Waveshare RP2040-PiZero – A Raspberry Pi RP2040 board with Raspberry Pi Zero form factor

RP2040-PiZero

Waveshare RP2040-PiZero board is a Raspberry Pi Zero lookalike that features a Raspberry Pi RP2040 microcontroller instead of a Linux-capable application processor. But RP2040 board comes with the same layout as the Raspberry Pi Zero and similar ports including two USB Type-C ports, a mini HDMI/DVI connector, a microSD card slot, and a 40-pin GPIO header, but also adds support for LiPo batteries with a 2-pin connector and a charging circuit. RP2040-PiZero specifications: MCU – Raspberry Pi RP2040 dual-core Cortex M0+ microcontroller @ 133 MHz with 264 kB of embedded SRAM Storage – 16MB SPI flash, microSD card slot Video – Mini HDMI port that can output DVI signals USB – 1x USB Type-C port for data using PIO-USB host/device implementation Expansion – 40-pin color-coded header with 2x SPI, 2x I2C, 2x UART, 4x 12-bit ADC, 16x PWM, 8x Programmable I/O (PIO) state machines for custom peripheral support Misc – […]

LuckFox Pico Rockchip RV1103 Cortex-A7/RISC-V camera board comes with an optional Ethernet port

LuckFox Pico Plus Camera Board

LuckFox Pico is a small Linux camera board based on the Rockchip RV1103 Cortex-A7 and RISC-V AI camera SoC and offered with an Ethernet port in a longer version of the PCB called LuckFox Pico Plus. Both models come with 64MB RAM (apparently embedded in RV1103), a microSD card slot for storage, a MIPI CSI camera connector, a USB Type-C port for power, and a few through holes for expansion through GPIO, I2C, UART, and so on. LuckFox Pico and Pico Plus specifications: SoC – Rockchip RV1103 with Arm Cortex-A7 processor @ 1.2GHz, RISC-V core, 64MB DDR2, 0.8 TOPS NPU, 4M @ 30 fps USP Storage MicroSD card slot LuckFox Plus only – 1Gbit (128MB) SPI flash (W25N01GV) Camera – 2-lane MIPI CSI connector Networking (LuckFox Pico Plus only) – 10/100M Ethernet RJ45 port USB – USB 2.0 Host/Device Type-C port Expansion – 2x 20-pin headers with up to 24x […]

DIN-Rail mountable industrial 4G LTE router takes 9V to 36V DC power input

DIN Rail 4G router VPN

Waveshare WS-431E is an industrial-grade 4G LTE router with three Ethernet ports, WiFi 4, wall and DIN-Rail mounting options, and support for a wide power input range between 9V and 36V DC. The router is said to be based on two Qualcomm chips without further details provided, support various VPN protocols, and be suitable for networked medical equipment, Smart Agriculture, Smart Cities, robots, and security monitoring applications. Waveshare WS-431E specifications: SoC – “Dual Qualcomm chips” for WiFi and 4G LTE Networking Ethernet 1x 10/100Mbps Ethernet RJ45 WAN port (can be configured as LAN) with auto MDI/MDIX, 1.5KV electromagnetic isolation protection 2x 10/100Mbps Ethernet RJ45 LAN ports with auto MDI/MDIX, 1.5KV electromagnetic isolation protection 2.4 GHz 802.11b/g/n WiFi 4 2×2 MIMO up to 300 Mbps, and 500-meter LoS range 4G LTE cellular 4G TDD-LTE – B38/40/41 4G FDD-LTE – B1/3/7/8/20/28A 3G WCDMA – B1/8 2G GSM/EDGE – B3/8 Nano SIM card […]

LuckFox Core3566 – A Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 alternative that sells for $24 and up

