST7701 driver and […]

August 5, 2026August 5, 2026 by Debashis Das - No Comments

ZecTrix Note 4 – A 4.2-inch ESP32-S3 wireless e-paper display for voice tasks

ZecTrix Note 4 4.2 inch AI e paper smart note

Designed by ZecTrix Lab in China, the Note 4 is an ESP32-S3-based AI smart note with a 4.2-inch e-paper display and built-in voice input. The device is designed to display reminders, notes, clocks, weather, images, and custom templates, while the Note 4C variant replaces the monochrome display with a four-color e-paper panel. The device features 2.4GHz Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity, a microphone, a speaker, NFC, physical buttons, a USB Type-C port, a 2,000mAh rechargeable battery, and GPIO expansion for custom hardware projects. ZecTrix Note 4 / Note 4C specifications: SoC – Espressif Systems ESP32-S3 CPU – Dual-core Tensilica LX7 up to 240 MHz with vector extension for AI/ML workloads RAM – 512KB SRAM; 8MB PSRAM Wireless – WiFi 4 and Bluetooth LE 5 Storage – 16MB flash Display Note 4 – 4.2-inch monochrome E-Ink display, 400 × 300 resolution; supports partial refresh Note 4C – 4.2-inch four-color (BWRY) E-Ink display, […]

August 4, 2026August 4, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

Espressif ESP32-C61-MINI-1/1U Wi-Fi 6 and BLE IoT module launched for about $2

Back in 2024, Espressif Systems introduced the ESP32-C61 2.4 GHz WiFi 6 and Bluetooth LE (BLE) SoC as a low-cost variant of the ESP32-C6 without an 802.15.4 radio, a single RISC-V core, and lower-capacity SRAM (320KB vs 512KB). We had first seen the ESP32-C61 in the Wireless Tag ESP32P4C61 board introduced last June in a Kickstarter campaign last June, but Espressif has now started to sell samples of the ESP32-C61-MINI-1 and ESP32-C61-MINI-1U on AliExpress for $10.7 for a pack of 5 pieces, or around $2 per module. ESP32-C61-MINI-1/1U Module specifications: SoC – ESP32-C61 CPU core – Single-core 32-bit RISC-V microprocessor up to 160 MHz Memory 320KB SRAM Up to 8 MB PSRAM Storage 256KB ROM Up to 8 MB Quad SPI flash Wireless 2.4 GHz WiFi 1T1R Frequency: 2412 ~ 2484 MHz IEEE 802.11ax-compliant 20 MHz-only non-AP mode MCS0 ~ MCS9 Uplink and downlink OFDMA Downlink MU-MIMO Target wake time […]

August 3, 2026August 3, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

28.9M-parameter LLM runs locally on ESP32-S3 at 9 tokens/s

Slava S. (slvDev) has optimized a 28.9M-parameter LLM running locally on an ESP32-S3 development board at around 9 tokens/s while generating text, or more exactly, telling short stories. We’ve written about LLMs and ESP32 in the past, but usually the boards are used as low-power gateways to interact with online LLMs hosted on powerful servers in data centers. Such products or projects include HiWonderLLM “smart chat module”, the ESP-Claw framework, or the ESP32 Agent Dev Kit. Slava’s “esp32-ai” project is quite different, as everything runs on the ESP32-S3 microcontroller. This won’t work on all ESP32-S3 as you’ll need enough memory and storage to store the 14.9MB (4-bit) model file, and Slava tested his demo on an ~$8 ESP32-S3 board with 512KB SRAM+8MB SPRAM and 16MB flash connected to a small I2C display to display short stories. Dave Bennett already did something similar with the ESP32-LLM project, but it only relied […]

August 2, 2026August 2, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Play games with your brain signals using Octopus 16 wireless EEG device

