As I checked out Linux 6.3 changelog earlier this morning, I noticed the EmbedFire LubanCat 2 SBC in the Rockchip section, and having never heard of the EmbedFire company or LubanCat single board computers, I decided to have a closer look.
EmbedFire is a company based in China, more exactly in DongGuan, that makes a range of LubanCat single board computers based on Rockchip RK3566 or RK3568 processors, some of which partially follow Raspberry Pi Zero or Raspberry Pi 3/4 Model B form factors, while others come with custom designs.
LubanCat 2 SBC specifications:
- SoC – Rockchip RK3568 quad-core Arm Cortex-A55 @ up to 2.0 GHz with ARM Mali-G52 2EE GPU with support for OpenGL ES 1.1/2.0/3.2. OpenCL 2.0. Vulkan 1.1, 0.8 TOPS NPU
- System Memory – 1GB, 2GB, 4GB, or 8GB LPDDR4/LPDDR4X @ 1560 MHz
- Storage
- 8GB, 16GB, 32GB, 64GB or 128GB eMMC flash
- M.2 M-key socket (PCIe 3.0 x2) for 2280 NVMe SSD
- SATA III connector (on the bottom side of the board)
- MicroSD card slot
- Display
- HDMI 2.0 output up to 4Kp60
- MIPI DSI display connector
- Dual independent display support
- Audio
- 2-in-1 headphone output + microphone input jack
- SPK speaker interface for 1W speaker
- Camera – MIPI CSI camera connector for OV5648 sensor
- Networking
-
- 2x Gigabit Ethernet RJ45 ports
- Optional WiFi and Bluetooth via mini PCIe module
- Optional 4G LTE via mini PCIe module + SIM card slot
-
- USB – 1x USB 3.0 port, 1x USB 2.0 OTG Type-A port, 1x USB 2.0 Type-A host port
- Expansion
- 40-pin GPIO header with PWM, I2C, SPI, UART, etc…
- Mini-PCIe socket for Wi-Fi module, 4G LTE module, or other mPCIe modules
- Debugging – 3-pin header for UART (1,500,000 bps)
- Misc
- Power, MaskRom, and Recovery buttons
- IR Receiver
- RTC backup connector
- Power Supply – 5V DC jack
- Dimensions – 111 x 71 mm
While the LubanCat 1 and 2 SBCs have just been added to mainline Linux (Linux 6.3), it’s unclear which features are supported in the latest kernel, but the company has a GitHub account with the Linux kernel, OpenWrt, and Ubuntu support. You’ll also find documentation in Chinese only.
I’ve just checked out the LubanCat 2 specifications in detail above, but “Dongguan EmbedFire Electronic Technology Co., Ltd” designed ten LubanCat boards, modules, and carrier boards as shown in the table below.
I would unable to find any of the boards outside of China, and some are sold on JD.com as well as Tmall with purchase links for the latter available from the products page. [Update: Lubancat SBCs and some robotics kits based on those are sold on Aliexpress]
Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.
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These boards are also available at Aliexpress.
They look pretty interesting, especially RPI Zero-like ones: RK3566 on such a small PCB should offer better video streaming capabilities compared to Raspberry Pi.
I must have used wrong search terms yesterday, I can see them under the WildFire brand on Aliexpress now. I’ve added a link at the end of the article.
In fact, there are cheaper official sales channels on Taobao.
Buying only development boards can be a bit expensive, but like 100ASK, EmbedFire will also be sold along with their teaching documents.