Raspberry Pi News - CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

December 11, 2023December 10, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

Raspberry Pi releases PCIe FFC connector specifications, new HAT+ standard

Raspberry Pi 5 PCIe pinout and FFC cable

Raspberry Pi has released two new specifications one for the PCIe FFC connector and related cable and the other for the new Raspberry Pi HAT+ (HAT Plus) standard that’s simpler, takes into account new features in Raspberry Pi 4/5, and has fewer rules around mechanical dimensions. PCIe FFC connector specifications The Raspberry Pi 5 was announced over 2 months ago with a new PCIe FFC connector, and people may been playing around with it and even launching products such as an M.2 HAT for the Raspberry Pi 5 since then even though the pinout and specifications were not available. But Raspberry Pi has now released the specifications (PDF) for the PCIe FFC found in the Raspberry Pi 5 and likely future models as well. The 16-pin 0.5mm pitch FFC connector features a single lane PCIe interface, something we knew already, but the pinout diagram and recommendations for the FFC cable […]

December 10, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

UP 7000 SBC review – Part 2: Ubuntu 22.04 on a fanless Intel N100 single board computer

The UP 7000 is a credit card-sized Alder Lake-N single board computer that can be used as an alternative to the Raspberry Pi 5 for industrial applications. AAEON sent me a model with an Intel Processor N100 CPU, 8GB LPDDR5, and a 64GB eMMC flash, and I went through an unboxing in the first part of the review, compared its mechanical design to the earlier UP 4000 and Raspberry Pi 5 SBC , and also installed Ubuntu 22.04 since the UP 7000 board did not come with any OS and would initially boot to the UEFI shell. I’ve now spent more time with the board and I will report my experience with the UP 7000 SBC running Ubuntu 22.04 in this article checking out features, performance, video playback, power consumption, and so on using the UP 4000 review with Ubuntu 22.04 I did last year as a template plus some […]

December 8, 2023December 8, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 24 Comments

Radxa Zero 3W SBC – Rockchip RK3566 SoC, 8GB RAM, WiFi 6 in Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W form factor

More Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W lookalikes are coming to market, as after the Allwinner H618-based Orange Pi Zero 2W, the Radxa Zero 3W has now been introduced with a 1.6 GHz Rockchip RK3566 processor and up to 8GB RAM, plus WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.4 connectivity, which makes it one of the most powerful Arm Linux SBCs in the compact Raspberry Pi Zero form factor. The board also comes with an optional eMMC flash with up to 64GB capacity, a microSD card, a micro HDMI port, two USB Type-C ports, a MIPI CSI camera connector, and of course, the usual 40-pin Raspberry Pi GPIO header. Radxa Zero 3W specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3566 CPU – Quad-core Arm Cortex-A55 processor @ 1.6 GHz (Note the RK3566 is usually clocked at up to 1.8 GHz but may have been underclocked here due to heat issues at the higher frequency as the […]

December 7, 2023December 7, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

M5Stack releases local server implementations of UIFlow visual programming Web IDE

Visual programming is now a very popular method to teach programming to kids and M5Stack relies on UIFlow for their ESP32-based IoT development kit. Like most other companies, M5Stack provides either a Web IDE accessible from their server or a desktop program available for Windows, MacOS, or Linux, but the company has now released a local server implementation that allows users to run a Web IDE instance in their local network. The local server is available for Windows 11 x64, MacOS, Ubuntu 22.04, and Linux Arm (e.g. Raspberry Pi), so I downloaded the Ubuntu version to give it a try on my laptop. Somehow the Ubuntu release is full of Windows DLLs, but let’s ignore that for now, and the README.txt tells us to install one dependency and run the program as follows:

apt install ttf-mscorefonts-installer
./UIFlow.Server.Desktop

1 2	apt install ttf-mscorefonts-installer ./UIFlow.Server.Desktop

A window pops up letting us start or stop the server. It can be accessed with […]

