Lolin S3 Mini – Tiny $5 ESP32-S3 board follows Wemos D1 Mini form factor

LOLIN S3 Mini

LOLIN S3 Mini is a tiny ESP32-S3 WiFi and Bluetooth IoT development board that follows the Wemos D1 Mini form factor and supports its equally tiny stackable shields to add relays, displays, sensors, and so on. Wemos/LOLIN introduced their first ESP32-S3 board last year with the LOLIN S3 board with plenty of I/Os and an affordable $7 price tag.  But I prefer the company’s Mini form factor because of its size and the ability to select add-on boards to easily add a range of features to your projects. So I’m pleased to find out the company has now launched the LOLIN S3 Mini following the ESP32-C3 powered LOLIN C3 Mini board unveiled in March 2022. LOLIN S3 Mini specifications: WiSoC – Espressif Systems ESP32-S3FH4R2 CPU – dual-core Tensilica LX7 @ up to 240 MHz with vector instructions for AI acceleration Memory – 512KB RAM, 2MB PSRAM Storage – 4MB QSPI […]

$60 M5Stack CoreS3 ESP32-S3 IoT controller comes with 2-inch display, VGA camera, multiple sensors

M5Stack CoreS3 ESP32-S3 IoT controller

M5Stack CoreS3 is a battery-powered ESP32-S3 IoT controller with WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity, a 2-inch touchscreen display, a 0.3MP camera, a microSD card slot for storage, several sensors, plenty of I/Os, a USB Type-C OTG port, as well as a 9V to 24V DC input port. That’s the second ESP32-S3 IoT controller from M5Stack we’ve seen this year, as the CoreS3 follows the smaller M5Stack AtomS3 with a 0.85-inch display, only a few I/Os, and fewer features overall although it does come with an IR transmitter that’s missing from the larger CoreS3. M5Stack CoreS3 specifications: Wireless MCU – Espressif Systems ESP32-S3FN16R8 dual-core 32-bit Xtensa LX7 microcontroller with AI vector instructions up to 240MHz, RISC-V ULP co-processor, 512KB SRAM, 2.4GHz WiFi 4 (802.11b/g/n), Bluetooth 5.0 BLE + Mesh, 16MB flash, 8MB PSRAM Antenna – Internal “3D” antenna Storage – MicroSD card slot Display – 2-inch display with 320×240 resolution via ILI9342C […]

HealthyPi 5 WiFi & BLE biosignal-acquisition sensor platform captures body temperature, ECG, PPG, SpO₂, and other vitals (Crowdfunding)

Standalone Vital Sign Monitor

HealthyPi 5 is an open-source sensor platform for biosignal acquisition based on Raspberry Pi RP2040 microcontroller and ESP32-C3 WiFi & BLE module used to capture vitals such as electrocardiogram (ECG), respiration, photoplethysmography (PPG), oxygen saturation (SpO₂), and body-temperature data. It is a complete redesign of the HealthyPi v4 Raspberry Pi HAT with many of the same features. While the HealthyPi 5 also follows the Raspberry Pi HAT form factor and can be connected to a Raspberry Pi SBC to analyze the data, it can also be used as a standalone device with the processing handled by the RP2040 dual-core Cortex-M0+ microcontroller and connectivity through an ESP32-C3 wireless module, and data visualized on a 3.5-inch SPI display or a smartphone over WiFi or Bluetooth. HealthyPi 5 specifications: MCU – Raspberry Pi RP2040 dual-core Arm Cortex-M0+ microcontroller @ 133 MHz with 264 KB SRAM Wireless Module – ESP32-C3 RISC-V module with 2.4 […]

ESP32-H2-DevKitM-1 ESP32-H2 development board launched for $10

ESP32-H2-DevKitM-1

Espressif Systems unveiled the ESP32-H2 Bluetooth 5.2 LE & 802.15.4 RISC-V microcontroller in August 2021, but the ESP32-H2-DevKitM-1 development board based on the ESP32-H2-MINI-1 module has only been selling on the official Espressif’s Aliexpress store for $9.90 for a few weeks. The ESP32-H2-DevKitM-1 development board allows the development of applications with Bluetooth 5.2 LE, Zigbee, Thread, and/or Matter connectivity, features two USB Type-C ports, Boot & Reset buttons, and RGB LED, and two rows of 15 pins exposing all I/Os from the ESP32-H2-MINI-1 module. ESP32-H2-DevKitM-1 specifications: Wireless module – ESP32-H2-MINI-1 MCU – Espressif Systems ESP32-H2 32-bit RISC-V microcontroller at up to 96 MHz with 320 KB SRAM, 128 KB ROM, 4 KB LP memory, Bluetooth 5.2 LE/Mesh and 802.15.4 (Zigbee/Thread/Matter) radios. Storage – 4MB flash storage (E1N4 on the photo above should mean 4MB, but there are also ESP32-H2-MINI-1 modules with 1MB and 2MB flash) PCB antenna Dimensions – 13.2×16.6×2.4 […]

