CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

August 27, 2018September 29, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 15 Comments

RockPro64 RK3399 Board Linux Review with Ubuntu 18.04 + LXDE

Let’s do one more RK3399 Linux review using Pine64 RockPro64 development board. After shortly checking out the hardware, I’ll test Ubuntu 18.04 “Bionic” LXDE on the board, test 3D graphics acceleration, video playback, USB storage and network performance among other things on the board. RockPro64 Board Unboxing The board came in a cardboard package, and the sticker made it clear I had received the 2GB LPDDR4 version. Even after FriendlyELEC NanoPi M4 announcement, Rockchip ROCKPro64 is still the cheapest RK3399 development board around, so it should come as no surprise that the board does not come with any accessories by default. Another way to keep the price low was not to include any built-in storage apart from SPI flash, so instead most people will either boot from micro SD card or an eMMC flash module both of which need to be purchase separately. Another cost-saving is the lack of built-in […]

August 27, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

MicroWebSrv Lightweight HTTP Web Server Supports HTML/Python Language Templating

There are many languages that can be used to create a web page: HTML, HTML5, JavaScript, PHP, etc… But Python? Apparently yes, as MicroWebSrv lightweight web server – mostly designed for ESP32 platforms running MicroPython such as Pycom boards – supports inserting Python code inside “HTML” files with the extension .pyhtml. The code can be found in Github, and is only comprised of three files. microWebSrv.py – The Web server microWebSocket.py – The optional support of WebSockets microWebTemplate.py – The optional templating language for .pyhtml rendered pages Beside HTML/Python files, the web server can handle GET, POST, … requests, an embedded full REST API, routing handlers, WebSockets, etc… That’s what a mixed HTML + Python .pyhtml file may look like:

<html>
  <head>
    <title>TEST PYHTML</title>
  </head>
  <body>
    <h1>BEGIN</h1>
    {{ py }}
      def _testFunction(x) :
        return "IN TEST FUNCTION %s" % x
    {{ end }}
    <div style="background-color: black; color: white;">
      {{ for toto in range(3) }}
        This is an HTML test...<br />
        TOTO = {{ toto + 1 }} !<br />
        {{ for toto2 in range(3) }}
          TOTO2 = {{ _testFunction(toto2) }}
        {{ end }}
        Ok good.<br />
      {{ end }}
    </div>
    {{ _testFunction(100) }}<br />
    <br />
    {{ if 2+5 < 3 }}
      IN IF (1)
    {{ elif 10+15 != 25 }}
      IN ELIF (2)
    {{ elif 10+15 == 25 }}
      IN ELIF (3)
    {{ else }}
      IN ELSE (4)
    {{ end }}
  </body>
</html>

<html>

<head>

<title>TEST PYHTML</title>

</head>

<body>

<h1>BEGIN</h1>

def _testFunction(x) :

return "IN TEST FUNCTION %s" % x

This is an HTML test...<br />

TOTO = {{ toto + 1 }} !<br />

TOTO2 = {{ _testFunction(toto2) }}

Ok good.<br />

</div>

{{ _testFunction(100) }}<br />

<br />

IN IF (1)

IN ELIF (2)

IN ELIF (3)

IN ELSE (4)

</body>

</html>

You can use double curly braces {{ and }} to insert MicroPython code, if statements, for loops, or includes. I’m not sure if this makes really sense for all […]

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

August 27, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

UltraZed-EV Starter Kit Support Simultaneous 4K Encoding and Decoding with Xilinx Zynq UltraScale+ EV MPSoC

Xilinx unveiled Zynq UltraScale+ MPSoC‘s combining Arm Cortex A53/R5 cores with FPGA fabric back in 2015. and we started to see development boards and products based on the solution starting in 2017 with offerings such as AXIOM Board, TRENZ TE0808 SoM, or more recently 96Boards compliant Ultra96 development board. All last three boards have one thing in common: they all use an Zynq UltraScale+ GC MPSoC that adds a Mali-400MP2 GPU to CG MPSoC family. But there’s also a third EV family which standards for “Embedded Vision”, and adds support for 4K H.264 / H.265 hardware video codec capable of simultaneous encode and decode. The platform targets multimedia, automotive ADAS, surveillance, and other embedded vision applications. So far, I don’t think I had seen any boards based on Ultrascale+ EV MPSoC, but AVNet – following up on their UltraZed-EG starter kit – has now launched an UltraZed-EV starter kit powered […]

August 27, 2018August 27, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 8 Comments

Tanix TX3 Mini L Amlogic S905W TV Box with 2GB RAM Sells for as low as $16.99 (Promo)

