node-red News - Page 2 of 3 - CNX Software

August 24, 2021September 2, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 36 Comments

Coin cell-powered OpenThread sensor board can send data every 20 seconds for three years

Monkey Store’s Thread Sensor Tag is a pressure, humidity, temperature, and light sensor that connects to the OpenThread network, and is capable of transmitting MQTT/UDP data every 20 seconds over a period of around three years from a single coin cell battery. As a reminder, OpenThread is an implementation of the Thread IoT network protocol that was unveiled in 2016 by Nest Labs (now Google/Alphabet). This has not been widely used so far, but we did write about MKR SharkyPro development board with OpenThread support via STMicro STM32WB5MMG wireless module earlier this year, and Monkey Store is telling us both Google and Apple are working on devices with support for the IoT protocol. Thread Sensor Tag specifications: Wireless module – Minew MS88SF2 based on Nordic Semi nRF52840 multi-protocol 2.4GHz wireless Cortex-M4 microcontroller Sensor VEMLS6030 I2C light sensor MS8607 pressure, humidity, and temperature sensor I/Os – 7x through holes with Tx/Rx, […]

June 25, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

UG65 LoRaWAN gateway supports Node-RED, up to 2,000 nodes

Node-RED is a popular flow-based, visual programming development tool originally developed by IBM for wiring together hardware devices, APIs, and online services as part of the Internet of Things. But despite being designed for the IoT, I’ve seldom seen Node-RED support for LoRaWAN hardware, the only exception being the Axon platform, a tiny WiFi & LoRaWAN board. But there’s at least one more option with Milestone IoT’s UG65 LoRaWAN gateway, launched late last year, getting a firmware update that adds Node-RED support. UG65 LoRaWAN gateway specifications: SoC – NXP quad-core Cortex-A53 processor @ 1.5 GHz System Memory – 512 MB DDR4 RAM Storage – 8 GB eMMC flash Connectivity LoRaWAN Semtech SX1302 based Fully Integrated Internal Antenna (Optional: 1 × 50 Ω N-Female External Antenna Connector) 8 channels Frequency Bands – CN470, IN865, EU868, RU864, US915, AU915, KR920, AS923 Sensitivity – -140dBm Sensitivity @292bps Output Power – 27dBm Max Protocol […]

January 29, 2021September 22, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 7 Comments

UniPi Gate RS485 Linux IoT Gateway features 600 MHz Rockchip RK3328 SoC

Based in the Czech Republic, UniPi Technology design and manufacture programmable logic controllers, gateways, sensors and systems for smart homes, building management systems, industry and automation projects. Their latest product is UniPi Gate G100/G110 Linux IoT gateway with Ethernet and RS485 interfaces. When the company contacted CNX Software about the gateway, they told us the system was based on a quad-core Cortex-A53 processor clocked at 600 MHz. Since we are not aware of such SoC, we asked, and UniPi told us it was Rockchip RK3328. That processor is normally clocked at 1.5 GHz, and it turns out the company purposely underclocked the processor to 600 MHz to extend the temperature range and reduce the heat emitted by the CPU. UniPi Gate G100 & G110 specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3328 quad-core Cortex-A53 processor @ 600 MHz System Memory – 512MB RAM Storage – 16GB eMMC flash, MicroSD card slot Networking – […]

April 2, 2020April 2, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

QuickDAQ.mikroBUS Development Board Leverages Visual Programming and MikroE Click Boards (Crowdfunding)

mikroBUS is a socket interface that allows you to connect MikroElektronik (MikroE) Click add-on boards that can be buttons, sensors, a servo controller, a wireless module, and practically anything you may think of since there are over 700 Click boards to choose from. We already covered several SBC with MikroBUS sockets starting with SolidRun HummingBoard Gate board that offered a single socket for 150+ Click boards at the time (2015). Other boards include Azure Sphere MT3620 with two MikroBUS sockets and MikroElektronika’s own Flip & Click board designed to take one Arduino shield and up to four Click boards. Another upcoming option is QuickDAQ.mikroBUS developer by EmbeddeTech in collaboration with MikroElektronika, powered by a Microchip PIC32 MCU, offering three MikroBUS sockets, and designed to work with “Virtuoso Low-Code Environment” that allows people to program the board using NodeRed-like visual programming and generate a Visual Studio project with code from the […]

