Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments on WiFiBoy32 is an ESP32 Portable Game Console and IoT Devkit

WiFiBoy32 is an ESP32 Portable Game Console and IoT Devkit

WiFiBoy32

I’ve noticed that ever since Hardkernel launched their ODROID-GO “10th anniversary” portable game console based on ESP32 processor, most of the talk on IRC and social media is about this new toy, and people almost seem to have forgotten about the company’s Arm Linux boards 🙂 But recently, I’ve come across a somewhat similar ESP32 device called WiFiBoy32 that acts as both a portable game console and an IoT development kit. WiFIBoy32 specifications: Wireless module – ESP32-WROOM-32 wireless module with 802.11 b/g/n WiFi and Bluetooth 4.2 LE connectivity Display – 2.4″ 240×320 color SPI TFT LCD display Expansion – 2x 8-pin through holes with GPIOs, SPI, DAC, I2S,ADC, VP/VN, and power signals (3.3V, Vin, GND) Misc Top – 6x large gaming buttons, select and start push buttons, buzzer Bottom – PROG and RESET buttons, user LED USB – 1x micro USB port for power and programming (CP2102) Dimensions – 120 x 73 mm The board can be programmed with the […]

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Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment on Digi Introduces XBeeX3 IoT Modules with New Micro Form Factor, RF and Cellular IoT Connectivity

Digi Introduces XBeeX3 IoT Modules with New Micro Form Factor, RF and Cellular IoT Connectivity

Digi International has just announced the Digi XBee3 series of RF modules and cellular IoT modules. The modules will be available in the existing Digi XBee SMT amd through-hole form factor, as well as a new micro form factor (19×13 mm) that’s about a third of the size of the original XBee RF module. The RF modules will first come with ZigBee 3.0 and IEEE 802.15 support, but Bluetooth LE will be available through a firmware update later on, and WiFi and DigiMesh version will be brought to markets too. The first cellular module supports LTE Cat.1, but the company will eventually launch NB-IoT and eMTC (LTE Cat M) versions for Europe and the US respectively. Some of the shared key capabilities listed by the company: Over-the-air (OTA) changes to devices in the field for bug fixes and new features Dynamically reconfigurable, based upon situation Establish business rules to aggregate, store, transform and filter data via MicroPython programming capability Create alerts […]

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Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 20 Comments on Getting Started with MicroPython on ESP32 – Hello World, GPIO, and WiFi

Getting Started with MicroPython on ESP32 – Hello World, GPIO, and WiFi

I’ve been playing with several ESP32 boards over the months, and tried several firmware images. I started with a tutorial for Arduino Core on ESP32, a few month later I tested ESP32 JavaScript programming with Espruino on ESPino32 board, and recently Espressif Systems sent me ESP32 PICO core development board powered by their ESP32-PICO-D4 SiP, and while I took some pretty photos, I had not used it so far. So I decided to go with yet another firmware, and this time, I played with MicroPython on ESP32, and will report my experience with basic commands, controlling GPIOs, and WiFi in this getting started post. Flashing Micropython Firmware to ESP32 Board Source code is available on Github, as a fork of MicroPython repo as ESP32 support has not been upstreamed yet. We could built the firmware from source, but there’s also a pre-built binary which you can download on MicroPython website. I’ll be using Ubuntu 16.04 for the instructions, which should […]

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Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments on TECHBASE Moduino X Series Industrial IoT Modules / Endpoints are Based on ESP32 WiSoC

TECHBASE Moduino X Series Industrial IoT Modules / Endpoints are Based on ESP32 WiSoC

We’ve previously covered TECHBASE ModBerry industrial IoT gateways leveraging Raspberry Pi 3, FriendlyELEC NanoPi M1 Plus, or AAEON’s UP Linux boards. The company has now launched Moduino X series modules powered by Espressif ESP32 WiFi + Bluetooth SoC to be used as end points together with their ModBerry gateways. Two models have been developed so far, namely Moduino X1 and X2, with the following specifications: Wireless Module – ESP32-WROVER with ESP32 dual-core Tensilica LX6 processor @ 240 MHz, 4MB pSRAM (512KB as option), 4MB SPI flash; External Storage – X2 only: micro SD card slot Connectivity 802.11 b/g/n WiFi up to 16 Mbps + Bluetooth 4.2 LE with u.FL antenna connector X2 only: 10/100M Ethernet Options: LoRa (Semtech SX1272); Sigfox (TI CC1125); LTE Cat M1/NB1; Zigbee Serial – 2x RS-232/485 Display – Optional 0.96″ OLED display with 128×64 resolution Expansion I/Os 4x Digital I/O (0 ~ 3V) 2x Analog Input: A2 Only: 2x analog output (optional) A2 only: support for […]

