CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

January 7, 2021January 7, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Maypole MicroSD card reader comes with ESP32 for WiFi, smart storage (Crowdfunding)

Several years ago, we covered Zsun WiFi card reader a tiny USB card reader with WiFi and a battery that allowed users to access files via USB or WiFi from any device. People managed to hack the device and run OpenWrt on the little MicroSD card reader, but this required either to open the hardware and do some soldering, or use another method that could potentially brick the hardware, so not an ideal solution. But now Akshar Vastarpara has come with a similar device. Maypole is an open-source hardware MicroSD card reader powered by Espressif ESP32 processor providing both WiFi and the resources for smarter storage. It comes with an optional battery too to access files even without having to connect it to a USB port. Maypole hardware specifications: Storage – Swappable MicroSD cards up to 32GB Wireless Connectivity WiFi 2.4 GHz WiFi 4 via ESP32 WiSoC, Up to 4 […]

January 7, 2021January 7, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

Industrial-grade 3D Vision Camera features Rockchip RK3399 SoC, Intel RealSense Technology

Vecow DVC-1000 industrial 3D vision camera

Vecow has just launched DVC-1000 industrial-grade 3D vision camera running Ubuntu on Rockchip RK3399 processor and based on Intel RealSense technology. The camera is rated IP67 for protection from water and dust, supports PoE, and the company says it’s “ideal for Robot Vision, Autonomous Mobile Robot, Object Dimensioning, and Intelligent Surveillance”. Vecow DVC-1000 specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3399 hexa-core Cortex-A72/A53 processor @ up to 1.8 GHz with Mali 860MP4 GPU, 4K encode/decode System Memory / Storage – TBD Camera Depth Module Depth Sensor – OmniVision OV9282 Active Stereoscopic technology Operating Range – From 0.105 to 10 meters (depends on calibration, scene, and lighting conditions). Resolution – 1280 x 720, 640 x 480, 480 x 270, or 424 x 240 Frame Rate – Up to 60 fps Shutter Type – Global Shutter FoV (H x V x D) – 87°±3° × 58°±1° × 95°±3° @ HD Resolution Z Accuracy – ≤ […]

January 7, 2021August 14, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 12 Comments

Raspberry Pi 4 Mini-ITX carrier board. Meet Over:Board (Crowdfunding)

Over-board Raspberry Pi Compute Mobule 4 mini-ITX carrier board

While the Raspberry Pi 4 SBC is popular for its small form factor, affordable hardware, and good software support, the Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 offers more flexibility and allows makers and companies to design their own hardware matching their requirements, while still leveraging the existing software support. We’ve already seen a mini-ITX carrier board for the Raspberry Pi 4, namely the upcoming Turing Pi 2. However, the board has very specific use cases in mind since it’s a cluster board designed for four Raspberry Pi Compute Modules 4. But British engineer Ross Nicholls has designed Over:Board carrier board for Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 for most traditional use cases, in essence, designing what amounts to a Raspberry Pi 4 mini-ITX motherboard with SATA, PCIe, etc. Over:Board specifications: Compatible SoM’s – Raspberry Pi CM4 or CM4Lite with Broadcom BCM2711 quad-core Cortex-A72 processor, up to 8GB RAM, up to 32GB storage. […]

January 6, 2021January 20, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 20 Comments

Sipeed MAIX-II Dock is an Allwinner V831 powered AIoT vision devkit

Sipeed introduced MAIX development boards powered by Kendryte K210 dual-core RISCV processor with AI accelerators in 2018, and we tested the Maixduino and Grove AI HAT based on the solution using Arduino and Micropython the following year. It works fine for audio and video project requiring AI acceleration at low power, but performance (resolution/fps) is limited. So if you’d like a bit more oomph for your audio & vision AI projects, as well as proper Linux support, Sipeed has just launched MAIX-II Dock powered by Allwinner V831 Cortex-A7 AI camera SoC clocked at up to 800-1000 MHz and 64MB on-chip DDR2 RAM, as well as a Full HD camera and a small display.MAIX-II Dock specifications: MAIX-II core module SoC – Allwinner V831 single-core Cortex-A7 processor clocked at 800-1000 MHz with 0.2TOPS AI accelerator, H.264/H.265/JPEG video encoder up to 1080p30 System Memory – 64MB DDR2 in package (SiP) Storage – Optional […]

