waveshare News - Page 5 of 6 - CNX Software

October 16, 2020October 16, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 13 Comments

Raspberry Pi Gets 5G Cellular Connectivity with Snapdragon X55 Powered HAT

The Raspberry Pi board has long been able to connect to cellular networks either via USB dongles or 3G or 4G LTE HATs that often include GPS as a bonus. But you can now connect your Raspberry Pi 4 or other RPI SBC with a 40-pin header to 5G networks thanks to Waveshare SIM8200EA-M2 5G HAT for Raspberry Pi powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon X55 multi-mode multi-band modem offering 5G/4G/3G cellular connectivity. As we can see from the photo, the 5G add-on comes as part of a cool-looking kit with bottom and top acrylic plates, spacers, a cooling fan plus five antennas for cellular and GNSS connectivity. But the HAT itself integrates a SimCOM SIM8200EA-M2 M.2 module and offers the following specifications: Compatibility – Works with Raspberry Pi boards with a 40-pin GPIO extension header Cellular Connectivity SIM8200EA-M2 core module based on Qualcomm Snapdragon X55 platform with multi-mode multi-band support 5G/4G/3G […]

July 20, 2020July 20, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

Waveshare Launches an Affordable 7-Color e-Paper Display

Most e-paper displays are black or white with sometimes red or yellow color being added to the mix. But E-Ink has recently launched several color e-Paper display at prices that will not make it affordable to most projects. Waveshare has launched its fair share of e-Paper displays in the past, and now the company is coming with a relatively affordable 5.65″ color e-Paper display with seven different colors for $74.99 plus shipping. Main features and specifications: Display 5.65″ display (114.9 × 85.8mm) Resolution – 600 × 448 pixels Viewing angle – >170° ACeP (Advanced Color ePaper) 7-color with black, white, green, blue, red, yellow, and orange Greyscale – 2 levels Full refresh time – 15s Dot pitch – 0.1915 × 0.1915mm Host Interface – 3-wire SPI or 4-wire SPI Operating voltage – 3.3V/5V Power Consumption 50mW (typ.) during refresh Standby current – <0.01uA (almost none) Dimensions – Board – 138.5 […]

May 6, 2020May 6, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

HART-IP Developer Kit Leverages Raspberry Pi 3B+, Off-the-Shelf Add-on Boards for Industrial Field Communication

Have you ever heard about the bi-directional HART communication protocol? I haven’t, but I should probably have as there’s an installed base of over 40 million HART-enabled instruments according to FieldComm Group who owns the protocol and the organization is comprised of 375 corporate members working on process automation instrumentation, systems, and services. HART stands for Highway Addressable Remote Transducer. The organization is also maintaining the more recent (2009) HART-IP IP-enabled version of the HART field communication protocol and just launched HART-IP Developer Kit whose hardware is comprised of a Raspberry Pi 3B+ SBC and off-the-shelf add-on boards mounted on a DIN Rail mount. List of all hardware components: Raspberry Pi 3B+ SBC DSLRKIT Power Over Ethernet PoE HAT (around $20 on Aliexpress) Waveshare Raspberry Pi High-Precision AD/DA (about $30) DINrPlate DIN Rail Mount. MicroSD card On the software side, the system runs Ubuntu MATE 18.04 64-bit preloaded on the MicroSD […]

May 4, 2020September 26, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 28 Comments

Argon One Case Brings All Raspberry Pi 4 Connectors on One Side

Due to its small size, the Raspberry Pi 4 board has Ethernet and USB ports on one side, and micro HDMI ports, AV port, and USB-C port on another side. This may not be an issue for most people, but having all ports on one side may make cable management easier. Argon One case for Raspberry Pi 4 makes that feat possible thanks to an adapter board that brings HDMI and AV ports on the left side of the USB ports, and an extra power expansion board does the same for the USB-C port plus adds a power button. Argon One comes in a kit with the following components: Aluminum top cover, black bottom AR1 power board AR1 AV board with micro HDMI inputs and outputs, AV port input and output Fan Power button Thermal pads for the processor and memory chip for passive cooling via internal heatsinks built into […]

