CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

May 1, 2020May 1, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Congatec conga-TR4 COM Express Module is Powered by AMD Ryzen Embedded SoC

We’ve covered plenty of AMD Ryzen Embedded V1000-series SBCs, and some Ryzen Embedded mini PCs, but so far, we had not written about any AMD Ryzen Embedded V1000 or R1000 system-on-module (SoM) or computer-on-module (CoM), partially because there aren’t many yet, and because we missed Advantech SOM-5871 CPU module earlier this year. But there’s now another option courtesy of Congatec with conga-TR4 AMD Ryzen Embedded COM Express module with consumer or industrial temperature range, and a choice of seven different processors. conga-TR4 COM Express module specifications: SoC (one or the other) AMD Ryzen V1807B quad-core processor @ up to 3.35 GHz with 2MB L2 cache, Vega 11 graphics; 35-54W TDP AMD Ryzen V1756B quad-core processor @ up to 3.25 GHz with 2MB L2 cache, Vega 8 graphics; 35-54W TDP AMD Ryzen V1605B quad-core processor @ 2.0 GHz with 2MB L2 cache, Vega 8 graphics; 12-25W TDP AMD Ryzen V1202B dual-core […]

May 1, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 10 Comments

ATX12VO Standard Reduces Idle Desktop Power of ATX Motherboards

I remember a few years back when I still used an AMD FX8350 power tower PC power consumption was about 75 Watts at idle, and around 15-20 Watts when the computer was turned off. Those are really high numbers especially considering many systems can now run under full-load for up to 15-20 Watts. Power consumption has vastly improved since, but desktop computers are still not the most efficient even while idled or power off, so a new standard has been created. ATX12VO single rail power supply desktop platform form factor takes out the 3.3- and 5-volt rails from the power supply and relies on the motherboard instead that can handle those voltages more efficiently. The name makes sense as ATX12VO should read as ATX 12 Volts Only. The new motherboard standard was at least partially designed to meet the requirements of upcoming new energy regulations for desktop computers in the […]

May 1, 2020May 1, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Particle Tracking System Offers Software, Hardware LTE IoT Module and Tracker in Turnkey Solution

Particle’s first cellular M2M module was launched in 2015 when the company was still called Spark IO. Since then they’ve offered new modules and boards supporting recent standards like NB-IoT and/or LTE Cat-M with product likes Boron and E series castellated modules. The company found out that most of their customers used their boards for asset tracking despite many off-the-shelf products already available, and the main reason was the ability to customize the solution. To help their customers, the company has now launched the Particle Tracking System combining a software suite with LTE IoT system-on-module and Tracker One reference product to ease the development and deployment of customized asset tracking solutions. Particle Tracking System is comprised of three main components relying on the existing Particle IoT platform: Particle Tracking Services software suite with geolocation services (mapping and geodatabase), fleet-wide device management, an open device firmware application framework to integrate with […]

April 30, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

QEMU 5.0 Supports Recent Armv8.x Features, Cortex-M7 CPU, Host Directory Access, and More

QEMU (Quick EMUlator) is an open-source emulator that’s great to run programs on various architectures such as Arm, RISC-V, and many others when you don’t own proper hardware. The developers have now released QEMU 5.0.0 will plenty of new features and such as support for Armv8.1 to Armv8.4 architectures, Arm Cortex-M7 processor, various changes to MIPS, PowerPC, RISC-V, s390… architectures, support for accessing a directory on the host filesystem from the guest using virtiofsd and more. There have been over 2800+ commits from 232 developers, so the list of changes to too long to write here, but some of the highlights include: Support for passing host filesystem directory to guest via virtiofsd Support for ARMv8.1 VHE/VMID16/PAN/PMU, ARMv8.2 UAO/DCPoP/ATS1E1/TTCNP, ARMv8.3 RCPC/CCIDX, ARMv8.4 PMU/RCPC Added ARM Cortex-M7 CPU support New Arm boards: tacoma-bmc, Netduino Plus 2, and Orange Pi PC Allwinner SoC model now wires up the USB ports TPM support for […]