December 4, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 9 Comments

PicoUART6 6x UART to USB bridge supports up to 6 Raspberry Pi 5 boards

PicoUART6 Raspberry Pi 5 UART USB bridge

PicoUART6 is a small USB to UART bridge board that takes a Raspberry Pi Pico board and exposes six UART ports to connect up to six Raspberry Pi 5 SBC’s over the new 3-pin UART connector. The Raspberry Pi 5 has created a lot of buzz since its announcement in September 2023, and people most talked about its higher performance compared to a Raspberry Pi 4 and its new (non-standard) FCP PCIe connector, but the new Raspberry Pi SBC also features a 3-pin JST UART connector that was not used in earlier and frees 3-pin on the 40-pin GPIO header. The PicoUART6 board makes use of this new connector to interface multiple Raspberry Pi 5 over UART and control them through the USB board of the Pico board. PicoUART6 specifications: Footprint for Raspberry Pi Pico board Serial – 6x 3-pin JST UART connectors Expansion – STEMMA QT/Qwiic I2C connector Debugging […]

November 30, 2023November 30, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Tiny Raspberry Pi RP2040 module connects to USB-C + buttons board via FPC connector

Raspberry Pi RP2040 module with FPC USB-C board

Waveshare RP2040-Tiny is another tiny Raspberry Pi RP2040 module that joins others like Pimoroni Tiny 2040, DFRobot Beetle RP2020, or Solder Party RP2040 Stamp, but with a twist as the solderable module features an FPC connector in order to optionally connect a separate board with a USB-C port as well as Boot and Reset buttons. This design enables the convenience of having a USB-C port for power and programming, plus the Reset and Boot buttons during firmware development, and developers can only keep the tiny and ultrathin module when integrating it into a project or product. Alternatively, there may be designs that benefit from having the USB-C port located further away from the main module with all I/Os, and it can also facilitate troubleshooting when the product is already integrated into a product. Waveshare RP2040-Tiny specifications: MCU – Raspberry Pi RP2040 dual-core Cortex-M0+ microcontroller @ up to 133Mhz with 264kB […]

November 30, 2023November 30, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

myAGV 2023 four-wheel mobile robot ships with Raspberry Pi 4 or Jetson Nano

four wheel automous guided vehicle raspberry pi 4

Elephant Robotics myAGV 2023 is a 4-wheel mobile robot available with either Raspberry Pi 4 Model B SBC or NVIDIA Jetson Nano B01 developer kit, and it supports five different types of robotic arms to cater to various use cases. Compared to the previous generation myAGV robot, the 2023 model is fitted with high-performance planetary brushless DC motors, supports vacuum placement control, can take a backup battery, handles large payloads up to 5 kg, and integrates customizable LED lighting at the rear. myAGV 2023 specifications: Control board Pi model – Raspberry Pi 4B with 2GB RAM Jetson Nano model – NVIDIA Jetson Nano B01 with 4GB RAM Wheels – 4x Mecanuum wheels Motor – Planetary brushless DC motor Maximum linear speed – 0.9m/s Maximum Payload – 5 kg Video Output Pi model – 2x micro HDMI ports Jetson Nano model – HDMI and DisplayPort video outputs Camera Pi model – […]

November 29, 2023November 30, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Raspberry Pi 5 gets 5G Modem HAT based on Quectel RM502Q-AE M.2 module

Sixfab has just launched a 5G Modem Kit for Raspberry Pi 5 with a Raspberry Pi HAT that takes Quectel RM502Q-AE 5G Sub-6GHz M.2 module working globally (except China), a “patent-pending” internal antenna for Sub-6 frequency bands designed by SixFab, and a USB 3.0 bridge connector. SixFab 5G modem Kit for Raspberry Pi 5 highlights: Sixfab 5G Modem HAT for Raspberry Pi 5 M.2 socket for 5G module Nano SIM card holder + embedded SIM USB 3.0 port and 40-pin GPIO header for connection to the Raspberry Pi 5 SBC Misc User button Status, power, and user (GPIO21) LEDs EEPROM for Raspberry Pi HAT compliance 2-pin fan connector Power Supply – 5V via USB Type-C port (on HAT itself) Dimensions – 88.1 x 57.7 x 21.7 mm Approvals – FCC, IC, CE, UKCA are in progress Quectel RM502Q-AE M.2 module 5G NR: 3GPP Release 15 NSA/SA operation, Sub-6 GHz LTE […]