Rock Pi S mini SBC Now Available for $15 with 512MB RAM, 512MB SD NAND Flash, WiFi & Bluetooth

Rock Pi S SBC

Rock Pi S is a tiny single board computer powered by Rockchip RK3308 quad-core Cortex-A35 processor coupled with up to 512MB RAM, up to 1GB SD NAND flash, as well as a USB port, Fast Ethernet & optional WiFi & Bluetooth connectivity which was announced to sell for as low as $9.90 with 256MB RAM, 256MB flash and no wireless module. Seeed Studio has now started to take pre-orders for Rock Pi S with the board selling for $14.90 with 512 MB RAM, 512MB SD NAND flash, WiFi & Bluetooth. Shipping is scheduled to start on October 15th. [Update: Seeed Studio has also listed the 256MB RAM version of the board for $9.90] Rock Pi S specifications as currently sold on Seeed Studio: SoC – Rockchip RK3308 quad-core Arm Cortex-A35 processor @ up to 1.3 GHz with built-in VAD (Voice Activity Detector) System Memory – 512MB RAM Storage – MicroSD […]

Wio Lite RISC-V WiFi Board with ESP8266 Module Launches for $6.9

Wio Lite RISC-V

Released this summer, GigaDevice GD32V generated a lot of buzz, as a cheap general-purpose 32-bit RISC-V MCU, and soon after the $5 Longan Nano development board with LCD display and enclosure was launched to the market. However, many applications benefit or require some network connectivity with WiFi. Espressif Systems is a founding member of the RISC-V Foundation, so RISC-V WiSoCs (Wireless SoCs) are coming, but AFAIK none of those are available yet. In the meantime, Seeed Studio has launched Wio Lite RISC-V board which brings WiFi connectivity to GD32V MCU through an ESP8266 WiFi module. Wio Lite specifications: MCU – Gigadevice GD32VF103CBT6 RISC-V (rv32imac) microcontroller @ 108 MHz with 128KB Flash, 32KB SRAM Wireless Module – ESP8266 WiFi Wio Core with 802.11b/g/n/ WiFi 4 connectivity Storage – MicroSD card slot USB – 1x USB Type-C port for power and programming Expansion – I/O headers for GD32 MCU, I/O header for […]

NPi i.MX6ULL (Not So) Industrial-grade Linux SBC Starts at $39

NPi i.MX6ULL

[Update: I was initially informed the temperature range of the board was -40°C to +105°C, but Seeed Studio issues a correction explaining the Core module itself is rated -20℃ ~ 80℃ temperature range, and they haven’t tested the breakout board at all so we just don’t know. That means the board is not industrial-grade at all. I’ve left the rest of the post mostly unchanged] We’ve covered several NXP i.MX boards in recent days, but here’s another NXP board courtesy of Seeed Studio with NPi i.MX6ULL industrial-grade Linux SBC powered by a low power NXP i.MX6ULL Arm Cortex A7 processor. The board also comes with 512MB RAM, either an 8GB eMMC flash or 256MB NAND flash for storage, features two Fast Ethernet ports, and various I/Os including two 40-pin GPIO expansion headers. NPi i.MX6ULL board specifications: Core Module SoC – NXP MCIMX6Y2CVM08AB single Cortex-A7 core @ up to 800 MHz […]

Spartan Edge Accelerator Arduino Compatible Board Combines ESP32 & Spartan-7 FPGA

Spartan Edge Accelerator

Xilinx Spartan FPGAs have been around for a while, and a few years ago we covered Spartan-6 FPGA boards such as Spartixed and miniSpartan6+.  Seeed Studio has now launched another Xilinx Spartan board with WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity. Spartan Edge Accelerator Board follows Arduino UNO form factor and combines a more recent Xilinx Spartan-7 FPGA with Espressif Systems ESP32 WiFi + Bluetooth chip. Spartan Edge Accelerator specifications:  FPGA – Xilinx Spartan-7 XC7S15 FPGA with 12.8K Logic Cells and 360Kb block RAM WiSoC – Espressif Systems ESP32 SoC with 802.11 b/g/n 2.4GHz WiFi and Bluetooth 4.1  BLE Storage – SPI flash, MicroSD card slot Video Output – Mini HDMI Video Input – CSI Camera Interface with support for OV5640 sensor USB – USB type-C port Expansion Arduino UNO headers (5V) FPGA I/O header DAC output and ADC input header (via 8-bit ADC1173 chip) 2x Grove connectors (I2C and digital I/O) Debugging […]

