Quectel KG200Z LoRa module is now secured by The Things Stack

LoRa KG200Z with The Things Industries LoRa Support

In January of this year, Quectel launched the KG200Z LoRa Module, an Arm Cortex-M4-based module boasting a self-proclaimed range of 2-5 kilometers in urban settings and 10-15 kilometers in suburban areas. At that time, it was just another LoRa module with some additional features. However, in the latest development, Quectel and The Things Industries have announced a partnership that ensures this LoRa module comes integrated with “Works with The Things Stack” and “Secured by The Things Stack” certifications, enhancing its value and utility. In simpler terms, it’s been tested and proven to operate smoothly within The Things Stack ecosystem. Earlier this year, we saw STMicro and  Particle Industries release their LoRa-based modules and devices. Feel free to check those out if you are interested. KG200Z LoRa Module Specification: Arm Cortex-M4-based standalone LoRa module (STM32WL) Frequency support – 470–510MHz and 862–928MHz bands Low power – 1.7 μA in deep sleep mode […]

MaaXBoard OSM93 – Business card-sized SBC features NXP i.MX 93 AI SoC, supports Raspberry Pi HATs

MaaXBoard OSM93 SBC

MaaXBoard OSM93 is a single board computer (SBC) based on a Size-S OSM module powered by an NXP i.MX 93 Cortex-M55/M33 AI SoC and offered in a business card form factor with support for Raspberry Pi HAT boards through a 40-pin GPIO header and mounting holes. The board also comes with 2GB LDDR4, 16GB eMMC flash, MIPI CSI and DSI interfaces for optional camera and display modules, two gigabit Ethernet ports, optional support for WiFi 6, Bluetooth 5.3, and 802.15.4, three USB 2.0 ports, and two CAN FD interfaces with on-board transceivers. MaaXBoard OSM93 specifications: SoC – NXP i.MX93 CPU 2x Arm Cortex-A55 up to 1.7 GHz 2x Arm Cortex-M33 up to 250 MHz GPU – 2D GPU with blending/composition, resize, color space conversion NPU – 1x Arm Ethos-U65 NPU @ 1 GHz up to 0.5 TOPS Memory – 640 KB OCRAM w/ ECC Security – EdgeLock Secure Enclave System […]

Khadas Edge2 Arm mini PC

Renesas AIK-RA4E1 and AIK-RA6M3 reference kits are designed for accelerated AI/ML development

Renesas AIK RA4E1 and AIK RA6M3 reference

Renesas AIK-RA4E1 and AIK-RA6M3 are two new development boards based on RA-series 32-bit microcontrollers. These new dev boards have multiple reconfigurable connectivity functions to accelerate AI and ML design and development time. Both boards appear similar, but the AIK-RA4E1 uses the R7FA4E110D2CFM MCU, features three Pmod ports, and has no Ethernet support. On the other hand, the AIK-RA6M3 utilizes the R7FA6M3AH3CFC MCU, has six Pmod ports, and includes Ethernet support. Both the boards support full-speed USB and CAN bus. Renesas AIK-RA4E1 and AIK-RA6M3 reference kits specifications (Consolidated): RA4E1 Microcontroller Features: Model: R7FA4E110D2CFM Package: 64-pin LQFP Core: 100 MHz Arm Cortex-M33 SRAM: 128 KB on-chip Code Flash Memory: 512 MB on-chip Data Flash Memory: 8 KB on-chip RA6M3 Microcontroller Features: Model: R7FA6M3AH3CFC Package: 176-pin LQFP Core: 120 MHz Arm Cortex-M4 with FPU SRAM: 640 KB on-chip Code Flash Memory: 2 MB on-chip Data Flash Memory: 64 KB on-chip Connectivity: One USB […]

Arduino Nano Matter board specifications and price announced

arduino nano matter board

The Arduino Nano Matter is the product of a collaboration between Arduino and Silicon Labs. The Nano Matter board was announced in January and is powered by SiLabs’ MGM240S chip. It offers multiple wireless connectivity options such as Matter, OpenThread, and Bluetooth Low Energy. Support for the Matter standard is the Nano Matter board’s key offering. Matter is an open-source, connectivity protocol that lets smart home devices from different manufacturers interoperate seamlessly. The 45mm x 18mm board leverages dual-mode connectivity, with IEEE 802.15.4 (Thread) for mesh networking and Bluetooth Low Energy for short-range communication. It is targeted at the Internet of Things, home automation, professional automation, environmental monitoring, and climate control applications. Prospective industrial applications include machine-to-machine interoperability, machine status monitoring, and worker status optimization. Arduino Nano Matter specs: MPU – SiLabs MGM240SD22VNA MCU core – 32-bit Arm Cortex-M33 with DSP (digital signal processing) instruction and FPU (floating-point unit) @ […]

