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October 29, 2024October 31, 2024 by Debashis Das - 3 Comments

CodeCell is a ESP32-C3 mini development board for robots, wearables, smart home projects

CodeCell ESP32 C3 mini development board

Engineer and YouTuber Carl Bugeja recently developed CodeCell, a tiny ESP32-C3 development board designed as the brain for robots, wearables, and smart home devices. This module features a nine-axis inertial measurement unit (IMU) for motion fusion and an optional VCNL4040 light sensor. It includes a USB Type-C port for data and power as well as a lithium-polymer battery with a charging circuit. Measuring just 18.5 x 18.5mm this compact board is even smaller than other tiny ESP32 development boards such as Waveshare’s ESP32-S3-Zero and Seeed Studio’s XIAO ESP32S3. However, the Epi C3 is smaller at 23 x 12.75 mm, and so are the Unexpected Maker NANOS3 (25 x 10 mm) and Unexpected Maker OMGS3 (28 x 11 mm). CodeCel ESP32-C3 mini development board specification Microcontroller – ESP32-C3 RISC-V MCU 160MHz 32-bit RISC-V processor core 400kB SRAM, 4MB flash storage Wi-Fi 4 and Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) connectivity Sensors Vishay VCNL4040 light […]

October 18, 2024 by Tomisin Olujinmi - 22 Comments

Spectra is a customizable, JavaScript ESP32-S3 and nRF52832 smartwatch (Crowdfunding)

Spectra is a JavaScript-based hackable smartwatch based on the ESP32-S3 WiFi and Bluetooth microcontroller that aims to offer the quality of high-end consumer smartwatches with the repairability of a maker-targeted device. The Spectra smartwatch combines the ESP32-S3 microcontroller with a Nordic Semi nRF52832 co-processor to optimize the battery life. The ESP32-S3 is maxed out with 8MB of RAM and 32MB of external flash memory, and the microSD card slot in the watch supports up to a 512GB memory card. It shares a similar concept with the Bangle.js and the Bangle.js 2 customizable smartwatches. According to the maker, Spectra is not bound to be fully open-source, since the project uses “external proprietary code [they] aren’t allowed to share.” They plan to publish Arduino libraries and hardware design files, but there is no live GitHub repository yet. Other hackable smartwatches include the TinyWatch S3, the ZSWatch, and the Sensor Watch Pro. Spectra […]

October 18, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

KAGA FEI ES4L15BA1 is an ultra-small Bluetooth LE 6.0 and 802.15.4 module based on Nordic nRF54L15 SoC

Japanese company KAGA FEI has recently unveiled the incredibly small ES5L15BA1 Bluetooth LE 6.0 and 802.15.4 module based on Nordic Semi nRF54L15 ultra-low-power Cortex-M33 wireless MCU. We had previously covered the u-Blox NORA-B2 which I already found pretty small at 14.3 x 10.4 x 1.9mm, but the ES5L15BA1 module goes a step further measuring just 8.55 x 3.25 x 1.00 mm with an integrated antenna which could make it the world’s smallest Bluetooth LE module. KAGA FEI ES4L15BA1 specifications: SoC – Nordic Semiconductor nRF54L15 MCU cores Arm Cortex-M33 with Arm TrustZone @ 128MHz RISC-V coprocessor for software-defined peripheral Memory – 256KB SRAM Storage – 1.5MB non-volatile memory Wireless Bluetooth 6.0 Data rates – 2Mbps, 1Mbps, 500kbps, 125kbps Features AoA / AoD Channel Sounding 802.15.4 radio for Thread / Zigbee / Matter Nordic Proprietary 2.4 GHz protocol up to 4 Mbps Frequency – 2402 to 2480 MHz +8dBm output power Antenna […]

September 28, 2024 by Sayantan Nandy - No Comments

Raytac AN7002Q – A smaller nRF7002 Wi-Fi 6 module for industrial IoT applications

IoT solutions company Raytac has introduced the AN7002Q Wi-Fi 6 module series, which integrates Nordic Semiconductor’s nRF7002 chipset and is designed for Industrial IoT, smart home, healthcare, consumer electronics, and automotive applications. They can be paired with Raytac’s MDBT53 Bluetooth LE modules based on the nRF5340 multiprotocol SoC, supporting Wi-Fi and Bluetooth LE solutions. The AN7002Q is a low-power Wi-Fi 6 module supporting dual-band 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz operation with a maximum PHY data rate of 86 Mbps (MCS7). It is compatible with IEEE 802.11ax, a/b/g/n/ac standards, and connects to a host SoC or MCU via SPI or QSPI interfaces. The module also supports coexistence with Bluetooth LE, Thread, and Zigbee systems, making it ideal for IoT applications. Previously, we covered the Abluetech PTR7002, a low-power wireless module based on the Nordic Semiconductor nRF7002. The PTR7002 has a slightly larger size and offers more GPIO options, while the AN7002Q […]

