Hardware Category - Page 1078 of 1131 - CNX Software

February 7, 2013February 8, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 26 Comments

Review of Measy U2C Rockchip RK3066 Mini PC With Built-in Camera

I’ve received 2 new devices to play with this week, as Geekbuying sent me Tronsmart Promotheus set-top box and Measy U2C, a mini PC with a webcam, so that I can test and review them. Today, I’ll leave the “Spaceship” set-top box parked in another galaxy, and I will review Measy U2C mini PC. This HDMI dongle is powered by Rockchip RK3066, runs Android 4.1.1, and comes with 1 GB RAM, 8GB Flash, Wi-Fi & Bluetooth connectivity, and a built-in 2MP Webcam. For complete specs, you can check my post about B12 mini PC since this device uses the same board internally. Geekbuying sells this all-in-one mini PC for $74.99 including shipping. As usual, I’ll post some unboxing pictures, and then review the device, this time, with a section dedicated to the webcam, since this is the key selling point of this mini PC. Measy U2C Unboxing Measy U2C comes […]

February 5, 2013February 5, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

Raspberry Pi Model A is Now Available (But Only in Europe)

The Raspberry Pi has just announced that RS Components and Premier Farnell/element14 have now Raspberry Pi Model A boards in stock. Raspberry Pi Model A is a cost down version of Model B using the exact same PCB but with less RAM (256 MB vs 512 MB), no Ethernet, and only one USB port. This model seems more suitable for embedded projects, and you can get connectivity via Ethernet, Wi-Fi, 3G… USB dongles. It consumes about a third of the power of the Model B, which will certain help with projects powered by solar panels or batteries. It could also be suitable as an even cheaper XBMC player, but if you need to add a USB Hub to connect extra peripherals, it may not really be worth it. Model A is only be available in Europe for now, but will eventually be available worldwide. It will cost UK customers 26.02 […]

February 4, 2013February 4, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Texas Instruments HG3352 Home Automation & Energy Gateway Reference Design

Texas Instruments has recently announced HG3352 Home Gateway Reference Design that can connect to home energy systems, or/and home automation systems. This reference design, powered by TI Sitara AM3352 Cortex A8 processor, supports ZigBee, Wi-Fi, NFC, Bluetooth, and Ethernet connectivity to allow developers to create home gateways that can interface with multiple systems, products and applications within a smart home. Here are the key features and benefits of TI HG3352 Home Gateway Reference Design: SoC – TI Sitara’s AM3352 ARM Cortex-A8 processor running Linux OS System Memory – 2GB DDR3 Storage – 2GB NAND Flash memory Connectivity: Single ZigBee device (CC2530) supports ZigBee Home Automation and ZigBee Smart Energy standards. WiLink 8.0 solution supports Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and Bluetooth low energy in a single chip. 6-channel power management integrated circuit (TPS650250) with dynamic voltage scaling provides high power efficiency. Expansion headers give developers flexibility to support power line communications (PLC) and […]

February 4, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

Crazyflie Nano Quadcopter Open Source Development Kit

If you can’t wait until 2014 to get the MeCam, Seeedstudio has something for you: The Crazyflie Nano Quadcopter, which looks similar to the MeCam, but does not feature a camera, its control board is powered by STM32F103CB MCU @ 72 MHz with 128kb flash and 20kb RAM (so, no it won’t run Linux), and at $173 the price is significantly higher. Here are Crazyflie key features: Small and lightweight, around 19g and about 90mm motor to motor Flight time up to 7 minutes with standard 170mAh Li-Po battery Standard micro-USB connector for charging which takes ~20min for the stock 170mAh Li-Po battery On-board low-energy radio@1mW based on the nRF24L01+ chip. Up to 80m range (environment dependent) when using the Crazyradio 2.4 GHz USB dongle Radio bootloader which enabled wireless update of the firmware 32 bit Cortex M3 MCU: STM32F103CB @ 72 MHz (128kb flash, 20kb RAM) 3-axis high-performance MEMs […]

February 2, 2013February 2, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Red Raspberry Pi Board is Now Available in China

If you have a Raspberry Pi, most likely it will have a green PCB since that’s the way they are manufactured it. The good news is that the Raspberry Pi is be available in its natural color Red very soon, however it will only be officially sold in mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan. The reason for the geographical limitation is because Farnell and RS components have a worldwide co-exclusive license to sell the Raspberry Pi, and the selected Chinese manufacturer, Egoman Technology Corp , won’t be allowed to sell out of China. However, it will be hard to prevent third parties in China from buying the product, and selling it via Ebay or Aliexpress. The other reason for the differentiation is that the Red Raspberry Pi won’t be CE/FCC certified, even though, at the beginning, at least it will basically have the same components of the Green Raspberry […]

February 2, 2013February 2, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Replicate CAPE Adds 3D Printring Capability to the Beaglebone

Beagleboard.org launched the Beaglebone Cape Design Contest back in November, several designs were submitted, and yesterday, they announced the 3 winning CAPEs who will be manufactured and sold by Circuitco Electronics: Replicape by Elias Bakken – 3D printer cape Interacto by Chris Clark – Cape with a triple axis accelerometer,a gyroscope, a magnetometer and a 640×480 30fps camera. Geiger cape by Matt Ranostay – Geiger counter cape Since today I’ve started to write about 3D printing, let’s carry on and have a closer look at the Replicape. The Replicape 3D printer cape includes: 5 stepper motors (X, Y, Z, Ext1, Ext2) 3 high power MOSFETs (PWM controlled) for 2 extruders and 1 HPB 3 medium power MOSFETs (PWM controlled) for up to 3 fans 3 analog input ports for thermistors 3 inputs for end stops (X, Y, Z) Programmable current limits on steppers motor drivers (SMD). No need to manually adjust […]

February 2, 2013February 2, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

3D Systems Cube and CubeX 3D Printers and Cubify Online Service

3D Systems was at CES 2013 to showcase their 3D printers, and their online 3D printing ecosystem called Cubify, where you can design your own model, order the object to be 3D printed, which is then shipped to your door. They have 2 printers that are available for the home market: Cube 3D printer ($1,399) Print size: 140 x 140 x 140 mm / Resolution: 200 microns CubeX 3D printer ($2,799 to $4,399) Print size: 275 mm x 265 mm x 240 mm / Resolution: 125 microns. The CubeX can support 1, 2, or 3 printer heads in order to print objects with multiple colors and/or materials. Charbax shot a video with the company, and I’ve learnt quite a few interesting things about 3D printing: It’s been around for nearly 30 years, but only used by the industry until recently. 3D printing takes a lot of time. The small spaceship […]

January 30, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

How to Access the Serial Console in MK808 mini PC

Omegamoon has done a pretty neat hack on MK808 Rockchip RK3066 mini PC to connect a Sparkfun USB to TLL board and access the serial console for bootloader and kernel debugging. The first thing he had to do was to open the device, remove the heatsink, and locate the Rx/Tx pads on the board. The Rx and Tx pins are accessible through pads, not via through holes, so it’s just a little more difficult to solder, but nothing too challenging. He and his brother also soldered another cable to the ground. Then they inserted a 6-pin header via the ventilation holes of the device, soldered the 3 wires to the header, and fix the latter to the casing. Finally, they just inserted the debug board in the pin header, connected the USB cable to their PC, and started minicom (or equivalent) to start accessing the serial console. I think that […]