UP Squared 7100 fanless SBC Review – Part 1: Unboxing and first boot to Ubuntu Pro 24.04

UP Squared 7100 review

AAEON sent me a sample of the UP Squared 7100 fanless industrial SBC for review. The board is powered by an Intel N97 or N100 Alder Lake-N SoC (Amston Lake processors will be offered soon), and is equipped with up to 16GB LPDDR5 RAM and 128GB eMMC flash, plus two M.2 sockets for wireless and storage expansion. You’ll find the full specifications in our earlier article. I’ll start the review with an unboxing to check out the hardware, before booting it to Ubuntu Pro 24.04 LTS to check out some basic system information. In a few weeks, I’ll report my experience after in-depth testing in Ubuntu in the second part of the review which will include features testing from gigabit Ethernet to GPIO, some benchmarks, and power consumption measurements. UP Squared 7100 unboxing I received the UP Squared 7100 board in a retail package that reads “Are you UP for […]

Open hardware RP2350B boards offer up to 16MB flash, 8MB PSRAM, microSD card slot, 48x GPIOs

Olimex PICO2 XL and PICO2 XXL RP2350B Dev board

Olimex has recently released the PICO2-XL and PICO2-XXL open-source hardware RP2350B development boards with up to 16MB flash, 8MB PSRAM, 48 GPIOs, a microSD card slot, and more. The main difference between the two boards is that the PICO2-XL includes 2MB of external QSPI Flash and a compact flat-bottom design, making it ideal for simpler, space-constrained projects. In contrast, the PICO2-XXL offers 16MB of QSPI Flash, 8MB of PSRAM, and a microSD card slot for expanded storage and performance, catering to more demanding applications like IoT and edge computing. Olimex PICO2-XL and PICO2-XXL specifications SoC – Raspberry Pi RP2350B MCU CPU Dual-core Arm Cortex-M33 @150MHz with Arm Trustzone Dual-core 32-bit Hazard3 RISC-V @ 150MHz Up to two cores can be used at the same time Memory – 520KB SRAM 8kB OTP storage Security – Secure boot Package – QFN-80; 10×10 mm Memory – 8MB PSRAM (PICO2-XXL only) Storage PICO2-XL – […]

FOSDEM 2025 schedule – Embedded, Open Hardware, RISC-V, Edge AI, and more

FOSDEM 2025 Schedule Embedded

FOSDEM 2025 will take place on February 1-2 with over 8000 developers meeting in Brussels to discuss open-source software & hardware projects. The free-to-attend (and participate) “Free and Open Source Software Developers’ European Meeting” grows every year, and in 2025 there will be 968 speakers, 930 events, and 74 tracks. Like every year since FOSDEM 2015 which had (only) 551 events, I’ll create a virtual schedule with sessions most relevant to the topics covered on CNX Software from the “Embedded, Mobile and Automotive” and “Open Hardware and CAD/CAM” devrooms, but also other devrooms including “RISC-V”, “FOSS Mobile Devices”, “Low-level AI Engineering and Hacking”, among others. FOSDEM 2025 Day 1 – Saturday 1 10:30 – 11:10 – RISC-V Hardware – Where are we? by Emil Renner Berthing I’ll talk about the current landscape of available RISC-V hardware powerful enough to run Linux and hopefully give a better overview of what to […]

UP 710S – A slim, credit card-sized Intel N97 development board with M.2 E-Key WiFi socket and GPIO, I2C, SPI, and COM wafers

UP 710S Intel N97 development board

AAEON’s UP 710S is a credit card-sized Intel N97 SBC and development board with an M.2 E-Key socket for a WiFi and Bluetooth module, and similar interfaces such as gigabit Ethernet, USB 2.0, USB 3.0, and  HDMI outputs as found in Raspberry Pi boards. It’s very similar to the UP 7000 SBC with Intel N50, N97, or N100 CPU, but it’s designed to be slimmer so the 40-pin Raspberry Pi-compatible header has been replaced by 1mm pitch wafers exposing GPIO, I2C, SPI, and serial (COM) interfaces. UP 710S specifications: Alder Lake-N SoC Default – Intel Processor N97 quad-core  processor up to 3.6 GHz with 6MB cache, 24EU Intel UHD Graphics Gen 12 @ 1.2 GHz; TDP: 12W Options – Intel N50, N100, N200 System Memory – Up to 8GB LPDDR5 Storage Up to 128GB eMMC flash 256Mbit flash for the BIOS/UEFI Video Output – HDMI 1.4b video output up to 4Kp30 […]

