OneChipBook-12 FPGA terminal
Posted on

OneChipBook-12 is a Cyclone EP1C12Q FPGA development platform with a built-in display and mechanical keyboard

It may look like a netbook from 10 years ago, but the OneChipBook-12 from “8086YES!” is instead an Altera Cyclone EP1C12Q FPGA development platform with a VGA display (LCD form iPad 2), a PS/2 QWERTY mechanical keyboard, a battery, and a few ports. While the OneChipBook-12 is sold as a ​blank FPGA development platform “with ​no predefined functionalities”, the hardware is similar to One Chip MSX (1chipMSX), Zemmix Neo, and uMSX systems, which are modern MSX2+ clones, and that’s the main reason people are purchasing the device.   OneChipBook-12 specifications: FPGA  Altera Cyclone EP1C12Q240 (from the obsolete Cyclone I family) 12,060 LEs 239,616 bits RAM System Memory – 32MB SDRAM Storage – SD card slot (FAT16 file system supported) Display – 1024×768 VGA display Video Output – VGA, S-Video, and CVBS Output interface Audio – Stereo speakers, audio output jack (8), volume control knob (9) USB – USB Type-A port […]

Banana Pi BPI-CM6
Posted on

Banana Pi BPI-CM6 is an octa-core RISC-V system-on-module compatible with Raspberry Pi CM5 carrier boards

Banana Pi BPI-CM6 is a SpacemIT K1 octa-core RISC-V system-on-module that follows the design of the Raspberry Pi CM5, and offers up to 16GB LPDDR4 RAM, up to 128GB eMMC flash, a gigabit Ethernet controller, and a WiFi 6 + Bluetooth 5.2 module. While it remains (mostly) compatible with the Raspberry Pi CM5, the BPI-CM6 exposes some additional I/Os from the K1 SoC through an additional 100-pin B2B connector. The company also offers a credit card-sized carrier board for the RISC-V SoM with HDMI, dual GbE, two M.2 PCIe x2 sockets, a few USB ports, and more. Banana Pi BPI-CM6 specifications: SoC – SpacemIT K1 CPU – 8-core X60 RISC-V processor @ 1.6 GHz GPU – Imagination IMG BXE-2-32 @ 819 MHz with support for OpenGL ES3.2, Vulkan 1.3, OpenCL 3.0; 20 GFLOPS VPU – H.265 and H.264 1080p60 decoding/encoding NPU – None, but the RISC-V cores can deliver up […]

ArmSoM RK3588 AIModule7 NVIDIA Jetson Nano-compatible SOM
Adafruit Sparkle Motion
Posted on

Adafruit Sparkle Motion – An ESP32-based addressable LED controller with four outputs, 100W USB-C power, and WLED/xLights support

The Adafruit Sparkle Motion is an ESP32-based LED controller board designed to drive addressable LEDs, including WS2812B, APA102, SK6812, LPD8806, UCS2904, and SM16704. It supports both WLED and xLights projects and features an onboard 100W USB-C PD port to drive even high-voltage LED setups. The board includes dual power input options (USB-C PD with 5/12/20V selection and 2.1mm DC jack), a 5A fuse, and level-shifted output terminals for controlling addressable LEDs. The board also features a built-in I2S digital microphone, IR receiver, Stemma QT I2C port, USB-serial with auto-reset, GPIO breakout pads, onboard NeoPixel and status LED, and multiple JST and terminal connectors for sensor and control integration. It comes pre-assembled with terminal blocks for easy wiring, making it suitable for applications such as wearable electronics, home decor lighting, audio-reactive displays, and remote-controlled installations. Adafruit Sparkle Motion Specifications: SoC – ESP32-S3 dual-core Xtensa LX7 MCU @ 240MHz with 2.4GHz Wi-Fi and […]

ESP32-C5 development board
Posted on

ESP32-C5 dual-band WiFi 6 SoC enters mass production, ESP32-C5-DevKitC-1 board launched for $15

Espressif Systems has just started mass production of the ESP32-C5 RISC-V wireless microcontroller with dual-band (2.4/5 GHz) WiFi 6, Bluetooth LE, and 802.15.4 (Zigbee, Thread) connectivity. The ESP32-C5-DevKitC-1 development is now available for about $15 on AliExpress, and should soon show up on the company’s Amazon store. So far, WiFi-capable Espressif microcontrollers have only supported 2.4 GHz WiFi since it’s cheaper and offers better range for IoT applications, but some applications may benefit from 5 GHz WiFi, so the company unveiled the ESP32-C5 dual-band WiFi 6 and BLE RISC-V MCU in June 2022. Design probably took longer than expected, but we noted documentation for an ESP32-C5 beta board in March 2024, and finally, the company has just announced that mass production has started. We’ll have a closer look at the ESP32-C5-DevKitC-1 board in this article, since it is different from the beta board. ESP32-C5-DevKitC-1 specifications: Wireless module –  ESP32-C5-WROOM-1 SoC […]

