CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

September 8, 2020September 8, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 27 Comments

USBImager – A Lightweight Alternative to balenaEtcher

The common way to flash OS images to SD cards used to be “dd”. But you could potentially damage your system with a wrong command, it will not do verification after writing the firmware image, and it was not available in Windows, so people had to use Win32DiskImager, and last time I check it did not do verification either. So Etcher, now called balenaEtcher, became a popular cross-operating systems tool to flash images for Raspberry Pi and other SBCs. It’s easy to use and does verification after flashing. However, the binary is rather large at around 130 MB, and the company started to show sponsors to fund the development of the program, and this was not to the liking of everyone. During my review of CrowPi2 Raspberry Pi 4 laptop, I encountered an issue with balenaEtcher, which was quickly fixed once I updated the program to the latest version. But […]

September 8, 2020September 8, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

IBASE Outs Fanless Embedded Systems with AMD Ryzen V1605B, V1202B, R1606G, or R1505G SoC

Taiwan based IBASE Technology has launched the ASB200-918 series fanless embedded systems based on the company’s IB918 AMD Ryzen Embedded SBC which we covered last year, runs Windows or Linux distributions, and supports up to 4K displays. ASB200-918-series rugged computers are powered by AMD Ryzen Embedded V1605B/V1202B or R1606G/R1505G processors with 16GB ECC memory, a 64GB SSD, various I/Os including two HDMI 2.0a output for industrial control, factory, kiosks, and other space-constrained applications. ASB200-918 key features and specifications: SBC – IBASE IB918 3.5-inch single board computer with AMD Ryzen Embedded V1000/R1000-series SoC (V1605B, V1202B, R1606G, or R1505G) System Memory – 2x 8GB DDR4-2666 SO-DIMM, upgradable to up to 32GB RAM, ECC supported Storage – 64 GB TLC 2.5-inch SSD (default), optional M.2 NVMe SSD Video Output – 2x HDMI 2.0a ports up to 4Kp60 resolution Audio – 3.5mm audio jack for Line-out, Line-in, and MIC-in Networking 2x Gigabit Ethernet via […]

Graperain Samsung, Rockchip, and Qualcomm CPU modules, SBCs, and carrier boards

September 8, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Nubia Watch Comes with a 4-inch AMOLED Flexible Display (Crowdfunding)

We previously covered Nubia–α wearable “smartphone” in 2018. The device was basically a smartwatch with a long curved display, and at the time was at the prototype/design stage. There’s now a similar, but more refined Snapdragon Wear 2100 powered Nubia Watch with a 4.01-inch AMOLED flexible display that has recently launched on Kickstarter. It’s unclear whether it’s related to the older prototype, as the company claims to have conceptualized the watch in October 2019. Nubia Watch hardware specifications: SoC – Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 2100 (8909Q) quad-core Cortex A7 processor with Adreno 304 GPU System Memory – 1GB RAM Storage – 8GB storage Display – 4.01-inch AMOLED flexible 2-point touchscreen display with 960 x 192 resolution covered with Schott glass Connectivity Bluetooth 4.1 GNSS – GPS, GLONASS, Beidou Sensors – Accelerometer & gyroscope, pressure sensor, heart-rate sensor, geomagnetic sensor Misc – Power button Battery – 425 mAh Lithium battery good for […]

September 7, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

CarPiHat Connects Raspberry Pi to your Car with Opto GPIO, CAN Bus, 12V Outputs

OpenAuto Pro software is a Raspberry Pi-based head-unit solution that brings various features to your car including Bluetooth hands-free Profile, music streaming, integrated media player, navigation via Android Auto, screen mirroring, rear camera support, and more. But TDJ realized he needs more than just a Raspberry Pi, touchscreen display, and OpenAuto Pro software to meet his requirements, so he designed CarPiHat add-on board for Raspberry Pi providing power supply, opto-isolated GPIOs, CAN Bus, and 12V outputs. CarPiHat key features and specifications: I/Os Dedicated reverse, illumination, and aux inputs, all opto-isolated. 2x opto-isolated general-purpose inputs (for a total of 5 inputs) 2x high-current, high side switched 12V outputs (@ 1A) for switching relays, lights, etc… 1x independent CAN bus port Broken out I2C bus. Broken out one-wire for temperature sensor, etc… Misc – Real-time clock to maintain system time across reboots, EEPROM for Raspberry Pi HAT compatibility Power Supply 12V – […]

