The Luckfox Lyra boards feature a Rockchip RK3506G2 triple-core Arm Cortex-A7 SoC with one Cortex-M0 real-time core, 128MB on-chip DDR3, a MIPI DSI display interface, and built on a 22nm process. Three versions are available with the Luckfox Lyra, Lyra B (with 256MB flash), and Luckfox Lyra Plus offering similar features, but the longer Plus model also adds a 10/100Mbps Ethernet RJ45 connector besides having 256MB SPI NAND flash.
These are Luckfox’s first boards featuring the RK3506G2 processor, offering Ethernet connectivity and a display interface. But it’s not quite the first Arm Linux board from the company with Ethernet and a display interface, and we covered the Luckfox Pico Ultra micro development board all based on a Rockchip RV1106G3 SoC earlier this year. The company also introduced the similar-looking LuckFox Pico Pro and Pico Max boards powered by an RV1006G2 SoC in February, but instead of a display interface, they offer a MIPI CSI camera interface.
Luckfox Lyra and Luckfox Lyra Plus specifications:
- SoC – Rockchip RK3506G2
- CPU
- Triple-core Arm Cortex-A7 CPU with 1.2 GHz
- Arm Cortex-M0 core
- Cache
- Integrated 16KB L1 instruction cache an d16Kb L1 data cache
- 128KB unified system L2 cache
- Memory
- 48KB system SRAM
- 128MB DDR3L embedded memory
- Package – 128-pin QFN128L
- CPU
- Storage
- 256MB SLC NAND flash storage via W25N02KV chip (Lyra B and Lyra Plus only)
- MicroSD card slot for external storage
- Display – 2-lane MIPI DSI connector with a maximum output resolution of 1280×800@60fps
- Networking – 10/100Mbps RJ45 Ethernet port with CH182H2 Ethernet PHY chip (Luckfox Lyra Plus versions only)
- USB – USB Type-C connector for power supply and OS flashing
- Expansion
- 2x 20-pin GPIO headers with 24x GPIO pins
- 4-pin USB connector for USB Type-A port via an adapter cable
- Misc
- BOOT and RESET buttons
- User LED
- Power supply – 5V via USB-C port
- Dimensions
- Luckfox Lyra – 51 x 21 mm
- Luckfox Lyra Plus – 72x 21 mm
The Luckfox Lyra boards support the Buildroot build system and Ubuntu 22.04 operating system with tailored images available for the Lyra, Lyra B, and Lyra Plus boards. Buildroot images can boot from SPI NAND Flash or a microSD card, but somehow the Ubuntu images can only boot from a microSD card. All image files are available for download on the Luckfox wiki page. Additionally, the Luckfox-Lyra-SDK with Buildroot, Yocto, application code, kernel, and u-boot, is provided to developers and has been tested on the Ubuntu 22.04 LTS host machines.
The Luckfox Lyra Plus and Luckfox Lyra B boards are available on AliExpress for $19.50 and $16.00 respectively. Alternatively, they can also be purchased on Amazon for $17.99 or $19.99.
Sayantan Nandy, an electronics engineer with over four years of hands-on experience in PCB design, circuit development and power electronics, is proficient in EAGLE CAD, Ki-Cad, and Altium. He has a proven track record of delivering efficient and effective systems. His expertise extends from R&D, and prototyping to production support, making him a valuable asset to any engineering team.
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The Lyra Plus with its wired Ethernet port intrigues me as potentially a plug-and-play pi-Hole platform, but its price point has me looking back to the RPi Zero W. Hmmm
Then have a look at the LicheeRV Nano. From where I am (France), it’s even cheaper (18 EUR) than the RPi-Zero-W (24 EUR). However, one benefit of the Luckfox boards is that the storage is included. No need to add a micro-sd. That’s less common for hacking but better to make an autonomous server.