October 12, 2018October 12, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Particle Unveils Mesh SoMs and IoT Developer Tools

Earlier this year, Particle unveiled three IoT development boards based on nRF52840 Bluetooth 5/802.15.4 WiSoC and supporting Particle Mesh, which interestingly is not based on Bluetooth Mesh or even Bluetooth, and instead relies on Thread specification/OpenThread implementation, and the 802.15.4 radio of the chip with Bluetooth only used for the initial setup stage. Particle announced the shipping date (October 2018 or… this month) for their Mesh boards pre-ordered in February, as well as three new products in a recent blog post. One of the products is a family of system-on-modules compatible with Particle Mesh, while the other two are related IoT developer tools. Particle Mesh SOMs The Particle Mesh SOMs will have similar names and features as corresponding Particle mesh developers kits such as Boron (NB-IoT / eMTC + BLE + Mesh) and Argon (ESP32 WiFi, BLE + Mesh), but with an edge connector and designed as enterprise-grade, production-scale version […]

June 4, 2018June 10, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Tibbo-Pi is a Wirefree Modular IoT Prototyping Platform for Raspberry Pi Board

Tibbo Project System (TPS) is a modular Linux IoT prototyping platform based on the same Texas Instruments Sitara AM335x processor used in BeagleBone Black or a PocketBeagle boards, and comprised of a main board, Tibbit blocks to add features as needed, and an enclosure. I’ve now been informed the company will be at Computex 2018 to showcase their new products including Tibbo-Pi, following the same concept as Tibbo Project System, but leveraging Raspberry Pi 3 board and ecosystem instead. While an English brochure is said to be available, all information in the webpage listed in the photo above is in Japanese. But basically, Tibbo-Pi is said to be an IoT edge device for industrial use, made for build a prototypes, or small scale production system thanks to a choice a 60 different Tibbit Blocks sensor and I/O module blocks, all wire free. Programming of the system is typically done with with […]

May 23, 2017May 23, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

This $8 USB Transceiver Can Add 433 MHz Device Support to your Home Automation Gateway

With the advent of WiFi and Bluetooth IoT, 433 MHz devices are becoming less popular but are still used for doorbells, motions sensors, windows/door sensors, etc… If you have such devices at home, one way to integrate those into your home automation system is to use an ESP8266 WiFi to 433 Mhz bridge between your gateway and 433 MHz capable products. However, you don’t even need the middleman if you use a USB 433 MHz transceiver connected directly to the gateway. Nathan Chantrell found such USB dongle on Banggood for about $8, and managed to make it work with his Debian Gateway using Node-RED. 433 MHz USB dongle and features: Connectivity 433 MHz transceiver Range – up to 30 to 100 meters (Line of Sight) Tx and Rx for PT2262, PT2260, PT2264, PT2240, EV1527, HS2303-PT codes Can transmit multiple signals independently Control interface – Serial over USB @ 9600 bps […]

November 11, 2016November 11, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 9 Comments

Marvin is a Plug and Play, Arduino Compatible, LoRa USB IoT Development Board (Crowdfunding)

LoRa appears to be one of the most popular LPWAN standards so far, with hobbyist development boards such as LoPy or LoRaONE, and we’ll soon have at least one more choice thanks to Marvin, a LoRa development board with a full size USB port. Marvin board specifications: MCU – Atmel/Microchip ATmega32u AVR MCU (same as Arduino Leonardo board) Connectivity – LoRa via Microchip RN2483; Supports both 868 MHz and 433 MHz frequency bands, on-board antenna USB – 1x USB, 1x micro USB port for power and programming Debugging – USB, and ISP header Expansion – 5x Grove connectors Power Supply – 5V via USB port Dimensions – N/A, but similar to USB flash drive The board can be programmed with the Arduino IDE, and they mention IBM Bluemix platform, and Node-RED, but overall details about documentation and software are scarce right now. One of the advantage of this form factor is […]