BeagleBone AI-64 is a single board computer (SBC) powered by a Texas Instruments TDA4VM dual-core Cortex-A72 + hexa-core Cortex-R5F processor which also embeds an 8 TOPS AI accelerator, plus three DSP, as well as plenty of I/Os that makes it ideal for advanced AI industrial applications. It follows the BeagleBone-AI SBC launched in 2019, but with much higher specs including a 64-bit Arm processor, 4GB RAM, three USB 3.0 ports, an M.2 E-Key socket with PCIe, USB and SDIO, plus the usual expansion headers that keep compatibility with existing BeagleBone cape add-on boards. BeagleBone AI-64 specifications compared to BeagleBone-AI and BeagleBone Black boards: Another notable change is that a mini DisplayPort has now replaced the micro HDMI port found in earlier boards. The TDA4VM SoC comes with many co-processors, so it will be interesting to see how well those are supported in the software. BeagleBoard.org provides Debian 11.3 with […]
Forlinx introduces Renesas RZ/G2L system-on-module and development board
Renesas RZ/G2L or RZ/V2L Cortex-A55/M33 processors have found their way into several system-on-modules and single board computers recently with the likes of Geniatech AHAURA board, Avnet RZBoard, or ARIES Embedded MSRZG2UL OSM module among others. Forlinx Embedded has joined the fray with the Renesas RZ/G2L-based FET-G2LD-C system-on-module, and a corresponding OK-G2LD-C development board with plenty of I/Os including dual Gigabit Ethernet, RS485 and CAN Bus interfaces, built-in WiFi and Bluetooth, plus an optional EC20 4G mini PCIe module. FET-G2LD-C system-on-module Specifications: SoC – Renesas RZ/G2L (R9A07G044Lxx) dual or single-core Arm Cortex-A55 processor @1.2GHz, with real-tme Arm Cortex-M33 core @ 200MHz, Arm Mali-G31 GPU with OpenGL ES 1.1/2.0/3.1/3.2,Vulkan 1.1, OpenCL 2.0, 1080p30 VPU with H.264 AVC/MVC video encoding/decoding System Memory – 1GB / 2GB DDR4 Storage – 8GB or 16GB eMMC flash, 16MB QSPI NOR flash 3x 80-pin B2B connectors with MIPI-DSI and RGB interfaces up to 1920×1080, 2x 1000Mbps Ethernet […]
Light sensors add “lift and learn” feature to digital signage player
Light sensors are used to turn on/off lights, adjust the brightness of displays, and more. But I’ve come across a use case I never thought of: object presence detection. In the digital signage work, such features if called “lift and learn”, and light sensors are used to detect when an object is present and play a video or display information about the product. That concept came to my attention when I saw a photo of Mekotronics R29 digital signage player with several cables coming out of the device and attached to what looked like white hockey pucks and turned out to be light sensors. Apart from the light sensors, Mekotronics R29 specifications are pretty standard: SoC – Rockchip RK3399 hexa-core processor with 2x Cortex-A72 cores, 4x Cortex-A53 cores, Arm Mali-T860MP4 GPU, 4K VP9, H.264, H.265, and 1080p60 VC-1, MPEG-1/2/4, VP6/8 video decoder System Memory – 4GB DDR Storage – 64GB […]
ShaRPiKeebo handheld Linux computer based on Raspberry Pi Zero (2) W ships with a LoRa radio (Crowdfunding)
Morpheans ShaRPiKeebo is a portable Linux computer based on Raspberry Pi Zero W or Zero 2 W SBC that reminds me of the Allwinner R8 powered PocketCHIP handheld computer that was introduced in 2016, and was quite popular (for a niche product) at the time. The ShaRPiKeebo comes with a physical QWERTY keyboard, a daylight-readable screen, and Wi-Fi & Bluetooth connectivity, but also adds a 433 MHz LoRa radio that should make it usable as an off-the-grid communicator. Just like PocketCHIP, the ShaRPiKeebo can be used for system administration, retro-gaming, pen testing, STEM education, and all sort of maker projects. ShaRPiKeebo specifications: Supported SBCs via 40-pin GPIO header – Raspberry Pi Zero W, Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W, and (maybe) compatible SBCs like Radxa Zero or Banana Pi M2 Zero Display – 2.7- inch SHARP memory display (LS027B7DH01) with 400×240 resolution, low-latency, low-power Connectivity 802.11 b/g/n WiFi 4, Bluetooth 4.2 […]
Kodi 20 “Nexus” Alpha 1 gets AV1 hardware decoding, DietPi 8.5 released