Orion O6 Arm SystemReady SR compliance
Posted on

Radxa Orion O6 mini-ITX motherboard gets Arm SystemReady SR v2.5 certification

Radxa Orion O6 mini-ITX motherboard powered by a CIX P1 12-core Cortex-A720/A520 SoC has just obtained Arm SystemReady SR (ServerReady) v2.5 certification, meaning it’s been shown to run unmodified several OS images such as Windows and Ubuntu. I’ve already tested a Debian 12 image modified by Radxa on the Orion O6, but one of the goals of the platform was to provide a universal UEFI + ACPI firmware to boot any Arm ISO released by OS vendors, for instance, the Ubuntu Desktop ISO for Arm 64-bit architecture downloaded directly from the Ubuntu website. The Arm SystemReady SR certification is a step in the right direction, as it means the Orion O6 has passed a number of tests showing it can boot several off-the-shelf OS images. We’ll find Radxa’s Orion O6 listed on the Arm SystemReady Compliance page among boards from other manufacturers, as well as the Radxa ROCK Pi 4B+, […]

LILYGO T-Echo Lite
Posted on

LILYGO T-Echo Lite – A 1.22-inch e-Paper display board with nRF52840 SoC, LoRa transceiver, GPS

LILYGO T-Echo Lite is a small Nordic Semi nRF52840 board with a 1.22-inch e-Paper display, a Semtech SX1262 LoRa transceiver, and an L76K GPS module, that’s especially suitable for Meshtastic off-grid messaging firmware. It looks like it could even serve as the base for a Meshtastic watch. The T-Echo Lite is a lightweight version of the earlier T-Echo that ships with a larger 1.54-inch e-paper display. Three Lite versions are available: T-Echo Lite Core – Castellated module with nRF52840, LoRa, power, and battery management T-Echo Lite Base – A breakout board for the Core module with battery and solar panel connectors, Qwiic connector, USB port, an interface for a 1.22-inch e-paper display, and an optional GPS expansion header T-Echo Lite Main Unit – Complete solution built around the Base version, a 1.22-inch e-paper display, and an acrylic enclosure. The L76K GPS module is still an option. T-Echo Lite specifications: LILYGO […]

Rockchip RK3568, RK3588 and Intel x86 SBCs and SoMs in 2025
Sony AS DT1 LiDAR sensor
Posted on

Sony AS-DT1 tiny industrial LiDAR depth sensor can operate under bright conditions (up to 100,000 lux)

Sony AS-DT1 is a tiny and precise LiDAR depth sensor, which the company claims is the world’s smallest at just 31 x 29 x 29mm and the world’s lightest at 50 grams compared to other solutions with a range of 10 meters or more. It is designed for applications such as drones for inspections and surveys, autonomous mobile robots, food service robots, and warehouse automation. The LiDAR module uses Direct Time of Flight (dToF) LiDAR technology with a Single Photon Avalanche Diode (SPAD) sensor to deliver fast, accurate three-dimensional distance measurements both indoors and outdoors. According to the company, the sensor can measure a range of up to 40 meters indoors and 20 meters outdoors, even in bright light, with ±0.2-inch (+/-0.5mm) accuracy at 10 meters, and a distance resolution of 0.98 inches (2.5cm). Featuring a rugged yet lightweight aluminum alloy housing, two USB-C ports, and connectors for external power, […]

SPARK SR1120 UWB transceiver
Posted on

SPARK Microsystems SR1120 UWB ultra-low-power transceiver delivers up to 41 Mbps throughput

SPARK Microsystems SR1120 is the company’s second-generation ultra-wideband (UWB) wireless transceiver capable of up to 41 Mbps throughput at ultra-low power and up to 100 times lower power ranging than UWB competitors. The Canadian company also highlights the outperformance of their UWB solution over Bluetooth with the new SR1120 offering 40 times higher data rates than Bluetooth chips, while consuming 25 times less power than Bluetooth and offering 60 times lower latency. However, readers should note that Bluetooth LE is supposed to support up to 2 Mbps, so it should (only) be up to about 20 times faster, and Bluetooth HDT is coming soon with data rates of up to 7.5 Mbps to further narrow the gap. SPARK SR1120 key features and specifications: Compliant with the upcoming IEEE 802.15.4ab low-energy UWB PHY standard Dynamically reconfigurable UWB spectrum 6.2–9.5 GHz band Up to 3 dBm TX power RX sensitivity of -81 […]

Boardcon CM3588 Rockchip RK3588 System-on-Module designed for AI and IoT applications