sensors

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments on Robo Pico review – A Raspberry Pi Pico W-based motor & sensor control board tested with BocoBot robotic kit

Robo Pico review – A Raspberry Pi Pico W-based motor & sensor control board tested with BocoBot robotic kit

Robo Pico Review Raspberry Pi Zero W robot

Cytron Robo Pico is a carrier board for the Raspberry Pi Pico (W) specially designed for robotics & IoT applications with a 2-channel DC motor driver, four servo motor ports, and seven Grove I/O connectors to connect various sensors and/or actuators. When the company asked us to review the Robo Pico board, I noticed they had a car robotic kit based on the board called the BocoBot that comes with installation videos and five tutorials including obstacle avoidance movement with ultrasonic sensors, light search, line following, and WiFi remote control. So I asked for the full kit to make the review more fun and interesting. Robo Pico board Robo Pico specifications: Supported MCU board – Raspberry Pi Pico/Pico W and compatible Motor control 2x DC Motor terminals with Motor status LEDs for each motor terminal 2x motor test buttons for each motor terminal Header to connect to 4x servos Expansion […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments on STMicro STHS34PF80 IR sensor for motion and presence detection aims to replace PIR sensors

STMicro STHS34PF80 IR sensor for motion and presence detection aims to replace PIR sensors

STMicro STHS34PF80 IR sensor

STMicro STHS34PF80 is a new IR sensor designed for IoT and Smart Home devices requiring motion and/or presence detection that offers an alternative to traditional passive infrared (PIR) sensors and is mostly useful for building automation. The latest IR sensor from STMicro contains thermal transistors (MOSFETs) that can not only detect motion but also stationary objects, something that’s not feasible with conventional PIR detectors that require motion for object detection. The company further adds that PIR sensors need a Fresnel lens to sense moving objects, but the STHS34PF80 detector does not require a lens and as a result, enables much smaller designs. STHS34PF80 key features and specifications: Range up to 4 meters without lens for objects measuring 70 x 25 cm² Integrated silicon IR filter IR sensitivity – 2000 LSB/°C RMS noise – 25 LSBrms Operating wavelength – 5 µm to 20 µm Local temperature sensor accuracy – ±0.3 °C […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment on ButtonBoard is a 3cm round WiFi IoT board with BME280 and IMU sensors (Crowdfunding)

ButtonBoard is a 3cm round WiFi IoT board with BME280 and IMU sensors (Crowdfunding)

ButtonBoard round shap ESP8285 WiFi IoT board

ButtonBoard is a tiny round-shaped board based on the ESP-01F WiFi IoT module (ESP8285), equipped with a BME280 air pressure, humidity, and temperature sensor, an IMU sensor, and designed for wearables electronics projects. ButtonBoard specifications: Wireless module – ESP-01F module with ESP8285 Tensilica L106 microcontroller @ 80/160 MHz with 2.4GHz WiFi connectivity, PCB antenna; package: 11 x 10 mm USB – Micro USB port Sensors Bosch Sensortec BME280 pressure, temperature, and humidity sensor, and altimeter. IMU sensor Expansion – Through holes for up to 10x GPIOs, I2C, SPI, USART Misc – Reset button Power Supply – 5V via micro USB port; onboard power management Dimensions – About 3cm diameter The ButtonBoard can be programmed with the Arduino IDE via USB or WiFi, MicroPython, Lua, and Scratch, and they also mention support for ChatGPT through the current API, but I could not find any code samples at this time. They do […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment on The Bee Data Logger ESP32-S3 board comes with RTC, microSD slot, and two Qwiic connectors for sensors

The Bee Data Logger ESP32-S3 board comes with RTC, microSD slot, and two Qwiic connectors for sensors

ESP32 Data Logger

A few months ago, SparkFun released the “Datalogger IoT – 9DoF” no-code platform based on ESP32 with some built-in sensors, a microSD card, and two Qwiic connectors to add sensors in order to perform data logging with minimal to no coding. Smart Bee Designs looks to have shrunk the design, removing the built-in sensors in the processor, with the Bee data logger ESP32-S3 board that offers most of the same features plus a built-in DS3231 RTC and back battery for timekeeping, and the ability to leverage the vector extension in the ESP32-S3 for machine learning applications. Bee data logger specifications: Wireless module – Espressif Systems ESP32-S3-MINI-1 module CPU – ESP32-S3 dual-core Xtensa LX7 microcontroller with vector extensions with 512KB SRAM, 384KB ROM, WiFi 4 and Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity Storage – 8MB of QSPI flash PCB antenna Storage – MicroSD card slot up to 16GB capacity USB – 1x USB Type-C port […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments on VL53L7CX Time-of-Flight (ToF) sensor offers camera-like 90° field of view

