CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

March 23, 2019June 4, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

NexDock 2 Laptop Shell Gets a Full HD Display, a USB type-C Port (Crowdfunding)

NexDock 14″ laptop shell was first introduced in 2016 to help people convert their smartphones or single board computers into a laptop with a display, a keyboard and battery. The crowdfunding campaign was successful with over $360,000 raised for the projects, and the first NexDock has been shipped to 2,600+ backers. The following year, the company – now called Nex Computer – announced plan to develop NexDock 2 with support for Intel Compute Cards. This did not quite work out as expected since Intel decided to stop further development of Compute Cards, but not all is lost as Nex Computer has now launched NexDock 2 with an aluminum body, a slightly smaller but higher resolution Full HD display, an edge to edge keyboard, and a USB type-C input port. NexDock 2 specifications: Display – 13.3” IPS LCD display with 1920×1080 resolution, 16:9 aspect ratio Video Input – Full-size HDMI input […]

March 22, 2019March 22, 2019 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 19 Comments

Allwinner MR133 Processor Targets Robot Vacuum Cleaners

It’s been a while since I’ve seen a new processor from Allwinner, so today I got curious and visited the company website hoping to find maybe some news about the first Cortex-A7x processor from the company. But instead I found something else intriguing with the new Allwinner MR133 processor specifically designed for “SLAM/VSLAM intelligent robot sweeper solutions”. In other words, Allwinner has just launched a processor for robot vacuum cleaners… Allwinner MR133 key features and specifications: CPU – Quad-core Arm Cortex-A7 processor @ 1.8GHz with 32KB L1 I-cache + 32KB L1 D-cache per core, 512KB L2 cache, low-power CoolFlex power management architecture GPU – Arm Mali 400MP2 with support for OpenGL ES 2.0/1.1, Direct3D 11.1, OpenVG 1.1 Memory I/F – 32-bit DDR4/DDR3/DDR3L/LPDDR3/LPDDR4 Storage I/F – eMMC 5.0 flasj, compatible with eMMC 5.1, support Full Disk Encryption(FDE) 8-bit TLC/MLC/SLC/EF NAND flash, supports FDE LDPC/80-bit BCH/1024bytes Video Engine – H264 HP encoder […]

March 22, 2019April 25, 2019 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

NiteFury Puts Xilinx Artix-7 FPGA into an M.2 Card (Crowdfunding)

NiteFury is an FPGA development board, but it works differently than most, as RHS Research LLC put a Xilinx Artix-7 FPGA into an M.2 Key M card that you can easily insert into a laptop or mini PC with a 80mm M.2 socket. The board also includes DDR3 memory, and exposes a few configurable I/Os. You can use NiteFury to experiment with Xilinx PCIe IP, but also as FPGA co-processor for example to handle encryption, and encoding/decoding data. NiteFury card specifications: FPGA – Xilinx Artix XC7A200T-2FBG484E delivering up to ~1000 GMAC/s, with 215,360 Logic cells, 33,650 Slices, 269,200 CLB flip-flops, and 740 DSP slices. System Memory – 8 Gbit DDR3 (512 MB x 16) Host Interface – PCIe 4x gen 2 (2 Gb/s) External I/Os Via I/O connectors – 12x I/O including 4x selectable analog or digital – JTAG ready Via PCIe connector – 1x 3.3 V digital I/O (LED), […]

March 22, 2019March 22, 2019 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

ZED Depth and Motion Tracking Camera Supports NVIDIA Jetson Nano Board

When NVIDIA launched their low cost Jetson Nano development board earlier this week, one reader asked whether it would support binocular depth mapping. It turns out Stereo Labs has updated the SDK (Software Development Kit) for the ZED depth and motion tracking camera in order to support the latest NVIDIA developer kit. Jetson Nano can manage depth and positional tracking at 30 fps in PERFORMANCE mode with 720p resolution, and while the more powerful and expensive Jetson TX2 achieves doubles the performance at 60 fps, it does so at a much higher cost. ZED depth and motion tracking camera specifications: Video 2.2K @ 15 fps (4416×1242 resolution) 1080p @ 30 fps (3840×1080 resolution) 720p @ 60 fps (2560×720 resolution) WVGA @ 100 fps (1344×376 resolution) Depth Resolution – Same as selected video resolution Range – 0.5 to 20 m Format – 32-bits Stereo Baseline – 120 mm Motion 6-axis Pose […]