LuckFox Core3566 system-on-module

We’ve already seen Rockchip RK3566 system-on-modules that follow the Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 with the likes of Pine64 SOQuartz and Radxa CM3. But there’s at least one more Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 alternative based on the RK3566 SoC with the LuckFox Core3566 going for as little as $23.99. I found out about the new module after checking out the upcoming Orange Pi Compute Module 4 (another CM4 alternative based on RK3566), and the LuckFox Core3566 is offered with 2GB or 4GB RAM, an optional 32GB eMMC flash, and an optional WiFi 5 and Bluetooth 5.0 module. LuckFox Core3566 specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3566 quad-core Cortex-A55 processor up to 1.8 GHz with a 32-bit RISC-V MCU, an Arm Mali-G52 GPU supporting OpenGL ES 1.1/2.0/3.2, OpenCL 2.0, Vulkan 1.1, a 0.8 TOPS NPU for AI acceleration System Memory – 2GB to 4GB LPDDR4 Storage – Optional 32GB eMMC module Wireless module […]

Metal enclosures for the Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 IO board

Waveshare metal box for Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 IO Board

I was informed about the “CM4 IO Computer” based on the official Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 IO board housing in a metal enclosure along with the Raspberry Pi CM4 module. I initially thought it was new, but it’s been out at least since 2021. Nevertheless, it turns out there are at least two of this type of metal enclosures for the CM4 IO board, and when buying full systems, they may provide a way to source Raspberry Pi CM4 system-on-modules since individual modules are so hard to purchase if you are not a company with some minimum monthly production volume. As a development platform, the Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 IO board is not optimized for cost or size, but there’s apparently enough demand that at least two companies – EDATEC and Waveshare – decided to make metal enclosures for them. EDATEC metal enclosure for the Compute Module 4 […]

Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W board gets Raspberry Pi CM3 adapter

Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W CM3 adapter

A couple of months ago, we wrote about the Raspberry Pi Compute Module 3E (CM3E) equipped with the Raspberry Pi RP3A0 SiP found in the Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W board. It looks like an OEM product from Raspberry Pi trading, and as such is close to impossible to purchase. But if somehow, you’d like to have the guts of the Pi Zero 2 W into CM3 module form factor, Waveshare has designed the Zero-to-CM3 adapter for the Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W that should be compatible with most carrier boards designed for Raspberry Pi CM3 or CM3+. As you can see, it is also using pogo pins to connect to the test points on the Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W board in order to route the USB, USB OTG, and SD card signals, so it will not work on older Pi Zero boards since the test points are in […]

RM500U-CN Raspberry Pi 5G HAT kit sells for under $200… for the Chinese market

low-cost Raspberry Pi 5G HAT

Waveshare has introduced a new Raspberry Pi 5G HAT kit with a Quectel RM500U-CN 5G module, four antennas, and other accessories that sells for under $200, Raspberry Pi SBC not included. On the face of it, it looks like an incredible deal, considering we’ve previously covered two other 5G development kits for the Raspberry Pi, namely Waveshare SIM8200EA-M2 HAT with a Snapdragon X55 5G modem and Sixfab “Raspberry Pi 5G Development Kit” that sold for about $400 to $600. What’s the trick? It’s designed for the Chinese market. RM500U-CN Raspberry Pi 5G HAT kit content: Waveshare Raspberry Pi M.2 TO 4G/5G HAT Quectel RM500U-CN 5G M.2 module 4x antennas plus SMA protective caps and IPEX adapter cables USB 3.0 male to male cable 1x USB 3.0 adapter and 1x USB 2.0 adapter 40-pin header 5V/3A USB Type-C power adapter Screws pack We can find more details about the RM500U-CN module […]

CM4-IO-POE-4G-Box – A Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 box for industrial IoT applications

CM4-IO-PoE-4G-Box

While the Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 is basically unobtanium, companies keep introducing products based on the Arm system-on-module, and Waveshare CM4-IO-POE-4G-Box is a complete system designed for industrial IoT applications with CAN Bus, RS232 and RS485 interfaces, Ethernet with PoE support, plus optional support for 2G to 5G cellular connectivity. The CM4-IO-POE-4G-Box is based on the “Compute Module 4 PoE 4G” carrier board which itself appears to be an update to the company’s earlier “Compute Module PoE 4G” carrier board for the Raspberry Pi CM3 module. CM4-IO-POE-4G-Box / Compute Module 4 PoE 4GB board specifications: Support SoM – All variants of Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 Storage – MicroSD card socket used for Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 Lite (without eMMC) Display 2x HDMI ports up to 4Kp30 (I suppose even 4Kp60) 2x 15-pin MIPI DSI connectors + openings in the enclosure for flat cables Camera – 2x internal […]