CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

March 10, 2018March 10, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 9 Comments

Scrcpy Open Source Software Let You Control an Android Phone via a Windows, Mac OS, or Linux PC

Have you ever wished you could control or mirror your Android smartphone using your computer? Scrcpy, a free and open source program by Genymotion may fit your needs, and works on Windows, Mac OS or Linux. You just need to install (or build) a program on your host computer, connect your phone via USB, switch to developer mode, enable USB debugging, and run the program which will automatically install the server (a jar file) on your phone, which does not need to be rooted. The easiest way to try is with Windows since the developers already provide pre-built binaries, but I installed it on Ubuntu 16.04 instead since it is the operating system I use daily. Some of the packages in Ubuntu 16.04 are a bit old so it took me a couple of hours to successfully install it, and I’d recommend going with Ubuntu 17.10 or 18.04 daily build […]

March 9, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 7 Comments

Rockchip Unveils RK3308 & Gemini Cortex-A35 Processors for Smart Speakers

Rockchip has posted a tweet about smart speakers, specifically about Midea AI speaker based on Rockchip RK3229, but the second image is what caught my eyes, as it reveals two new Arm Cortex A35 processor designed for “Smart AI solutions”, namely RK3308 and “Gemini” Processor. Rockchip RK3308 “mainstream” processor specifications: CPU – Quad core Cortex A35 processor GPU – TBD (maybe none?) Audio Integrated 8-ch ADC and hardware VAD (Voice Activity Detection) module Multi-channel PDM/I2S/TDM audio interface Rockchip Gemini “high-end” processor specifications: CPU – Quad core Cortex A35 processor GPU – Mali Dvalin MP2 GPU Audio – “high-end smart audio solution”; multi-channel PDM/I2S/TDM audio interface Video I/O – LCD screen & camera support Rockchip will provide support for Android Thing and Linux for the processors, as well as integration with MIC arrays boards and popular voice services such as Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, Baidu DuerOS, and others. Arm Cortex A35 […]

March 9, 2018March 9, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

ALB32-WROVER is an ESP-WROOM-32 Compatible Module with 32 Mbit PSRAM, up to 128 Mbit Flash

ESP-WROOM-32 is one of the most commonly ESP32 WiFi + Bluetooth module, and does the job for many applications. However, it only includes 4MB (32Mbit) flash, and no external PSRAM, while Espressif ESP32 chip itself supports up to 128 Mbit (16MB) NOR flash and up to 32Mbit (4MB) PSRAM, so for applications demanding more resources (e.g. MicroPython), or for initial development it would good to have a module maxing out memory and storage capabilities of the chip. Analog Lamb ALB32-WROVER does exactly that with 32 Mbit PSRAM, and 32 to 128 Mbit flash, in a form factor compatible with ESP-WROOM-32 module. ALB32-WROVER specifications: WiSoC – Espressif ESP32 (Rev0?) Wi-Fi and Bluetooth combo chip External Memory – 32Mb PSRAM Storage – 32, 64, or 128Mbit Flash Dimensions – 18 x 25 x 3 mm Compatible with ESP-WROOM-32, except for GPIO16 & 17 (used for PSRAM) It’s very odd the company claims the […]

March 9, 2018March 9, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

Hologram Introduces Global IoT eSIM Chip

Hologram provides a SIM card for IoT projects that can be used in most of the world, and I own a developer SIM card that’s very convenient for reviews and evaluation with 10MB free data per month, which I used for example in a recent 3G HAT board for Raspberry Pi. The company also manage network by software, so they were on of the first SIM providers to enable 4G LTE Cat M1 and NB-IoT without changing anything to the SIM card itself. Since everything is programmable, not tied to any specific service provider, the SIM card form factors may not be the most convenient, and instead for a lower form factor, and possibly better reliability Hologram eSIM based on MFF2 form factor may be a better solution for new projects. The chip measures just 6x5mm with 0.67mm thickness, and would be soldered on the board of your cellular IoT […]

March 9, 2018 by Karl Johnson - 5 Comments

Looking for Inspiration for a 3D Printed Project

Hello CNX readers. Karl here. I am looking for some inspiration on a practical project to design and print from scratch. I am hoping someone might come up with an idea. I will share on Thingiverse, and I will ship it to you if you live in the continental United States. I will only do the plastic part. For example I just finished a bench power supply from an old PC power supply with the standard voltages and variable one from 2 to 30 volts. This has been done a million times already so just did it for personal use. It will be designed in Fusion 360. I can screen capture the build process, and speed up and put on YouTube if interested. Leave feedback in the comments below. Thank you for your help.

March 8, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

Zanflare QP6012SA Light Bulb Comes with a Built-in PIR Motion Sensor

We’ve previously shown how to control lights with a 433 MHz PIR motion sensor via a 433MHz to WiFi bridge based on an ESP8266 WiFi module itself commanding Sonoff Basic wireless switches connected to the light bulbs. It works, and can be useful for more advanced features like monitoring when people came in and out of the room, but if you just want your light to turn on when motion is detected, and it’s dark, Zanflare QP6012SA looks much easier to install and setup as it already includes both a PIR motion sensor and can detect light intensity. Zanflare QP6012SA main features & specifications: Light 850 lumens 3000K to 6000K temperature range 12x SMD2835 LEDs 12W (equivalent to a traditional 60W light bulb) E27 Socket Sensors PIR motion sensor with 110° detection angle, 5 to 10 meters range Light sensing only turning on the light bulb if light intensity drops […]

March 8, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Vulkan 1.1 and SPIR-V 1.3 Specifications Released

The Khronos Group released Vulkan 1.0 specifications in 2015 as a successor of OpenGL ES, compatible with OpenGL ES 3.1 or greater capable GPU, and taking less CPU resources thank to – for instance – better use of multi-core processors with support for multiple command buffers that can be created in parallel. A year later, we saw Vulkan efficiency in a demo, since then most vendors have implemented a Vulkan driver for their compatible hardware across multiple operating systems, including Imagination Technologies which recently released Vulkan drivers for Linux. The Khronos Group has now released Vulkan 1.1 and the associated SPIR-V 1.3 language specifications. New functionalities in Vulkan 1.1: Protected Content – Restrict access or copying from resources used for rendering and display, secure playback and display of protected multimedia content Subgroup Operations – Efficient mechanisms that enable parallel shader invocations to communicate, wide variety of parallel computation models supported […]

March 8, 2018February 29, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

Android P Developer Preview Released with Indoor Positioning, Display Notch Support, HDR VP9 Video, and More

Google has just announced the release of the first developer preview for Android P mobile operating system, as the company is looking for feedback from developers who can use the official Android emulator, as well as images for Pixel, Pixel XL, Pixel 2, and Pixel 2XL devices for testing Google will take into account comments from developers before finalizing the APIs and features. That won’t be the only preview however, as the company plans to release other developer previews planned before the stable release at the end of the year, and Google aims to reveal more at Google I/O 2018 next week. Some of the interesting changes and new features found in Android P so far: Indoor positioning with Wi-Fi RTT (Round Trip Time) also known as 802.11mc WiFi protocol Display cutout support for some of the new phones with a notch Improved messaging notifications, for example highlighting who is […]