September 7, 2020September 7, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

Intel Jasper Lake Celeron & Pentium Processors Lineup Leaked

Intel has already announced Intel Tiger Lake processors designed for long battery-life, ultra-thin laptops, but which will also be found in industrial applications. I was also told Intel Elkhart Lake processors would be announced on September 24th. Elkhart Lake processors are based on the new Atom Tremont architecture, and so far, I thought they would be the successors to the affordable Gemini Lake processors. But FanlessTech just leaked the Jasper Lake lineup, also based on Tremont and whose SKUs closely match what we would expect from Gemini Lake successors. At this point, there are three desktop SKUs with 10W TDP, and three mobile SKUs with 6W TDP. All processors come with 4MB L2 cache and unspecified Intel UHD graphics. They’ll be manufactured with Intel 10nm process. What’s a bit unusual in the table above is that Intel normally uses “J” letter for 10W desktop processors, and “N” for mobile processors, […]

September 7, 2020August 24, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

CrowPi2 Raspberry Pi 4 Education Laptop Review

I started my review of CrowPi2 Raspberry Pi 4 Learning Kit a while ago and at the time I showed content from the kit and its first boot. I’ve now spent more time with this very special Raspberry Pi 4 laptop and will focus this review on the education part, namely CrowPi2 software, but will also look at thermal cooling under stress with and without a fan, and try to install another Raspberry Pi compatible board inside the laptop shell. CrowPi2 Education Software It’s quite important to read the user manual before getting started as there are a few non-intuitive steps you may have to take. First I assume the wireless keyboard would just connect after pressing the power button, but it did not. The user manual explains the RF dongle is inside the mouse, and once you connect it you’ll be able to use the keyboard that has some […]

Rockchip RK3568, RK3588 and Intel x86 SBCs and SoMs in 2025

September 6, 2020September 7, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 19 Comments

Arrow Chameleon96 Arm + Cyclone V FPGA Board Sold for $32 (Promo)

First introduced in 2017, Arrow Chameleon96 96Boards SBC comes with an Intel / Altera Cyclone V SE SoC featuring a dual-core Arm Cortex A9 processor clocked at up to 800 MHz and FPGA fabric with 110K Logic Elements. It used to sell for $129, but Arrow & appears to have a promotion now where the Novtech board sells for just $31.34 with free shipping[Update: all available boards are gone, and the product is now out of stock]. It looks like a good opportunity for people interested in playing around with an Arm Linux FPGA platform. Here’s a reminder of Chameleon96 board specifications which the company shamelessly copied from CNX Software: SoC – Intel PSG / Altera Cyclone V SE 5CSEBA6U19I7N with a dual-core ARM Cortex A9 processor @ up to 800 MHz and FPGA fabric with 110K Logic Elements Chips, Ports, and Features connected to FPGA: Integrated USB-Blaster II JTAG […]

September 5, 2020September 6, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

M5StickC PLUS ESP32-PICO Devkit Comes with 1.14-inch LCD, 120 mAh Battery and Buzzer

M5StickC PLUS ESP32-PICO DevKit Bluetooth and WiFi

Shortly after introducing the Core2 ESP32 IoT Development Kit with a 2-inch touch display, 390 mAh battery earlier this week, M5Stack has announced the availability of another ESP32 WiFi & Bluetooth IoT devkit, with the more compact M5StickC PLUS featuring a 1.14-inch display, a 120mAh battery, motion, sensor, a buzzer and the usual Grove connector for expansion. M5StickC PLUS is an upgrade to the original M5StickC that lacks the buzzer and features a smaller 0.96-inch display and a lower capacity 96 mAh battery. The new model can be purchased now for $13.95 plus shipping on Aliexpress, while the original device, that happens to be M5Stack top-selling product, is still available for $9.95. M5StickC PLUS key features and specifications: SiP – Espressif Systems ESP32-PICO-D4 system-in-package with ESP32 dual-core WiFI and Bluetooth IoT processor @ up to 240 MHz, 4MB SPI flash Display – 1.14-inch Color TFT LCD with 135×240 resolution (ST7789v2 […]

Boardcon LGA3576 Rockchip RK3576 System-on-Module designed for AI and IoT applications