Lattice unveils Nexus 2 small FPGA platform, Lattice Avant 30 and Avant 50 mid-range devices, updated Lattice design software tools

Lattice Nexus 2

Lattice Semiconductors announced several new FPGAs and software tools at the Lattice Developers Conference 2024 which took place on December 10-11. First, the company unveiled the Nexus 2 small FPGA platform starting with the Certus-N2 general-purpose FPGAs offering significant efficiency and performance improvements in this category of devices. The Lattice Avant 30 and Avant 50 were also introduced as mid-range FPGA devices with new capacity options to enable edge-optimized and advanced connectivity applications. Finally, the company releases new versions of Lattice design software tools and application-specific solution stacks to help accelerate customer time-to-market such for edge AI, embedded vision, factory automation, and automotive designs with Lattice Drive. Let’s have a look at the highlights of each announcement. Lattice Nexus 2 small FPGA platform and Certus-N2 FPGA Highlights and benefits of the Lattice Nexus 2 small FPGA platform: Power Efficiency against similar class competitive devices Up to 3x lower power Up […]

Waveshare Double Eye LCD module is a high-tech alternative to googly eyes

Waveshare 0.71inch DualEye LCD Module

Waveshare has recently launched the Double Eye LCD module (also known as the 0.71inch DualEye LCD module), a high-tech alternative to googly eyes, with two 0.71-inch round IPS displays with 160×160 pixels of resolution and 65K color depth. It uses the GC9D01 driver and communicates via an SPI interface. The module operates at a 3.3V or 5V and is designed so that both ESP32 and Arduino boards can drive it. These features make this device useful for applications like wearables, robotics, IoT devices, etc… Waveshare Double Eye LCD module specifications: Display Type – Dual 0.71-inch round LCD displays Resolution – 160×160 pixels Panel – IPS (wide viewing angle) Colors – 65K colors Pixel Pitch – 37.5 × 112.5 µm Controller and Driver Driver – GC9D01 Interface – SPI Operating Voltage – 3.3V / 5V Dimensions Display – 18 mm ∅ per round LCD Module  – 51 x 20 mm The […]

Renesas RZ/T2H Cortex-A55/R52 industrial MPU and Dev Board support EtherCAT, PROFINET, and TSN

Renesas RZ T2H EVKIT

Renesas RZ/T2H industrial MPU is the most powerful member of its RZ/T2 series of real-time microprocessors. The MPU features four Arm Cortex-A55 CPUs for application tasks and two Cortex-R52 CPUs for real-time control. It supports 9-axis motor control with 3-phase PWM timers, delta-sigma interfaces, and encoder interfaces. It also supports Industrial Ethernet protocols like EtherCAT, PROFINET, and TSN. These features make it ideal for industrial applications such as industrial robots, PLCs, motion controllers, and CNC machines. Renesas launched the RZ/T2L single-core Arm Cortex-R52 MPU just last year, and before that, in 2022, they launched the RZ/T2M dual Arm Cortex-R52 MPU. The RZ/T2L was just a cost-down version of RZ/T2M with an EtherCAT controller, compared to those old controllers the latest RZ/T2H supports 9-axis motor control and compatibility with various industrial Ethernet protocols. Renesas  RZ/T2H specifications: CPU 4x Arm Cortex-A55 (64-bit) clocked at up to 1.2GHz with 32KB L1 I/D cache, 1MB L3 cache 2x […]

Waveshare launches three RP2350 USB-C development boards with castellated design, battery support, built-in Ethernet port

Waveshare RP2350 development boards

Waveshare has announced four new USB-C and USB-A development boards based on the Raspberry Pi RP2350 MCU: the Waveshare RP2350-Plus dev board, the Waveshare RP2350-Zero Mini dev board, the Waveshare RP2350-ETH Mini dev board, and the Waveshare RP2350-GEEK USB dev board. The RP2350-Plus is a low-cost, high-performance Pico-like development board with the RP2350 MCU, various I/O, battery support, USB Type-C, and compatibility with Raspberry Pi Pico modules.  The RP2350-Zero Mini is another compact dev board with castellated pins, 29 GPIOs, USB Type-C, PIO, and versatile peripheral support, ideal for IoT, robotics, and embedded systems. The RP2350-ETH Mini dev board has Ethernet support and various GPIO functionalities, making it ideal for IoT development. Like any other RP2350 board, the Waveshare RP2350 boards support C/C++ and MicroPython SDKs with drag-and-drop firmware flashing via USB mass storage. Waveshare RP2350-Plus development board The Waveshare RP2350-Plus is a low-cost development board that comes in a […]