Octopus 16 is a wireless biosignal HID device for the XIAO ESP32-S3 board designed to let users play computer games using brain signals (EEG) with no hands (or implants) needed. The board packs 16 electrodes to measure biosignals, including EEG (electroencephalography), EMG (electromyography), and ECG (electrocardiography), and the coin-sized device is much more compact than other brain-computer interface (BCI) solutions, which typically require a cap kit with 8 to 16 electrodes and wires. Octopus 16 specifications: ADC – 2x Texas Instruments ADS131M08 24-bit, 8-channel, simultaneous-sampling, delta-sigma (ΔΣ) analog-to-digital converters Channels – 16x 24-bit channels (8x per ADC) Programmable gain (PGA) – x1 to x128 (set in firmware; default gain register 0x2222) Input high-pass / DC block – Integrated ADC DC-block filter enabled (≈ >1 Hz) Host interface (to XIAO board) – Power + SPI via 2x 7-pin Brain interface 18x spring-loaded pogo pins 16x electrodes 1x reference (AINREF) 1x Ground […]

July 31, 2026July 31, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

reTerminal Sticky 3.97-inch touch ePaper display is supported by four open-source firmware projects (so far)

Seeed Studio’s reTerminal Sticky is a 3.97-inch “AI-powered” magnetic touch ePaper display powered by an ESP32-S3 microcontroller, which serves as a sticky-note alternative, an e-reader, a live dashboard, or a home automation controller. The 800 x 480 resolution display comes with 8MB PSRAM, 32MB Flash, a microSD card slot, and next/previous page buttons. It’s “AI-powered” through a microphone and an AI Voice button leveraging the ESP32-S3 Edge AI capabilities for a voice-to-note feature. It also features a temperature and humidity sensor and a 3-axis accelerometer, as well as a built-in magnet and a magnetic ring for easy mounting. reTerminal Sticky specifications: SoC – Espressif ESP32-S3R8 CPU – Dual-core Tensilica LX7 microcontroller up to 240 MHz with vector instructions for AI acceleration Memory – 8MB PSRAM Wireless – 2.4 GHz WiFi 4 and Bluetooth 5.0 LE Storage 32 MB flash MicroSD card slot (SanDisk recommended) Display 3.97-inch monochrome (B&W) ePaper 4-level […]

July 31, 2026August 2, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

Maker Go ESP32-C5-EVB board features RS-485 interface, four relays, four opto-isolated inputs

Maker Go ESP32-C5-EVB is an ESP32-C5 board with four relays, four opto-isolated inputs, RS-485 communication, and support for Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth Low Energy 5.0, and Thread/Zigbee connectivity. It’s a variant of the Maker Go ESP32-C6-EVB released in 2024 that replaces the ESP32-C6 module with an ESP32-C5 module and a GPIO header with a terminal block for RS-485. The Maker Go ESP32-C6-EVB was mostly a clone of the Olimex ESP32-C6-EVB, and while Olimex already released its own ESP32-C5-EVB, it has a different dual-channel relay design. Maker Go ESP32-C5-EVB specifications: Wireless module – DOIT ESPC5-32 module SoC – Espressif Systems ESP32-C5 CPU Single-core 32-bit RISC-V processor @ up to 240 MHz Low-power RISC-V core @ 40 MHz acting as the main processor for power-sensitive applications Memory – 384 KB SRAM on-chip, support for external PSRAM Storage – 320 KB ROM, support for external flash Connectivity Dual-band 802.11ax WiFi 6 in the 2.4GHz […]

July 30, 2026July 30, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

ESP-KVM – An open-source IP KVM solution based on ESP32-P4 RISC-V MCU

Earlier this month, the P4 KVM project was brought to my attention. It provides IP KVM functionality to a Waveshare ESP32-P4-WIFI6-POE-ETH board when paired with a Toshiba TC358743 HDMI-to-CSI adapter. However, it doesn’t work with the new ESP32-P4 V3.x variants featuring a proper H.264 video encoding implementation, and the developer (Jonathan Rowny) says it’s just a proof-of-concept with many bugs and no security, so I decided to skip it. The good news is that he also encouraged others to fork the project, and Evgenij Spitsyn did just that with the release of the ESP-KVM project, which supports both MJPEG and H.264 encoding and a range of other features. ESP-KVM highlights: Video capture, resolution changes, and MJPEG or H.264 encoding Keyboard, absolute and relative pointer, media keys, copy/paste Touch mode for phones and tablets (trackpad, on-screen keyboard) Multiple viewers, one in control at a time with takeover HTTPS, login, physical password […]