CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

October 18, 2020October 20, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 13 Comments

NanoPi R2S & NanoPi NEO3 tested with Armbian – Thermal test, Ethernet and USB performance

In the first part of the review of NanoPi NEO3 and Nano R2S I checked out the hardware, with both tiny gateways powered by a Rockchip RK3328 processor but a different features as NEO3 includes a Gigabit Ethernet port and a USB 3.0 port, while R2S comes with dual Gigabit Ethernet ports and a USB 2.0 port. I’ve now had time to test both gateways using Armbian 20.08.1 release based on Ubuntu 20.04 Focal. Note that while NanoPi R2S is officially supported by Armbian, NanoPi NEO3 images are currently tagged as “suitable for testing“. Having that said I did not come across any specific issues on NEO3, and it may mostly mean it’s easier to get support on the forums with R2S. I flashed two microSD cards using USBImager with: Armbian_20.08.1_Nanopi-r2s_focal_current_5.8.6_minimal.img.xz Armbian_20.08.1_Nanopineo3_focal_current_5.8.6_minimal.img.xz That means Ubuntu 20.04 with Linux 5.8.6, but since Armbian is always updated, I ended the review with […]

October 17, 2020October 17, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

Google Coral Dev Board mini SBC is now available for $100

Google Coral SBC was the first development board with Google Edge TPU. The AI accelerator was combined with an NXP i.MX 8M quad-core Arm Cortex-A53 processor and 1GB RAM to provide an all-in-all AI edge computing platform. It launched for $175, and now still retails for $160 which may not be affordable to students and hobbyists. Google announced a new model called Coral Dev Board Mini last January, and the good news is that the board is now available for pre-order for just under $100 on Seeed Studio with shipping scheduled to start by the end of the month. Coral Dev Board Mini specifications haven’t changed much since the original announcement, but we know a few more details: SoC – MediaTek MT8167S quad-core Arm Cortex-A35 processor @ 1.3 GHz with Imagination PowerVR GE8300 GPU AI/ML accelerator – Google Edge TPU coprocessor with up to 4 TOPS as part of Coral […]

October 16, 2020October 16, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

ESP32 CNC Controller Board Supports Grbl Arduino Firmware

Grbl_ESP32 CNC development board is a breakout board for NodeMCU 32S board that also takes three stepper motor drivers, and designed to run Grbl open-source Arduino firmware to control wireless CNC machines. Grbl_ESP32 CNC breakout board specifications: Socket for NodeMCU 32S board with ESP32 WiFi and Bluetooth dual-core SoC 3 sockets for stepper motor drivers such as TI DRV8825 types and others. Micro-step selection jumpers included. MicroSD card socket Home/Limit switch connections for XY and Z axes. Control switch input connections for Feed Hold, Cycle Start, Reset, and Door. Spindle output for PWM to control speed. 3A DC-DC power supply to run the ESP32 if it is not connected to USB Grbl CNC firmware was initially developed for the Arduino UNO and basic 3 axis CNC routers around 10 years ago, but has since then been ported to other CPUs and is now found in other types of CNC machines […]

October 16, 2020October 16, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 18 Comments

PineCube open-source Linux IP camera devkit launched for $30

Pine64 has been a busy company/community with the launch of Linux powered Arm development boards, PinePhone smartphone, PineTab tablet, and Pinebook Pro laptop in the last two years. They also had other smaller projects that got fewer resources due to the launch of the aforementioned products and COVID-19 induced delays, and one of those is PineCube open-source IP camera development kit that finally launched for $29.99 plus shipping. PineCube hardware specifications: SoC – Allwinner/Sochip S3 Arm Cortex-A7 processor @ 800MHz with 128MB in-package DDR3 RAM Storage – 128Mbit SPI Nor Flash and MicroSD slot, both bootable Camera – 5MP OV5640 sensor Audio – Built-in microphone, speaker Display – Optional 4.5-inch RGB LCD screen ( Networking – 10/100M Ethernet with passive PoE and WiFi USB – USB 2.0 Type-A host port Expansion – 26-pin GPIO header Misc – Volume and home buttons Power Supply 5V/1A via micro USB port or GPIO […]

October 16, 2020October 16, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 13 Comments