LILYGO T-Bao tiny AI robot combines ESP32 and Kendryte K210 RISC-V chip, features camera and display

LILYGO T Bao AIOT dev platform 

The T-Bao AI robot is a compact embedded device/robot that combines an ESP32 and a K210 RISC-V microcontroller and can perform face recognition and robotics applications. This compact device features a 1.54-inch 240×240 capacitive touch screen, a 2MP OV2640 camera, a MAX98357A I2S audio amplifier, a DRV8833 motor driver, an MPU6050 6-axis motion sensor, and an AXP202 PMU for power management.  Additionally, it supports USB charging, offers LEGO blocks compatibility, and can move around with integrated caster wheels. These features make it usable for educational projects, robotics, IoT applications, and embedded systems prototyping. LILYGO T-Bao specifications SoCs Kendryte K210 dual-core 64-bit RISC-V processor @ 400 MHz with 8MB on-chip RAM, various low-power AI accelerators delivering up to 0.5 TOPS ESP32-D0WDQ6-V3 dual-core Xtensa LX6 processor, 240 MHz, 16MB Flash, 8MB PSRAM Display – 1.54-inch capacitive touch LCD (240×240) Camera – 2MP OV2640 with rolling shutter, UXGA (1600 x 1200) resolution, 180-degree […]

Waveshare RoArm-M2 ESP32 robotic arms offer four degrees of freedom, various servo options

RoArm M2 Series Robotic Arm

Waveshare has recently launched the RoArm-M2-S and RoArm-M2-Pro ESP32 robotic arms with four degrees of freedom, or 4-DOF for short. The main difference is that the RoArm-M2-S is equipped with standard servos, while the RoArm-M2-Pro features all-metal ST3235 bus servos, adding more durability and performance. Designed for educational and robotics applications, the 4-DOF RoArm-M2 is sturdy yet lightweight, built using carbon fiber and aluminum alloy. It can handle payloads up to 0.5kg and has a workspace diameter of 1 meter. The arm offers high precision with a 12-bit magnetic encoder and dual-drive technology for improved torque and stability. On top of that, it features a 12-bit magnetic encoder and dual-drive technology for improved torque and stability. Other features include a 360° omnidirectional base and support for both wireless (WiFi, ESP-NOW) and wired (USB) control. These features make this device suitable for various applications including industrial automation, education, research, and DIY robotics projects. Waveshare […]

Mercury X1 wheeled humanoid robot combines NVIDIA Jetson Xavier NX AI controller and ESP32 motor control boards

Mercury X1 wheeled humanoid robot

Elephant Robotics Mercury X1 is a 1.2-meter high wheeled humanoid robot with two robotic arms using an NVIDIA Jetson Xavier NX as its main controller and ESP32 microcontrollers for motor control and suitable for research, education, service, entertainment, and remote operation. The robot offers 19 degrees of freedom, can lift payloads of up to 1kg, work up to 8 hours on a charge, and travel at up to 1.2m/s or about 4.3km/h. It’s based on the company’s Mercury B1 dual-arm robot and a high-performance mobile base. Mercury X1 specifications: Main controller – NVIDIA Jetson Xavier NX CPU – 6-core NVIDIA Carmel ARM v8.2 64-bit CPU with 6MB L2 + 4MB L3 caches GPU – 384-core NVIDIA Volta GPU with 48 Tensor Cores AI accelerators – 2x NVDLA deep learning accelerators delivering up to 21 TOPS at 15 Watts System Memory – 8 GB 128-bit LPDDR4x @ 51.2GB/s Storage – 16 […]

Black Friday and Cyber Monday 2024 – International deals and coupons

Banggood Black Friday Mega Deals

While Black Friday and Cyber Monday used to be a US-only event, it changed many years ago, and we’ve been writing about international Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals and coupon codes since 2014, since a large portion of our audience cannot benefit from promotions on Amazon’s Black Friday and Cyber Monday events that will take place from November 21 until December 2 this year. So I’ve gathered some international Black Friday and Cyber Monday 2024 deals and discount coupon codes from relevant manufacturers and popular online stores such as Aliexpress, Banggood, and others. Aliexpress Black Friday and Cyber Monday event Aliexpress’ Black Friday and Cyber Monday 2024 event has already started. There are three periods: Nov 19-21 PST – Warm Up event where users can find and add items to the cart before purchasing during the main event. Nov 22-30 PST – “On Sale” event with discounts up to […]

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