CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

January 21, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 12 Comments

ODYSSEY-STM32MP157C SBC Feature STMicro STM32MP157C Cortex-A7/M4 SoC

Seeed Studio has been working on a single board computer powered by STMicro STM32MP157C Arm Cortex-A7/M4 microprocessor, comprised of the Raspberry Pi inspired NPi-STM32MP157C baseboard, and SoM-STM32MP157C system-on-module. SoM-STM32MP157C SoM Module specifications: MPU (1) – STMicro STM32MP157C dual-core Arm Cortex-A7 processor @ 650 MHz, and Arm Cortex-M4F MCU System Memory (2) – 512MB DDR3 RAM Storage (4) – 4GB eMMC flash Host Connectors – 3x 70-pin board-to-board connectors with HDMI, USB, Gigabit Ethernet, audio GPIOs, etc… Misc – Power and USER LEDs PMU (3) – STPMIC1A power management IC Dimensions – 38mm x 38mm The module is said to targets consumer and industrial applications, white goods, medical equipment, and wearable devices. NPi-STM32MP157C baseboard Key features and specifications: SoM Support – Compatible with SOM-STM32MP157C described above Storage – MicroSD card slot Display I/F – 1x MIPI DSI interface Audio – 3.5mm audio jack, WM8960 audio codec Camera I/F – 1x DVP camera interface Networking & Wireless Connectivity 1x Gigabit Ethernet …

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January 20, 2020January 21, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 20 Comments

TIL: Some 9V Batteries can be Recharged with a Simple USB Cable

9V batteries are/used to be popular for Arduino projects, as they can easily be connected via the power jack of the board. But now that most recent Arduino boards are powered by 5V via a USB Type-C port or Vin in, those are not an option. I thought I found a solution when I saw the following tweet earlier today which looks to provide a convenient way to connect a 9V battery to devices powered by USB. accidentally ran into another cursed adapter: 9v battery to USB pic.twitter.com/laKjIi6wUy — foone (@Foone) January 20, 2020 I was unable to find details about the board, but I suppose the chip close to the USB connector is a 9V to 5V regulator (e.g. LM7805), so this would indeed output 5V. Just don’t expect to fully charge your phone with it, as a typical 9V battery has a 500mAh capacity. [Update: It’s on Retrokits, but out of stock] If you are interested in unusual …

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January 20, 2020January 20, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

Piksey Atto is a Tiny Arduino Compatible Board with Castellated Holes (Crowdfunding)

Atto is a unit prefix in the metric system denoting a factor of 10−18, so it’s unsurprising that at least one company, namely Nionics, made a small Arduino compatible board called Atto. But somebody must have forgotten to do a web search, as BitsNBlobs Electronics created their own tiny Arduino compatible board, also named “(Piksey) Atto“, and based on the same Microchip ATmega32U4 8-bit AVR MCU. But there are some important differences as we’ll see below. Piksey Atto specifications: MCU – Microchip ATmega32U4 8-bit AVR microcontroller @ 16 MHz with 32KB flash, 2.5KB SRAM, 1KB EEPROM Expansion – 18x castellated through holes for 11 digital I/Os, 4x PWM, and 4x analog inputs, USART/SPI/I2C USB – Micro USB port for power and programming Power Supply – 5V via micro USB port Dimensions – 20.32 x 12.7mm Weight – 1.3 grams Piksey Atto is about twice the size and weight of Nionics Atto, lacks LEDs, and a reset button, but offers breadboard …

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January 20, 2020January 20, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

MarsCat is a Bionic Cat Powered by Raspberry Pi 3 (Crowdfunding)

Elephant Robotics MarsCat is a robotic cat that tries to mimic the behavior of actual cats through artificial intelligence. It can have a life of its own roaming the house, and you can also interact with it as it will play with toys/teasers through its camera, and you can send voice command to ask it to walk, run, look at you, be quiet. etc… but the trick is that it may not always obey like a real cat, and its personality will evolve depending on how you interact with it. Beside being a bionic pet, MarsCat can also be used to teach/learn robotics as the company will release an open-source SDK allowing you to change the Python code running on the Raspberry Pi 3 board powering the cat, and access API’s to control the camera, microphone, touch sensors, as well as the 16 servos connected to a Microchip ATMega2560 MCU via two servo boards. Visual programming for the robot will …

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January 19, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 12 Comments

MNT Reform 2 Open Source DIY Arm Linux Modular Laptop Coming Soon (Crowdfunding)

