Author: Debashis Das

Debashis Das is a technical content writer and embedded engineer with over five years of experience in the industry. With expertise in Embedded C, PCB Design, and SEO optimization, he effectively blends difficult technical topics with clear communication
Posted on by Debashis Das - No Comments on Arduino Pro Opta D1608E/D1608S expansions feature electromechanical or solid-state relays, 16 I/Os

Arduino Pro Opta D1608E/D1608S expansions feature electromechanical or solid-state relays, 16 I/Os

Arduino Pro Opta Ext D1608S and D1608E

Arduino has recently announced two new expansions to their Arduino Pro Opta PLC series – the Arduino Pro Opta Ext D1608E and Arduino Pro Opta Ext D1608S, the main difference between the two is that the D1608E features 8 electromechanical relays (EMRs) whereas the D1608S features solid-state relays (SSRs). Other than that both expansion modules have 16x programmable I/Os (0-24 V digital / 0-24 V analog) which doubles the number of I/Os we have seen on the Opta micro PLC. Both are compatible with the Arduino IDE and the PLC IDE and are easy to install on a DIN rail. These features make it suitable for control, monitoring, and predictive maintenance applications. Previously we have seen Arduino launch a PLC Starter Kit for those who want to get started with PLCs. Additionally, we have written about ESP32-powered PLCs, Raspberry Pi-powered PLCs, and more. Feel free to check those out if you […]

Posted on by Debashis Das - No Comments on Nano-ITX motherboard is powered by Intel Atom x7000RE Series “Amston Lake” SoC

Nano-ITX motherboard is powered by Intel Atom x7000RE Series “Amston Lake” SoC

NANO 6064 ASL An Intel Atom x7000RE Series SoC based NANO ITX Board with Triple Display, 2.5GbE LAN, USB 3.2 Gen2, M.2, SATA III

Portwell NANO-6064-ASL is an Intel Atom “Amston Lake” x7000RE-powered Nano-ITX motherboard. The board looks very similar to the Portwell Nano-6062 and features an operating temperature of -40°C to 85°C. The motherboard can support a max of 16GB DDR4 memory and features triple display output, dual 2.5Gbps Ethernet, USB, M.2, SATA, GPIO, and more, and takes power from a 12V external power input. Previously, we’ve written about a range of Nano-ITX boards and SoMs with Amston Lake SoCs, including the ASRock SBC-262M-WT, conga-SA8 SMARC modules, ADLINK Atom x7000RE & x7000C COM Express and SMARC 2.1 modules and others. If you’re looking for similar options, feel free to check out those articles. Portwell NANO-6064-ASL Specifications SoC (one or the other) Amstom Lake Intel Atom x7211RE dual-core processor with 6MB cache, 16EU Intel UHD graphics; 6W TDP Intel Atom x7213RE dual-core processor with 6MB cache, 16EU Intel UHD graphics; 9W TDP Intel Atom x7433RE […]

Posted on by Debashis Das - 7 Comments on AAEON RTC-1010RK – An RK3399 powered rugged Android 11 tablet with hot-swap battery and IP65 rating

AAEON RTC-1010RK – An RK3399 powered rugged Android 11 tablet with hot-swap battery and IP65 rating

AAEON RTC 1010RK Rockchip RK3399 Powred Rugged Mobile Tablet

AAEON’s RTC-1010RK is a 10.1-inch (1280 x 800) rugged tablet powered by a Rockchip RK3399 processor and can be equipped with up to 4GB LPDDR4 memory and 128GB eMMC flash. It offers robust connectivity with Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and optional 4G LTE and Ethernet. It also supports GPS + GLONASS (Default), and BeiDou (Optional) for navigation. The RTC-1010RK is an IP65-rated tablet with protection against dust and water splashes. Additionally, it has programmable function keys, NFC/smart card readers, front (8MP) and rear (8MP) cameras, and the option to add a barcode scanner. The hot-swappable battery in the tablet ensures uninterrupted power, making it ideal for demanding field and industrial applications. It’s not the first rugged tablet from AAEON, as previously, we have written about the AAEON RTC-710AP 7-inch rugged tablet and the AAEON RTC-1010M Windows 10-based semi-rugged tablet. We also reviewed the Higole F7G Plus rugged tablet. Feel free to check […]

Posted on by Debashis Das - No Comments on Waveshare UGV Rover – A 6-wheel AI robot built around Raspberry Pi 4/5 and ESP32

Waveshare UGV Rover – A 6-wheel AI robot built around Raspberry Pi 4/5 and ESP32

Waveshare Unmanned Ground Vehicle Rover(UGV) for Raspberry Pi 4 and Pi 5

The Waveshare UGV Rover is a 6-wheel robot platform based on Raspberry Pi 4 or 5 as well as an ESP32 module and built for remote exploration, object recognition, and autonomous navigation. Since the source code for the platform will be open-sourced it can also be used for educational purposes, programming, robotics, AI experimentation, and many other applications. This Unmanned Ground Vehicle (UGV) rover features a 2mm thick aluminum body, six 80mm shock-absorbing tires, and a four-wheel drive system controlled by an ESP32 sub-controller. The sub-controller also handles sensors, LiDAR, cameras, and more. The brain or the main controller of the rover is a Raspberry Pi SBC – either a Pi 4B or Pi 5 – which notably handles computer vision and machine learning operations. Since the mounting holes are designed to fit a Raspberry Pi, it is safe to assume that it will fit other SBCs with the same […]

