CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

January 17, 2021January 17, 2021 by Saumitra Jagdale - 2 Comments

Voltage Measurement HAT for Raspberry Pi offers 16-bit analog inputs

MCC-128 Voltage Measurement HAT for Raspberry Pi

MCC has launched the MCC 128 voltage measurement DAQ HAT for Raspberry Pi for data acquisition and data logging systems. It includes 8 analog inputs with 16-bit resolution for a range of -10V to +10 V at the data rate of 100 kS/s. This data rate can be increased by stacking up to 8 HATs for 64 channels of data which can produce a faster data rate up to 320 kS/s. The MCC 128 DAQ HAT is compatible with all Raspberry Pi models with the 40-pin GPIO header, excluding the original Pi 1 A or B with the 26-pin header. It is recommended to use the SPI interface for connecting LCD displays using the GPIO header. The configuration parameters of the board are stored in the EEPROM to allow automatic set up of GPIO pins to Raspberry Pi after the connection of the device. Key Features of MCC 128 DAQ […]

January 16, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 23 Comments

PinePower 120W desktop power supply features display, USB PD, QC 3.0 and wireless charging

Desktop Power Supply Qi Wireless Charging

Pine64’s January update includes the launch of PinePhone with Mobian operating system, some limited details about the upcoming Quartz64 RK3566 SBC that will ship with 4 to 8GB RAM, and other news about all their products. There’s not enough details yet to write a post about Quartz64, but another product caught my eyes: PinePower. Yes, Pine64 is now offering power supply, and last month they presented PinePower 65W GaN power adapter that looks similar to MINIX NEO P1 power supply, albeit slightly larger. But I find the desktop version of the power supply even more interesting with an integrated display that shows voltage and current for each port, and also adds Qi wireless charging. PinePower “Desktop” version specifications: Display – Shows individual port voltage and current status USB charging ports 1x USB Type-C PD port up to 65W output with support for 5V/3A, 9V/3A, 12V/3A, 15V/3A, 20V/3.25A 1x QC 3.0 […]

January 15, 2021January 15, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 11 Comments

H2 Net Card adds four 2.5 GbE ports to ODROID-H2/H2+ SBC

ODROID-H2+ is already a cool single board computer with an Intel Gemini Lake Refresh processor, up to 32GB RAM, dual 2.5GbE networking, support for SATA and NVMe storage, dual 4K video output, and more. But in recent days, I’ve read people complaining recently announced WiFI 6 or WiFi 6E routers only had one 2.5 Gbps or 5 Gbps Ethernet jack and wanted all/more RJ45 connectors to be 2.5 GbE ports or greater. But if even the two 2.5GbE ports on ODROID-H2+ are not quite enough for your needs, Hardkernel H2 Net Card triples that amount by adding four extra 2.5 GbE to the x86 SBC. It also works on ODROID-H2, meaning you’d get the existing dual Gigabit Ethernet ports, plus the four 2.5GbE ports from the M.2 card. There’s no much in the way of specifications for H2 Net Card: 4x Ethernet ports up to 2.5 GbE via RTL8125 controller. […]

January 15, 2021January 15, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

USB2IO high-speed interface explorer tool combines Intel Cyclone 10 FPGA and STM32H7 MCU

In the second part of 2020, we’ve seen a fair amount of USB debugging tools for electronics designers and hardware hackers including the Glasgow Interface explorer with an ICE40 FPGA. But if you need even more flexibility or higher I/O speeds (up to 300 MHz), DAB Embedded USB2IO interface explorer should help thanks to the combination of an STMicro STM32H7 MCU and an Intel Cyclone 10 FPGA. USB2IO interface explorer hardware specifications: MCU – STMicro STM32H743 Arm Cortex-M7 @ 480MHz CPU clock An external 64MB QSPI flash for extra FPGA code storage; FPGA – Intel Cyclone 10LP (10CL040) with 40k logic elements, 1,134 Mbit embedded memory, 126 DSP blocks External memory – 32MB SDRAM for MCU and FPGA (64MB in total) Storage – 64MB QSPI for connected to MCU for FPGA code storage I/Os via 20-pin external header/connector 16 x GPIO mode (single-ended), 8x LVDS pair mode or a mix […]

January 15, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

Inkplate 10 ESP32 e-Paper display offers faster refresh rates (Crowdfunding)