Raspberry Pi Gets 5G Cellular Connectivity with Snapdragon X55 Powered HAT

The Raspberry Pi board has long been able to connect to cellular networks either via USB dongles or 3G or 4G LTE HATs that often include GPS as a bonus. But you can now connect your Raspberry Pi 4 or other RPI SBC with a 40-pin header to 5G networks thanks to Waveshare SIM8200EA-M2 5G HAT for Raspberry Pi powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon X55 multi-mode multi-band modem offering 5G/4G/3G cellular connectivity. As we can see from the photo, the 5G add-on comes as part of a cool-looking kit with bottom and top acrylic plates, spacers, a cooling fan plus five antennas for cellular and GNSS connectivity. But the HAT itself integrates a SimCOM SIM8200EA-M2 M.2 module and offers the following specifications: Compatibility – Works with Raspberry Pi boards with a 40-pin GPIO extension header Cellular Connectivity SIM8200EA-M2 core module based on Qualcomm Snapdragon X55 platform with multi-mode multi-band support 5G/4G/3G […]

October 15, 2020October 15, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

FPGA powered Corazon-AI gateway supports up to 8 IP cameras for video analytics

Earlier this year, we covered some video analytics solutions based on AAEON UP Xtreme Edge embedded computer combining an Intel Whiskey Lake processor with Intel Movidius Myriad X AI accelerator modules, as well as video management & analytics software solutions from Milestones & SAIMOS, or aotu.ai BrainFrame. iWave Systems has now introduced a similar solution with Corazon-AI gateway capable of handling up to 8 IP cameras in real-time, but instead of relying on AI accelerators, the company leverages Xilinx Zynq Ultrascale+ Arm Cortex-A53/R5 FPGA MPSoC for AI inference. Corazon-AI gateway specifications: SoC – Xilinz Zynq Ultrascale+ ZU2, ZU3, ZU4 or ZU5 MPSoC Processing System (PS) Quad/Dual Arm Cortex-A53 @ 1.5GHz, dual Cortex-R5 @ 600MHz Arm Mali-400MP2 GPU @ 677MHz H.264/H.265 Video Encoder/Decoder Programming Logic (PL) Up to 256K Logic cells PL GTH Transceivers x 4 @ 12.5 Gbps System Memory 64bit, 2GB DDR4 with ECC for PS (upgradable) 32bit, 1GB […]

October 15, 2020February 26, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Embedded Artists Unveils iMX RT1064 uCOM with WiFi 5 & Bluetooth 5.1 Module

Embedded Artists have recently introduced iMX RT1064 uCOM system-on-module powered by NXP i.MX RT1064 Cortex-M7 crossover MCU clocked at 600 MHz with 1MB SRAM and 4GB flash on-chip, as well as 32MB SDRAM, and equipped with an optional WiFI 5 and Bluetooth 5.1 module from Murata. iMX RT1064 uCOM technical specifications: SoC – NXP i.MX RT1064 Arm Cortex-M7 @ up to 600 MHz with 1MB SRAM, 4MB on-chip QSPI flash, 2D graphics acceleration engine System Memory – 32 MB SDRAM Storage – Optional additional 4GB to 32GB eMMC flash and/or SQPI flash Wireless – Optional Murata Type 1ZM dual-band 802.11b/g/n/ac WiFi 5 and Bluetooth 5.1 module based on NXP 88W8987 2x DF40C-100 board-to-board connectors: Storage – 2x USDHC Display I/F – 24-bit parallel RGB up to 1366 x 768 pixels Camera – Parallel CSI Audio – 3x SAI, SPDIF Connectivity – 10/100M Ethernet (requires PHY on carrier board) USB – […]

October 15, 2020October 17, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

VIA VAB-950 SBC Features MediaTek i500 SoC for AIoT Applications

While MediaTek is better known for their mobile SoCs and they also offers processors made for AIoT (AI + IoT) applications such as MediaTek i700, i500 or i300 SoCs. We only covered a few development / evaluation boards so far, with Pumpkin i500 SBC or Innocom SB30 EVK, but we’ve now got another one with VIA VAB-950 single board computer equipped with MediaTek i500 AIoT octa-core processor, up to 4GB LPDDR4, 16GB flash storage, HDMI, dual Fast Ethernet, dual-band 802.11ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.0, and support for 4G LTE cellular connectivity. VAB-950 SBC specifications: SOM-9X50 system-on-module SoC – MediaTek i500 octa-core processor with 4x Cortex-A73 @ 2.0GHz, 4x Cortex-A53 @ 2.0GHz Arm Mali-G72 GPU up to 800 MHz with support for OpenGL ES 3.0, OpenCL ES 1.1, and Vulkan 1.0 VPU for 1080p30 H.264/H.265 decoding 2x Cadence Tensilica Vision P6 DSPs System Memory – 2GB or 4GB LPDDR4 SDRAM Storage – […]