The Inkplate 6 MOTION is a new product from Soldered Electronics in their Inkplate series of wireless e-paper displays. It is a 6-inch e-paper display with a partial refresh rate of 11fps which reduces obvious latency in rendering dynamic content such as videos, animations, and scrolling text. The display is driven by an STMicroelectronics dual-core STM32H743 microcontroller, with an ESP32-C3 as a secondary processor. It features Wi-Fi and Bluetooth for networking and a host of peripheral interfaces for physical connectivity. It includes several sensors such as a rotary encoder for quick navigation, a gravitational accelerometer with a gyroscope for tracking device orientation, and a motion detection sensor. We covered the original Inkplate 6 display when it launched on Crowd Supply in 2019. The Inkplate 6 is much less expensive than the new model but has a lower screen resolution (800 x 600 px) and slower refresh rates (256ms). Furthermore, it […]
Matter 1.3 specification adds support for water and energy management, electric vehicle chargers, and various household appliances
The Connectivity Standard Alliance (CSA) has just announced the release of the Matter 1.3 specification and SDK with energy reporting, support for water and energy management devices, electric vehicle chargers, several new “major appliances”, namely various kitchen appliances and laundry dryers, and various other features. As a reminder the Matter protocol was initially introduced several years ago under the name Project CHIP to improve the interoperability of Smart Home devices from various vendors, so for example, users could connect a Matter-compatible Philips Hue light bulb to a Samsung gateway, or a white-brand Matter sensor with Google Home, etc… Matter started to pick last year with several products launched, and Paisit notably reviewed the MINI Extreme Wi-Fi Smart Switch (MINIR4M), the first Matter device from SONOFF, last October. Matter 1.3 adds various new capabilities and devices. Matter 1.3 highlights: Support for Water and Energy Management Devices Energy Management – Matter 1.3 […]
SONOFF Zigbee Bridge Ultra (ZBBridge-U) Zigbee 3.0 gateway and Matter Bridge supports up to 256 sub-devices
SONOFF Zigbee Bridge Ultra, also known as ZBBridge-U, is a Zigbee 3.0 gateway and Matter Bridge powered by a 1.5 GHz Rockchip RV1109 dual-core processor and equipped with Silicon Labs EFR32MG21 multiprotocol SoC. The gateway also offers WiFi and Ethernet connectivity and supports up to 256 Zigbee 3.0 sub-devices improving on the 128 sub-devices supported by the earlier SONOFF ZBBridge-P (ESP32+CC2652P) that also lacks Matter support. The new ZBBridge-U gateway further implements a Turbo mode increasing the line-of-sight range to up to 200 meters. SONOFF Zigbee Bridge Ultra (ZBBridge-U) specifications: SoC – Rockchip RV1109 dual-core Arm Cortex-A7 @ 1.5 GHz with RISC-V MCU @ 400 MHz, 2D graphics engine, 1.2 TOPS NPU, 5MP H.264 and H.265 hardware video decoder and encoder System Memory – 1GB DDR4 Storage – 8GB eMMC flash for the OS Connectivity 10/100M Ethernet RJ45 port 2.4GHz WiFi 4 Zigbee 3.0 via Silicon Labs EFR32MG21 SoC with […]
HackBat – DIY open-source hardware Flipper Zero alternative features Raspberry Pi RP2040 MCU, ESP8266 WiFi module, RF transceiver…
HackBat is an open-source hardware pen-testing device designed for hackers and makers and equipped with a Raspberry Pi RP2040 microcontroller, an ESP8266 WiFi module, a sub-GHz RF transceiver, NFC, an OLED display, and more… It’s basically a DIY alternative to the popular Flipper Zero wireless hacking tool, that you can produce and assemble yourself. The Flipper Zero was the victim of its own success with the Canadian government (wrongly) claiming it could easily be used for car theft and planning to ban it (status still unclear right now), so Flipper Zero alternatives such as the M1 multitool device got some traction as backup solutions with some extra features. But any closed-source device could eventually be banned, something that’s close to impossible for an open-source hardware device like the HackBat although policymakers could still decide to impose heavy fines if they wanted to make this type of device illegal… HackBat key […]
