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Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments on Beginner friendly Arduino Plug and Make Kit features Arduino UNO R4 WiFi and Modulino I2C modules

Beginner friendly Arduino Plug and Make Kit features Arduino UNO R4 WiFi and Modulino I2C modules

Arduino UNO R4 WiFi Modulino nodes

Arduino has just launched a “Plug and Make” kit designed for beginners with an Arduino UNO R4 WiFi board, several “Modulino” modules, a “Modulino” base to neatly attach the UNO R4 and modules,  and various cables, spacers, screws, and nuts. When thinking about Arduino projects, breadboards or even soldering may come to mind, but the new Arduino Plug and Make Kit does not require any of those. No breadboard, jumper wires, or soldering needed. Users can simply connect the modules to the Arduino board through Qwiic cables, neatly attach everything together on the provided base, and follow one of the seven projects complete with step-by-step instructions provided with the kit. The Arduino Plug and Make Kit content Arduino UNO R4 WiFi board 7x Modulino I2C nodes Modulino Knob* – Encoder for value adjustments Modulino Pixels* – 8x LC8822-2020 RGB LEDs Modulino Distance – STMicro VL53L4 Time-of-Flight (ToF) proximity sensor to […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments on High Torque Robotics Mini π is a bipedal robot powered by an Orange Pi 5 SBC

High Torque Robotics Mini π is a bipedal robot powered by an Orange Pi 5 SBC

High Torque Robotics mini Pi bipedal robot

High Torque Robotics’ Mini π is a 54cm high bipedal robot that can walk and dance with two legs and leverages the Orange Pi 5 SBC’s features such as the 6 TOPS AI accelerator in the Rockchip RK3588S processor. The robot offers 12 degrees of freedom (DOF) and can run, jump, and even flip thanks to its twelve join motors that were developed by the company. The Mini π is designed for locomotion algorithm research and education and supports ZMP (zero moment point), MPC (Model Predictive Control), reinforcement learning locomotion control algorithms, and ROS SLAM navigation features.   Mini π bipedal robot highlights: SBC – Orange Pi 5 RK3588S single board computer Controller – Custom-design “high-performance underlying controller” using 4x CAN FD communication DOF – 6 DoF per leg, or 12 in total Joint motors 8x HTDM-5047-36-NE with gear ratio: 36, 16Nm peak torque 4x HTDM-4438-32-NW with gear ratio: 32, […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments on ACEBOTT QE007 review – An ESP32-based Smart Home STEAM education kit for 8+ years old kids

ACEBOTT QE007 review – An ESP32-based Smart Home STEAM education kit for 8+ years old kids

QE007 ESP32 Smart Home Starter Kit Review

ACEBOTT QE007 ESP32-based Smart Home Starter Kit is a STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Maths) education platform that involves story reading, assembling a wooden house with various electronics sensors wired to an ESP32 board, and learning about electronics concepts (such as voltage and current) and coding with the Arduino IDE through an 18 lesson course. ACEBOTT has various STEAM education kits, and the company sent us the QE007 “IoT Smart Home Starter Kit” for evaluation and review. So I’ll go through an unboxing, report my experience with the assembly process, and the Arduino tutorials by going through some of the eighteen lessons. ACEBOTT QE007 unboxing The kit comes in a nice-looking retail that reads “ACEBOTT Explorer Series QE007” and “ACEBOTT IOT Smart Home Started Kit”. The front of the package also highlights its a STEAM education kit designed for 8+ years old kids. The bottom side gives the backstory […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments on XGO-Rider is a 2-wheel self-balancing robot with an ESP32 controller plus either a Raspberry Pi CM4 or BBC Micro:bit (Crowdfunding)

XGO-Rider is a 2-wheel self-balancing robot with an ESP32 controller plus either a Raspberry Pi CM4 or BBC Micro:bit (Crowdfunding)

XGO-Rider

XGO-Rider is a two-wheel self-balancing robot with an ESP32 controller for motor and servo control, USB-C charging, etc… and a choice between a Raspberry Pi CM4 module or a BBC Micro:bit board for display, audio, and camera (CM4-only). It’s not the first robot from Luwu Intelligence, since the company launched the XGO-Mini robot dog in 2021, followed by the XGO 2 Raspberry Pi CM4-powered desktop robotic dog with an arm which we reviewed last year. The new XGO-Rider builds on these earlier models but in a different form factor moving from four-legged robots to a 2-wheel self-balancing robot design with many of the same features including AI vision running on the Raspberry Pi CM4. XGO-Rider specifications: Host controller (one or the other) Raspberry Pi CM4 with 2GB RAM + ESP32 for main control, USB-C charging port, DIP switch BBC Micro:bit V2 + ESP32 for main control, USB-C charging port, DIP […]