March 21, 2019 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

Sigfox Targets Worldwide Coverage with Satellite Launch

LPWAN technologies such as NB-IoT, Sigfox, and LoRa deliver low power, long range communication at low bitrate and can be used for asset tracking, environmental monitoring, water & electricity meters, and so on. The line-of-sight range between the closest gateway and nodes is usually 10 to 20 km, and coverage can be expanded by connecting several gateways to form a network. However, this is not workable in all locations worldwide, so Sigfox plans to launch a Sigfox satellite in collaboration with Eutelsat in order to provide coverage in places like large deserts such as the Sahara desert, the two poles, as well as oceans as explained by Franck Siegel, chief operating officer at Sigfox. This will for instance enable tracking and monitoring of oil platforms and vessels. The press release does not explains much except Sigfox and Eutelsat will test the first Satellite in H2 2019 before the commercial launch […]

March 21, 2019 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

Alfawise W10 is a $300 Resin (SLA) 3D Printer

Most 3D printers on the market work with filaments using fused deposition modeling (FDM) technology, but in the past we’ve also seen 3D printers using resin and stereolithography apparatus (SLA) technology. The latter is supposed to enable more detailed, yet faster prints, but storing and keeping the liquid resin is a bit more challenging than simply handling filament. In the past I had come across two resin 3D printers in the news, namely the infamous Peachy printer, and the $99 ONO 3D printer working with a smartphone, which was introduced in 2016, but the company is still working on the printer, and most backers have not received their rewards. But today, I’ve come across another resin 3D printer with Alfawise W10 that’s available for $299.99 plus a few dollars for shipping. Alfawise W10 key features & specifications: Display – 2.5″ full color LCD display Storage – microSD card slot Build […]

March 21, 2019February 18, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

LoDev S76S Board Combines STM32, LoRa and Arm Mbed Support (Crowdfunding)

There are already plenty of low power boards with a LoRa radio, but Ronoth offers another option with their tiny LoDev S76S LoRa development board featuring AcSip S76S SiP (system-in-package) with STMicro STM32L073 microcontroller, a Semtech SX1276 LoRa radio, and other components. While most hobbyist LoRa boards are designed to be programmed with the Arduino IDE, LoDev S76S is instead compatible with Arm Mbed. LoDev S76S board specifications: SiP – AcSip S76S system-in-package with STMicro STM32L073 Arm Cortex-M0+ microcontroller @ 48 MHz with 192 kB flash, 20 kB RAM Semtech SX1276 chip supporting global 863MHz ~ 928MHz ISM Bands RF front-end LoRa Connectivity Receiver Sensitivity – down to -146 dBm TX Power – adjustable up to +20 dBm Range – up to 15 km coverage in suburban areas and up to 5 km coverage in urban areas SMA antenna connector USB – 1x micro USB port for programming and power […]

March 20, 2019 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

RAK Wireless Launches RAK7258 Indoor LoRa Gateway for $149

RAK Wireless has just launched a new indoor LoRa gateway with their RAK7258 model featuring Semtech SX1301 8-channel digital baseband chip. The OpenWrt gateway supports Ethernet with PoE, 2.4GHz WiFi, optional NB-IoT, LTE Cat M, LTE 4G module, and is fully compatible with LoRaWAN 1.0.2. The gateway supports all main LoRa regions including EU433, CN470, EU868, US915, and AS923. RAK7258 gateway specifications: SoC – MediaTek MT7628 MIPS 24KEc processor @ 580 MHz System Memory – 128MB DDR2 RAM Storage – eMMC flash, microSD card slot Connectivity 10/100 Ethernet with PoE 802.11 b/g/n WiFi 4 with internal antenna LoRa via RAK833 mini PCIe card + RP-SMA antenna Cellular – Extended NB-IoT, Cat M, LTE 4G, supported by default; nano SIM card slot USB – 1x USB 2.0 host port Console – RJ45 RS-232 port Misc – 6x status LED Power Supply – 12V/2A (default) or 42-57V DC PoE Dimensions – 180 […]