Review of TwoTrees TTC 450 CNC router machine with 80W and 500W spindles

TwoTrees TTC450 CNC router machine review

TwoTrees TTC 450 is a CNC router machine for precision cutting with a working area of 460x460x80 mm. The machine can handle 2D and 3D, 3-axis X, Y, Z movement, features a 32-bit microcontroller,  a touchscreen control display, and supports WiFi network connection. The TTC 450 can also read files on an SD card for offline operation, and workpieces can be made of a variety of materials such as wood, acrylic, Plastwood, carbon fiber sheet, aluminum, metal, and various engineering plastic materials. TTC 450 CNC router specifications Work Area – 450 x 450 X 80 mm Body Material – Metal frame & Aluminium 4080U Profile Drive System – Translation screw drive with double Y-axis system Mainboard – DLC32 V2.1 (ESP32-based as found in TwoTrees TS2 laser engraver) Stepper Driver – A4988 1.3A Stepper Motors – 17HS8401S, NEMA23 20mN.m Spindle – 74W, 8000RPM Max Speed – 800mm/Min Running Accuracy – +/-0.1mm […]

MicroPython 1.20 released with Raspberry Pi Pico W support, mip package manager, smaller footprint

MicroPython 1.20 Pico W

Damien George has recently announced the release of MicroPython 1.20 with support for the Raspberry Pi Pico W board., a new lightweight package manager called mip, a smaller footprint thanks to the use of compressed type structs, and many other changes. mip package manager The new mip package manager uses a custom protocol optimized for embedded systems to query and install packages, and intends to replace upip for installing packages from micropython-lib or any URL. Mip can be run directly on a device, as long as it has network connectivity, or via mpremote from a host computer. Damien explains all pure-Python drivers have been moved from the micropython repository to the micropython-lib repository as part of the change in order to make it easier to install the packages needed for a given project. MicroPython is getting smaller The MicroPython binary size has been reduced by many kilobytes for all ports […]

Meet the $1,000 ESP32 board with 512 GPIOs (12V/24V)

KinCony IoT KC868-A566

KinCony IoT’s KC868-A566 is an ESP32 WiFi & BLE IoT board with a massive 512 GPIOs, more specifically with 256 12V/24V digital outputs and 256 digital inputs that should meet most people’s requirements, except for its price, as it is currently selling for $1,000 on Aliexpress. The board is based on ESP32-WROOM-32E, and besides the massive numbers of GPIOs, also adds four analog input ports, an Ethernet port, and an RS485 connector. The company also made sure it can run ESPHome open-source firmware and integrates well with Home Assistant open-source home automation framework. KinCony IoT KC868-A566 board specifications: Wireless module – ESP32-WROOM-32E with ESP32 dual-core microcontroller 4MB flash 2.4 GHz WiFi and Bluetooth LE connectivity, built-in PCB antenna, fully compatible with ESPHome firmware Ethernet – 100/10Mbps Ethernet via vertical RJ45 jack USB – 1x USB Type-C port Serial – RS485 interface I/Os 256x MOSFET outputs (12V/24V 5000mA per channel) with […]

Sonatino – A Raspberry Pi Zero-sized ESP32-S3 audio board

Raspberry Pi Zero ESP32-S3 audio board

Lumination Labs’ Sonatino is an ESP32-S3 board designed for audio applications that follows the Raspberry Pi Zero dimensions so that it can be used with some of the cases designed for the Raspberry Pi Zero. The wireless audio board features Cirrus Logic WM8524 audio DAC and WM8782 audio DAC capable of 24-bit 192kHz stereo output and mono input respectively, a speaker amplifier and two pins for speaker connection, a 3.5mm audio jack, as well as a microSD card slot for the storage of audio or other data. Sonatino specifications: Wireless Module – ESP32-S3-WROOM-1 with SoC – ESP32-S3 dual-core LX7 microprocessor @ up to 240 MHz with Vector extension for machine learning Memory – 2MB PSRAM Storage – 16MB flash Connectivity – WiFi 4 and Bluetooth 5 LE/Mesh Storage – MicroSD card slot (SPI) Audio 3.5mm audio jack supporting input and output (TRRS, CTIA standard) Speaker connection: onboard pins, optional screw […]

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