Portenta C33 is a $64 Arduino Pro board based on Renesas RA6M5 Arm Cortex-M33 MCU

Arduino Portenta C33

Arduino Portenta C33 is the latest board from the Arduino Pro family which the company dubs a “high-performance, low-price” solution based on a 200 MHz Renesas RA6M5 Arm Cortex-M33 microcontroller and equipped with a ESP32-C3 Wi-Fi and Bluetooth Low Energy module. The new board provides a cost-effective alternative to the Portenta H7 and X8 boards, but still offers wireless connectivity, a secure element for industrial-grade security, and compatibility with Portenta, MKR, and Nicla components. Portenta C33 specifications: Microcontroller – Renesas R7FA6M5BH2CBG Arm Cortex-M33 microcontroller @ up to 200 MHz with 512KB SRAM, 2MB Flash, Arm TrustZone, and Secure Crypto Engine 9 Storage – 16 MB QSPI Flash Connectivity 10/100M Ethernet PHY ESP32-C3 WiFi and BLE module USB – 1x USB Type-C high-speed port with Power Delivery support I/Os via 2x 80-pin high-density connectors, Arduino MKR headers with castellated hole, and a 5-pin I2C connector Storage – SD Card Networking – […]

Espressif ESP Thread Border Router board combines ESP32-H2 & ESP32-S3 wireless chips

ESP Thread Border Router Zigbee Gateway

Espressif Systems has launched the ESP Thread Border Router/Zigbee Gateway board based on ESP32-H2 (802.15.4) and ESP32-S3 (WiFi + BLE) modules following the contention of the Thread Interoperability Certificate V1.3 for the board and associated ESP Thread Boarder Router SDK built on top of the ESP-IDF framework and the open-source OpenThread protocol stack. The ESP Thread Border Router supports the protocol functions of the 1.3 Thread standard such as bidirectional IPv6 connectivity, Service Discovery Delegate, Service Registration Server, Multicast Forwarding, NAT64, and more, as well as product-level features such as a Web GUI for device configuration, automatic RCP (Radio Co-Processor) upgrade, RF coexistence, and so on. ESP Thread Border Router/Zigbee Gateway board specifications: Wireless modules ESP32-S3-WROOM-1 wireless module SoC –  ESP32-S3 dual-core Tensilica LX7 microcontroller @ 240 MHz with 2.4 GHz 802.11n WiFi 4 and Bluetooth 5.0 LE connectivity Memory – 2MB PSRAM Storage – 4MB SPI flash PCB antenna […]

T-Watch S3 ESP32-S3 smartwatch supports WiFi, Bluetooth LE, and LoRa connectivity

T-Watch S3

LILYGO T-Watch S3 is an ESP32-S3 WiFi and Bluetooth LE smartwatch with LoRa connectivity, and other interesting features such as an RTC, audio support, a vibration motor, and an infrared transmitter to control home appliances. The watch integrates a 1.54-inch color LCD display with capacitive touch, a button to turn on and off the device, and a USB port to charge the included 400 mAh battery. The T-Watch S3 sells in silver or “gun color” with a black wrist strap. T-Watch S3 specifications: Wireless MCU – Espressif Systems ESP32-S3 dual-core Tensilica LX7 @ up to 240 MHz with vector instructions for AI acceleration, 512KB RAM, 8MB PSRAM, 16MB flash, WiFi 4 and Bluetooth LE wireless connectivity Connectivity 2.4 GHz WiFi 4 (802.11 b/g/n) Bluetooth LE 5.0 Semtech SX1262 LoRa RF transceiver: 433 MHz, 868 MHz, 915 MHz Display – 1.54-inch 16-bit color LCD display with 240×240 resolution, capacitive touch; ST7789V […]

Inkplate 5 – A 5.2-inch wireless e-paper display programmable with Arduino or MicroPython (Crowdfunding)

Inkplate 5

The team at Soldered Electronics has been designing Inkplate ESP32-based e-paper displays ever since the first 6-inch model was launched in 2019. The latest Inkplate 5 comes with a recycled 5.2-inch E-Ink (e-paper) display with refresh times of only 0.19 seconds, and programmable with the Arduino IDE or MicroPython firmware. The WiFi-connected display offers a 960×540 resolution, or 213 DPI pixel density, integrates an RTC with battery for accurate timekeeping, two buttons for power and wake/user, and I/O expansion via headers and an easyC/Qwicc connector. Inkplate 5 specifications: Wireless module – Dual-core ESP32 processor with Wi-Fi 4 & Bluetooth 4.0 (BLE) connectivity, 8MB flash, 4MB PSRAM External storage – MicroSD card socket Display – 5.2-inch, 960×540 e-paper display with 213 DPI pixel density Refresh times: full refresh in just 1.02s (1-bit and 3-bit) and partial refresh in 0.19s (1-bit) USB – 1x USB Type-C port for programming and power Expansion […]