Posted on by Debashis Das - No Comments on CAPUF Embedded CH32V003 RISC-V Dev Kit features USB-C, temperature/humidity monitoring, OLED & more

CAPUF Embedded CH32V003 RISC-V Dev Kit features USB-C, temperature/humidity monitoring, OLED & more

CAPUF Embedded CH32V003 Dev Board

CAPUF Embedded CH32V003 Dev Kit is an all-in-one development board with a USB-C interface, onboard sensors (temperature/humidity), an OLED display, SPI NOR Flash, and ample I/O options. Additionally, it features a Qwicc connector, an RGB LED, and a 3-pin header to connect the WCH-link programmer providing further flexibility for your projects. After the initial release of this “10 cents” CH32V003 RISC-V microcontroller, we have seen $1.5 development boards and an open-source GGC toolchain, as well as Arduino support for the WCH RISC-V microcontrollers. Very recently, CNLohr even managed to transmit LoRa packets with this MCU. CAPUF Embedded CH32V003 Dev Kit Specifications: MCU – WCH CH32V003F4U6 32-bit RISC-V2A microcontroller up to 48 MHz with 2KB SRAM, 16KB flash (QFN20 package) USB – 1x USB-C Port for Power (5V) and Serial Interface with onboard USB to UART converter I/Os – 20 Pin MCU IOs with USART, I2C, SPI, ADC Program & Debugging – […]

Posted on by Debashis Das - No Comments on Nuvoton NuMicro MA35D0 is a low-cost dual-Core Arm Cortex-A35 microprocessor for industrial edge applications

Nuvoton NuMicro MA35D0 is a low-cost dual-Core Arm Cortex-A35 microprocessor for industrial edge applications

NuMaker IoT-MA35D0-A1 Dev Board

The Nuvoton NuMicro MA35D0 series is a cost-effective, dual-core Arm Cortex-A35 MPU designed specifically for edge IoT applications. The specifications of this MPU are very similar to the Nuvoton MA35H0, and it looks more like a low-power low-cost version of the NuMicro MA35D1. The MPU features integrated, stacked DDR SDRAM options (128MB or 256MB) to reduce PCB complexity and BOM costs. It also offers some security options with Arm TrustZone, secure boot, cryptographic accelerators, and a True Random Number Generator, making it ideal for industrial applications. The MPU also offers various peripherals and connectivity options including 2x Fast Ethernet (IEEE 1588 v2) interfaces, high-speed USB, SD3.0/eMMC, three CAN FD, eleven UART, and more. Additionally, the MA35D0 MPU supports touchscreens and a TFT LCD controller with resolutions up to 1280×800. Nuvoton NuMicro MA35D0 Series specifications: CPU Sub-system  2x Arm Cortex-A35 cores running at up to 650 MHz L1 Cache – 32 Kbytes instruction […]

Posted on by Debashis Das - No Comments on Synaptics Astra platform takes SL1620, SL1640, or SL1680 Arm CPU module for Edge AI applications

Synaptics Astra platform takes SL1620, SL1640, or SL1680 Arm CPU module for Edge AI applications

Astra Machina Foundation Series Dev Board

Synaptics has unveiled its new Astra platform with a range of SoC and a development kit for edge AI applications. These new processors and a supporting development kit are built to provide out-of-the-box AI capabilities for IoT devices, reducing reliance on cloud-based AI. This new Synaptics Astra Platform is built around three main SoCs. The SL1680 is built for multi-modal IoT applications and features a quad-core Arm Cortex-A73 CPU, dedicated 7.9 TOPS NPU, and 4K video. The SL1640 is a cost and power-optimized SoC with a quad-core Cortex-A55 CPU and 1.6+ TOPS NPU. Finally, the SL1620 is a graphics and AI accelerator with a quad-core Cortex-A55 CPU and dual-core Imagination BXE-2-32 GPU but does not feature an NPU. The development kit features a module design where the new swappable compute modules allow flexible configurations. The devkit will support open Yocto Linux distribution and Synaptics AI toolkit for quick AI integration. […]

Posted on by Debashis Das - No Comments on Raspberry Pi CM4S module gets 2GB, 4GB, and 8GB RAM variants for commercial products

Raspberry Pi CM4S module gets 2GB, 4GB, and 8GB RAM variants for commercial products

Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4S with 2GB, 4GB, and 8GB variants

Raspberry Pi has announced three new versions of its Compute Module 4S (CM4S) offering 2GB, 4GB, and 8GB RAM options which is an upgrade from the 1GB variant introduced in 2022. These new modules feature the same Broadcom BCM2711 quad-core Cortex-A72 SoC used in Raspberry Pi 4 and Raspberry Pi CM4 and have a starting price of only $25. The main downside is that the modules can only be purchased in bulk (200-unit boxes) through Raspberry Pi Approved Resellers. Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4S (CM4S) specifications: SoC – Broadcom BCM2711 CPU – Quad-core 64-bit Cortex-A72 processor @ 1.5 GHz GPU – VideoCore VI GPU 3D Graphics: OpenGL ES 3.0 and Vulkan 1.1 Video H.265 (HEVC) (up to 4Kp60 decode) H.264 (up to 1080p60 decode, 1080p30 encode) Memory – 1GB, 2GB, 4GB, and 8GB LPDDR4-3200 SDRAM with ECC Storage – 8GB, 16GB, or 32GB eMMC flash; Option for 0GB eMMC Flash […]

UP 7000 x86 SBC