Category: Espressif

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments on Particle Tracking System Offers Software, Hardware LTE IoT Module and Tracker in Turnkey Solution

Particle Tracking System Offers Software, Hardware LTE IoT Module and Tracker in Turnkey Solution

Trakcker SoM

Particle’s first cellular M2M module was launched in 2015 when the company was still called Spark IO. Since then they’ve offered new modules and boards supporting recent standards like NB-IoT and/or LTE Cat-M with product likes Boron and  E series castellated modules. The company found out that most of their customers used their boards for asset tracking despite many off-the-shelf products already available, and the main reason was the ability to customize the solution. To help their customers, the company has now launched the Particle Tracking System combining a software suite with LTE IoT system-on-module and Tracker One reference product to ease the development and deployment of customized asset tracking solutions. Particle Tracking System is comprised of three main components relying on the existing Particle IoT platform: Particle Tracking Services software suite with geolocation services (mapping and geodatabase), fleet-wide device management, an open device firmware application framework to integrate with […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments on ESP32-Korvo AI Development Board Leverages ESP-Skainet Voice Assistant

ESP32-Korvo AI Development Board Leverages ESP-Skainet Voice Assistant

ESP32-Korvo

Last September, Espressif Systems unveiled ESP-Skainet voice assistant optimized for ESP8266 and ESP32 wireless SoC with support for WakeNet wake word engine and MultiNet speech commands recognition with the former requiring just 20KB  RAM for one word, and the latter supporting up to 100 offline commands as long as you had 4MP SPI flash or more. At the time, it only supported the Chinese language and worked on the upcoming “LyraT-Mini audio board“, now available for $26.99 shipped but only including one microphone. Espressif Systems has now announced a better AI development board with ESP32-Korvo AI development board includes featuring a mainboard with ESP32 processor and an audio ADC, and a subboard equipped with a 3-mic array, RGB LEDs, and various buttons. ESP32-Korvo specifications: Mainboard Wireless module – ESP32-WROVER-B with ESP32 dual-core Wi-Fi / BT processor, 128 Mbit SPI flash,  and 64 Mbit PSRAM Storage – MicroSD card slot Audio […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments on Getting Started with Qoitech Otii Developer Tool using ESP8266 and Raspberry Pi 4 Boards

Getting Started with Qoitech Otii Developer Tool using ESP8266 and Raspberry Pi 4 Boards

Qoitech Otii Arc Raspberry Pi 4

Last month, I received Qoitech Otii Arc power supply, power meter, and DAQ unit that aims at helping hardware and software engineers develop energy-efficient products. I’ve now had time to test the unit with an ESP8266 board and Raspberry Pi 4 SBC, so I’ll show how to get started and my overall experience with the hardware and program. Requirements and Initial Setup The unit takes a 9V power supply or micro USB adapter as power input, but power output is done through banana plugs. I did not have any cables with banana plugs so I bought one on eBay for about $5 shipped. This cable is really convenient with output to USB (female connector), crocodile clips, and hook clips. However, as we’ll see below it may not be suitable for all types of loads, and you may have to make your own with a higher rated cable. You’ll need to […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment on ESP RainMaker Eases Cloud Integration & Mobile App Development for ESP32-S2 SoC

ESP RainMaker Eases Cloud Integration & Mobile App Development for ESP32-S2 SoC

ESP RainMaker Android App

Espressif Systems is well-known for its low-cost, well-supported WiFI and Bluetooth SoC for IoT products and projects. But in recent years, the company has also come up with application-specific development boards and corresponding software frameworks to help customer develop their own. Those boards include ESP32-LyraTD-MSC for smart audio applications, or for ESP32-S2-Kaluga-1 multimedia applications using display and camera. The company is now offering another solution to help makers integrate ESP32-S2 secure WiSoC with the cloud and create a mobile app. Meet ESP RainMaker. Specifically, ESP RainMaker provides four main components:: Device Agent SDK to perform network provisioning, OTA updates and facilitate communication with the cloud. Based on the ESP-IDF SDK. Amazon’s AWS powered Transparent Cloud Middleware makes the device’s attributes accessible to the user’s phone applications or other third-party services via RESTful APIs. iOS/Android phone apps to configure and manage the connected device. The apps are “self-adapting”, meaning they can […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 16 Comments on Sonoff ZBBridge WiFi to Zigbee Gateway Launched for $16.90

