micropython News - CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

April 22, 2026April 22, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

Raspberry Pi RP2350 board offers NB-IoT cellular connectivity, GNSS, and Wi-Fi indoor location

Raspberry Pi RP2350 board NB-IoT cellular

Challenger+ RP2350 NB-IoT is a Feather-compatible board pairing a Raspberry Pi RP2350 microcontroller and a certified NB-IoT cellular module with built-in GNSS, suitable for long-range, low-power connectivity. It looks to be a variant of the earlier Challenger+ RP2350 WiFi6/BLE5 board that replaces an ESP32-C6 WiFi 6, BLE, and 802.15.4 module with an STMicroelectronics ST87M01 NB-IoT and GNSS module. It still offers Challenger+ RP2350 NB-IoT specifications: Microcontroller – Raspberry Pi RP2350A MCU CPU Dual-core Arm Cortex-M33 processor @ 150MHz Dual-core 32-bit RISC-V processor @ 150MHz Up to two cores can be used at a given time Memory – 520KB internal RAM 8KB OTP Storage Package – QFN-60; 7×7 mm Memory – 8MB PSRAM Storage – 8MB SPI flash Cellular connectivity Module – STMicro ST87M01-1301 LTE Cat NB2 (NB-IoT), 3GPP Release 15 Worldwide regional bands coverage – B1, B3, B5, B8, B20, and B28 Single-tone / Multi-tone / Extended TBS and 2 […]

April 20, 2026April 20, 2026 by Debashis Das - 3 Comments

LILYGO T-Watch Ultra – An IP65-rated ESP32-S3 smartwatch with 2.01-inch AMOLED, LoRa, and GNSS

LILYGO’s T-Watch Ultra is an ESP32-S3-based smartwatch development platform that appears to be an upgrade over the previous T-Watch-S3 Plus (1.3-inch display and a 940mAh battery), with a larger 2.01-inch AMOLED touch display, a higher-capacity 1,100mAh battery, and an IP65 waterproof and dustproof rating. The device integrates a u-blox MIA-M10Q GNSS module for positioning, a SX1262 LoRa transceiver for long-range communication, and a Bosch BHI260AP smart sensor for motion-based AI applications. Additionally, it features an RTC chip, NFC, a built-in microphone, a haptic driver, a microSD card slot, and a USB Type-C port for programming and charging. The watch targets applications such as Meshtastic nodes, GPS tracking, wearable IoT interfaces, edge AI sensing, and custom smartwatch firmware development. LILYGO T-Watch Ultra specifications: SoC – Espressif ESP32-S3R8 CPU – Dual-core Tensilica LX7 microcontroller up to 240 MHz with vector instructions for AI acceleration Memory – 512KB SRAM, 8MB PSRAM Wireless – WiFi […]

April 19, 2026April 19, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 10 Comments

BeagleConnect Zepto – A “$1 computer” based on TI MSPM0L1117 Cortex-M0+ MCU

BeagleBoard.org Foundation’s BeagleConnect Zepto “$1 computer” is an upcoming open-source hardware board powered by Texas Instruments MSPM0L117 Cortex-M0+ MCU, part of the MSPM0 family introduced in 2023. It’s a tiny board with mikroBus-compatible headers, a TAG-CONNECT JTAG connector, two Qwiic connectors for expansion (or one Qwiic connector + USB-C depending on the variant), Boot and Reset buttons, and an RGB LED. BeagleConnect Zepto specifications: MCU – Texas Instruments MSPM0L117 CPU – 32MHz Arm Cortex-M0+ core Memory – 16KB SRAM Storage – 128KB dual-bank flash Package – QFN32 (5×5 mm) USB – Optional USB-C port for power (multiplexed with one of the Qwicc JST connectors) Expansion mikroBUS headers supporting a choice of about 2,000 ClickE add-on boards; one of the sides is compatible with some Raspberry Pi HATs (note limited to 12 pins) Up to 2x Qwicc connectors with full Grove function: I2C, UART, ADC, GPIO Debugging – 8-pin TAG-CONNECT JTAG […]

April 11, 2026 by Debashis Das - 2 Comments

$15 STM32U575 development board features FPC display connector, microSD card slot, two 48-pin GPIO headers

A few days ago, we looked at the WeAct Studio STM32U585CIU6 development board, which features an ultra-low-power STM32U5 Cortex-M33 MCU and was added to MicroPython v1.28. If you’re looking for another STM32U5-based option, especially for compact UI projects, Maker Go now offers an STM32U575 board with a display connector, a microSD card slot, and many more GPIOs While the STM32U585 on the WeAct board features cryptographic accelerators, the STM32U575VGT6 MCU on the Maker Go board is closely related and still offers the same high-performance Cortex-M33 core running at 160 MHz, along with ultra-low-power capabilities. This new board also adds 8MB of external flash and is designed to accept 1.47-inch or 2.0-inch LCDs directly via a ribbon cable. STM32U575VGT6 board specifications: Microcontroller – ST STM32U575VGT6 Core – Arm Cortex-M33 Armv8-M core clocked at up to 160 MHz with FPU, Arm TrustZone Memory – 786 KB SRAM Flash – 1024 KB (1 […]

