Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 8 Comments on LiPo battery powered Olimex boards use ESP32-S2’s USB OTG interface

LiPo battery powered Olimex boards use ESP32-S2’s USB OTG interface

Last year, Olimex introduced ESP32-S2-DevKit-LiPo and ESP32-S2-WROVER-Devkit-LiPo boards optimized for battery-powered applications with as little as 30uA deep sleep power consumption. ESP32-S2 processor comes with a USB OTG interface, but at the time, Espressif Systems ESF-IDF SDK did not support programming via the built-in USB interface, so Olimex added CH340T USB to serial converter for programming. The good news is that the SDK can now support USB programming without an external chip, so the company designed new versions of the boards without a USB to serial chip with namely ESP32-S2-DevKit-LiPo-USB and ESP32-S2-WROVER-Devkit-LiPo-USB boards. The specifications are basically the same as previously except for the removal of the USB to serial chip, support for USB OTG, and even lower power consumption: Wireless module: ESP32-S2-DevKit-LiPo – ESP32-S2-WROOM with Espressif ESP32-S2 single-core 32-bit LX7 microprocessor up to 240 MHz with  128 KB ROM, 320 KB SRAM, 16 KB SRAM in RTC, 4MB SPI flash ESP32-S2-WROVER-Devkit-LiPo – ESP32-S2-WROVER – same as above plus 2MB […]

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Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 21 Comments on Some really tiny USB-C boards – MangoGeek dual serial USB board and Ant2 LiPo Charger

Some really tiny USB-C boards – MangoGeek dual serial USB board and Ant2 LiPo Charger

The most touted advantages of the USB Type-C port are that it is reversible, enables more reliable and faster charging, and extra features like DisplayPort alt mode. But it’s also about as small as the micro USB port, and yesterday I came across two really small board with a USB-C connector: Ant2 LiPo charger board and a TTL to USB debug board from MangoGeek with two serial ports. MangoGeek dual serial to USB board One the dual row header, with eight pins in total, is solder to the board, it’s about as big as a MicroSD card. The board is based on Silicon Labs CP2105 USB to dual UART bridge controller., and provides two Tx/Rx interfaces, DTR, RTS, 5V, and GND signals on the top and bottom of the board. One of the UART ports could be used to access a Linux serial, and the other to transmit data. The main problem is that it must be very easy to […]

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Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 22 Comments on PinePower 120W desktop power supply features display, USB PD, QC 3.0 and wireless charging

PinePower 120W desktop power supply features display, USB PD, QC 3.0 and wireless charging

Pine64’s January update includes the launch of PinePhone with Mobian operating system, some limited details about the upcoming Quartz64 RK3566 SBC that will ship with 4 to 8GB RAM, and other news about all their products. There’s not enough details yet to write a post about Quartz64, but another product caught my eyes: PinePower. Yes, Pine64 is now offering power supply, and last month they presented PinePower 65W GaN power adapter that looks similar to MINIX NEO P1 power supply, albeit slightly larger. But I find the desktop version of the power supply even more interesting with an integrated display that shows voltage and current for each port, and also adds Qi wireless charging. PinePower “Desktop” version specifications: Display – Shows individual port voltage and current status USB charging ports 1x USB Type-C PD port up to 65W output with support for 5V/3A, 9V/3A, 12V/3A, 15V/3A, 20V/3.25A 1x QC 3.0 compatible USB Type-A port up to 18W output with support […]

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Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments on USB2IO high-speed interface explorer tool combines Intel Cyclone 10 FPGA and STM32H7 MCU

USB2IO high-speed interface explorer tool combines Intel Cyclone 10 FPGA and STM32H7 MCU

In the second part of 2020, we’ve seen a fair amount of USB debugging tools for electronics designers and hardware hackers including the Glasgow Interface explorer with an ICE40 FPGA. But if you need even more flexibility or higher I/O speeds (up to 300 MHz), DAB Embedded USB2IO interface explorer should help thanks to the combination of an STMicro STM32H7 MCU and an Intel Cyclone 10 FPGA. USB2IO interface explorer hardware specifications: MCU – STMicro STM32H743 Arm Cortex-M7 @ 480MHz CPU clock An external 64MB QSPI flash for extra FPGA code storage; FPGA  – Intel Cyclone 10LP (10CL040) with 40k logic elements, 1,134 Mbit embedded memory, 126 DSP blocks External memory – 32MB SDRAM for MCU and FPGA (64MB in total) Storage – 64MB QSPI for connected to MCU for FPGA code storage I/Os via 20-pin external header/connector 16 x GPIO mode (single-ended), 8x LVDS pair mode or a mix of 2 modes depending on firmware configuration Supported logic levels […]

