usb News - CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

January 24, 2023January 24, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

HackyPi Raspberry Pi RP2040 USB dongle serves as an educational “hacking” tool (Crowdfunding)

SB Components’ HackyPi is a Raspberry Pi RP2040-based USB dongle whose main purpose is to teach ethical hacking and coding programs, in other words, some sort of portable educational hacking tool. The small USB stick features a 1.14-inch color LCD, a MicroSD card to store data such as scripts and photos, and a button to enable programming like on other Raspberry Pi RP2040 boards. HackyPi specifications: MCU – Raspberry Pi RP2040 dual-core Cortex-M0+ microcontroller @ 133 MHz with 264KB SRAM Storage – QSPI flash, MicroSD card slot Display – 1.14-inch color LCD with 240 x 135 resolution USB – 1x USB 1.1 Type-A port Misc – Boot “Initiate Program” button Power Supply – 5V via USB port Dimensions – 55.04 x 23.20mm SB Components says the HackyPi USB dongle can be programmed with Raspberry Pi Pico C/C++ and MicroPython SDKs as well as CircuitPython, and they will release hardware design […]

December 3, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

PiTalk 4G HAT for Raspberry Pi / 4G USB dongle targets M2M and IoT applications (Crowdfunding)

PiTalk is a 4G cellular connectivity solution based on Quectel EG25-G LTE Cat 4 module intended for M2M and IoT applications, and available either as a Raspberry Pi HAT or as a USB dongle. There’s also a PiTalk 2G HAT, but we’ll focus on the 4G hardware in this article. PiTalk supports data rates up to 150 Mbps downlink and 50 Mbps uplink, integrates GNSS support, and as its name implies you can also make and receive calls, or send/receive SMS messages for the device provide you connect a display, speaker, and microphone to the Raspberry Pi or other host device. PiTalk 4G IoT HAT specifications: Quectel EG25-G 4G LTE cellular module: Cellular 3G and 4G LTE with 2G fallback Max. 150Mbps DL/ 50Mbps UL Global bands support 4G LTE-FDD: B1/B2/B3/B4/B5/B7/B8/B12/B13/B18/B19/B20/B25/B26/B28 4G LTE-TDD: B38/B39/B40/B41 3G WCDMA: B1/B2/B4/B5/B6/B8/B19 2G GSM: B2/B3/B5/B8 GNSS – Qualcomm IZat location technology Gen8C Lite (GPS, GLONASS, […]

November 28, 2022December 1, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 20 Comments

Orange Pi launches 14-inch portable monitor for $59

Shenzhen Xunlong Software, better known under the Orange Pi brand, has launched a 14-inch Full HD portable monitor for $59 plus shipping on Aliexpress, or a little more on Amazon. The company is better known for its low-cost Arm-based single board computers with Rockchip or Allwinner processors, but this time, they launched an accessory with a 14-inch display taking HDMI or USB Type-C input with up to 1920×1080 resolution. Orange Pi portable monitor specifications: Display 14-inch a-Si TFT LCD Resolution – 1920×1080 Refresh rate – 60 Hz Color – 262K, 45% NTSC Contrast – 700:1 Viewing angles – 85°, 85°, 85°, 85° typical Video inputs 1x HDMI port for video and audio 2x USB Type-C ports for power, video, and audio (which standard is used, they don’t say) Audio – Stereo speakers, 3.5mm headphone jack Misc – Iron stand Dimensions – 325 x 204 x 8.5 to 15 mm Weight […]

November 7, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 11 Comments

MS2130 based “4K” HDMI to USB 3.0 video capture dongle sells for $19

Mini U3 MS2130 4K HDMI to USB 3.0 video capture dongle

4K HDMI to USB 3.0 dongles based on Macrosilicon MS2130 video and audio acquisition chip are starting to show up on Aliexpress for around $19 with free shipping. We first discovered the MS2130 chip in the YuzukiLOHCC PRO open-source hardware board that claims to have a bills-of-material cost of about $10. But you have to build it and source the components yourself, so it’s not for everyone. Now USB 3.0 adapters capable of recording or streaming up to 1080p60 uncompressed video from an HDMI input up to 4Kp30 are available to anyone with around $20. “Mini U3” HDMI to USB 3.0 video capture dongle specfications: Main chip – MacroSilicon/UltraSemi MS2130 USB 3.2 Gen 1 high-definition video and audio acquisition chip HDMI input up to 4Kp30, 24/30/36-bit depth color Video Output up to 1080p60 in YUV or JPEG output format Audio – L-PCM codec Input cable length – Up to 15 […]