VL53L7CX Time-of-Flight (ToF) sensor offers camera-like 90° field of view

VL53L7CX wide FoV ToF sensor

STMicroelectronics VL53L7CX is the latest FlightSense multi-zone Time-of-Flight (ToF) distance sensor from the company with the main highlight between its camera-like 90° diagonal field of view, derived from a 60° x 60° field of view… This is a significant improvement over the 61° diagonal field of view of the previous generation ToF sensors such as the VL53L8 or VL53L5CP,  and the wider field-of-view is said to bring “lifelike situational awareness” to applications like home automation, computers, house appliances, robots, and industrial equipment with full-privacy since ToF sensors do not capture photos or videos like traditional cameras. STMicro VL53L7CX key features and specifications: 940 nm invisible light vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL) and integrated analog driver 60° x 60° square field of view (FoV) (90° diagonal) using diffractive optical elements (DOE) on both transmitter and receiver enabling square FoV Receiving array of single photon avalanche diodes (SPADs) Multizone ranging output […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments on Using Link.ONE all-in-one LPWAN development kit with ChipStark, Node-Red, InfluxDB, and Grafana

Using Link.ONE all-in-one LPWAN development kit with ChipStark, Node-Red, InfluxDB, and Grafana

Link.ONE review

RAKwireless has sent us a review sample of the WisTrio Link.ONE all-in-one LPWAN IoT development kit with support for LTE-M, NB-IoT, and LoRaWAN connectivity and programmable with the Arduino IDE. We’ve tested the kit with its weatherproof WisBlock Unify enclosure using LoRaWAN connectivity and open-source software packages and frameworks such as ChipStark, Node-Red, InfluxDB, and Grafana. Key features of the Link.ONE kit The Link.ONE kit we’ve received comes with a WisBlock Unify Enclosure (100 x 75 x 38 mm) and a 3,200 mAh/3.7V rechargeable lithium battery which is sufficient when the system is mostly in sleep mode and used to receive data, while not sending information too often. “Link.ONE with BOX” unboxing The following items were very tightly packed inside the box: WisTrio LTE-M, NB-IoT, and LoRaWAN development board Rechargeable lithium battery External Antenna for cellular USB Type-C cable Circular M8 female cable The enclosure is strong with the lid […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments on NOVELDA’s latest UWB radar presence sensor consumes less than 100 µW

NOVELDA’s latest UWB radar presence sensor consumes less than 100 µW

NOVELDA UWB presence sensor

NOVELDA has unveiled a new low-power ultra-wideband (UWB) radar presence sensor with a power consumption of under 100 µW and designed to operate on two AAA batteries for up to four years. We first wrote about NOVELDA in 2021 where we covered their UWB X4 presence sensor capable of detecting submillimeter movements with a power consumption of under 2mW. The company has further optimized the technology and has come up with a 30x5mm module capable of doing the same with 0.1mW power consumption. The sensor is said to work behind various materials such as plastics, tempered glass, and ceramics, the detection zone size and shape can be adjusted to meet the application requirements, and the device provides accurate angle and distance information. The new ultra-low power UWB radar presence sensor will mostly be useful for energy/resource savings, lengthening a product’s life cycle, and health monitoring with some of the potential […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment on SparkFun “Datalogger IoT – 9DoF” no code platform supports over 50 Qwiic sensor modules

SparkFun “Datalogger IoT – 9DoF” no code platform supports over 50 Qwiic sensor modules

SparkFun Datalogger IoT - 9DoF

SparkFun “DataLogger IoT – 9DOF” is an ESP32-based data logger board that transfers data to a microSD card or wirelessly to the cloud and comes with firmware that can automatically detect over 50 Qwiic modules without any programming required from the user making it a so-called “no code platform“. The board comes with a 9-axis IMU sensor + magnetometer, and two Qwiic connectors, and the data is stored in CSV or JSON formats on a microSD card or sent to IoT cloud platforms such as Amazon AWS IoT, Microsoft Azure, or Mathworks ThingSpeak using protocols like MQTT or HTTP. SparkFun “Datalogger IoT – 9DoF” specifications: Wireless module – ESP32-WROOM-32E: ESP32 dual-core microcontroller 4MB flash 2.4 GHz WiFi and Bluetooth LE connectivity, built-in PCB antenna Storage – MicroSD card slot Sensors 6-axis IMU accelerometer & gyro (ISM330DHCX) Magnetometer (MMC5983MA) 2x Qwicc I2C connectors for additional sensors USB – 1x USB Type-C […]