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February 16, 2026February 16, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

Project Aura – A neat, easy-to-assemble, DIY Air quality monitor compatible with Home Assistant

Project Aura is an ESP32‑based DIY air quality monitor that combines a touchscreen display and industrial sensors. It is fully integrated with the Home Assistant open-source home automation platform. The words “DIY” and “open source” often imply manufacturing the board yourself and soldering components, but that’s not the case for Project Aura. It’s based on off-the-shelf components connected through cables without any soldering requirements, while the enclosure can be 3D printed. The firmware is equally easy to install through a one-click web installer. Project Aura key components: Waveshare ESP32-S3-Touch-LCD-4.3 – ESP32-S3 board with 16MB flash, 4.3-inch IPS display (800×480) with capacitive touch. Similar to the ESP32-S3-Touch-LCD-4.3B but using PH2.0 connectors instead of a terminal block for I/Os Sensirion SEN66 + Adafruit breakout for data capture PM1, PM2.5, PM4, PM10 particle levels (full spectrum of particles from smoke to pollen) CO2, VOC, and NOx for air freshness, volatile chemicals, and exhaust […]

January 30, 2026January 31, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 10 Comments

Microchip PIC32CM PL10 Cortex-M0+ microcontrollers are pin-to-pin compatible with AVR MCUs, support 5V operation

Microchip has added the PIC32CM PL10 MCUs to its PIC32C Arm Cortex-M0+ microcontroller family. Pin-to-pin compatible with AVR MCUs, the new PL10 MCUs feature a range of Core Independent Peripherals (CIPs), 5V operation, and functional safety (FuSa) compliance. The microcontrollers notably integrate a 12-bit ADC with strong noise immunity, a Peripheral Touch Controller (PTC) for responsive touch applications, and two serial communication interfaces with USART, I2C, and/or SPI support. Target applications include industrial control, building automation, consumer appliances, power tools, and sensor-based systems. Microchip PIC32CM PL10 specifications: MCU core – Arm Cortex-M0+ core up to 24 MHz Memory – Up to 16 KB SRAM (8 KB in current datasheet) Storage – Up to 128 KB Flash (64 KB in current datasheet) I/Os and peripherals Up to 55x programmable I/O pins Up to 16x external interrupts Multi-Voltage I/Os (MVIO), removing the need for external level shifters Peripheral Touch Controller (PTC) with […]

January 27, 2026January 27, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

MaixCAM2 modular 4K AI camera is based on Axera AX630 SoC with 3.2 TOPS NPU (Crowdfunding)

Designed for makers and researchers, Sipeed’s MaixCAM2 is a modular AI camera built around an Axera AX630 AI SoC with 3.2 TOPS (INT8) to 12.8 TOPS (INT4) of AI performance, yet delivering 10 to 20x higher performance on OpenMV-N6 and Raspberry Pi 5, and about the same performance (140 FPS) as a 33 TOPS Jetson Orin Nano 4GB Super in YOLO11n. The camera comes with 1GB or 4GB RAM, a 32GB eMMC flash, and a microSD card slot for storage, a 2.4-inch touchscreen display, and an 8MP / 4Kp30 camera sensor with LED flash, as well as two microphones and a speaker, making it suitable for local LLM and VLM applications. It also features two PMOD connectors for expansion, such as a thermal imager and a Time of Flight (ToF) ranging sensor. MaxiCAM2 specifications: SoC – Axera Tech AX630 CPU Dual-core Arm Cortex-A53 @ 1.2 GHz running Ubuntu Linux 32-bit […]

January 27, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

SONOFF Dongle Max (Dongle-M) Review – A Zigbee/Thread PoE, USB, and WiFi adapter tested with Home Assistant

SONOFF Dongle Max Dongle-M review with Home Assistant Zigbee2MQTT ZHA

SONOFF sent us a sample of the SONOFF Dongle Max (also known as Dongle-M) Zigbee/Thread adapter with PoE support for review. It is based on Espressif ESP32-D0WDR2-V3 and Silicon Labs EFR32MG24 SoCs, and can serve as both a Zigbee coordinator and Thread Border Router, with connectivity options including Ethernet, Wi-Fi, and USB. The dongle is specifically designed for popular smart home platforms like Home Assistant, Zigbee2MQTT, ioBroker, and OpenHAB. Key advantages of the Dongle Max over the recently reviewed Dongle Plus MG24 include built-in Wi-Fi and Ethernet support (in addition to USB), Power over Ethernet (PoE), and a convenient Web Console for easier device configuration. It basically provides more flexibility thanks to a wider range of connection options, and it’s easier to place it in strategic locations since it doesn’t need to be connected directly to your Home Assistant server. In this review, we’ll go through the unboxing, initial setup, […]