November 7, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

RP2040 firmware converts Raspberry Pi Pico into a an I2C to USB bridge

Nicolai Electronics’ rp2040-ic2-interface open-source firmware for the Raspberry Pi Pico (or other Raspberry Pi RP2040 boards) converts the board into an I2C to USB bridge to connect any I2C sensor or module to a PC or other hardware without GPIOs. The firmware implements the USB protocol expected by the I2C-Tiny-USB kernel driver used by the original I2C-Tiny-USB project for Microchip ATMega 8-bit AVR microcontrollers. The RP2040 is however not a fork of the original project, but instead a complete re-implementation of the firmware. You’ll need to connect your I2C sensor, display, or another module to the SDA (GPIO 2) and SCL (GPIO 3) pins of the Raspberry Pi RP2040 microcontroller and flash the “pre-release” firmware to the board. You’ll find it together with the source code written in C language on GitHub. Note the project has a “proof of concept status” and more testing is needed to make sure that […]

October 31, 2022November 4, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

SMLIGHT SLZB-06 – A Zigbee 3.0 to Ethernet, USB, and WiFi adapter with PoE support

SMLIGHT SLZB-06 Zigbee Ethernet USB WiFi adapter

Startup SMLIGHT has launched the SLZB-06 Zigbee 3.0 to Ethernet, USB, and WiFi adapter with PoE support that works out of the box with open-source software such as Home Assistant and Zigbee2MQTT. The device combines Texas Instruments’ СС2652Р microcontroller for Zigbee with ESP32 for WiFi, data transfer to Ethernet or USB, and peripheral functions such as LEDs and a button.The design is complemented with Microchip LAN8720 for Ethernet. SMLIGHT SLZB-06 specifications: Wireless SoCs Texas Instruments CC2652P1FRGZR Arm Cortex-M4F microcontroller @ 48 MHz with 352KB flash, 256KB ROM for protocols and library functions, 80+8KB SRAM, integrated power amplifier, Bluetooth 5.2 Low Energy and 802.15.4 radios Espressif Systems ESP32-DOWDQ5-V3 dual-core processor @ 240MHz with 448 KB ROM, 520 KB SRAM, 16 KB SRAM in RTC, WiFi and BLE connectivity Connectivity Ethernet RJ45 port with PoE support (IEEE 802.3af) implemented through Microchip LAN8720 10/100M Ethernet controller 2.4 GHz WiFi up to 150 […]

October 23, 2022November 24, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

Innodisk releases USB camera modules for AI applications

Innodisk, better known for its industrial storage solutions and embedded peripherals, has recently announced a shift towards the AI industry, and the first products for this market are three USB 2.0 camera modules with 1920×1080 resolution. All three camera modules are fixed focus. Innodisk EV2U-RMR2 offers HDR support, the EV2U-SGR1 is more compact, offers wider angles, and is optimized for low light conditions, while the EV2U-RMR1 supports HDR in a longer, but much thinner and narrower form factor and is equipped with an M5 lens, instead of an M12 lens for the other models. Innodisk EV2U-RMR2 camera module specifications: Resolution – 1920×1080 @ 30fps Sensor Size – 1/4” Pixel Size – 2 um Lens type – Fixed focus (M12) Lens D/H/V FoV – 86°/72°/38° HDR support Output I/F – USB 2.0 Power consumption – Around 1 Watt Dimensions – 58 x 25 x 22 mm Temperature Range – -20°C ~ […]

October 14, 2022October 20, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 13 Comments

Home Assistant launches SkyConnect USB stick with Zigbee, Thread, Matter support

The Home Assistant SkyConnect is a USB stick with support for Zigbee, Matter, and Thread connectivity designed to work with the popular Home Assistant open-source home automation solution, and enables users to bring Home Assistant Yellow (previously known as Home Assistant Amber) functionality to any platform running Home Assistant. The USB dongle is based on a Silicon Labs EFR32MG21 Gecko Series 2 Arm Cortex-M33 wireless microcontroller with an 802.15.4 multi-protocol 2.4 GHz radio that can concurrently run both Zigbee 3.0 (EmberZNet/EZSP) and Thread/Matter (OpenThread/Spinel) stacks/protocols at the same time by using firmware in RCP RCP (Radio Co-Processor) mode. Home Assistant SkyConnect specifications: MCU – Silabs EFR32MG21 Arm Cortex-M33 microcontroller @ up to 80 MHz with DSP and FPU, up to 1024 KB flash, up to 96 KB RAM, 2.4 GHz radio Wireless Protocols – Zigbee, Matter, Thread TX Power – up to +20dBm RX sensitivity – -104dBm (250kbps) 2.4 GHz […]