safety News - Page 2 of 3 - CNX Software

September 16, 2022September 16, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

SiFive unveils Automotive E6-A, X280-A, and S7-A RISC-V processors

RISC-V is coming to your car too, with the introduction of SiFive Automotive E6-A, X280-A, and S7-A RISC-V processors designed for automotive applications such as infotainment, cockpit, connectivity, ADAS, and electrification. Those are built on the existing SiFive Essential 6-series E6 32-bit real-time cores, SiFive Intelligence X280 64-bit RISC-V processor with AI extensions, and SiFive S7 64-bit real-time cores (equivalent to Cortex-R7/R8), but adds safety, security, and performance required by the automotive market such as ASIL compliance. Each new core targets specific applications within a vehicle: The SiFive E6-A series will be found in system control boards, hardware security modules (HSMs) and safety islands, as well as standalone in microcontrollers. The SiFive S7-A 64-bit real-time core is said to be suited to the needs of SoCs with performant safety islands, requiring both low latency interrupt support and the same 64-bit memory space as the main application CPUs. The SiFive X280-A […]

September 5, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

NVIDIA Jetson Xavier NX fanless embedded box PC features four HDMI input ports

NVIDIA Xavier NX embedded box pc four HDMI inputs

AAEON BOXER-8256AI is a fanless embedded box PC equipped with an NVIDIA Jetson Xavier NX system-on-module, offering four HDMI input ports – two Full HD, two 4K capable -, as well as two HDMI outputs for smart healthcare equipment, digital signage, and entertainment. The embedded computer comes with 8GB RAM and a 16GB flash provided by the NVIDIA module, supports M.2 NVMe and SATA storage, Gigabit Ethernet, plus optional WiFI, 4G, and 5G cellular connectivity through M.2 sockets. BOXER-8256AI specifications: SoM – NVIDIA Jetson Xavier NX with CPU – 6-core NVIDIA Carmel Armv8.2 64-bit CPU GPU – 384-core NVIDIA Volta GPU with 48 Tensor Cores AI accelerator – 2x NVDLA deep learning accelerators AI performance – Up to 21 TOPS at 15 Watts System Memory – 8GB LPDDR4x Storage – 16GB eMMC flash Storage – MicroSD Slot, M.2 NVMe SSD socket, SATA III port Display Interfaces – 2x HDMI […]

July 31, 2022August 2, 2022 by Karl Johnson - 5 Comments

Ortur LU2-10A 10W laser module issues and measuring laser power

Karl here and I will keep this short for you. First I will share my experience installing an upgrade module for the Lasermaster 2 Pro, the Ortur LU2-10A. The LM2Pro came with a 5.5w laser module and this upgrade brings the power up to approximately 10w optical power. Spoiler, I am not happy with the kit. [Update (CNXSoft): The company has put us in direct contact with Ortur engineer, and they’ve promised to help us fix the issue. We’ll update the post if/once it is resolved] The Ortur LU2-10A kit comes with a very simple adapter board that appears to do two tasks. 1 is to adapt wiring, and 2, inject additional power for the higher power laser module. It looks like the board will adapt to a lot of different connection types. I followed the instructions and the first time I plugged everything in the laser came on full […]

May 24, 2022May 24, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Digi IX30 is a cellular router for Industry 4.0, public safety, harsh environments

Digi IX30 is a 4G LTE cellular router for industry 4.0 designed for distribution and automation, remote machines and sensor monitoring in industries such as oil and gas production, water utilities, smart cities, and outdoor signage. The Digi IX30 is a rugged device able to operate in harsh environments, and the US model supports FirstNet nationwide wireless broadband network dedicated to public safety in the event of an emergency (e.g. terrorist attack). The network is designed for first responders, city services, and infrastructure, as well as drilling and gas wells, Internet-connected irrigation systems, waste disposal, and septic tank services among others. A future version will also support the Anterix Band 8 (900 MHz) for critical infrastructure/mission-critical private LTE networks. Digi IX30 specifications: SoC, memory, storage – No information, except the processor is running Linux. Connectivity Ethernet – 2x 10/100M Fast Ethernet ports Cellular options FirstNet capable LTE Advanced Cat 7 […]

