Review of an ESP32-based BLE to MQTT gateway – Part 1: GL.inet GL-S10 unboxing and teardown

ESP32-WROOM-32U gateway POE board

GL.inet introduced the GL-S10 BLE to MQTT IoT gateway last month with an ESP32 module offering WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity, as well as Ethernet and PoE support. I got offered a sample for review, and just received it together with the optional BLE beacon. So today, I’ll first have a look at the content, and check out the hardware with a teardown. GL.inet GL-S10 unboxing The package shows us the main features with Bluetooth LE 4.2, WiFi, PoE, and external antenna, with GL-S10 described as a BLE IOT GATEWAY connecting IoT devices to the Cloud. The gateway ships with a getting started guide, an antenna, a USB cable for power, as well as the beacon which we can see with a 3M stick tape. On one side, we have the RJ45 connector for Ethernet and a micro USB port for power, while the other side features a reset button, plus […]

Venice GW7100 compact industrial SBC packs one Gigabit Ethernet port, one mPCIe socket

Venice GW7100 SBC

Gateworks introduced the new Venice Industrial IoT SBC Family based on NXP i.MX 8M Mini processor with up to two Ethernet ports and four mPCIe Sockets last September starting with GW7300 board with dual Gigabit Ethernet and three mPCIe sockets. But the US company has now announced the availability of the smallest member of the family with Venice GW7100 SBC equipped with just one Gigabit Ethernet port and one mPCIe socket in a compact 100x35mm form factor. Venice GW7100 specifications: SoC – NXP i.MX 8M Mini single, dual or quad-core Arm Cortex-A53 processor @ up to 1.6GHz, with Arm Cortex-M4 at 400+MHz, 3D GPU (OpenGL ES 2.0), 2D GPU, and 1080p VPU System Memory – 1 GB LPDDR4 (up to 4GB) Storage – 8 GB eMMC flash (up to 64GB) Connectivity 1x Gigabit Ethernet RJ45 port with passive PoE support WiFi/Bluetooth or Cellular connectivity via mini PCIe socket and Nano-SIM […]

New Raspberry Pi PoE+ HAT handles up to 25.5 Watts

Raspberry Pi PoE Plus HAT Pi 4

The Raspberry Pi Foundation has just announced the Raspberry Pi PoE+ HAT compliant with 802.3at (aka PoE+) and 802.3af standards and support for up to 25.5 Watts input. It will replace the Raspberry Pi PoE HAT introduced in 2018 which was limited to 802.3af standard with a maximum of 15.4 Watts input and will become available around mid-June for $20 plus taxes and shipping. Raspberry Pi PoE+ HAT specifications vs PoE HAT. Besides supporting 802.3at standard with a higher current/more power, the new PoE+ HAT also adds a current sensor and relies on a planar transformer instead of a wire wound transformer with the former being more compact and efficient. The brushless fan is controlled by I2C and helps the processor on the Raspberry Pi 3/4. You may need the latest version of the Raspberry Pi OS for the new PoE+ HAT to work properly. While the Raspberry Pi PoE+ HAT […]

Edge AI and robotics embedded computers feature NVIDIA Jetson TX2 NX module

NVIDIA Jetson TX2 NX computers

NVIDIA unveiled a cost-down version of the Jetson TX2 module with the Jetson TX2 NX SO-DIMM system-on-module last month, and AAEON is one of the first companies to have updated some of their products with the new module. AAEON’s BOXER-823x-series of fanless embedded computers feature the NVIDIA Jetson TX2 NX module, and multiple Ethernet ports, including some PoE capable for the development of edge AI and robotics applications. BOXER-8230AI AI Edge Fanless Embedded Box PC This model offers a mid-range alternative between the Jetson Xavier AGX NX-based BOXER-8250AI embedded box PC and the Jetson Nano-powered BOXER-8220AI mini PC both of which offer the same ports. BOXER-8230AI specifications: SoM (CPU/Memory/Storage) – NVIDIA Jetson TX2 NX with dual-core NVIDIA Denver 2 64-Bit CPU and quad-core Arm Cortex-A57 MPCore processor @ up to 2.0 GHz, 256-core NVIDIA Pascal GPU @ up to 1.3 GHz, 4GB LPDDR4, 16GB eMMC flash Storage – MicroSD card […]

