PICO-TGU4-SEMI is a Tiger Lake mini PC for robotics and industrial IoT applications

Tiger Lake rugged mini PC

AAEON recently launched the PICO-TGU4-SEMI compact, rugged mini PC based on the company’s PICO-TGU4 Pico-ITX SBC powered by a choice of Intel Core i3/i5/i7 Tiger Lake UP3 processors, and designed for robotics and industrial IoT applications. The PICO-TGU4-SEMI embedded computer comes with up to 32GB RAM, SATA storage, support for SATA or NVMe SSD storage, HDMI output, 2.5GbE networking, two USB 3.2 ports, and more. PICO-TGU4-SEMI specifications: Tiger Lake SoC (one or the other) Intel Core i7-1185G7E quad-core/8-thread processor @ 1.8GHz / 4.4GHz (Turbo) with Intel Iris Xe graphics; 15W TDP Intel Core i5-1145G7E quad-core/8-thread processor @1.5GHz /  to 4.1GHz (Turbo) with Intel Iris Xe graphics; 15W TDP Intel Core i3-1115G4E dual-core/4-thread processor @ 2.2GHz / 3.9GHz (Turbo) with Intel UHD graphics; 15W TDP Intel Celeron 6305E dual-core processor @ 1.8GHz with Intel UHD graphics; 15W TDP System Memory – Up to 32GB LPDDR4x 3200 MHz onboard memory with optional […]

OASIS – ROS 2 based Smart Home operating system integrates with Kodi

OASIS Kinect 2 computer vision

OASIS is a Smart Home operating system based on ROS 2 that currently implements computer vision, input streaming, and general automation features, and can be integrated into Kodi media center. The operating system was recently released by Garrett Brown (a.k.a. garbear or eigendude), who is also known for being the RetroPlayer developer from Team Kodi/XBMC, and provides a complete implementation of the Firmata protocol for communicating with Arduino boards, plus additional support for temperature and humidity sensors, I2C, servos, sonar, SPI, stepper motors, and 4-wire CPU fans. Two main use cases are computer vision and input streaming at this time. The illustration above shows the former with the Kinect 2 driver ported to ROS 2, a background subtractor on all camera feeds using bgslibrary C++ background subtraction library, and Kodi as the visual interface. The second, input streaming, can be seen below with a Lego train (including a Falcon spaceship!) […]

Arduino Braccio++ robotic arm is designed for high-school and university students

Arduino Braccio++ robotic arm

Arduino Education has just launched the Braccio++ robotic arm for advanced students in high school or at university in order to let them experiment with a 6 DOF, industrial, assembly line-inspired robot. The new robotic arm provides an upgrade to the Tinkerkit Braccio robot and has been designed to assist in teaching real-world manufacturing techniques,topics such as physics and robotics, and concepts like motions, forces, torque, gear ratio, stability, and weight of payload.   The Arduino Braccio++ is comprised of the Braccio carrier board equipped with an Arduino Nano RP2040 Connect that controls six Arduino RS485 Smart Servo Motors with specifically four SR418D servo motors for the arm joints, and two SR312 servo motors for the claw. Four lessons and two projects are included in the kit, and it’s made for up to three students. Arduino says the new robotic arm is made of recycled and eco-friendly materials with the […]

NVIDIA launches Jetson AGX Orin Developer Kit, Orin NX modules, and Isaac Nova Orin AMR platform

NVIDIA Jetson AGX Orin Developer Kit

NVIDIA Jetson AGX Orin module was first introduced in November 2021, but the company has now officially launched the Jetson AGX Orin Developer Kit, andunveiled the lower cost Orin NX modules still with 70 TOPS or more, and the Isaac Nova Orin AMR (autonomous mobile robot) reference platform. NVIDIA Jetson AGX Orin Developer Kit Jetson Orin AGX developer kit specifications: Jetson AGX Orin module with CPU – 12-core Arm Cortex-A78AE v8.2 64-bit processor with 3MB L2 + 6MB L3 cache GPU / AI accelerators NVIDIA Ampere architecture with 2048 NVIDIA CUDA cores and 64 Tensor Cores @ 1.3 GHz DL Accelerator – 2x NVDLA v2.0 Vision Accelerator – PVA v2.0 (Programmable Vision Accelerator) AI Performance – Up to 275 TOPS (INT8) @ 60W Video Encode – 2x 4K60 | 4x 4K30 | 8x 1080p60 | 16x 1080p30 (H.265) Video Decode – 1x 8K30 | 3x 4K60 | 7x 4K30 | […]