I’ll combine two unrelated short news about software releases for TV boxes, Raspberry Pi, and other SBCs: Kodi 20 “Nexus” Alpha 1 media center, and DietPi 8.5 lightweight Debian-based image for SBC’s. Kodi 20 “Nexus” Alpha 1 The first alpha release of Kodi 20 “Nexus” is out with one highlight being support for AV1 hardware video decoding in Android and x86 (VAAPI) platforms with AV1-capable GPU or VPU. Other notable changes include: FFMPEG upgraded to version 4.4 Plenty of subtitle related changes: Added Steam Deck built-in controller support Initial support for M1 native including native windowing/input handling Pipewire support in Linux Various PVR improvements including in terms of performance when a large number of channels is displayed You’ll find more details in the announcement. The RetroPlayer project based on Kodi, but adding some game-related features, has also released some test images based on Kodi 20. Note that since it’s an […]
MYIR MYC-J1028X CPU module features NXP LS1028A dual Cortex-A72 SoC with time-sensitive networking (TSN)
MYIR has introduced the MYC-J1028X CPU module based on NXP LS1028A dual Cortex-A72 processor with time-sensitive networking (TSN) support, as well as the MYD-J1028X development board with five Gigabit Ethernet ports, and other interfaces to evaluate the solution. The MYC-J1028X is equipped with 2GB DDR4, 8GB eMMC flash, a 32Kbit EEPROM, and a temperature sensor by default, and exposes all I/Os through a 314-pin MXM 3.0 edge connector. The module also comes with footprints to solder a QSPI NAND Flash, XSPI NOR Flash, and/or ECC memory. Typical applications include industrial routers, industrial control, edge computing, automotive electronics, industrial IoT, and more. MYC-J1028X CPU module MYC-J1028X SoM specifications: SoC – NXP Layerscape LS1028A (LS1028AXN7PQA) dual-core Cortex-A72 processor @ 1.5 GHz with 3D GPU, integrated TSN Ethernet switches and Ethernet controllers System Memory – 2GB DDR4 (optional 3GB / 4GB DDR4); optional DDR4 ECC Storage 8GB eMMC flash (optional 16GB / 32GB) […]
TI Sitara AM623 & AM625 Cortex-A53 SoCs offer low-power AI for HMI and IoT applications
Texas Instruments has just launched the new Sitara AM62 family with AM623 and AM625 single to quad-core Cortex-A53 processors designed to provide IoT gateways and HMI applications with AI processing at low power, in some cases with up to 50% reduction in power consumption. The AM623 processor specifically targets Internet of Things (IoT) applications and gateways that may benefit from object and gesture recognition, while the AM625, equipped with a 3D GPU, should power HMI applications with edge AI and up to two full-HD displays. Sitara AM623 and AM625 processors Sitara AM623/AM625 key features and specifications: CPU – Single, dual, or quad-core Arm Cortex-A53 processor @ up to 1,400 MHz with 512KB L2 shared cache, plus 32KB I+D cache per core Co-processor – 1x Arm Cortex-M4F real-time core at up to 400 MHz with 256KB SRAM with SECDED ECC GPU (AM625 only) – Unnamed 3D GPU with support for OpenGL […]
Panfrost now offers a fully-conformant OpenGL ES 3.1 implementation for Mali-G57 (Valhall) GPU
The Mali-G57 GPU part of the Valhall family, and found in several Arm processors such as MediaTek MT8192 and MT8195 SoC powering some Chromebooks, is now supported by the Panfrost open-source driver with a fully-conformant OpenGL ES 3.1 implementation. Last year, Collabora updated Panfrost with support for OpenGL ES 3.1 on Midgard (Mali T760 and newer) and Bifrost (Mali G31, G52, G76) GPUs, and also announced having started working on Valhall GPUs. One part of the work was done in the summer of 2021 with some reverse-engineering work on Mali-G78 GPU’s instruction set, and this has culminated with a fully-conformant OpenGL3.1 for Mali-G57 GPU. Interestingly, it’s not been released by Collabora directly, but through an organization called “Software in the Public Intenerest, Inc.” (or SPI for shorts) which happens to be a non-profit organization incorporated on June 16, 1997, and described as: a non-profit corporation registered in the state of […]