Inkplate 6 is an ESP32 powered wireless e-Paper Display based on a recycled Kindle E-reader display, and that e-Radionica launched in December 2019 via a crowdfunding campaign. The company says backers were “happy about the versatility and simplicity of the display” but wished for a larger display, a faster refresh rate, and extra features. This gave birth to an upgraded version: Inkplate 10. The new ESP32 wireless display comes with a recycled 9.7-inch display with 1200 x 825 resolution, up to 38% faster refresh rates, as well as extra GPIO pins, an RTC clock, a USB Type-C port, and lower power consumption. Inkplate 10 specifications: Wireless module – ESP32 WROVER module with dual-core ESP32 processor with Wi-Fi & Bluetooth 4.0 (BLE) connectivity, 8MB PSRAM, 4MB flash External storage – MicroSD card socket Display – 9.7-inch, 1200 x 825 e-paper display with support for grayscale, partial updates, and quick refresh cycles: […]

January 14, 2021January 14, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

Stripped-down Raspberry Pi 3B+ SBC powers YARH.IO Micro 2 DIY handheld PC

We’ve already seen a few DIY Raspberry Pi-based handheld computers in the past with the likes of Zero Terminal V3 or hgTerm powered by a Raspberry Pi Zero and a stripped-down Raspberry Pi 3 board respectively. So why not another? YARH.IO Micro 2 DIY handheld PC is based on a Raspberry Pi 3B+ SBC stripped from its Ethernet port, whose double stack USB connectors have been replaced with single stack USB connectors. The DIY computer also adds off-the-shelf parts with a 4″ touch screen display and a Bluetooth keyboard without touchpad, and gets its power from a 3,500 mAh battery. YARH.IO Micro 2 key components and features: SBC – Stripped-down Raspberry Pi 3B+ SBC Display – HyperPixel 4.0 4-inch IPS display with 800×480 resolution, touchscreen from Pimoroni Keyboard – 49-key mini keyboard with Bluetooth 3.0 ($10) USB – USB straight and right-angle connectors for four USB ports around the device […]

January 14, 2021 by Saumitra Jagdale - 3 Comments

Mini-ITX SBC with Tiger Lake UP3 CPU offers dual 2.5GbE, quad display support

IEI launched tKINO-ULT6 is a Thin Mini-ITX SBC that comes with an 11th generation Intel core processor part of the Tiger Lake-UP3 CPU family. The tKINO-ULT6 Mini-ITX SBC also supports quadruple independent displays, SATA 6Gb/s, dual Intel 2.5GbE, HD audio, and RoHS. It can handle a wide range of input DC power from 9V to 36 V. The tKINO-ULT6 SBC is expected to be found in CNC (Computer Numerical Control) machines, real-time controls, human-machine interfaces, tool applications, medical imaging, and other applications requiring high resolution. Key Features of the tKINO-ULT6 Mini-ITX SBC Mini-ITX form factor with 11th Gen. Intel Tiger Lake UP3 Embedded processor, support for DDR4-3200 memory Video Output – Four independent displays via HDMI, DP, eDP/LVDS, USB4 Networking Dual Intel 2.5GbE LAN M.2 A key for WIFI+Bluetooth (PCIe x1/USB 2.0), M.2 M key for Storage (PCIe x2/SATA) Expansion – PCIe x8 Gen 4.0 slot The tKINO-ULT6 Mini-ITX SBC […]

January 14, 2021January 14, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 8 Comments

Pine64 mailbag – PinePhone postmarketOS Edition, PineCone BL602 board, and Pinecil soldering iron

Pine64 community was pretty busy last year with the launch of several products. Recently I’ve received a couple of packages with some of those products, namely PinePhone Community Edition: PostmarketOS, PineCone WiFi & BLE IoT board based on BL602 RISC-V SoC, and Pinecil soldering iron also based on a RISC-V chip for control, but this time GD32V generic-purpose MCU. I’ll most show what I have received without going into too many details, except for PinePhone which I have already set up and used for one hour or so. PineCone BL602 board I received PineCone at the end of last year in a separate envelope with the board only. There’s not much to it with the BL602 processor offering WiFI and Bluetooth, a USB-C port for programming and power, and a few I/Os. The board is interesting as it is the first RISC-V IoT board with wireless connectivity built into the […]