$5 CH32-Ant CH32V003 RISC-V development board comes with Stemma QT connector

Ch32V003 RISC-V board

The CH32-Ant is a low-cost, breadboard-compatible development board powered by the WCH Electronics CH32V003-F4U6 RISC-V microcontroller, ideal for prototyping. It is pin-compatible with Prokyber’s ESP32-C6-Bug, offering an easy transition for users who don’t need wireless capabilities or the higher performance of the ESP32-C6FH4. The board features a Stemma QT connector for straightforward I2C sensor integration and a USB Type-C port that supports data transfer and power through software-based USB on the CH32V003. The CH32-Ant offers configurable logic voltage at 3.3V or 5V, adjusted via an onboard 0-ohm resistor, providing flexibility for sensor projects. Powered by the CH32V003F4U6 microcontroller, it operates up to 48MHz with 2kB of RAM and 16kB of flash, making it cost-effective for applications requiring basic processing without wireless. The CH32-Ant features a compact layout designed for breadboard compatibility, a Stemma QT connector for an I2C module on one end of the board, and a USB Type-C connector […]

CodeCell is a ESP32-C3 mini development board for robots, wearables, smart home projects

CodeCell ESP32 C3 mini development board

Engineer and YouTuber Carl Bugeja recently developed CodeCell, a tiny ESP32-C3 development board designed as the brain for robots, wearables, and smart home devices. This module features a nine-axis inertial measurement unit (IMU) for motion fusion and an optional VCNL4040 light sensor. It includes a USB Type-C port for data and power as well as a lithium-polymer battery with a charging circuit. Measuring just 18.5 x 18.5mm this compact board is even smaller than other tiny ESP32 development boards such as Waveshare’s ESP32-S3-Zero and Seeed Studio’s XIAO ESP32S3. However, the Epi C3 is smaller at 23 x 12.75 mm, and so are the Unexpected Maker NANOS3 (25 x 10 mm) and Unexpected Maker OMGS3 (28 x 11 mm). CodeCel ESP32-C3 mini development board specification Microcontroller – ESP32-C3 RISC-V MCU 160MHz 32-bit RISC-V processor core 400kB SRAM, 4MB flash storage Wi-Fi 4 and Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) connectivity Sensors Vishay VCNL4040 light […]

Wiznet W55RP20-EVB-Pico board features W55RP20 SiP with W5500 Ethernet controller and RP2040 MCU

W55RP20 EVB PICO evaluation board

Wiznet has recently released the W55RP20-EVB-Pico dev board, a compact board based around the W55RP20 SiP that fuses the Raspberry Pi RP2040 MCU and the W5500 Ethernet controller into a single IC, plus a 2MB flash chip for firmware storage. Just last month we wrote about W5100S-EVB-Pico2 and W5500-EVB-Pico2 dev boards, both the boards have a newer Raspberry Pi RP2350 MCU and external Ethernet controller (W5500 or W5100S). The RP2350 offers additional security features such as One Time Programmable (OTP) memory, secure boot, and Arm TrustZone technology, making it more suitable for secure applications. The W55RP20 on the other hand integrates a W5500 Ethernet controller and the RP2040 in a single SiP which is also pin-compatible with the Raspberry Pi Pico, making it easy to use existing Pico accessories and code examples. W55RP20-EVB-Pico dev board specifications: SiP– W55RP20 microcontroller MCU – Raspberry Pi RP2040 Core– Dual Cortex M0+ cores up […]

Pimoroni Pico Plus 2 W combines RP2350B MCU with Raspberry Pi RM2 Wi-Fi and Bluetooth module

Pimoroni Pico Plus 2 W

Raspberry Pi released the Raspberry Pi Pico 2 a few months ago, featuring the new RP2350 chip. Despite several upgrades, it lacks wireless connectivity like Pico W. While there’s no official Raspberry Pi Pico 2 W yet, Pimoroni has developed an unofficial alternative, the Pimoroni Pico Plus 2 W, which integrates Wi-Fi and Bluetooth using a yet-to-be-formally-announced Raspberry Pi RM2 module and potentially set to appear in a future Pico 2W. The Pimoroni Pico Plus 2W board is powered by the Raspberry Pi RP2350B dual-core Arm Cortex-M33 microcontroller, features 16MB of QSPI flash with XiP support, 8MB of PSRAM, wireless connectivity, a USB Type-C port for power and data, and a Qwiic/STEMMA QT connector for breakout board integration. A few days ago, we covered the Pimoroni Explorer board, an electronic prototyping board built around the Raspberry Pi RP2350B chip. It features a 2.8-inch LCD screen, a speaker connector, and multiple […]

EmbeddedTS embedded systems design