$6.99 Waveshare’s ESP32-C6-Pico Board resembles Raspberry Pi Pico board

Waveshare ESP32 C6 Pico Devlopment Board

Waveshare’s ESP32-C6-Pico and ESP32-C6-Pico-M development boards are equipped with the ESP32-C6-MINI-1 module supporting Wi-Fi 6(802.11ax), Bluetooth 5, Zigbee 3.0, and Thread 1.3, and inspired by the Raspberry Pi Pico form factor. They can be powered either through USB Type-C or an external 5V DC supply connected to the pins. Previously we have written about similar ESP32-C6-based boards like the SparkFun Thing Plus, ePulse Feather C6, and WeAct ESP32-C6 dev board. However, these boards are priced way over the $6.99 that Waveshare is offering. One exception is the DFRobot’s FireBeetle 2 ESP32-C6 board, which cuts costs by using the IC directly instead of the fully shielded ESP32-C6-MINI-1 module. Waveshare’s ESP32-C6-Pico board specifications: Wireless module – ESP32-C6-MINI-1 SoC – ESP32-C6H4 32-bit RISC-V microprocessor up to 160 MHz with 320KB ROM, 512KB HP SRAM, 16KB LP SRAM, 4MB flash Wireless – 2.4 GHz WiFi 6 with Target Wake Time (TWT) support, Bluetooth 5.3 LE and […]

PCBWay adds new parameters to its flexible PCB manufacturing services (Sponsored)

PCBWay Flexible PCB 16 layers

PCBWay, one of the most popular PCB manufacturers in China, has been offering flexible PCB manufacturing services for years, but the company has recently added new parameters and special processes to its flexible PCB ordering page. The first change is that customers can now order more complex flexible PCBs with up to 16 layers when using Polyimide Flex base material. PCBWay also added support for “high-frequency (DK<=3.6)” material with a dielectric constant of under 3.6 at 1 MHz as well as “Transparent” and “Translucent” options for PET material in the Polyimide base material section. Additional FPC thickness options have also been introduced with 0.025 and 0.05mm for one-layer boards and 0.08mm for two-layer boards enabling ever-thinner designs. Customers have now more choices when ordering stiffeners – the rigid part of a FlexPCB – with the “TOP Black FR4” and “BOT Black FR4” options with thickness options including 0.2mm, 0.4mm, 0.5mm, […]

UP 7000 SBC

Rockchip RK3582 is a cost-down version of RK3588S with two Cortex-A76 cores, four Cortex-A55 cores, no GPU

Rockchip RK3582

Rockchip RK3582 hexa-core SoC is pin-to-pin compatible with the popular Rockchip RK3588S octa-core Cortex-A76/A55 SoC, but only features two Cortex-A76 cores, a 5 TOPS NPU (instead of 6 TOPS) and does not come with a 3D GPU. I was first made aware of the Rockchip RK3582 in October 2023 when I was sent a photo of a board allegedly for a TV box, but while the RK3582 still features a 4K video decoder, the lack of a 3D GPU could make it problematic with 3D accelerated user interface. We now have more details with Radxa having released the datasheet and a few more interesting details. Rockchip RK3582 specifications: Hexa-core CPU – 2x Cortex-A76 and 4x Cortex-A55 cores in dynamIQ configuration (frequencies are still shown as TBD in the datasheet) GPU No 3D GPU 2D graphics engine up to 8192×8192 source, 4096×4096 destination AI Accelerator – 5 TOPS NPU 3.0 (Neural […]

Olimex VGA2HDMI is an open hardware board for VGA to HDMI conversion

Olimex VGA TO HDMI CONVERTER

Olimex VGA2HDMI is an open-source hardware VGA-to-HDMI converter specially designed and tested to work with the CERBERUS 2100, AgonLight 2, and Agon Origins boards. The board has a VGA port as input and an HDMI port as output and a USB-C port is there to provide the external power required for the board. In one of our previous posts, we wrote about the NovaVGA Shield, which adds VGA output to your Arduino UNO. Now, with the help of this board, that capability can be extended to HDMI. There are also extenders that carry VGA signals over Ethernet cables, a topic we have covered in another post. With this new board, you can convert that VGA signal to HDMI. It’s not like there aren’t other VGA to HDMI converters on the market; a quick Amazon search gave me the VENTION VGA to HDMI Adapter, but among them, most were HDMI to […]

Khadas VIM4 SBC