January 6, 2021January 6, 2021 by Abhishek Jadhav - 3 Comments

Open-source VSCP IoT/M2M automation framework supports Arduino, Raspberry Pi

VSCP (Very Simple Control Protocol) is an open-source IoT framework that works on development boards like Arduino or Raspberry Pi, and lets you control IoT home automation tasks. The framework is highly scalable, has a very low footprint, and as such is specially designed for resource-limited devices. VSCP is an open-source standard protocol for m2m, IoT and other remote control and measurement applications. It enables simple, low-cost devices to be networked together with high-end computers and/or to work as an autonomous system, whatever the communication media is. The VSCP Protocol has two levels: Level 1 and Level 2. The protocol was primarily used in CAN networks (that is Level 1 for tiny microcontrollers) because CAN is cheap and reliable with high efficiency. However, VSCP can be used for faster transport layers such as TCP/IP, so here comes Level 2 which achieves better performance. We have already seen Souliss, an open-source […]

January 6, 2021 by Saumitra Jagdale - 1 Comment

Adafruit Voice Bonnet is meant for DIY Raspberry Pi Smart Speakers

Adafruit Voice Bonnet features two speakers and two mics, that can be used as an audio-voice interface for Raspberry Pi SBC to create a DIY smart speaker or other audio product. The voice bonnet can work with any Raspberry Pi from Pi Zero up to Pi 4, with 40-pin 2 x 20 connector. Two speaker outputs of the voice bonnet have a power rating of 1 Watt. The voice bonnet contains 3.5 mm stereo outputs, headphone stereo, or line-out audio. The Adafruit voice bonnet has an on-board WM8960 low-power stereo codec that uses I2S digital audio for both input and output. The WM8960 codec has a dual analog input, it consists of a left mic and a right mic. The codec integrates a complete microphone interface and a stereo headphone driver. Adafruit says “For DIY speakers, solder any 1W+ speaker to one of these JST 2-PH cables. If you’d like […]

January 5, 2021January 5, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 24 Comments

Balena EtcherPro multi SD card writer now up for pre-order

We first wrote about Balena EtcherPro in December 2018, as a relatively low-cost multi-SD card writer, designed by Balena for people who needed to flash several micro SD cards, USB drives, or boards. At the time, mass production was scheduled for Q2 2019. But it took a bit more time than expected, and the company is only now taking pre-orders for the device with a $50 deposit, and $990 price tag excluding VAT and shipping. EtcherPro highlights and specifications: Display – 7-inch RGB touch screen for control Ports – 16x USB 3.0, 16x SD card slots, 16x MicroSD card slots to flash up to 16 drives/devices at once Flash at speeds up to 52MB/s when flashing 16 drives/devices simultaneously, or up to 200MB/s for a single drive/device Supports SD, microSD, USB drives, and single-board computers (or compute modules via carrier boards) Flash an image from a physical drive source or […]

January 5, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 9 Comments

5G coming to entry-level devices with Snapdragon 480 5G SoC

5G rollout really only started ramping in 2019, and we covered premium 5G mobile SoC like Qualcomm Snapdragon 855, Huawei Kirin 990 or Samsung Exynos 980, as soon as December 2018. In late 2019 and 2020, 5G came to mid-range mobile devices thanks to chips such as Snapdragon 765(G), MediaTek Dimensity 720, UNISOC T7520, and others. Somehow, 5G still felt premium to me since the technology is still relatively, so I was surprised by the level of coverage in Europe and the US, and even smaller countries like Thailand, when I looked at the 5G coverage map above after seeing an announcement for Snapdragon 480 processor designed for entry-level 5G smartphones. Qualcomm Snapdragon 480 (SM4350) key features and specifications: CPU – Octa-core Kryo 460 processor with two Cortex-A76 class cores @ 2.0 GHz, six Cortex-A55 cores @ 1.8 GHz GPU – Adreno 619 GPU with H.264 (AVC), H.265 (HEVC) VP8 […]