We first covered MNT Reform in fall of 2017, when it was a prototype for a DIY and modular laptop powered by NXP i.MX 6QuadPlus processor, and with plans to eventually use i.MX 8 hexa-core processor. Last year they designed several beta units of Reform to get feedback for a dozen users, and have now fully redesigned the laptop based on an NXP i.MX 8M system-on-module with the crowdfunding campaign expected to go live in February on Crowd Supply. MNT Reform 2 specifications: SoM – Boundary Devices Nitrogen8M SOM with SoC – NXP i.MX 8MQuad quad-core Cortex-A53 processor @ 1.5 GHz, 1x Arm Cortex-M4F real-time core Vivante GC7000Lite 3D GPU System Memory – 4GB LPDDR4 Storage – Probably none Networking – Atheros Ethernet MAC chip (AR8035) 200 pin SO-DIMM edge connector exposing USB 3.0, PCIe, MIPI DSI, etc… Dimensions – 67.6mm x 48.4mm Motherboard Storage – SD card slot, M.2 SSD support Video Output Texas Instruments SN65DSI86 MIPI DSI to …

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January 18, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 11 Comments

ECS Unveils LIVA Q1L Mini PC with Dual Gigabit Ethernet, LIVA Q1D with HDMI & DisplayPort

ECS introduces one of the smallest Intel mini PCs with LIVA Q Apollo Lake mini PC in 2017, followed by LIVA Q2 Gemini Lake micro PC the following year both just 70x70x31~33mm in size. Ian reviewed LIVA Q2 Micro PC with Windows 10 and Ubuntu 18.10 last year, and he was impressed with the performance considering the form factor, with the mini PC being perfectly suitable for browsing the web, home or office use, or as a digital signage solution. ECS has now updated its original LIVA Q model with the same processor options, but with LIVA Q1L offering two Gigabit Ethernet ports and one HDMI output, while LIVA Q1D comes with two video outputs (HDMI and DisplayPort) and a single Ethernet port. ECS LIVA Q1L/Q1D specifications: SoC (one or the other) Intel Apollo Lake Pentium N4200 quad-core processor @ 1.1 / 2.5 GHz with 18EU Intel HD graphics; 6W TDP Intel Apollo Lake Celeron N3450 quad-core processor @ 1.1 …

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January 17, 2020January 17, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 11 Comments

Realtek RTL8720DN Dual-Band WiFi & Bluetooth 5.0 IoT Modules Sell for $4 and Up

BW16 RTL8720DN Dual-band WiFi & Bluetooth Module

There are plenty of 2.4 GHz WiFi modules for IoT project based on processors ranging from Espressif Systems ESP8266 to TI CC3200, or Realtek RTL8710. Some others add Bluetooth 4.2/5.0 such as Espressif Systems ESP32, but it’s much harder to find solutions with dual-band WiFi especially if you have a tight budget for your project or product. But Realtek RTL8720DN – part of AmebaD family – offers just that with the Arm Cortex-M4/M0 wireless MCU supporting dual-band (2.4/5.0GHz) 802.11 b/g/n WiFi and Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity, and found in modules currently selling for as low as $3.90 or 24 RMB in single units. B&T BW16 RTL8720DN Module Specifications: Wireless SoC – Realtek RTK8720DN MCU with KM4 Arm Cortex-M4 core @ 200 MHz and KM0 Arm Cortex-M0 core @ 20 MHz Connectivity WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n WiFi 4 Frequency Range – 2.412-2.484GHz & 5.180-5.825GHz Data Rates 802.11a: 6,9,12,18,24,36,48,54Mbps 802.11b: 1,2,5.5,11Mbps 802.11g: 6,9,12,18,24,36,48,54Mbps 802.11n: MCS0–MCS7 @ HT20/HT40 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands AP, Station, AP/Client …

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January 17, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 13 Comments

JP.IK Turn T101 Qualcomm Snapdragon 7c Laptop for Education to Sell for $299 and Up

Qualcomm Snapdragon Windows 10 mobile PCs/laptops offer long battery life and 4G LTE connectivity, but usually suffer from a disappointing performance/price ratio. That means you may have to spend fairly more than you may expect for a Windows 10 Arm laptop, and for instance, Microsoft Surface Pro X goes for $999 and up with a Snapdragon 8cx based Microsoft SQ1 processor. But much more affordable Arm laptop may not be that far off, as Microsoft published some news about their education solutions, and two new Snapdragon 7c laptops are in the works: JP.IK Turn T101 starting at $299 Positivo Wise N1212S starting at $575 Both laptops promise twice the battery life and 25 percent better performance than competing platforms, as well as (4G LTE) cellular connectivity. A $300 Arm laptop with decent performance looks promising, but so far we have very few details at this point, so I’ll speculate based on the specs of the earlier JP.IK Turn 201 …

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