January 26, 2026 by Debashis Das - 1 Comment

ACEBOTT QD023 ESP32-based gesture control glove tracks finger movements with potentiometers

ACEBOTT QD023 ESP32 Motion Sensing Glove

ACEBOTT QD023 is an ESP32-based wearable gesture control glove that tracks finger movements with potentiometers instead of more traditional flex sensors. The glove transmits data via Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) to control various robotics kits, such as bipedal walkers, mecanum-wheeled cars, and robotic arms. The glove integrates five potentiometers for finger bending detection, and a 6-axis MPU6050 IMU for wrist rotation, tilt, and hand posture detection in real time. Other Hardware features include a USB Type-C port for programming and debugging, four AAA batteries for power, buttons, LEDs, and more. Tutorials and assembly guides make it suitable for K-12 education, classrooms, and hobbyist robotics projects. ACEBOTT QD023 specifications: Wireless Module – ESP32-WROOM-32D (soldered on the backside of the PCB) SoC – ESP32 dual-core wireless microcontroller CPU – Dual-core Xtensa 32-bit microprocessor @ 240MHz Memory – 520KB internal SRAM Wireless – Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n, and Bluetooth (4.2 and BLE) PCB antenna USB – […]

January 25, 2026January 25, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 13 Comments

Mecha Comet is an open-source hardware, modular Linux handheld computer (Crowdfunding)

Mecha Comet open-source hardware modular Linux handheld computer can be used as a gaming console, a Linux terminal, an electronic measurement tool, and more, thanks to a 40-pin magnetic expansion connector for modules such as a gamepad, a QWERTY keyboard, a 40-pin GPIO header, and more. The Mecha Comet is powered by an NXP i.MX 8M Plus or i.MX 95 Arm SoC, ships with up to 8GB RAM and 128GB flash, but also supports MicroSD and NVMe storage. It also features a 3.91-inch touchscreen display, a mini HDMI 2.1 port, an 8MP camera, a dual-mic array and a speaker, a 3.5mm audio jack, WiFi 5 and optional 4G LTE/5G cellular connectivity, as well as a few USB-C ports and built-in sensors. Mecha Comet specifications: SoC (one or the other) NXP i.MX8M Plus CPU – Quad-core Arm Cortex-A53 @ up to 1.8 GHz Real-time MCU – Arm Cortex-M7 @ up to […]

January 21, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

ESPHome 2026.1.0 optimizes memory usage on ESP32/ESP8266, adds Zigbee support on nRF52, WiFi roaming, and more

ESPHome 2026.1.0 open-source firmware has just been released with new features like automatic WiFi roaming and Zigbee support for Nordic Semi nRF52 targets, as well as memory optimization for ESP32/ESP8266 hardware, among many other changes. Other notable changes include security updates with the project replacing API password authentication with API encryption and requiring SHA256 authentication for OTA updates, better support for non-ASCII configuration, and updates to LibreTiny platforms (BK72xx, RTL87xx, LN882x), which received thread-safe WiFi, atomics, and deep sleep support. ESPHome developers used to advise users not to use ESP8266, not because it was not suitable for the task, but because the runtime heap on ESP8266 routinely dropped below 10k, and devices were unreliable. Since millions of ESP8266 devices were already deployed in homes, they decided to do something about it. The project was greatly helped thanks to increased support from the Open Home Foundation, which allows the project to […]

January 20, 2026January 19, 2026 by Debashis Das - 4 Comments

EnviroGo ESP32-S3 wearable environmental monitor features 7 sensors (Crowdfunding)

EnviroGo s 7 in 1 ESP32 wearable environmental monitor

EnviroGo is an ESP32-S3-based wearable environmental monitor that tracks Organic Compounds (VOCs), UV index, temperature, humidity, air pressure, light, and motion via a 9-axis MEMS sensor. It is designed for indoor and outdoor use, and can be worn, clipped to a bag, or magnetically mounted, making it suitable for homes, offices, travel, labs, and daily use where real-time environmental data is needed. EnviroGo supports built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity through the ESP32-S3 WiSoC, features a small 0.96-inch IPS display, a microSD card slot for local data logging, and an RTC for time-stamped records. The device samples data at configurable intervals, uses RGB LEDs and a buzzer for visual and audible alerts, and can process data locally with AI-based prediction to spot trends such as rising VOC levels or humidity changes (with a stated 7-day learning period). EnviroGo is designed for IoT developers, researchers, smart home users, and health-conscious individuals who […]