Getting Started with Sipeed M1 based Maixduino Board & Grove AI HAT for Raspberry Pi

Grove AI HAT Face Detection

Last year we discovered Kendryte K210 processor with a RISC-V core and featuring AI accelerators for machine vision and machine hearing. Soon after,  Sipeed M1 module was launched with the processor for aroud $10. Then this year we started to get more convenient development board featuring Sipeed M1 module such as Maixduino or Grove AI Hat. Seeed Studio sent me the last two boards for review. So I’ll start by showing the items I received, before showing how to get started with MicroPython and Arduino code. Note that I’ll be using Ubuntu 18.04, but development in Windows is also possible. Unboxing I received two packages with a Maixduino kit, and the other “Grove AI HAT for Edge Computing”. Grove AI HAT for Edge Computing Let’s start with the second. The board is a Raspberry Pi HAT with Sipeed M1 module, a 40-pin Raspberry Pi header, 6 grove connectors, as well […]

$10 Wio Lite W600 Arduino Zero Compatible WiFi Board Follows Adafruit Feather Form Factor

Seeed Studio has just released the latest Arduino compatible Wio Lite W600 a combination of the W600 WiFi module mounted on the board and an Atmel  SAM D21 Arm Cortex-M0+ microcontroller. The WiFi core is a W600 2.4 GHz module featuring the Arm Cortex-M3. The SAM D21 is the same chip used by the Arduino Zero, so the Wio Lite W600 is compatible with Arduino Zero. Basic Specs The I/O level is 3.3V, and there are 6 analog pins and 14 digital pins, as well as one UART, I2C, and ICSP port. The board is powered through a USB Type C port or a 3.5V–4.2V LiPo battery. The latest feature is the W600 module is CE/FCC certified and supports 802.11 b/g/n WiFi. The WiFi module also features 1MB on-chip flash to store and run freeRTOS operating system. Seeed Studio provides a full Arduino W600 library and demos for many wireless […]

MDP-XP is A Modular DC Power Supply Kit For Your Next Project

MDP-XP Smart Digital Power Supply Kit

My love for modular power supply design can not be denied. I find it cool, how you can increase the functionality of relative less powerful device just by adding another device on top or connected to it. With the explosion of the Arduino shields, the Raspberry Pi HaTs, I must say hardware modular design will surely be here for a long time. An interesting modular product discovered on SeeedStudio is the MDP-XP Smart Digital Power Supply Kit. This product is a new product carried by Seeedstudio as it can be seen on the front page, and it is an interesting product indeed. The MDP-XP known as Mini Digital Power System is a system of programmable linear DC power supply inheriting the modular design concept where you can enhance the basic functionality of the device. It is a cost-effective DC power supply, featuring indicators, stability, reliability and distinct user interface comparable […]

BeagleBone Green Gateway SBC Adds Octavo OSD3358 SiP, Ethernet, and a DC Jack

BeagleBone Green Wireless was launched in 2016 as an alternative to the official BeagleBone Green with WiFi & Bluetooth connectivity, and some extra USB ports meaning the Ethernet port had to go. The Linux SBC was based on Texas Instruments Sitara AM3358 processor and a 512 MB RAM chip. Seeed Studio has been working on an update of the board named BeagleBone Green Gateway that combines the processor, the RAM chip, and more components into one thanks to Octavo Systems OSD3358 SiP. The new board also adds Ethernet, a DC jack for power instead of just relying on micro USB, and an I2C RTC chip and battery. BeagleBone Green Gateway specifications with changes highlighted in bold:  SiP – Octavo Systems OSD3358 with Texas Instruments AM3358 Arm Cortex-A8 processor @ 1.0 GHz, 2×32-bit 200-MHz programmable real-time units (PRUs), 3D graphics accelerator, 512MB DDR3 SDRAM, 4KB EEPROM, and integrated power management Storage […]