January 25, 2022January 26, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 24 Comments

SONOFF ZBMINI-L Zigbee 3.0 Smart Switch works without neutral wire

When using a wireless switch like SONOFF T2 a connection to the neutral wire is needed to power the device, but this is not always feasible/practical as many lights as cabled without a neutral wire. SONOFF ZBMINI-L Zigbee 3.0 smart switch solves this issue as it does not require a neutral wire. Simply connect the two wires for the light and you are good to go. ITEAD says its solution does not require an extra anti-flicker module and relies on an “advanced electricity extraction technique”. SONOFF ZBMINI-L specifications: Connectivity – Zigbee 3.0 via TI CC2652P, up to 50 meter range (line of sight) Input – 100-240V 50/60Hz up to 6A Output – 100-240V 50/60Hz up to 6A Max. Load Resistive – 1380W Max @ 230V, 720W Max @ 120V LED – 300W Max @ 230V, 150W Max @ 120V Dimensions – 54 x 45 x 24mm (supports 35mm DIN Rail […]

February 1, 2021February 2, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

FOSDEM 2021 Online February 6-7 – Hardware, Embedded & IoT talks

FOSDEM is an open-source developer event that takes place on the first week-end of February every year in Brussels, Belgium. Every year except this year, as due to COVID-19 restrictions, FOSDEM 2021 will take place online like most events these days. The schedule has been up for some time, and today I’ll look at some of the interesting talks mostly from the Embedded, Mobile and Automotive “virtual devroom” but also other tracks. Saturday, February 6, 2021 13:00 – 14:00 – From Reset Vector to Kernel – Navigating the ARM Matryoshka Long gone are the times of executing the OS in-place from memory-mapped flash upon reset. A modern SoC now comes with complex mask ROM firmware, with driver, filesystem, protocol and crypto support for loading… yet another bootloader. In his talk, Ahmad follows this chain of bootloaders until the kernel is started, stopping along the way for RAM setup, peripherial initialization, […]

October 23, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Intel Elkhart Lake COM’s offer up to 3x 2.5GbE, SIL2 functional safety

Since the launch of the Intel Elkhart Lake IoT Edge processor family, we’ve covered several COM Express modules based on the new low power SoCs including TQ Embedded TQMxE40C1/C2 and Congatec conga-MA7 & conga-TCA7. But despite the processor supporting 2.5GbE, all the computers-on-module we’ve covered so far would only offer Gigabit Ethernet connectivity. But Eurotech CPU-161-19 and CPU-161-20 COM Express Compact Type 6 modules support up to three 2.5 Gbps Ethernet interfaces using COM Express with proprietary expansions, and CPU-161-20 is the first module we’ve seen taking advantage of Intel Atom x6000FE parts with Functional Safety (FuSa) support making the module certifiable with SIL2 Safety Integrity Level (IEC 61508-2:2010) and/or Cat 3 PL=d (ISO 13849-1). As we may infer from the photos above and below, both modules share many of the same features, except for the added functional safety on CPU-161-20. CPU-161-19/20 specifications: SoC CPU-161-19 module Atom x6212RE dual-core processor @ […]

October 5, 2020October 8, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

UL-Certified TP-Link Kasa Smart Plug with Dual Outlet Sells for $19.99 (Promo)

WiFi smart sockets to control home appliances have been around for a few years, and one of my favorite companies is Sonoff as they offer a variety of affordable smart plugs pre-loaded with eWelink firmware and compatible with open-source firmware like Tasmota and ESPurna. The company is also attentive to safety. communicate issues with customers, and recently wrote a post entitled “Safety is our responsibility” where they detail all steps taken to make sure their mains connected device sare safe to use. Sadly that does not include safety certifications like UL/ETL, or TUV which may have implications for your home insurance depending on where you live, and for peace of mind, it’s always good to have a third verify your design for safety. Which brings me to the main point of this point, as a UL-certified dual-outlet smart socket, namely TP-Link Kasa Smart Plug, is currently on sale for $19.99 […]