PoE powered AI Edge computer combines NXP i.MX 8M SoC with Google Edge TPU

AAEON has introduced several BOXER AI edge computers over the years either powered by an NVIDIA Jetson module, a HiSilicon HI3559A Arm SoC, or an Intel processor combined with Movidius Myriad AI accelerator. The latest model, BOXER-8521AI, combines an NXP i.MX 8M SoC with Google Edge TPU AI accelerator, and offers 1GB RAM, USB ports, a 40-pin external I/O connector, and 12V or PoE power inputs. AAEON BOXER-8521AI specifications: SoC – NXP i.MX 8M SoC quad-core Cortex-A53 processor with Cortex-M4F real-time core, 2D/3D GPUs AI Accelerator – Google Edge TPU ML accelerator coprocessor System Memory – 1GB LPDDR4x RAM Storage – 8GB eMMC flash, MicroSD card slot Video Output – 1x HDMI 2.0a port Audio – 1x Mic-in, 1x Line-out, optional 2x MEMS microphones Connectivity Gigabit Ethernet RJ45 port with PoE (802.3at) Optional? WiFi 2×2 MIMO (802.11b/g/n/ac 2.4/5GHz) & Bluetooth 4.1 plus two antennas USB – 2x USB3.2 Gen 1 […]

SolidRun CuBox-M 2-inch Arm Linux/Android mini PC packs a 2.3 TOPS AI accelerator

CuBox-M i.MX 8M Plus Mini PC

SolidRun first introduced the tiny CuBox Arm Linux mini PC in 2011, with the device based on a Marvell Armada 510 dual-core Armv7 processor, and followed in 2013 with the launch of the CuBox-i family powered by Freescale i.MX 6 single to quad-core Cortex-A9 processor. The company moved to NXP i.MX 8M processor in 2018 with the introduction of CuBox Pulse, and now they’ve introduced their first Cubox mini PC with a built-in AI accelerator. Meet CuBox-M mini PC powered by NXP i.MX 8M Plus quad-core Cortex-A53 processor with a 2.3 TOPS NPU. Cubox-M mini PC specifications: SolidRun i.MX 8M Plus System-on-Module (SoM) SoC – NXP i.MX 8M Plus Quad quad-core Arm Cortex-A53 processor @ 1.8 GHz with Arm Cortex-M7 up to 800MHz, Vivante GC7000UL 3G GPU (Vulkan, OpenGL ES 3.1, OpenCL 1.2), 2.3 TOPS NPU, 1080p60 H.264/H.265 video encoder, 1080p60 video decoder (H.265, H.264, VP9, VP8), Candence HiFi4 audio […]

2.5-inch “Industrial Pi” Pico-ITX SBC offers PoE , mini DP++ port

Industrial Pi PoE Pico-ITX SBC

Taiwan based DFI has launched the AL05P “Industrial Pi + PoE” 2.5-inch Pico-ITX SBC powered by an Apollo Lake processor that reminds me of last year’s DFI GHF51 SBC based on AMD Ryzen Embedded R1606G processor but with a larger, and more standard form factor that’s also part of the “Industrial Pi” family. The board also comes with 4GB RAM, up to 64GB eMMC, a mini DisplayPort video output, two USB 3.1 ports, Gigabit Ethernet with isolated PoE, a mini-PCIe, and more. DFI AL05P SBC specifications: SoC (one or the other) Intel Atom x5-E3940 quad-core processor @ 1.6/1.8 GHz with 2MB cache, Intel HD Graphics; 9.5W TDP Intel Atom x5-E3930 dual-core processor @ 1.3/1.8 GHz with 2MB cache, Intel HD Graphics; 6.5W TDP Intel Pentium N4200 quad-core processor @ 1.1/2.5 GHz with 2MB cache, Intel HD Graphics; 6W TDP Intel Celeron N3350 dual-core processor @ 1.1/2.4 GHz with 2MB cache, […]

Industrial-grade 3D Vision Camera features Rockchip RK3399 SoC, Intel RealSense Technology

Vecow DVC-1000 industrial 3D vision camera

Vecow has just launched DVC-1000 industrial-grade 3D vision camera running Ubuntu on Rockchip RK3399 processor and based on Intel RealSense technology. The camera is rated IP67 for protection from water and dust, supports PoE, and the company says it’s “ideal for Robot Vision, Autonomous Mobile Robot, Object Dimensioning, and Intelligent Surveillance”. Vecow DVC-1000 specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3399 hexa-core Cortex-A72/A53 processor @ up to 1.8 GHz with Mali 860MP4 GPU, 4K encode/decode System Memory / Storage – TBD Camera Depth Module Depth Sensor – OmniVision OV9282 Active Stereoscopic technology Operating Range – From 0.105  to 10 meters (depends on calibration, scene, and lighting conditions). Resolution – 1280 x 720, 640 x 480, 480 x 270, or 424 x 240 Frame Rate – Up to 60 fps Shutter Type – Global Shutter FoV (H x V x D) – 87°±3° × 58°±1° × 95°±3° @ HD Resolution Z Accuracy – ≤ […]