CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

March 27, 2020March 27, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

This Non-Invasive AI Temperature Screening System Checks Multiple Persons On-the-Fly

Yesterday, I had to go to the bank with the branch located in a building where they closed all doors except one in order to make sure all people were wearing masks, check their temperature, and let them wash hands with alcohol hand gel. Those are good preventive measures to slow the spread of SARS-CoV-2 virus, but in case many people visit a location that’s also time-consuming. I’ve just come across a system that should speed up the process, as it can check forehead temperature of people as they walk by, using a camera and artificial intelligence for face detection, and an IR camera/thermometer to report temperature. Remote AI temperature screening system specifications: SoC/Memory/Storage – Don’t know, but I would not be surprised if it was based on RK3399 since Rockchip often promotes AI use cases for this processor. External Storage – MicroSD card, USB drive Video Output- HDMI 2.0 output Connectivity – Ethernet & WiFi with external antenna Camera …

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March 26, 2020March 26, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

M5Stack ATOM is a Compact, Fully Integrated ESP32 Development Kit

When working on a project you may need an MCU or MCU board, an external display, a breadboard, and other accessories like sensors and jumper cables. It does the job, but it can be messy. Recently, we wrote about M5Stack M5StickV AI camera, but the company is better known for its ESP32 IoT development kits enabling neater project thanks to hardware that integrates MCU, I/O headers, display, and sensors into an enclosure. Their latest offerings are ATOM series toolkits that come in two versions: ATOM Lite and ATOM Matrix. Let’s have a look at both. M5Stack ATOM Lite Specifications: SiP – ESP32-PICO-D4 system-in-package with ESP32 dual-core processor with WiFi 4 and Bluetooth 5.0/5.1 Storage – 4 MB flash Crystal oscillator and passive components USB – 1x USB Type-C port Expansion 9-pin header with 6 GPIOs compatible with jumper cables 4-pin PH2.0 connector with 2x GPIO, 5V and GND Misc – Reset button, user button, RGB LED, IR LED Dimensions – …

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Onyx Boox Nova 2 7.8″ eReader Runs Android 9.0

We wrote about reMarkable 2 10.3″ e-Paper Tablet running Linux a few days ago, but there’s now another option with Onyx Boox Nova 2 eReader equipped with a 7.8″ display and running an operating system based on Android 9.0. The device comes with an unnamed octa-core processor coupled with 3GB RAM, 32GB storage, support for Wacom pen and touch input, and a 3,150 mAh battery. Onyx Boox Nova 2 specifications: SoC – Unnamed octa-core processor @ 2.0 GHz, but likely Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 found in the company’s Boox Max 3 eReader. System Memory – 3GB RAM Storage – 32GB flash, MicroSD card reader Display – 7.8″ E Ink Carta Plus inductive Wacom + capacitive touch screen with 1872×1404 resolution, 16 shades of grey, and the SNOW Field function to reduce artifacts during a partial refresh Frontlight – MOON Light 2 to use the device in the dark or under poor lighting conditions Connectivity – Dual-band 802.11b/g/n/ac WiFI 5 and Bluetooth …

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March 26, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

ESP32-S2 WiFi SoC Sells for $1, ESP32-S2-WROOM & ESP32-S2-WROVER Modules for $2 and Up

Espressif Systems ESP32-S2 was announced in May 2019, before the release of the datasheet and first internal development boards a few months later. Mass production was delayed due to COVID-19, but earlier this month we reported ESP32-S2 mass production had started and the company has a new ESP32-S2-Kaluga-1 multimedia development board in the works. So it was just a question of time before the processor, modules, and boards become available. Unexpected Maker recently got a development kit with ESP32-S2 final silicon, so I thought maybe I could find ESP32-S2 hardware on Aliexpress. I had no luck finding modules or boards at this time, but one seller is currently selling ESP32-S2 for just $1 per piece, but the trick is that you’d have to purchase 2,000. It’s also about the same price on Digikey. As a reminder, ESP32-S2 SoC is based on a single Xtensa LX7 core clocked at 240 MHz, supports Wi-Fi HT40 @ 2.4 GHz, and provides up to …

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March 25, 2020March 25, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 20 Comments

Can You Clean Your Smartphone Off Bacteria and Viruses with a $23 UV Disinfection Box?