April 30, 2020July 31, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 13 Comments

Raspberry Pi HQ Camera Features a 12MP Sensor, Supports Interchangeable Lenses

The Raspberry Pi Foundation introduced the first official Raspberry Pi camera in May 2013. The $25 camera module came with a 5MP sensor and connected via the board’s MIPI CSI connector. Then in 2016, the company launched version 2 of the camera with an 8MP sensor. The foundation has now launched a much better camera called Raspberry Pi HQ Camera (High-Quality Camera) with a 12MP sensor, improved sensitivity, and support for interchangeable lenses both in C- and CS-mount form factors. The module itself is equipped with a Sony IMX477 sensor, a milled aluminum lens mount with integrated tripod mount and focus adjustment ring, a C- to CS-mount adapter, and an FPC cable for connection to a Raspberry Pi SBC. RPi HQ camera specification: Sensor – 12.3MP Sony IMX477R stacked, back-illuminated sensor; 7.9 mm sensor diagonal, 1.55 μm × 1.55 μm pixel size Output – RAW12/10/8, COMP8 Back focus – Adjustable […]

April 30, 2020April 30, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 10 Comments

“New” Raspberry Pi 3B v1.2/v1.3 May be Incompatible with Cases with Embedded Heatsink

As we’ve recently seen with Raspberry Pi 4 v1.2, the Raspberry Pi Foundation will sometimes provide new revisions of their boards with small differences or fixes that most users won’t notice, so they will not make announcements about those minor revisions. Somebody on the RPi forums noted there may be a “new version of Raspberry Pi 3B“, and the discussion points out there are actually two such revisions that are mass-produced from various companies. It turns out the Foundation also posted PCN (Product Change Notices) on the product page of their boards, so we can know exactly what has changed and when. The fist PCN for v1.2 board is dated November 1, 2018, and explains the SoC has changed switching from BCM2837 to BCM2837B0 found in Raspberry Pi 3B+ but with frequency limited to 1.2 GHz. The PCN further explains the timing of the change: The new part will be […]

April 29, 2020April 29, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 13 Comments

Connect up to 32 Relays to Raspberry Pi with a Stackable 4-Relay Board (Crowdfunding)

People have been playing with off-the-shelf relays on Raspberry Pi boards ever since it was released in 2012, and over the years, some companies have maybe Raspberry Pi-specific relay boards such as Strawberry4Pi and Pi-OT. Two years ago, Sequent Microsystems introduced a stackable 8-Relay board enabling up to 64 relays to be connected to a single Raspberry Pi board. The 8-relay board only supported 24V/2.5A, and the company is now back on Kickstarter with a 4-relay board with 250V/10A line-switching relays that can offer up to 32 relays by stacking 8 boards connected to one Raspberry Pi board via the 40-pin I/O header. The board comes with four Songle 250V/10A relays, 3-pin pluggable connectors that accept 18 to 22 AWG wires, and a 5V/3A power supply is recommended. If you stack multiple relay board a beefier power supply may be required. Here are some power consumption numbers provided by the […]

April 29, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 8 Comments

Power Sensors and Boards with Water using 5V/12V Micro Water Turbines

I follow some online IoT groups, and many of the projects are related to smart farming and greenhouses. People may want to monitor temperature and humidity and other environmental factors using battery-powered sensors. If there are many of those sensors, this can be cumbersome to either replace or recharge batteries, and that increases maintenance costs. But since plants usually need to be watered there should be some water pipes around, and I’ve just found out some low-cost micro water turbines that can generate 5V or 12V when connected to a water pipe and water flows. Micro water turbines specifications: Output Voltage 5V model 5 +/- 0.3 VDC water flow 10+ L / min 3 to 5 +/- 0.3 VDC Water flow 4L / min 3 +/- 0.25 VDC Water flow 3.5L / min 12V model 12 +/- 0.3 VDC water flow 10+ L / min 5 ～ 12 +/- 0.3 […]