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Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments on Wemos LOLIN32 Lite Board Powered by ESP32 Rev 1 Chip Sells for $4.90

Wemos LOLIN32 Lite Board Powered by ESP32 Rev 1 Chip Sells for $4.90

Wemos introduced the first low cost ESP32 board with LOLIN32 board going for $6.90 plus shipping in April, but the company is now back with a new Lite version of the board switching ESP-WROOM-32 module with their own design around ESP32 Rev 1 chip (with various silicon bug fixes), and a lower $4.90 price tag to which you need to add ~$2 for shipping. Wemos LOLIN32 Lite is also smaller, so we’ll lose some of the pins (mostly extra power pins), but the I/Os look the same: SoC – Espressif ESP32-DOWD6Q Rev 1.0 dual core Tensilica Xtensa LX6 processor with WiFi and BLE Connectivity – 802.11 b/g/n WiFi + Bluetooth LE I/Os via 2x 13-pin headers with digital I/Os, analog inputs, UART, I2C, SPI, VP/VN, DAC… 3.3V I/O voltage Breadboard compatible USB – 1x micro USB port for power and programming/debugging Misc – Reset button Power – 5V via micro USB + battery header for Lithium battery (charging current: 500mA […]

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Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment on Realtek RTL8195AM Ameba WiFi + NFC Module Sells for $9 Shipped

Realtek RTL8195AM Ameba WiFi + NFC Module Sells for $9 Shipped

Last year, Realtek Ameba IoT SoCs and development kits launched with boards such as Ameba Arduino, and later, the family got some buzz thanks to $2 RTL8710AF modules like Pine64 Padi IoT stamp, which looked competitive priced against ESP8266 SoC, and featuring an ARM Cortex-M3 core. Back to 2017, ESP8266 appears to still be the preferred platform for makers, and the community around Reatek Ameba processor is relatively small, but maybe the solutions are being integrated into commercial products rather than hobbyists project. Today, as I browsed the web, I noticed that are also some Realtek RTL8195AM module with WiFi, and NFC starting with an “Realtek Ameba-RTL8195AM WiFi & NFC Module” I first found on DFrobot for $15 per unit, but after spending a bit more time searching, I ended finding what looks like the same model for $8.99 including shipping on IC Station. RTL8195AM module (MJIOT-AMB-02) specifications: SoC – Realtek RTL8195AM ARM Cortex-M3 processor @ 166 MHz with 1MB […]

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Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments on FOSDEM 2017 Open Source Meeting Schedule

FOSDEM 2017 Open Source Meeting Schedule

FOSDEM (Free and Open Source Software Developers’ European Meeting) is a 2-day free event for software developers to meet, share ideas and collaborate that happens on the first week-end of February, meaning it will take place on February 4 & 5, 2017 this year. FOSDEM 2017 will features 608 speakers, 653 events, and 54 tracks, with 6 main tracks namely: Architectures, Building, Cloud, Documentation, Miscellaneous, and Security & Encryption. I won’t be there, but it’s always interesting to look at the schedule, and I made my own virtual schedule focusing especially on talks from “Embedded, mobile and automotive” and “Internet of Things” devrooms. Saturday 4, 2017 11:00 – 11:25 – Does your coffee machine speaks Bocce; Teach your IoT thing to speak Modbus and it will not stop talking, by Yaacov Zamir There are many IoT dashboards out on the web, most will require network connection to a server far far away, and use non standard protocols. We will show […]

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Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments on $55 OpenMV Cam M7 Open Source Computer Vision Board is Powered by an STM32F7 Cortex-M7 MCU

$55 OpenMV Cam M7 Open Source Computer Vision Board is Powered by an STM32F7 Cortex-M7 MCU

I wrote about Jevois-A33 computer vision camera based on Allwinner A33 quad core Cortex A7 processor last week, and today, I’ve come across OpenMV Cam M7 open source computer vision board based on a much less powerful STMicro STM32F7 ARM Cortex M7 micro-controller, but with the advantage of consuming less power, and exposing some extra I/Os. OpenMV Cam M7 board specifications & features: MCU – STMicro STM32F765VI ARM Cortex M7 @ up to 216 MHz with 512KB RAM, 2 MB flash. External Storage – micro SD slot Camera Omnivision OV7725 image sensor supporting 640×480 8-bit grayscale images or 320×240 16-bit RGB565 images at 30 FPS 2.8mm lens on a standard M12 lens mount USB – 1x micro USB port (Virtual COM Port and a USB Flash Drive) Expansion – 2x 8-pin headers with SPI, I2C CAN bus, asynchronous serial bus (Tx/Rx), 12-bit ADC, 12-bit DAC, 3x I/Os for servo control; interrupts and PWM on all I/O pins; 3.3V (5V tolerant) Misc – RGB LED […]

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