This morning, as I browsed the web looking for products or other news, I found out that Banggood was selling a $23 UV sterilizer disinfection box that can clean & disinfect your smartphone, and other small items like surgical masks, using 3-minute of exposure to ultraviolet light. I suppose it showed up in the new arrival feed because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and a relevant entry on Wikipedia states that UV light can kill bacteria and viruses since it destroys DNA and RMA. It works on humans too, and when I say work, it means humans should not subject themselves to strong UV light since it will damage their DNA too. An article on Digital Trends mentions that while there aren’t many studies about the UV light effect on SARS-CoV-2, the virus causing COVID-19, it’s been shown to be effective against the similar SARS and MERS viruses, and hospitals are using robots zapping UV light to disinfect hospital rooms while …

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March 25, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 25 Comments

NanoPi R2S Dual GbE IoT Board and Gateway Launched for $22 and Up

We first covered NanoPi R2S SBC back in mid-January 2020. Specifically designed for headless and IoT application the board features a Rockchip RK3328 processor combined with 1GB RAM, and contrary to most competing platforms on the market such as Orange Pi R1 or NanoPi R1S, R2S comes with two true Gigabit Ethernet ports. At the time, the board was not available for sale, but now FriendlyELEC has started to take orders for just $22.00, and adding a yellow case adds $3 to the total. This is around $5 extra compared to NanoPi R1S gateway which was expected with extra RAM (1GB) and true dual GbE connectivity. But in the age of COVID-19, nothing runs quite as smoothly as it used to and the company expects shipping delays: Because of the epidemic, postal services in a lot of countries get delayed. Customers who need orders urgently need to choose DHL. EU customers who need DHL service to deliver orders need to …

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ARM9 in 2020 – Meet Microchip SAM9X60 SoC & Evaluation Kit

In my first job, I wrote code for a MIPS processor for VoIP phones, then I switched to NEC/Renesas MCUs for CD and DVD players, before going back to Linux and my first experience with an Arm processor: Cirrus Logic EP9307 with a single ARM9 (ARM920T) core clocked at 200 MHz. That was in 2005, and according to Wikipedia various ARM9 cores were released between 1998 to 2006, and now such cores are not recommended for new IC designs with most companies now building their chips around Arm Cortex-A/M/R cores. At the end of last year, we wrote about Banana Pi BPI-F2S SBC based on Sunplus SP7021 “Plus1” quad-core Cortex-A7 processor with ARM9 and 8051 co-processor. Odd enough but at least the ARM9 core is not the main processor, however, while looking at the upcoming Linux 5.6 Linux kernel log I read an entry about a new SAM9X60 ARM926-based SoC from Microchip. Microchip SAM9X60 ARM9 Processor Quite surprising to have …

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March 24, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Know the Differences between Raspberry Pi, Arduino, and ESP8266/ESP32

Raspberry Pi vs Arduino vs ESP8266 / ESP32

CNXSoft: This is a guest post written in collaboration with SurfShark. When it comes to choosing a platform for STEM education or hobbyist projects, there are a number of low-cost, compact maker boards on the market. The most popular include the kid-friendly Raspberry Pi SBC that was designed with children in mind, Arduino boards for electronics projects, and more recently boards and modules based on EspressifESP8266 and ESP32 wireless SoC’s. In this post, we’ll look at the use cases and strong points for each of the boards whether you are just dabbling in the hobby of coding and DIY electronics, or you have a commercial project. Raspberry Pi The Raspberry Pi is a lineup of single-board computers (SBCs) that are from the UK and were first introduced in February 2012. These small computers were initially designed to teach students the basics of computer science, but they’ve found their way into various projects including commercial products. To the uninitiated, the Raspberry …

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