raspberry pi News - CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

May 17, 2021May 17, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

Arduino Nano RP2040 Connect WiFi & Bluetooth board launched for $25.50

Arduino Nano RP2040 Connect without headers

The Arduino Nano RP2040 Connect board was announced the day of Raspberry Pi Pico launch as one of the third-party boards featuring Raspberry Pi RP2040 dual-core Cortex-M0+ microcontroller. At the time all we had was renders of the board, later on, the company showcased some mass product photos, and then released Arduino Core mbed 2.0 for the board last month. But it’s only today that it has become possible to purchase Arduino Nano RP2040 Connect board for $25.50 on Arduino store with headers. Nano RP2040 Connect specifications: MCU – Raspberry Pi RP2040 dual-core Cortex M0+ microcontroller @ 133 MHz with 264 kB of embedded SRAM Storage – 16MB Flash IC (AT25SF128A) Connectivity – WiFi 4 & Bluetooth LE via Nina W102 uBlox module (Yes, that’s an ESP32 module.) USB – Micro USB port I/Os via 2x 15-pin headers (through and castellated holes) 20x digital I/O pins, 20x PWM pins, 20x external interrupts 8x analog input pins UART, I2C, SPI DC […]

May 13, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Raspberry Pi CM4 based Exo Sense Pi multi-sensor device gets optional earthquake sensor

Sfera Labs’ Exo Sense Pi is a device with multiple environmental sensors based on the 2GB version of the Raspberry Pi CM4 module designed for residential and commercial applications such as environmental monitoring and data gathering, BLE positioning, indoor people and assets tracking, rooms management and access control, voice control, and more. The Exo Sense Pi devices include optional WiFI 5 and Bluetooth 5.0 LE connectivity depending on the RPI CM4 module selected, and ships with temperature, humidity, air quality (VOC), light intensity, microphone, and PIR motion sensors by default, but there’s also an optional earthquake sensor. Exo Sense Pi specifications: SoM – Raspberry Pi CM4 (16GB eMMC flash) or CM4 Lite module with 2GB RAM by default. But obviously compatible with other models. Storage – MicroSD card socket for CM4 Lite module Wireless connectivity – 2.4 GHz, 5.0 GHz IEEE 802.11 b/g/n/ac wireless; Bluetooth 5.0, BLE depending on installed Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 board USB – Micro USB […]

May 8, 2021May 8, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 9 Comments

Flashback: This is what the Raspberry Pi USB Computer looked like 10 years ago

The first Raspberry Pi single board computer was officially launched on February 29, 2012. Raspberry Pi Model B included a Broadcom BCM2835 ARM11 processor with 256 RAM, an HDMI port, and the familiar form factor we know today. But the very first time I wrote about the board was on May 8, 2011, exactly ten years ago, with a post entitled “25 USD ARM11 Linux Computer” showing the prototype of Raspberry Pi USB Computer that looks nothing like what was launched the next year. This just looked like a stick with an HDMI port on one hand and a USB port at the other. We did not even know it was based on a Broadcom processor at the time. Those were the preliminary specifications: CPU – 700MHz ARM11 processor GPU – OpenGL ES 2.0 capable Memory – 128MB of SDRAM Storage – SD/MMC/SDIO memory card slot Video & Audio Outputs – Composite and HDMI video outputs Video support – 1080p30 […]

May 6, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 11 Comments

Pico Wireless is an ESP32 add-on board for Raspberry Pi Pico

I understand hardware is cheap now, but the madness has to stop! Pimoroni Pico Wireless is an upcoming add-on board for Raspberry Pi Pico adding a MicroSD card and ESP32 WiFi & Bluetooth module. While it’s a nice idea to add wireless connectivity to Raspberry Pi Pico, ESP32 is a dual-core Xtensa LX6 processor clocked at 160 to 240 MHz with WiFi, Bluetooth, and plenty of I/Os that should be able to handle most tasks better than Raspberry Pi RP2040 dual-core Cortex-M0+ processor clocked at 48 MHz by default, although we’ve also seen it overclocked up to 252 MHz. As shown above, Pico Wireless is just a separate board connected to Raspberry Pi Pico over SPI through one of those “GPIO expander” boards, specifically Pico Omnibus. The prototype above features an ESP32-WROOM-32E module with 4 MB SPI flash, a PCB antenna for WiFI 4 and Bluetooth 4.2/5.x LE connectivity, as well as a MicroSD card slot. There’s also a user […]

