Challenger RP2040 LoRa board combines Raspberry Pi RP2040 MCU with RFM95W LoRa module

Challenger RP2040 LoRa

Invector Labs is now offering a variant of the WiFi-based Challenger RP2040 board with a LoRa radio. The Challenger RP2040 LoRa board features the Hope RF RFM95W LoRa radio transceiver module instead of the ESP8285 WiFi chip found in the original board. Raspberry Pi RP2040 has already been used in combination with a LoRa module, notably in Rakwireless RAK11300 WisDuo LPWAN module and the “LoRa Expansion for Pico“, a baseboard for Raspberry Pi Pico equipped with a LoRa module, but it’s the first time I see the combination in a development board form factor, which as a potential bonus following Adafruit Feather form factor. Challenger RP2040 LoRa board preliminary specifications: MCU – Raspberry Pi RP2040 dual-core Cortex-M0+ MCU @ 133MHz with 264KB SRAM Storage – 8MB flash Wireless module – Hope RF RFM95W connected via SPI channel and some GPIOs 168 dB maximum link budget. +20 dBm – 100 mW […]

Round color LCD board comes in Raspberry Pi RP2040 or ESP8266 flavor (Crowdfunding)

RoundyPi Roundy with Raspberry Pi RP2040

Roundy is a board with a 1.28-inch round color LCD with 240 x 240 resolution that is offered with either a Raspberry Pi RP2040 MCU or an ESP-12E WiFi module, with the variants respectively called RoundyPi and RoundyFi. Both boards come with a micro USB port for power and programming, a button for flashing the firmware, and six pins with power signals and four GPIOs. One difference is that the Raspberry Pi RP2040 board includes a MicroSD card for data storage. Roundy specifications: MCU / module RoundyPi – Raspberry Pi RP2040 dual-core Cortex-M0+ microcontroller @ up to 133 MHz with 256KB SRAM RoundyFi – ESP-12E module with ESP8266 microcontroller @ up to 160 MHz with 160KB SRAM, 4MB SPI flash External storage (RoundyPi only) – MicroSD card socket Display – 1.28-inch round LCD with 240 x 240 resolution, 65k colors; GC9A01 SPI display driver. (It appears to be that model) […]

Maker Nano RP2040 offers Arduino Nano, Grove and Qwiic modules compatibility

Maker Nano RP2040 vs Raspberry Pi Pico

Cytron Maker Nano RP2040 is board similar to Raspberry Pi Pico but with Arduino Nano form factor, a proper reset button, two RGB LEDs, single color LEDs for some GPIOs, a buzzer, as well as two Qwicc/STEMMA QT connectors that can also be used to connect Seeed Studio Grove modules using provided conversion cables. While the board mostly aims to be an Arduino Nano/Maker Nano upgrade, there are some notable differences with the I/O voltage being limited to 3.3V without 5V tolerance, and there are only four ADC inputs (A0 – A3) instead of eight on the Arduino Nano. Maker Nano RP2040 specifications: MCU – Raspberry Pi RP2040 dual-core Arm Cortex-M0+ microcontroller @ 125 MHz with 264KB internal RAM Storage – 2MB flash Audio – Piezo buzzer with mute switch Expansion 2x 15-pin headers with 22x GPIOs, 14x of which with LEDs,2x I2C, 2x UART, 2x SPI, 14x PWM, 4x […]

Newt 2.7-inch wireless display offers high refresh rate with SHARP’s Memory-in-Pixel (MiP) technology (Crowdfunding)

Newt ESP32 IoT Display

Newt is a battery-powered, always-on, ESP32-S2 wireless display with a 2.7-inch display leveraging SHARP’s Memory-in-Pixel (MiP) technology to provide an experience similar to E-Ink displays but with a much faster refresh rate. The wireless display can connect to the Internet to retrieve weather, calendars, sports scores, to-do lists, quotes, and whatever you’d like. Since it is powered by an ESP32-S2 microcontroller you can program with the ESP-IDF framework, Arduino, MicroPython, or CircuitPython. Newt display specifications: WiFi module – Espressif ESP32-S2-WROVER module with ESP32-S2 single-core Xtensa LX7 processor @ 240 MHz with 4 MB flash and 2 MB PSRAM Display – 2.7-inch, 240 x 400 pixel SHARP MiP LCD with “high-contrast, high-resolution, low-latency content with ultra-low power consumption”, reflective mode to eliminate the need for a backlight. USB – 1x USB Type-C port for programming, power, and charging Expansion – I2C Qwiik connector Misc Micro Crystal RV-3028-C7 RTC (45nA power consumption) […]