ESP32-S3-Matrix board features 64 LEDs, GPIO pins, 9-axis “attitude” sensor for robotics and motion control applications
The Waveshare ESP32-S3-Matrix is a microcontroller development board designed for AIoT applications, featuring a larger 8×8 RGB LED matrix (64 LEDs) compared to the 5×5 RGB LED matrix (25 LEDs) on the ESP32-C3/ESP32 based “C3FH4 RGB” / “PICO D4 RGB” board. In addition to that the Waveshare board features two 10-headers for GPIOs, UART, and power signals, along with an integrated QMI8658C attitude sensor (9-axis IMU sensor), making it ideal for robotics and motion control projects. Recently we have seen Waveshare introduce affordable products that are perfect for embedded development like the $15 1.69-inch IPS touch LCD module, the $6.99 ESP32-C6-Pico Board, the $4.99 ESP32-S3-Tiny board and much more feel free to check those out if you are interested in those. Waveshare ESP32-S3-Matrix dev board specifications: MCU – Espressif Systems ESP32-S3FH4R2 CPU – Dual-core Tensilica LX7 @ up to 240 MHz with vector instructions for AI acceleration Memory – 512KB RAM, […]
Waveshare UGV Rover – A 6-wheel AI robot built around Raspberry Pi 4/5 and ESP32
The Waveshare UGV Rover is a 6-wheel robot platform based on Raspberry Pi 4 or 5 as well as an ESP32 module and built for remote exploration, object recognition, and autonomous navigation. Since the source code for the platform will be open-sourced it can also be used for educational purposes, programming, robotics, AI experimentation, and many other applications. This Unmanned Ground Vehicle (UGV) rover features a 2mm thick aluminum body, six 80mm shock-absorbing tires, and a four-wheel drive system controlled by an ESP32 sub-controller. The sub-controller also handles sensors, LiDAR, cameras, and more. The brain or the main controller of the rover is a Raspberry Pi SBC – either a Pi 4B or Pi 5 – which notably handles computer vision and machine learning operations. Since the mounting holes are designed to fit a Raspberry Pi, it is safe to assume that it will fit other SBCs with the same […]
Alfa Networks AHST7394S Wi-Fi HaLow module enables low-power, long-range IoT connectivity up to 1km
Taiwanese wireless equipment manufacturer, Alfa Networks, and US-based Wi-Fi HaLow semiconductor company, Newracom, have collaborated to develop the AHST7394S Wi-Fi HaLow module. The solder-down module is based on Newracom’s NRC7394 SoC, a low-cost and high-efficiency HaLow SoC chipset providing up to 17dbm output power and capable of connecting to a maximum of 8K devices within a single network. The NRC7394 also supports a standalone mode, which enables the execution of a wide range of IoT applications on the embedded ARM Cortex-M3 CPU. While HaLow is more energy-efficient than other Wi-Fi types, low-power operation modes such as legacy, TWT, and WMM-PS can reduce power consumption further. The AHST7394S Wi-Fi HaLow module supports a data rate of up to 15Mbps, over 600 times faster than LoRaWAN while maintaining a good range (over 1km). The second-generation HaLow module is perfect for building long-range, ultra-low-power networks in sub-1 GHz, license-exempt frequency bands. It is a […]
Pineboards adds four more Raspberry Pi 5 PCIe HAT+ boards with PCIe x4 slot, mPCIe socket, Coral Dual Edge TPU support, and audio ports
Pineboards, previously known as PineBerry, has launched four new Raspberry Pi HAT+ with a PCIe interface: the Hat uPCIty Lite, HatDrive! Piano, Hat mPCIe, and Hat Ai! Dual. The Polish company decided to change the name from Pineberry to Pineboards since the “berry” name implied they were manufacturing single-board computers, while Pineboards, not to be confused with Pine64 boards, apparently does not :). Nevertheless, let’s have a look at the four new HAT+ boards. Hat uPCIty Lite – PCIe x4 slot and ATX power supply Specifications: Supported SBCs – Raspberry Pi 5 and other SBCs with a compatible 16-pin PCIe FPC connector and form factor PCIe 16-pin PCIe FPC connector (input) PCIe X4 slot (output) to connect PCIe cards such as NVIDIA or AMD graphics cards; Note: only PCIe x1 Gen2 and Gen3 are supported Misc – 12V and PWR LEDs Power Supply 12V/8A via ATX power connector 12V/8A via […]