Last year, it was relatively easy to find promotions for ultra cheap TV boxes selling for under $20, but with the price increase of flash and RAM chips it has become harder to find. GearBest has now launched a promotion for Tanix TV boxes, and you could get Tanix TX3 Mini L model with an Amlogic S905W Processor and 2GB RAM for as low as $16.99. The trick is here is that price is only for flash sales with 5 pieces selling for $16.99 at 9:00 UTC until the end of the week. You’ll apparently need to use coupon GBTXL to qualify for the discount. Note that Flash sale can be frustrating since you’ll be competing with other customer, one trick that may work to get ahead is the add the device to the cart before 9:00, then click on check out at exactly 9:00. If you miss out the […]

August 26, 2018August 27, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

Arduino Releases Command Line Interface (CLI) Alpha Preview

So far, AFAIK the only official ways to program Arduino boards were through the Arduino IDE program, or the cloud-based Arduino Create which works in your web browser and does not require any installation on your computer. While graphical interfaces are nice and user-friendly, many of us are more productive while working using the command line, especially if commands can be scripted. So Arduino decided to work on a command line interface (CLI) for professional users, and have just announced a preview release. arduino-cli works in Windows, Linux, and Mac OS, and allows you install libraries, boards, and cores (e.g. esp32 Arduino core), compile the code, and upload the binary to the target board. If you want to get started quickly, you can download the binary “alpha” releases in the announcement board, but instead I opted to build the client myself as explained on Github. Everything below is done in […]

August 25, 2018August 25, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

Axiomtek SDM300S is an Intel Apollo Lake Smart Display Module (SDM-S) for Digital Signage

SDM300S Intel Smart Display Module (SDM)

Way back in 2010, Intel introduced the Open Pluggable Specification (OPS) defining mechanical and electrical parameters for players to be integrated into digital signage displays, with the goal of providing an easier upgrade path. Even if it was defined by Intel we’ve seem some Arm based OPS digital players such as the ones offered by ZidooLab. If you’ve checked out the latter link, you’ll know OPS players normally come with a case, and measure 180 x 119 x 30mm to comply with the specifications. But it turns out Intel also introduced a more compact card format for digital signage / displays with Intel SDM (Smart Display Module) available as SDM-S (Small: 60 mm x 100 mm x ~20 mm; up to ~10W TDP) or SDM-L (Large: 175 mm x 100 mm x ~20 mm; up to ~45W TDP) Axiomtek made one of those module with their SDM300S SDM-S module equipped with […]

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

August 24, 2018August 24, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 43 Comments

NanoPi M4 Raspberry Pi Inspired RK3399 Board Launched for $65 and Up

As expected, FriendlyELEC has now launched NanoPi M4 board, a lower cost version of NanoPC-T4 Rockchip RK3399 SBC, and mostly following Raspberry Pi form factor. How much you may ask? That would be $65 plus shipping for the 2GBRAM version, and $95 for the 4GB RAM version, which means it sells in the same ballpark as RockPro64 board. NanoPi M4 board specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3399 big.LITTLE hexa-core processor with 2x Arm Cortex-A72 @ up to 2.0GHz, 4x Cortex-A53 @ up to 1.5GHz, a Mali-T864 GPU with support OpenGL ES1.1/2.0/3.0/3.1, OpenVG1.1, OpenCL, DX11, and AFBC, and a VPU with 4K VP9 and 4K 10-bit H265/H264 6decoding System Memory – Dual-channel 4GB LPDDR3-1866, or dual-channel 2GB DDR3-1866 Storage – eMMC module socket, micro SD card slot Video Output HDMI 2.0a up to 4K @ 60 Hz with HDCP 1.4/2.2 support 4-Lane MIPI-DSI connector Audio – 3.5mm headphone jack, HDMI digital audio […]

August 24, 2018August 24, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

CHOETECH 24W Foldable Solar Charger Review

Foldable Solar Charger Charging Smartphone

A short while ago, I wrote about a tri-panel waterproof solar power bank that delivers up to 4 Watts and comes with 10,000 mAh capacity. I’ve now received a sample of a somewhat similar product, except CHOETECH told me it can deliver up to 24 Watts, which should be more suitable for charging devices like smartphone daily. CHOETECH 24W Solar Charger Unboxing The gadget is supposed to be fitted on larger backpacks as we’ll see below, but it comes in a relatively small package. The thing just looks like some purse or wallet out of the box. Once it’s unfolded we’ll see four solar panel, six hoops around the design, and some pouch / pocket on the right. The “junction box” includes a micro USB to USB cable, some silica gel, and four metal hoops to hook around some of the 6 fabric hoops The text on the photo above […]