September 27, 2024September 27, 2024 by Debashis Das - No Comments

NXP i.MX RT700 dual-core Cortex-M33 AI Crossover MCU includes eIQ Neutron NPU and DSPs

NXP i.MX RT700 AI crossover MCU block diagram

NXP has recently announced the release of NXP i.MX RT700 RT700 AI crossover MCU following the NXP i.MX RT600 series release in 2018 and the i.MX RT500 series introduction in 2021. The new i.MX RT700 Crossover MCU features two Cortex-M33 cores, a main core clocked at 325 MHz with a Tensilica HiFi 4 DSP and a secondary 250 MHz core with a low-power Tensilica HiFi 1 DSP for always-on sensing tasks. Additionally, it integrates a powerful eIQ Neutron NPU with an upgraded 7.5 MB of SRAM and a 2D GPU with a JPEG/PNG decoder. These features make this device suitable for applications including AR glasses, hearables, smartwatches, wristbands, and more. NXP i.MX RT700 specifications: Compute subsystems Main Compute Subsystem Cortex-M33 @ up to 325 MHz with Arm TrustZone, built-in Memory Protection Unit (MPU), a floating-point unit (FPU), a HiFi 4 DSP and supported by NVIC for interrupt handling and SWD […]

August 19, 2024August 19, 2024 by Debashis Das - No Comments

Toshiba TCKE9 reusable e-fuse features a fixed over-voltage clamp with adjustable overcurrent limit

Toshiba has recently introduced the Toshiba TCKE9 reusable e-fuse (electronic fuse) series, a new lineup of e-fuse ICs that can be used repeatedly, to protect power supply lines from various electrical faults like overcurrent, overvoltage, overtemperature, and short circuits. These new chips integrate various protection features into a single chip which simplifies circuit design and reduces component count compared to how a traditional protection circuit with multiple components is designed. This new line of products offers different ICs with different voltage ratings and adjustable current settings, alongside two reset modes auto-retry and latching. All these features make this e-fuse useful for applications like laptops, wearables, audio/video equipment, and industrial applications like automation systems, robotics, and many other applications. Toshiba TCKE9 reusable e-fuse Specification Input Voltage – 2.7V to 23V (Maximum – 25V) Output Current – 0 to 4.0A (Adjustable overcurrent limit – 0.5A to 4.0A via external resistor) ON Resistance […]

August 16, 2024September 28, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Abluetech PTR7002 WiFi 6 and PTR5302 WiFi 6 and BLE 5.4 modules feature Nordic Semi nRF7002/nRF5340 wireless chips

PTR5302 nRF7002 nRF5340 WiFi 6 BLE module

Shenzhen-based Abluetech has launched two low-power wireless modules based on Nordic Semi nRF7002 and nRF5340 wireless chips. The PTR7002 is a dual-band WiFi 6 module based on the nRF7002 chip, and the PTR5302 module combines the nRF7002 with the nRF5340 wireless microcontroller to offer dual-band WiFi 6 and Bluetooth LE 5.4 connectivity Abluetech PTR7002 dual-band WiFi 6 module with nRF7002 PTR7002 specifications: Chipset – Nordic Semi nRF7002 Wireless Dual-band Wi-Fi 6 Tx power – Up to +21dBm Rx sensitivity – -96.5dBm @ 2.4GHz / -90.5dBm @ 5GHz PHY bandwidth – Up to 86 Mbps (MCS7) 1SISO; 20MHz bandwidth Modes – Station, Wi-Fi Direct, Soft AP (Wi-Fi 4 operation only), simultaneous Station +Soft AP/Wi-Fi Direct/Station modes. 2.4GHz and 5GHz dual-band PCB antenna Range – Up to 300 meters Host interface – SPI / QSPI; AT command set Supply Voltage – 2.9 to 4.5V Power Consumption (@ 3.6V TBC) Tx peak current […]

July 25, 2024 by Tomisin Olujinmi - 12 Comments

TinyWatch S3 is an open-source, customizable smartwatch powered by ESP32-S3 SoC

The TinyWatch S3 is an ESP32-S3 development board in a smartwatch form factor from Seon Rozenblum, also known as Unexpected Maker. It is powered by the ESP32-S3 wireless microcontroller with 8MB quad SPI flash storage and 2MB of additional QSPI PSRAM. It features a 240 x 280 LCD with capacitive touch (via a CST816T module) and several onboard sensors including a 6-axis inertial measurement unit, a magnetometer, and a MEMS microphone. It has a USB-C port for power, programming, and charging a connected LiPo battery (250mAh or 500mAh). While the product’s firmware is still in active development, it is usable as a watch and even a daily driver. The TinyWatch S3 is described as a “wrist-wearable ESP32-S3 development board” but lacks pin headers and is not breadboard compatible. The hardware is open-source but the product is mostly useful for firmware development, testing, and other general projects. The firmware is being […]