Sonoff ZBBridge WiFi to Zigbee Gateway Launched for $16.90

Sonoff ZBBridge

Since the end of last year, ITEAD has introduced several Zigbee Sonoff products such as Sonoff Basic R3 Zigbee, but so far customers had to rely on third-party hardware for the gateway, and they very recently launched a CC2531 Zigbee USB dongle to ease the task. But now the company’s just-launched Sonoff ZBBridge WiFi to Zigbee gateway allows people to control compatible Zigbee devices using eWelink mobile app. Sonoff ZBBridge specifications: Wireless Connectivity – 2.4 GHz 802.11b/g/n WiFi 4 and Zigbee 3.0 Power Input – 5V/1A Dimensions – 62 x 62 x 20 mm (PC V0) Weight – 35 grams Temperature Range – -10 to 40°C The gateway is working with BASICZBR3 Smart Switch, S31 Lite zb Smart Plug, and the upcoming SNZB-01 Wireless Switch, SNZB-02 Temperature & humidity sensor, SNZB-03 motion sensor, and SNZB-04 wireless door/window sensor. It will also work with other smart devices certified by the ZigBee […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments on ESP32-Vaquita-DSPG Board and SDK Support Alexa Integration and AWS IoT Core Cloud Service

ESP32-Vaquita-DSPG Board and SDK Support Alexa Integration and AWS IoT Core Cloud Service

ESP32-Vaquita-DSPG

Espressif Systems has just announced another ESP32 board, namely ESP32-Vaquita-DSPG development kit together with an SDK that supports AVS (Alexa Voice Service) integration with AWS IoT cloud connectivity. ESP32-Vaquita-DSPG specifications: Wireless Module – ESP32-WROVER-E with ESP32-D0WD-V3 WiFi + Bluetooth SoC , 64 Mbit SPI flash and 64 Mbit PSRAM Audio DSP – DSPG DBMD5P Audio SoC with far-field voice recognition using the company’s HDClear algorithms. Power Amplifier for external speakers up to 8W Codec – ES8311 I2S audio codec Speaker connector 3.5mm audio jack 2-mic array on MIC board Debugging – USB-UART port Misc- Mainboard – Power LED, boot & reset buttons MIC board – 5x RGB LEDs, 2x function buttons Power Supply 5V input via USB Power Port 5V-to-3.3V regulator. ESP32-Vaquita-DSPG board needs an external 4-ohm speaker or a pair of headphones for audio output, two USB cables for power and debugging, and a computer running Windows, Linux, or […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments on ESP32-S2-Saola-1 Development Board is Now Available for $8

ESP32-S2-Saola-1 Development Board is Now Available for $8

ESP32-S2-Saola-1 Board

Espressif ESP32-S2 WiFi SoC mass production started at the end of February 2020,  and soon enough we started to find ESP32-S2 SoC and modules for $1 to $2 on sites like Digikey, but so far we had not seen ESP32-S2 development boards for sale. The good news is the breadboard-friendly ESP32-S2-Saola-1 development board has started to show up for $8 on resellers such as Mouser and Digikey albeit with a lead time of 8 to 12 weeks. ESP32-S2-Saola-1 specifications: Supported modules – ESP32-S2-WROOM(-I) & ESP32-S2-WROVER(-I) with 4 MB SPI flash and for ESP32-S2-WROVER modules only, 2 MB PSRAM USB – 1x Micro USB port for power and programming / debugging via USB-to-UART bridge Expansion – 2x 20-pin I/O headers with SPI, I2S, UART, I2C, touch sensors, PWM, etc… Misc – Boot and reset buttons, RGB LED, 3.3V power on LED Power Supply (3 methods) 5V via Micro USB port (default) […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments on DSTIKE ESP32 Watch Development Board Comes with OLED or TFT Display

DSTIKE ESP32 Watch Development Board Comes with OLED or TFT Display

DSTIKE ESP32 Watch Development Kit

In recent months several Espressif ESP32 watches have started to show up including TTGO-T wristband and Watchy with an e-Ink display. This morning, I’ve come across another option with DSTIKE ESP32 watch development kit that offers a choice of black & white OLED display or color TFT display, and has apparently been around for about a year. DSTIKE ESP32 watch devkit specifications: SoC – ESP32 dual-core Tensilica LX6 processor with Wi-Fi 4 and Bluetooth 5.0/5.1 connectivity Storage – MicroSD card Display (one or the other) 1.3 OLED I2C display (SH1106) TFT color display with 240 x 240 resolution (I2C + 2 I/O) Expansion – 10-pin header with TX/RX, GPIO 17 & 16 (I2C), SVP/SVN, GPIO 25 & 26 (DAC), GND, and 3V Misc – Power switch, navigation buttons, reset & flash buttons, buzzer, WS2812b RGB LED,  “highlight LED” (backlight LED maybe), charging status LED Battery – 600 mAh battery Dimensions […]

UP 7000 x86 SBC