March 17, 2020March 17, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

4.2″ and 7.5″ NFC-powered e-Paper Displays Work without Battery

e-Paper displays have great readability under sunlight, and only consume power when updated. But their refresh rate is limited, and most displays are fairly expensive. One way to reduce the cost is to completely remove the battery from the display, and update it through NFC providing both data and power. I’ve just found out about that possibility through 4.2″ and 7.5″ displays offered by Waveshare. All you need is a compatible NFC smartphone, or the company’s ST25R3911B NFC Board to power the display and transfer your image of choice. This works best for signs you may need to infrequently update such as menus, daily schedules, conference badges, labels, etc… Waveshare NFC-powered e-Paper display key features and specifications: Screens 7.5″ display 800×480 resolution 2-level greyscale 170° viewing angle Refresh Time – 5s + data transfer time 4.2″ display 400×300 resolution 2-level greyscale 170° viewing angle Refresh Time – 4s + data […]

December 12, 2019December 12, 2019 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

$38 Compute Module PoE Board Works with Raspberry Pi CM3/CM3+ Modules

Compute Module PoE Board-Raspberry-Pi CM3 Compute Module

Raspberry Pi 3 Compute Module was first introduced in 2017 with CM3 and CM3L systems-on-module with or without 4GB eMMC flash for $25 and up before the company launched an update earlier this year with CM3+ modules equipped with a slightly faster processor and up to 32GB eMMC flash for $25 to $40. If you wanted to evaluate the solution for your project you’d have to spend well over $100 for either the official development kit or third-party solutions such as balenaFin which may not support all features of the modules out of the box. We previously wrote about Waveshare Compute Module IO Board Plus similar to the official devkit and going for $50 without the actual module. The company has now designed a more compact board that also supports Ethernet and PoE out of the box selling for just $37.99 plus shipping on Seeed Studio or Waveshare not including […]

October 31, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

$50 Waveshare Compute Module IO Board Plus is Designed for Raspberry Pi CM3/CM3L Compute Modules

Raspberry Pi Compute Module CM3L and CM3 are fairy inexpensive at $25 and $30 respectively, but if you want to get the complete development kit with Compute Module IO Board, CM3 and CM3L modules, and accessories you’ll need to spend around $150 plus shipping. A cheaper option might be Waveshare “Compute Module IO Board Plus for Raspberry Pi CM3, CM3L” with many of the same features as the original Compute Module IO board, plus some extras like terminal blocks for ADC/DAC or RTC battery, which I first found on DX for $49.95 including shipping. Waveshare Compute Module IO Board Plus specifications: Compute Module socket for Raspberry Pi CM3/CM3L I/O headers 40-pin Raspberry Pi GPIO header (3) GPIO header for all pins exposed by the modules (2) Arduino headers for shields (10) 10-bit ADC/16-bit DAC screw terminals (11) 3x 5-pin sensor interface (13) 1-WIRE interface, for connecting single-bus devices like DS18B20 […]

August 14, 2014April 30, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 15 Comments

Waveshare DVK512 Kits For Raspberry Pi Model B+ Include RTC, Sensors, LCD Display, and More

Beaglebone (Black) expansion boards are called capes, Minnowboard ones are lures, and Raspberry Pi model B+ add-on boards can be HATs (HArdware on Top). When I found a kit for the Raspberry Pi model B+ on DealExtreme, based on Waveshare DVK512 add-ons board I thought it might have found a Chinese HAT, but unfortunately it is not compliant with HAT board specifications as it misses an EEPROM,and the dimensions are not the correct one either. Nevertheless, the kit, as well as extra accessories such as a 3.2″ LCD display, can still be interesting. The kit on DX comes with the following items: DVK512 expansion board that connects to the 40-pin Raspberry Pi B+ header and features PCF8563 RTC chip with battery, an on-board USB to TTL chip for debugging via micro USB, a character LCD interface, connectors for modules connected via UART, SPIO, I2C or GPIO, various jumpers and user […]