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May 19, 2025May 19, 2025 by Debashis Das - 2 Comments

FlipperHeimer Geiger Counter module adds radiation sensing to Flipper Zero

The FlipperHeimer is a compact Geiger counter add-on module designed to work with the Flipper Zero. It allows users to monitor beta and gamma radiation levels using the Flipper’s display and power source, making it a portable device to detect radiation. Built around a J305 Geiger–Müller tube, the FlippenHeimer provides real-time data logging, visual feedback via graphs. Other than that, it features “atomic dice roller” functionality that uses the random nature of radioactive decay to generate unpredictable outcomes. Key components of this device include 555 timers, LM358 op-amps, 2N3904 and MPSA42 transistors, inductors, and high-voltage capacitors. These features make this device useful for applications such as environmental awareness, hobbyist radiation monitoring, and generating random values. FlippenHeimer Specifications: Main interface – Connects to Flipper Zero via GPIO/UART (plug-and-play with GPIO header) Detection device – J305 Geiger-Müller glass tube, suitable for gamma and beta radiation Radiation detection: Detects beta and gamma radiation […]

May 17, 2025May 17, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Rutronik Adapter Board RAB7 Sensor Fusion Arduino shield features seven sensors from Bosch, Infineon, and Sensirion

Rutronik RAB7 Adapter Board Sensor Fusion

Rutronik Adapter Board RAB7 is an open-source hardware Arduino shield designed for AI-powered Sensor Fusion with seven environmental and inertial sensors from Bosch, Infineon, and Sensirion. The shield is designed to be used in conjunction with an Arduino-compatible board to process and analyze the data, and it can be useful for building automation, professional kitchens, HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning), and Smart Agriculture. Rutronik Adapter Board RAB7 specifications: Sensors Infineon XENSIV DPS368XTSA1 digital barometric pressure sensor Bosch BMP585 digital pressure sensor Sensirion SGP41-D-R4 indoor air quality sensor for VOC measurement found in projects like Air Lab, Airgradient One, and SparkFun “Indoor Air Quality Combo Sensor”, among others Bosch BME690 low-power digital gas, pressure, temperature and humidity sensor with AI Bosch BMI323 – 6-axis intelligent low-power inertial measurement unit (IMU) Sensirion SHT41-AD1B-R2 high-precision, low-power relative humidity and temperature sensor Bosch BMM350 3-axis magnetic sensor for 9-axis absolute orientation for navigation Host […]

May 16, 2025May 16, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

PitFusion thermal imager for Raspberry Pi combines Melexis MLX90640 sensor and RGB camera (Crowdfunding)

IVMECH Mechatronics’ PitFusion is a thermal imager designed for the Raspberry Pi based on a Melexis MLX90640 32×24 thermal sensor and an Adafruit 0V5647 RGB sensor comparable to the Raspberry Pi Camera Module v1.3. The kit enables users to capture thermal and visible images simultaneously, and can be useful for automation, robotics, security (human/pet motion detection), non-contact temperature measurement, and environmental monitoring applications. PiFusion specifications: Thermal Sensor – Adafruit LX90640 with 32 x 24 pixel array Camera Sensor – Adafruit 0V5647 comparable to the RPi Camera Module v1.3 with 2592 x 1944 resolution Temperature Range – -40°C to 300°C Frame Rate – Up to 32 Hz (thermal), 30 fps (camera) Spectral Range – 8 µm to 14 µm (optimal for human body and object detection) Host Interfaces – I2C for thermal sensor, CSI for camera) Dimensions – 40 x 30 x 10 mm Weight – 15 grams IVMECH says the […]

May 14, 2025May 14, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

SiFli SF32LB52J big.LITTLE Arm Cortex-M33 Bluetooth MCU powers the Core Time 2 smartwatch

SiFli SF23LB52J is a Bluetooth 5.3 microcontroller part of the SF32LB52x family with two Cortex-M33 in big.LITTLE configuration with a 240 MHz high-performance core for user application/GUI and a 24 MHz low-power core to manage the Bluetooth part. A few months ago, Eric Migicovsky, the founder of the smartwatch company Pebble, and now Core Devices, introduced the Core 2 Duo and Core Time 2 smartwatches running PebbleOS open-source firmware that were mostly relaunches of the never-released Pebble 2 and Pebble Time 2 with some tweaks. We already knew the Core 2 Duo would be based on a Nordic nRF52840 Arm Cortex-M4F microcontroller, however, the one for the Core Time 2 was kept secret. That’s until today, as Eric has just announced that the Core Time 2 would be based on the SiFli SF23LB52J MCU, since the smartwatch required an MCU with more RAM and processing power, and SiFli also offers […]