HUENIT modular robot arm takes 3D printer, laser engraver, suction, AI camera modules (Crowdfunding)

Huenit Robot Arm

Most robot arms are designed to carry and manipulate payloads, but HUENIT modular robot arm is much more versatile as besides a traditional suction module, the robot supports modules such as a 3D printer, laser engraver, pen holder for drawings, and a creator module for let people designed their own. The robot arm can hold payloads of up to 750 grams, have a reach of up to 39 cm without module, supports WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity, and can also optionally be fitted with a 2MP AI camera module based on Kendryte K210 RISC-V processor with built-in AI accelerators. HUENIT specifications: Robot arm 4-axis Payload up to 750 grams Reach – 390mm without module Repeatability – 0.05mm Precision – 0.1mm Speed – Up to 500mm/s Storage – MicroSD card slot USB – 1x USB-C port Wireless – WiFI and Bluetooth Misc – UART, external stepper Power Supply – 24V DC input, […]

CANBed Raspberry Pi RP2040 board supports CAN Bus, OBD-II protocol

CANBed: Raspberry Pi RP2040 CAN Bus board

We previously wrote about adding CAN Bus to Raspberry Pi Pico with CANpico expansion board. CANBed is a single board with a Raspberry Pi RP2040 microcontroller and a Microchip MCP2551 CAN receiver plus some extra I/Os that offers an alternative. CANBed supports the CAN 2.0 and OBD-II protocols via either a DB9 connector or a 4-pin terminal block, offers two 4-pin Grove headers and an extra I/O header for expansion, as well as 9-28V power input. CANbed specifications: MCU – Raspberry Pi RP2040 dual-core Cortex-M0+ microcontroller @ up to 133 MHz with 264KB SRAM Storage – 2MB SPI flash CAN 2.0 or OBD-II interface via DB9 port or 4-pin terminal block via Microchip MCP2551 CAN transceiver, 120 Ohm terminal resistor. USB – 1x Micro USB port for programming Expansion 2x Grove header (I2C + UART) SPI header 18-pin header with GPIO, UART, I2C, 4x analog inputs, 5V, GND Misc – […]

Blink an LED on ESP32 board with Tuya Link SDK

Tuya-ledapp-Featured-Image

Tuya is an All-in-one IoT Platform that enables the user to build smart IoT solutions by connecting devices efficiently, securely, and reliably. This is a getting started article to set up the Tuya platform with the Espressif’s ESP32 boards via tuya link SDK. Further, we use it to control an LED through an Android device. When the switch in the Tuya Smart App is turned ON, the LED connected to the ESP32 board glows and vice versa. Prerequisites Hardware: ESP32 board LED with suitable ballast resistor Breadboard, micro-USB cable, and connecting wires Software: Tuya Account: Tuya IoT Platform (Web) Tuya Account: Tuya Smart Application (Android) Python 3.x Arduino IDE GitHub Link: https://github.com/JayeshRajam/Tuya-ledapp.git Hardware Connections for Tuya Link SDK The ESP32 board is placed on a breadboard. The positive terminal of the LED is connected to digital pin 5 of the ESP32 board and the negative terminal is connected to the […]

Seeed XIAO BLE – A tiny nRF52840 Bluetooth 5.0 board with (optional) IMU sensor and microphone

Seeed XIAO BLE Sense

Seeed Studio has just introduced two new members to their XIAO board family with the Seeed XIAO BLE and XIAO BLE Sense boards equipped with Nordic Semi nRF52840 Bluetooth 5.0 microcontroller, as well as an IMU sensor and microphone on the “Sense” model. Just like the earlier XIAO RP2040 board, the tiny Seed XIAO BLE board can be programmed with Arduino, MicroPython, and CircuityPython, and offers two headers with 7-pin each for GPIOs. What’s really new is the wireless connectivity, the sensors, and a battery charging circuitry. Seeed XIAO BLE specifications: Wireless MCU –  Nordic nRF52840 Arm Cortex-M4F microcontroller @ up to 64 MHz with  1 MB flash, 256 KB SRAM, Bluetooth 5.0, NFC, Zigbee connectivity Storage – 2 MB QSPI flash Expansion I/Os 2x 7-pin headers with 1x UART, 1x I2C, 1x SPI, 1x NFC, 1x SWD, 11x GPIO (PWM), 6x ADC 3.3V I/O voltage (not 5V tolerant) Sensors […]