April 8, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

WeAct STM32U585CIU6 Core Mini – An $8 STM32U5 board supported by MicroPython v1.28

WeAct Studio STM32U585CIU6 Core Mini board

While checking out MicroPython v1.28 changelog, I noticed a board from WeAct Studio based on ST’s STM32U5 Cortex-M33 microcontroller: the WeAct STM32U585CIU6 Mini Core board (WEACTSTUDIO_MINI_STM32U585 in MicroPython code). I found it interesting/newsworthy, as while I had written about the initial STM32U5 MCU release in 2021, and followed up with beefier STM32U5 SKUs with NeoChrom 2.5D GPU and up to 4MB flash in 2023, we had yet to cover a third-party board based on an STM32U5 MCU, excluding the Arduino UNO Q SBC running Linux on a Qualcomm QRB2210 MPU and using an STM32U585 for real-time and I/O control. The WeAct STM32U585CIU6 Core Mini changes that as a low-cost, standalone STM32U5 MCU board. WeAct STM32U585CIU6 Core Mini specifications: Microcontroller – ST STM32U585CIU6 Core – Arm Cortex-M33 Armv8-M core clocked at up to 160 MHz with FPU, Arm TrustZone Memory – 768 KB RAM Flash – 2048 KB flash GPU – […]

March 27, 2026March 27, 2026 by Debashis Das - No Comments

SparkFun Thing Plus – ESP32-C5 board offers dual-band WiFi 6, Adafruit Feather pinout, LiPo battery support

Espressif has recently released the ESP-IDF v6.0 framework with support for ESP32-C5 and ESP32-C61, so we can expect more ESP32-C5 boards. Following the launch of boards like DFRobot FireBeetle 2 and the Espressif DevKitC-1, SparkFun has now launched its Thing Plus – ESP32-C5, an Adafruit Feather-compatible board based on the ESP32-C5. The timing is no coincidence. Although the ESP32-C5 dual-band WiFi 6 SoC was announced back in 2022, hardware makers have been waiting for stable software support. With the release of ESP-IDF v6.0, the ESP32-C5 moves from “preview” to “stable” and adds key features, such as Safe Bootloader OTA updates. This enables the ROM bootloader to fall back to a recovery partition if an update fails, making it reliable enough for companies like SparkFun to launch hardware for remote deployments and Matter-compatible smart home applications. SparkFun Thing Plus – ESP32-C5 specifications: Wireless module – ESP32-C5-WROOM-1 SoC – Espressif Systems ESP32-C5 CPU Single-core […]

March 19, 2026March 19, 2026 by Debashis Das - 2 Comments

Clintech Pico – The first Raspberry Pi RP2354B board offers 48 GPIOs in Raspberry Pi Pico form factor

Designed by Clintech Ltd. in Bulgaria, the Clintech Pico Board appears to be the first development board based on the Raspberry Pi RP2354B chip with 2MB on-chip flash. It retains the same form factor as a Raspberry Pi Pico 2 but adds extra GPIOs to make use of the 48 general-purpose GPIOs provided by the RP2354B chip. Like the Raspberry Pi Pico 2, this board features 40 castellated and through holes on the sides, exposing GPIOs 0–22 and 26–28, along with 3 debug pins. Additionally, the board includes 27 extra on-board through holes that break out the remaining GPIOs (23–25 and 29–47) as well as the QSPI interface (SD0–SD3 and SCLK) for external memory. Clintech Pico specifications: SoC – Raspberry Pi RP2354B CPU Dual-core Arm Cortex-M33 @ 150 MHz with Arm Trustzone, Secure boot Dual-core 32-bit RISC-V Hazard3 @ 150 MHz (3-stage in-order pipeline; RV32IMAC with Zba, Zbb, Zbs, Zbkb, Zcb, Zcmp, and […]

March 18, 2026March 18, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

PycoClaw – A MicroPython-based OpenClaw implementation for ESP32 and other microcontrollers

PycoClaw is a MicroPython-based platform for running AI agents on ESP32 and other microcontrollers that brings OpenClaw workspace-compatible intelligence to resource-constrained embedded devices. We had already covered the C-based Miniclaw for ESP32-S3 SoCs, the PycoClaw’s developer (Jonathan Peace) told CNX Software that it is a “full OpenClaw-compliant agent” that supports more LLM providers (OpenAI, Gemini, Ollama, etc.), interfaces with not only Telegram, but also ScriptO Studio and WebRTC, and offers features like OTA updates, extensions, and battery-optimized operation. The table below compares PycoClaw to OpenClaw, Nanobot, PicoClaw, NullClaw, and MimiClaw. MimiClaw still offers the lowest footprint and highest efficiency, but PycoClaw appears to offer many more features, including improved GPIO support. It works on ESP32-S3 with at least 8MB flash and PSRAM, ESP32-P4, and should soon support Raspberry Pi RP2350 boards with PSRAM as well. PycoClaw can be installed on supported hardware through a “one-click install” using a compatible web […]