Intel Xeon D network and edge processors find their way into COM Express & COM-HPC modules

Intel Xeon D: D-2700 and D-1700

Intel has recently launched the Intel Xeon D (Ice Lake-D) processor family with the D-2700 and the D-1700 models designed for software-defined network and edge applications with integrated AI and crypto acceleration, built-in Ethernet, support for Intel Time Coordinated Computing (TCC) and Time-Sensitive Networking (TSN), plus high reliability. The new processors are bringing data center-class hardware to the edge, and at least two embedded systems companies, namely ADLINK Technology and Congatec, have already launched COM-HPC server modules and COM Express Type 7 module based on the new Intel Xeon D family. Intel Xeon D processors Intel Xeon D-2700 and Intel Xeon D-1700 are designed for space- and power-constrained ruggedized environments, feature industrial-class reliability, hardware-based security, and up to 56 high-speed PCIe lanes to support networks with up to 100Gbps Ethernet. While the Intel Xeon D-1700 sub-family is scalable from 2 to 10 cores, the Intel Xeon D-2700 family goes up […]

TTGO T-Block modular ESP32 devkit supports “Trolley” covers acting as display, buttons, sensor, proto area, etc…

TTGO T-Block modular ESP32 devkit

When I first  LilyGO TTGO T-Block ESP32 devkit with an enclosure and a display it reminded me of the M5Stack Core2 devkit, but it’s actually different as LilyGO designed a modular system that allows users to change the functionality of the top cover with expansion boards called “Trolleys”. That means TTGO T- Block can be fitted with a small e-Ink display, a prototyping cover, an RGB LED matrix, a small board that supports various MQ gas sensors, touch buttons, or a Trolley board equipped with headers compatible with common Arduino modules. TTGO T-Block Host 9102 preliminary specifications: WiSoC – ESP32 dual-core processor @ 240 MHz with 520KB SRAM, WiFi 4 and Bluetooth LE 4.2/5.x connectivity Memory – 8MB PSRAM Storage – 16MB SPI flash, MicroSD card slot USB – 1x USB Type-C for power and programming via CH2104 USB to TTL chip Trolley interface – 20-pin connector with 17x GPIO, […]

HUENIT modular robot arm takes 3D printer, laser engraver, suction, AI camera modules (Crowdfunding)

Huenit Robot Arm

Most robot arms are designed to carry and manipulate payloads, but HUENIT modular robot arm is much more versatile as besides a traditional suction module, the robot supports modules such as a 3D printer, laser engraver, pen holder for drawings, and a creator module for let people designed their own. The robot arm can hold payloads of up to 750 grams, have a reach of up to 39 cm without module, supports WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity, and can also optionally be fitted with a 2MP AI camera module based on Kendryte K210 RISC-V processor with built-in AI accelerators. HUENIT specifications: Robot arm 4-axis Payload up to 750 grams Reach – 390mm without module Repeatability – 0.05mm Precision – 0.1mm Speed – Up to 500mm/s Storage – MicroSD card slot USB – 1x USB-C port Wireless – WiFI and Bluetooth Misc – UART, external stepper Power Supply – 24V DC input, […]

Cincoze DI-1100 is a fanless embedded computer with an optional external fan

Fanless embedded computer with external fan

Cincoze DI-1100 is a rugged, modular embedded computer powered by an Intel Whiskey Lake processor that comes in a fanless metal enclosure with heat dissipation fins, but the company also offers an external fan that clips on top of the metal case for additional cooling when using high-power peripherals such as PoE cameras. Designed for autonomous robots, in-vehicle use, environmental monitoring, and other industrial applications, the computer supports -40 to 70°C wide temperature range, 9 to 48 VDC input voltage range, and comes with plenty of I/Os including two Gigabit Ethernet ports, six USB ports, two RS232/422/485 interfaces, as well as mini PCIe sockets, and CFM and CFI expansion modules. Cincoze DI-1100 specifications: Intel Whiskey Lake SoC (one or the other) Intel Core i7-8665UE quad-core processor up to 4.4 GHz with Intel UHD Graphics 620; 15W TDP Intel Core i5-8365UE quad-core processor up to 4.10 GHz with Intel UHD Graphics […]

Memfault IoT and embedded debugging platform