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Sky Drone FPV HD Video Solution For Drones Uses 3G or 4G/LTE Networks and the BeagleBone Black

Earlier this week, I wrote about SparqEE CELLv1.0 a low cost cellular module to allow applications such as RC helicopter with extended range thanks to cellular networks. It turns out there’s currently a crowdfunding campaign that aims to bring such solution to market, but using 3G/4G USB dongles instead. Sky Drone FPV (First Person View) is an HD video system that can be controlled using 3G or 4G/LTE networks, and features the BeagleBone Black as the controller board. It would usually be attached to a quadcopter, by there’s not reason why you could not also use it with RC ground vehicles. Let’s start with the technical specifications: Controller Board – BeagleBone Black 3G/4G LTE Modem: Option 1 – Huawei E397Bu-501 for US / Americas (4G LTE FDD 1700/2100MHz and 700MHz) Option 2 –  Huawei E398u-1 for Europe / Asia (4G LTE FDD  900/2600 MHz) Camera: Option 1 – Full HD […]

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KVM on 64-Bit ARM with AppliedMicro X-Gene Developement Platform

Applied Micro announced X-Gene 64-Bit ARMv8 Server-on-Chip at ARM Techcon 2011, and later in 2012, they showcased Apache2 on an FPGA implementation of the chip. More recently, they showcased KVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machine) on their X-C1 hardware platform with an actual X-Gene SoC at Linaro Connect Europe 2013, and Linaro has just uploaded the video of the demo. The development board features 8 ARMv8 64-­bit processors, PCI network, up to 6 SATA drives (but only one used in the demo), and they also have hardware fitted into a 1U rack. The demo below runs 4 SMP Linux virtual machines (with 2 VCPUs), including 2 ARMv7 32­-bit, and 2 ARMv8 64-­bit guests, running web servers concurrently on each VM using VirtIO-based network virtualization.

ArmSoM RK3588 AIModule7 NVIDIA Jetson Nano-compatible SOM
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$200 Direct Insight Triton-TXEK EvalKit for iMX6 Features Freescale i.MX 6Quad Processor

With Wandboard Quad, SABRE Lite, Nitrogen6X, and UDOO, we already have some choices when it comes to low cost Freescale i.MX 6Quad development platforms. Direct Insight, a British company, has developed another called TRITON-TXEK EvalKit for iMX6 that includes the company’s Triton-TX6Q SoM, for 130 GBP (about $200). TRITON-TXEK for iMX6 Specifications: Specifications listed for the Triton-TXEK evaluation kit include: SoC – Freescale i.MX 6Quad quad core Cortex-A9 @ 1GHz with Vivante GC2000 GPU System Memory – 1GB DDR3 Storage – 128MB NAND flash + SD card slot Display – TFT panel via 40-pin LCD flat cable header Connectivity – 10/100M Ethernet USB – USB 2.0 host + mini USB 2.0 host/device Serial – RS232on D-Sub connector Audio – 3.5mm headphone jack Power Supply – 5V Dimensions – Module: 68mm × 31mm, Baseboard: Who knows… Operating temperature – -20 to 70°C Since the only easily accessible display option is the […]

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SparqEE CELLv1.0 Devkit Adds a SIM Card to Your Arduino, Raspberry Pi, or Other Hardware

There are several ways to add wireless connectivity to your sensors, relays, motors, or other devices. Bluetooth, Zigbee and Wi-Fi can all do a good job for short ranges, and the Weigthless standard will eventually provide ranges up to 10km with ultra low power on free spectrum, but it is not available right now, and a good way to achieve longer ranges is to use cellular networks. SparqEE has designed a development kit called CELLv1.0 to add GSM and 3G connectivity to the Internet of things, including (optional) shields for Arduino and Raspberry Pi boards. Here are some technical specifications for the kit: Cellular Networks – WCDMA/HSDPA 2100/1900/900MHz, GSM/GPRS/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900MHz, 384Kbps, DL3.6Mbps HSDPA via ZTE modem Protocols – Data (TCP/UDP), SMS ready Serial interface – Serial (UART, From Cellular Board is 1.8V, From Jumper board is any voltage (ex. 3.3V, 5V)) USB – (power, USART, and modem) Input Voltage – […]

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$48 Ninss Tech BBA22 Android STB Powered by AllWinner A20