May 13, 2025May 13, 2025 by Debashis Das - No Comments

PicoEMP – A Raspberry Pi Pico-based open-source electromagnetic fault injector designed for EMFI testing and research

The PicoEMP is a compact, low-cost, open-source electromagnetic fault injector (EMFI) tool developed by Colin O’Flynn for researchers, hobbyists, and educators interested in hardware security. Unlike NewAE’s professional-grade ChipSHOUTER, PicoEMP is a bare-bones device designed to be safe, usable, and most importantly, affordable. Built around the Raspberry Pi Pico, this device generates high-voltage pulses using a transformer circuit (originally for photographic flash charging) to discharge energy from a low-ESR ceramic capacitor into a custom-made coil tip, which creates an electromagnetic field capable of injecting a little bit of power to the internals of the processors such as registers and SRAM. This can be exploited to flip bits and test the robustness of embedded systems against such attacks. ChipSHOUTER-PicoEMP specifications Main controller – Raspberry Pi Pico (RP2040 dual-core Arm Cortex-M0+ MCU @ up to 133 MHz) Purpose – Electromagnetic Fault Injection (EMFI) for testing embedded systems security Components High-voltage pulse generator circuit […]

May 11, 2025May 11, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

ThinkNode M2 ESP32-S3-based Meshtastic handset features 1.3-inch OLED display, 1,000 mAh battery

Elecrow ThinkNode M2 is yet another Meshtastic handset for off-grid messaging and GPS coordinate sharing based on an ESP32-S3 module providing Bluetooth connectivity to a smartphone, and a Semtech SX1262 LoRa transceiver for low-power long-range wireless connectivity. It’s an evolution of the ThinkNode-M1, itself similar to the LILYGO T-Echo, based on a Nordic Semi nRF52840 Bluetooth module and SX1262 LoRa transceiver with an external antenna housed in a 3D printed enclosure. The new ThinkNode M2 is very similar but features a more powerful ESP32-S3 module instead, relies on a 1.3-inch OLED display instead of a 1.54-inch e-paper display, and is housed in an ABS plastic case. ThinkNode M2 specifications: Core module – ESP32-S3 module (looks to be ESP32-S3-WROOM-1 on the photo below) SoC – ESP32-S3 CPU – dual-core 32-bit microcontroller @ 240MHz Memory – 512KB SRAM, 8MB PSRAM Storage – 384KB ROM 4MB flash Wireless – 2.4GHz Wi-Fi and Bluetooth […]

May 6, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Tiliqua – An hackable Lattice ECP5 FPGA-based audio multitool for Eurorack (Crowdfunding)

Tiliqua is a Lattice ECP5 FPGA multitool board designed for audio and visual synthesis and compatible with the Eurorack modular synthesizer format. The board features four audio input jacks and four audio output jacks, all of which can be used as touch-sensitive inputs when not connected. Other interfaces include a USB 2.0 Host/Device port, MIDI support, two PMOD expansion connectors, and a display interface to connect the Tiliqua screen for visual effects. All those features make it suitable for audio-rate modulation, low-latency effects, video synthesis, high-speed USB audio, or emulating retro hardware. Tiliqua specifications: FPGA – Lattice ECP5 (LFE5U-25F-6BG256) FPGA supported by the open-source FPGA flow System Memory – 32MB PSRAM (tested up to 200MHz DDR / 400MB/s) Storage 16MB SPI flash for the FPGA 16MB SPI flash for the Raspberry Pi RP2040 2Kbit I2C EEPROM: for storing calibration constants Video Output – Digital video GPDI (General Purpose Differential Interface) […]

May 2, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

SO-ARM101 open-source dual robotic arm kit works with Hugging Face’s LeRobot

SO-ARM101 robotic arm with hugging face support

SO-ARM101 “Arm Servo Motor Kit” is an open-source dual robotic arm kit that works with Hugging Face’s LeRobot robotics framework and is designed to interface with NVIDIA Jetson AI modules and computers. It is an update to the SO-ARM100 DIY open-source robotic arm kit introduced last year with LeRobot framework support. The new SO-ARM101 is still comprised of leader and follower arms but features improved wiring to prevent disconnection issues previously seen at joint 3, motors with optimized gear ratios, and a few functionality where the leader arm can now follow the follower arm in real-time, which will be used for reinforcement learning (RL) where a human can intervene and correct the robot’s actions. SO-ARM101 specifications: Degrees of Freedom (DOF) – 6 per Arm Motor control Total servo – 12x STS3215 bus servos (6x for each Arm) Leader Arm 1x (7.4V) 1:345 gear ratio motor for No.2 joints 2x (7.4V) […]