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November 23, 2023November 23, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 12 Comments

KWS-302WF whole house WiFi power meter supports up to 63A, power control, features a color display

KWS-302WF is an inexpensive WiFi power meter with a color display and power control that is suitable for the whole house since it can handle up to 63A/17kW and supports DIN Rail mounting in a fuse box or cabinet. Installation is made through the neutral and live wires, and the display shows voltage, current, power, energy consumption, power factor, frequency, and temperature through an external temperature probe. Multiple KWS-302WF can be monitored and controlled through a mobile app which may make suitable suitable for apartment buildings as well. KWS-302WF specifications: Voltage range – 170-270V Current range – 0 to 63A Power range – 0 to 17 kW Energy range – 0 to 9999 kWh Timer range – 0 to 999 hours Temperature Range – -20 to +150°C (that is for the temperature sensor, and not the actual operating temperature range…) Frequency Range – 50 to 60 Hz Power Factor – […]

August 12, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Coin cell-powered boards provide an easy way to test USB-C cables

The A2C caberQU and C2C caberQU boards enable the quick and easy testing of respectively USB-A to USB-C and USB-C to USB-C cables without external hardware. Powered by a CR2032 coin cell battery, the boards apply a voltage to all pins of a cable and measure which ones are connected to the other end. The results can be visualized immediately through various LEDS on the board. The C2C caberQU board comes with a dedicated LED for each of the 24 USB pins and the shield, and it’s possible to test the USB Type-C to USB Type-C cable in several different modes: USB 2.0/1.1 USB Power Delivery USB 3.0/3.1/3.2 Alternate Mode Debug Accessory Mode Audio Adapter Accessory Mode The A2C caberQU board has fewer pins and LEDS for testing USB-A to USB-C cables specifically, but it works the same way. Peter Traunmüller (aka petl) has shot a video showing one of […]

April 19, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

EVerest is an open-source software stack for car charging stations

EVerest open source car charging station software

EVerest is a software project initiated by PIONIX GmbH, but now part of the Linux Foundation’s LFEnergy initiative, whose primary goal is to develop and maintain an open-source software stack for EV charging infrastructure. EVerest supports multiple standards and it will run on any device from AC home chargers to public DC charging stations. I noticed the EVerest project in an upcoming talk at the Embedded Open Source Summit 2023 entitled ” EVerest: Electric Vehicle Chargers With Open Hardware and Software” and whose abstract reads in part: You will learn how to build your own electric vehicle charger using open hardware designs in combination with the EVerest open-source software stack for EV charging infrastructure. Following a quick introduction to EV charging technology, with explanations of the standards, protocols, and complexities involved, the talk will go into a deep dive into how you can build your own AC charging station. Reference […]

April 14, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Embedded Open Source Summit 2023 schedule – Zephyr OS, Security, IoT, Embedded Linux, and more

The Linux Foundation has just announced the full schedule for the Embedded Open Source Summit, which will take place on June 27-30, 2023 in Prague, Czech Republic, as well as virtually starting on June 26. Over 175 sessions, birds of a feather (BoF) tracks, and workshops related to embedded and open-source innovation will be presented at the event itself comprised of six micro conferences: Automotive Linux Summit Europe, Embedded IoT Summit, Embedded Linux Conference, LF Energy Embedded Summit, Safety-Critical Software Summit, and Zephyr Project Developer Summit. Even though I’m not going to attend personally, I’ve gone through the schedule to create my own little virtual schedule with some sessions relevant that should be interesting to me and hopefully to CNX Software readers. Monday, June 26 (Virtual sessions) The first day of the event will have a Yocto Dev training in the morning, and a bunch of virtual sessions that are […]

February 15, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 18 Comments

Install a server in your house, get free hot water!

Heata, which began as an innovation project with British Gas, is a UK company that connects a server to your hot water cylinder and provides hot water to the house master for free up to 4.8 kWh per day, and at least 2.5 kWh as per contractual obligations. Companies spend millions of dollars to cool the servers hosted in their data centers and most of that heat is completely wasted. So Heata decided to create a win-win solution that lowers their cooling cost and provides free hot water to whoever has their server installed in their house. The installation process is said to be tested and approved by British Gas so you don’t lose your hot water cylinder warranty, and the heat transfer mechanism is patented as well under the UK patent GB2576035. A technician would come to cut the insulation and attach a thermal bridge to the cylinder. The […]

January 31, 2023February 12, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

Green Metrics Tool helps developers measuring & optimizing software power consumption

The Green Metrics Tool (GMT) is an open-source framework that allows the measurement, comparison, and optimization of the energy consumption of software with the goal of empowering both software engineers and users to make educated decisions about libraries, code snippets, and software in order to save energy along with carbon emissions. While the firmware of battery-powered embedded devices and the OS running on your smartphone are typically optimized for low power consumption in order to extend the battery life, the same can not be said of most software running on SBCs, desktop computers, and servers. But there are still benefits of having power-optimized programs on this type of hardware including lower electricity bills, a lower carbon footprint, and potentially quieter devices since the cooling fan may not have to be turned on as often. The Green Metrics Tool aims to help in that regard. The developers explain how that works: […]

January 26, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

ESP32 OpenMQTTGateway smart plug acts as an BLE MQTT gateway and a power meter

The Theengs Plug ESP32 smart plug runs OpenMQTTGateway firmware to serve as a BLE MQTT gateway and power meter compatible with Home Assistant, Homebridge, OpenHAB, DomoticZ, FHEM, Jeedom, NodeRed, AWS, and any MQTT-compatible IoT or Smart Home system. While the Matter standard should improve interoperability between Smart Home frameworks over time, there are still millions of devices already produced that are not Matter compatible, and the Theengs Plug aims to at least partially address this issue by helping users reduce the number of hubs required and have only one that supports different ecosystems. Theengs Plug hardware specifications: Microcontroller – ESP32 dual-core wireless MCU with 2.4 GHz WiFi and Bluetooth LE connectivity Network Protocol – MQTT Power Supply – 100-120VAC, 60Hz, up to 15A Dimensions – 103 x 61 x 34.6mm Temperature Range – Operating: 0ºC ~ 40ºC; storage: -10°C ~ 50°C Humidity – 0%～95% (no condensation) Certification – UL Some […]

July 25, 2022July 27, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

RAKwireless introduces WisBlock modular power supply, IP65 enclosures, and more sensor modules

RAKwireless Wisblock modular IoT prototyping system will get new modules about once every quarter and the latest Wisblock Summer 2022 event brings some RAK190xx base boards and power modules to support various power sources from solar panels to PoE, two IP65-rated “Unify” enclosures, as well as four new Wisblock sensor modules. Wisblock RAK190XX base boards and power modules The company has launched three base boards designed to take one of the five Wisblock power modules: RAK19009 – A small (47×30 mm) base board with only 2 sensor slots. RAK19010 – The “standard” base board with 4 sensor slots and 1 I/O slot RAK19011 – Version of the Dual IO base board with a power slot RAK19012 – WisBlock power module with USB, battery, and solar panel supply RAK19013 – WisBlock power module for rechargeable batteries and solar panel supply without the USB, for applications where you do not want to […]