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Posted on by Saumitra Jagdale - 5 Comments on Tiny mmWave radar sensor embeds Cortex-R4F core for object tracking, classification

Tiny mmWave radar sensor embeds Cortex-R4F core for object tracking, classification

The 1″ cube mmWave RS-6843AOPUA radar sensor, announced by D3 Engineering, is a miniature radar device that enables easy integration of radar algorithms for industrial applications. The RS-6843AOPUA radar sensor is an AECQ-100-qualified 60 GHz device that integrates a Texas Instruments C674x DSP for algorithms and an Arm Cortex-R4F microcontroller unit for decision-making and interfacing. It also has a radar accelerator and an “on-package antenna array.” The RS-6843AOPUA radar sensor features a 1-inch cube form factor, heat-spreading metal body, mounting tabs, and a USB-Serial interface. The USB-Serial interface could be used to test and evaluate the radar sensor. Functions and Applications of the Radar Sensor TI C674x DSP: FMCW (Frequency Modulated Continuous Wave) signal processing, Implementation of algorithms Radar Accelerator: Radar data processing Arm Cortex-R4F MCU: Object tracking, Classification, Communications “The RF front end integrates a PLL, three transmitters, four receivers, and baseband ADC, and allows the sensor to cover up to 4 GHz at a 12 dBm transmit power […]

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Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments on Ollie USB board exposes isolated UART, CAN, USB, RS485 & RS232 interfaces (crowdfunding)

Ollie USB board exposes isolated UART, CAN, USB, RS485 & RS232 interfaces (crowdfunding)

Just like months, we wrote about Tigard open-source USB FT2232H board for hardware hacking with easy access to OpenOCD, JTAG, Cortex, flashrom interfaces used to debug/flash boards, extra I/Os with UART, SPI, and I2C, as well as a header to connect a logic analyzer and observe signals. If the board does not exactly match your requirements, Ollie USB board might, also it may not serve exactly the same purpose(s). The board acts as a USB bridge to isolated UART (x2), CAN, USB, RS485, and RS232 interfaces. Ollie specifications: MCU – STMicro STM32F042 Arm Cortex-M0 microcontroller with CAN interface Host interface – Micro USB port Isolated interfaces (all with ESD protection) 2x UART ports up to 12 Mbps with 1.8/3.3/5 V voltage levels (set by slide switch) CAN bus based on CANable/CANtact open hardware, flashed with dual firmware CANtact and Candlelight (switch selectable) and equipped with termination resistor switch Downstream USB – USB Type-A connector up to 12 Mbps; current limited […]

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Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments on MINIX NEO P1 tiny 66W GaN USB-C power supply can handle up to 3 devices

MINIX NEO P1 tiny 66W GaN USB-C power supply can handle up to 3 devices

I’m now using MINIX NEO P2 GaN USB-C charger for all review using USB powered devices. But with four-ports and up to 100W of power, it’s a bit over-powered for one or two Raspberry Pi 4 or equivalent SBCs, and it also costs around $60. So the Hong Kong company has now introduced a new model with MINIX NEO P1 being a tiny 66W GaAN USB-C power adapter with two USB-C ports and one USB Type-A port and international plug adapters that make ideal to use on the go. MINIX NEO P1 key features and specifications: Power Input – 100-240V AC input with 2-prong US plug and adapters for EU, UK, and AU Power Output Up to 66 W in total 2x USB Type-C ports support up to 65 W with USB PD 3.0 (5-15V/3A, 20V/3.25A) 1x USB Type-A port supports up to 36 W with QC 3.0 (5V/3A, 9V/3A, 12V/3A, 20V/1.8A) Safety (protections) – Overvoltage, input and output overcurrent, […]

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Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 9 Comments on Giveaway Week 2020 winners announced

Giveaway Week 2020 winners announced

CNX Software’s “Giveaway week 2020” took place last week with 7 different prizes including three MINIX accessories (USB-C hubs and USD PD charger), M5Stack Atom Echo ESP32 based programmable speaker,  Miniware DT71 smart tweezers, and two SBC’s namely RockPi 4C and Ryzen Embedded based DFI GHF51. All people had to enter was to leave a comment with the country to which the parcel would have to be sent. With the help of random.org, we now have selected and confirmed winners which all happen to come from the US or Europe this time around: MINIX NEO Storage Plus USB-C Hub with 480GB SSD – Marc, USA Miniware DT71 Smart Tweezers – xdcc_master, GERMANY MINIX NEO C-G USB-C Multiport Adapter – Barnaby, UK RockPi 4C SBC – Garrett, USA M5Stack Atom Echo ESP32 Speaker – Venet, ITALY MINIX NEO P2 100W USB-C Charger – Michal, SLOVAKIA DFI GHF51 Ryzen Embedded SBC – Dean, UK Curious minds may also check out the results […]

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