May 6, 2021May 11, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

Z-Pi 7 Z-Wave gateway devkit works with Raspberry Pi and Orange Pi Zero boards

WiFi & Bluetooth are the most popular wireless protocols for home automation, alternatives like Zigbee and Z-wave have also been widely adopted, at least in some countries. And if you are interested in the latter, Aeotec has just introduced the Z-Pi 7 gateway development kit that lets you add Z-Wave connectivity to Raspberry Pi boards or Orange Pi Zero SBC with an expansion board connected over UART through the GPIO header. Aeotec Z-Pi 7 Z-Wave expansion board (ZWA025) specifications: Z-Wave connectivity Silicon Labs EFR32ZG14 Arm Cortex-M4 SoC @ 39 MHz with Series 700 and Gen7 technology Frequencies ZWA025-A: US Frequency 908.42 Mhz ZWA025-B: AU Frequency 921.42 Mhz ZWA025-C: EU frequency 868.42 Mhz TX Power – US: +9.3 dBm; EU: +4.8 dBm RX sensitivity – -97.5 dBm Range Indoor – US: 70+ meters; EU: up to 60 meters Outdoor – Up to 200 meters SmartStart native integration and S2 security. Z-Wave Plus Certified SBC compatibility (tested) – Raspberry Pi 3 and greater, Orange […]

May 5, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

ClusBerry-2M Industrial IoT controller takes two Raspberry Pi Compute Modules 4

Earlier this year, Techbase introduced the ClusBerry 9500-CM4 cluster system for industrial IoT that can take up to eight Raspberry Pi Compute Modules 4 housed in a DIN rail enclosure. But for smaller projects and IoT prototyping, the company has now designed ClusBerry-2M, a smaller cluster device including two independent ModBerry I/O mainboards and two Compute Module 4’s that’s equivalent to two ModBerry 500-CM4, but with support for software cluster management tools such as Docker and K3s Lightweight Kubernetes. The company did not share the full ClusBerry-2M specifications, but we can derive most of the features from the photos, previous products features, and the announcement: SoM – 2x Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 with Broadcom BCM2711 quad-core Cortex-A72 processor @ 1.5 GHz, 1 to 8GB RAM, up to 32GB eMMC flash. Storage – 2x M.2 slots for NVMe SSDs Video Output – 2x HDMI 2.0 ports Connectivity 4x Gigabit Ethernet ports Optional Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11 b/g/n/ac) & Bluetooth 5.0 module […]

May 3, 2021May 3, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

AIO-CM4-101 “All-in-One Pi” is a Raspberry Pi CM4 based 10.1-inch industrial PC

We’ve previously written about Chipsee CM4-70 Industrial Pi 7-inch Panel PC based on Raspberry Pi CM4 module that is offered either as an embedded model to be integrated into the customer enclosure or as a fully integrated panel ready to be mounted into a wall or machine. The company has now launched another model with AIO-CM4-101 “All-in-One Pi” industrial PC offering a 10-inch touchscreen display that can be mounted by using 75x75mm VESA holes, for example on a display stand. AIO-CM4-101 All-in-One Pi specifications: SoM – Raspberry Pi CM4 with Broadcom BCM2711 quad-core Cortex-A72 processor at 1.5 GHz, up to 8GB RAM, up to 32GB eMMC flash Storage – MicroSD card slot for storage expansion Display – 10.1-inch IPS LCD with 1280×800 resolution, 10-point capacitive touchscreen, 350 nit brightness: Camera – Optional front-facing camera Audio – Mic input on the front panel, 2W internal stereo speaker, 3.5mm audio In/Out connector, buzzer Connectivity Gigabit Ethernet port Optional WiFi & Bluetooth on […]

May 3, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

ATMegaZero ESP32-S2 board supports OLED displays

EspinalLab ATMegaZero board was introduced last year with Raspberry Pi Zero form factor, the Arduino Leonardo compatible, 16 MHz Microchip ATmega32U4 microcontroller, and a connector for an optional OLED display. The company is now back with an update following the same form factor with ATMegaZero ESP32-S2 board equipped with a more powerful ESP32-S2 single-core processor @ 240 MHz with WiFi connectivity, and most of the same features, including OLED display support, plus a micro USB OTG port and an RGD LED. ATMegaZero ESP32-S2 board specifications: WiSoC – Espressif Systems ESP32-S2 single-core processor @ 240 MHz with WiFi RAM – 8MB PSRAM Storage MicroSD card 256Mbit (32MB) SPI Flash (note: only 16MB can be used for now due to firmware limitations) Display – 32-pin OLED display port compatible with 30-pin SSD1306 and SH1106 based displays Wireless Connectivity – 2.4 GHz WiFi 4 up to 150 MHz with 3D antenna USB – 1x Micro USB port for power and programming, 1x Micro […]