Posted on by Debashis Das - 6 Comments on unPhone – An ESP32-S3 IoT development platform with LoRaWAN, touchscreen, open-source ecosystem

unPhone – An ESP32-S3 IoT development platform with LoRaWAN, touchscreen, open-source ecosystem

unPhone All in one LoRa, WiFi and BT dev device with touchscreen and LiPo battery

Pimoroni, in partnership with the University of Sheffield, introduced the unPhone – an open-source non-cellular IoT development platform built around the ESP32-S3 wireless microcontroller. The unPhone isn’t meant to replace phones but can simplify tasks and give you more control over your data. In addition to the ESP32-S3, it features a 3.5″ 320×480 touchscreen display, LoRaWAN, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, a vibration motor, an accelerometer, and various other features. Designed with these capabilities, this module can be used for teaching and rapid prototyping, while also finding applications in aquaponics. unPhone key features and components Wireless module – ESP32-S3-WROOM-1U-N8 MCU – ESP32-S3 dual-core Tensilica LX7 up to 240 MHz with 512KB SRAM and 8MB PSRAM Storage – 8MB Quad SPI flash Wireless – 2.4 GHz WiFi 4 and Bluetooth LE 5 Hardware Features LCD touchscreen for debugging and UI creation. LoRaWAN for free radio communication Vibration motor for notifications. IR LEDs for remote control. […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment on The Arduino PLC Starter Kit aims to teach programmable logic control to high school and university students

The Arduino PLC Starter Kit aims to teach programmable logic control to high school and university students

Arduino PLC Starter Kit

Arduino PLC Starter Kit combines the Arduino Opta micro PLC, the Arduino DIN Simul8 digital input simulator and power distribution board, and the Arduino DIN Celsius board with two independent heater circuits and one temperature sensor acting as a temperature laboratory. The kit is supported by the Arduino PLC IDE first introduced in 2022 and comes with various cables and a power supply that allows users to quickly get started. Arduino says the kit targets the education of students aged 17 years and more. It includes 20 hours of lessons going through the history of programmable logic controllers, Modbus RS-485 communications, and how PLCs integrate with industrial simulated systems. The main hardware and software components of the kits are: Arduino Opta WiFi micro PLC based on an STMicro STM32H747XI dual-core Arm Cortex-M7/M4 MCU, offering Ethernet and RS485 communication interfaces, and exposing eight digital/analog inputs, plus four relay outputs. DIN Rail-mountable […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments on The Lark Weather Station works with Arduino, ESP32, micro:bit, Raspberry Pi, and other boards

The Lark Weather Station works with Arduino, ESP32, micro:bit, Raspberry Pi, and other boards

Lark Weather Station Arduino ESP32 Raspberry Pi

The Lark Weather Station measures wind speed, wind direction, temperature, humidity, and air pressure through a range of sensors and connects to popular development boards such as Arduino UNO, ESP32, BBC micro:bit, Raspberry Pi, or DFRobot Unihiker through I2C or UART. We’ve seen several projects for Internet-connection weather stations that retrieve weather data from the web and display the results locally, but the Lark Weather Station allows the users to get atmospheric data right in his/her current location thanks to its built-in anemometer, wind vane, and built-in sensors, as well as expansion interfaces for additional sensors. Lark Weather Station specifications: Storage – 16MB flash good to store about 160 days of data (when data is recorded once per minute) Sensors Compass Anemometer Wind Speed: 0.5~12m/s Cover to protect the anemometer during storage/transport Wind vane and wind direction shaft to report the wind direction (eight directions) Temperature Range –20~60℃ ±0.2℃ Humidity […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments on Doly – A cute little autonomous AI-powered robot based on Raspberry Pi CM4 module (Crowdfunding)

Doly – A cute little autonomous AI-powered robot based on Raspberry Pi CM4 module (Crowdfunding)

Doly Raspberry Pi CM4 robot

Limitbit Doly is a cute little autonomous robot with two continuous tracks, two small arms controlled by servos, two round color displays acting as the eyes, and various sensors, all controlled by a Raspberry Pi CM4 system-on-module. The robot can be used for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) education or as a developer platform. AI workloads can also run on the Raspberry Pi CM4 module taking sensors, camera, and microphone inputs, with the robot interacting with the user through the built-in stereo speaker and two eyes. In practice, that means Doly supports features such as face recognition and smart audio with the robot capable of recognizing its owner and responding to voice commands. Doly specifications: System-on-Module – Raspberry Pi CM4 Lite model CM4101000 (1GB RAM, Wireless) by default, but also supports other CM4/CM Lite modules with wireless Storage – MicroSD card slot Display – 2x high-resolution color displays (the […]

UP 7000 x86 SBC