T-RGB ESP32-S3 board gets larger 2.8-inch round color display

T-RGB ESP32-S3 board 2.8-inch round display

LILYGO T-RGB ESP32-S3 board was first introduced last year with a 2.1-inch round color touchscreen display, and the company has an update with a T-RGB board with a 2.8-inch display. The new board still offers WiFi 4 and Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity, 8MB PSRAM, and 16MB flash storage, as well as a microSD card socket for storage, a Grove I2C connector for expansion, and LiPo battery support. T-RGB specifications: SoC – Espressif ESP32-S3R8 dual-core Tensilica LX7 microcontroller up to 240 MHz with vector instructions for AI acceleration, 8MB PSRAM, WiFi 4 and Bluetooth 5.0 LE + Mesh connectivity Storage – 16MB SPI flash, MicroSD card socket Display – 2.8-inch round 18-bit RGB color IPS TFT display with 480×480 resolution (ST7701S SPI controller), 3-wire SPI touchscreen panel via GT911 controller USB – USB Type-C port for power and programming Expansion – Grove I2C connector Misc – BOOT and Reset buttons Power Supply […]

LILYGO T-FPGA devkit combines ESP32-S3 WiSoC with Gowin GW1NSR-4C FPGA

ESP32-S3 Gowin FPGA devkit

LILYGO T-FPGA development kit is comprised of an M.2 module with an ESP32-S3 WiFi and Bluetooth wireless microcontroller and a Gowin GW1NSR-4C FPGA with 4,608 LUTs, and a carrier board that gives easy access to I/Os and comes with a 18650 battery holder. The module comes with a USB -C OTG port connected to the ESP32-S3, and a USB-C FPGA port for the FPGA. The “T-FPGA shield” carrier board includes four Pmod interfaces and a STEMMA Qt/Qwiic connector for expansion, plus several pins for 3.3 and GND, and another 20-pin I/O header. LILYGO T-FPGA specifications: Wireless MCU – Espressif Systems ESP32-S3R8 dual-core Tensilica LX7 @ up to 240 MHz with vector instructions for AI acceleration, 512KB RAM, 8MB PSRAM, wireless connectivity Storage – 16MB flash FPGA – Gowin Semiconductors GW1NSR-LV4CQN48PC6/I5 with 4,608 LUT4, 256Kb flash, 64Mb PSRAM, 64Mb Hyperflash, 32Mb NOR flash Connectivity via ESP32-S3 2.4 GHz 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi […]

zigpy-zboss library makes Nordic Semi nRF52840 Zigbee dongles compatible with Home Assistant

nRF52840 Home Assistant

zigpy-zboss is a Python library that adds support for Nordic Semiconductor nRF52840 modules to zigpy open-source Python Zigbee stack project, as well as other Network Co-Processor radios that run firmware based on ZBOSS Open Initiative (ZOI). This enables integration with compatible Zigbee gateway implementations such as Home Assistant’s ZHA integration component and allows users to directly control Zigbee devices from a wide range of manufacturers such as IKEA, Philips Hue, SmartSung SmartThings, ITEAD SONOFF, Xiaomi Aqara, and others. Home Assistant’s ZHA integration already worked with Zigbee dongles based on Silicon Labs Mighty Gecko EFR32MG21 or Texas Instruments CC2652P microcontrollers, but now it’s possible to use nRF52840 dongles and development as Zigbee Coordinators thanks to the zigpy-zboss library.   The zigpy-zboss ZBOSS radio library for zigpy source code and resources can be found on GitHub, but note that this is still an unofficial and experimental port, so testers need to manually […]

SenseCAP Indicator D1Pro Review – An ESP32-S3 & RP2040 IoT devkit with a 4-inch display, LoRa connectivity, sensors

SenseCAP Indicator D1Pro review

The SenseCAP Indicator D1Pro is an IoT development kit based on ESP32-S3 WiFi & BLE chip, a Raspberry Pi RP2040 microcontroller, and offering LoRa connectivity through an SX1262 RF chip. It also features a 4-inch touchscreen display, two Grove interfaces with ADC & I2C, and two USB Type-C ports including one exposing GPIOs, and the D1Pro integrates tVOC and CO2 sensors, plus the kit ships with an external Grove AHT20 TH sensor for temperature and humidity measurements. SenseCAP Indicator D1Pro Features Dual MCUs and GPIO expansion with the Espressif ESP32-S3 and Raspberry Pi RP2040 microcontrollers and support for over 400 Grove-compatible modules. Real-time air quality monitoring thanks to the built-in tVOC and CO2 sensors, and an external Grove AHT20 TH sensor for more precise temperature and humidity readings. Local LoRa Hub for IoT Connectivity thanks to the integrated Semtech SX1262 LoRa chip for connecting LoRa devices to IoT platforms such […]

UP 7000 x86 SBC