Ninss Tech BBA22 is an ultra cheap AllWinner A20 dual core Cortex A7 Android 4.2 media player with 1GB RAM, 4GB Flash, Wi-Fi and Ethernet. It lacks SATA, but if you don’t absolutely need this particular feature, it’s amazingly about 30 to 40 USD cheaper that competing products such as Jesurun A19 or Mele M5. Here’s  an attempt at the specifications: SoC  – AllWinner A20 dual core Cortex A7 @ 1.2GHz with ARM Mali-400MP2 GPU System Memory – 1GB DDR3 (256*8*4) Storage – 4GB NAND Flash (Optionally: 8 or 16 GB) + micro SD card slot Video output – HDMI, CVBS Audio output – HDMI, CVBS, and optical S/PDIF Connectivity – WI-FI 802.11 b/g/n (USB RTL8188) + 10/100M Ethernet USB –  3x USB 2.0 Host + 1x micro USB OTG Misc – IR Sensor,  reset button, function key (for USB), power and status LEDs Power Supply – 5V/2A Dimensions – 148mm […]

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Texas Instruments OMAP5432 EVM Benchmarked Against ODROID-U2, BeagleBone Black, GK802… and an Intel Core i7-2600K based PC

Texas instruments and SVTronics announced an OMAP5 evaluation board a couple of months ago. The board features OMAP5432 dual Cortex A15, dual Cortex M4 SoC, 2GB RAM, a 4GB eMMC module, USB 3.0, SATA and more. SVTronics sent a board to Linux.com, where they wrote a short review, followed by an article benchmarking the OMAP5 EVM against AllWinner A10, Freescale i.MX6, Exynos 4412 Prime, and TI Sitara platforms, namely Cubieboard, GK802, ODROID-U2, and BeagleBone Black, all running Linux. Ben Martin, the writer, also benchmarked the board against a Linux PC powered by an Intel Core i7-2600K processor (4 cores, 8 thread, clocked at 3.4GHz, with a turbo frequency up to 3.8GHz). The board used was an early version, clocked at 800MHz, and later in September, all boards will be clocked at 1.5Ghz, so for benchmarks that stress the CPU, you could expect almost double the performance. With that in mind, […]

Rockchip RK3568, RK3588 and Intel x86 SBCs and SoMs in 2025
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MCU Energy Efficiency Benchmark – Freescale KL02, Microchip PIC24, TI MSP430, and STMicro STM32L

Freescale has recently uploaded a video comparison the energy efficiency of several micro-controllers: Freescale Kinetis KL02, Texas Instruments MSP430, STMicro STM32L, and  Microchip PIC24. Since it’s a Freescale video, we already know the winner, but the test they performed it still interesting, and it shows drastic performance differences between architectures. The used the following exact MCU for testing: Freescale MKL02Z32CAF4R – Cortex M0+ @ 48 MHz STMicro STM32L151RBT6 – Cortex M3 @ 32 MHz Microchip PIC24FJ128GA308 – 16-bit MCU @ 32 MHz Texas Instruments MSP430F5529 – 16-bit MCU @ 25 MHz Freescale did not really select tough competition such as NXP LPC800 Cortex M0+, but instead a Cortex M3 MCU, and older 16-bit MCUs. I don’t know if Microchip has a new generation of ultra low power 16-bit MCUs , but Texas Instruments, for example, launched MSP430 Wolverine MCUs at the end of last year. So this comparison may not be […]

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Ugoos UM2 Android TV Stick Features Two Full Size USB Ports

Most Android HDMI TV dongles come with only one full size USB port, as well as some micro or mini USB ports. The user then has to use an external USB hub if he or she wants to connect standard USB keyboard and mouse, and ends up with some kind of cable mess. Ugoos UM2 mini PC does not have this issue as it comes with 2 full size USB ports. The rest of the specifications are standard for a quad core HDMI TV Stick: SoC – Rockchip RK3188 Quad core Cortex-A9 +  Mali 400 MP4 GPU System Memory – 2GB DDR3 Storage – 8GB NAND Flash (Option for 16G/32G) + micro SD card slot (Up to 32GB) Connectivity – WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth (Version 4.0 TBC) Video Output – HDMI 1.3 Male USB – 2x USB Host ports + 1x micro USB port for power Power Supply – 5V/2A Dimension – […]

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