Infineon recently launched the PSOC Control C3x family of Arm Cortex-M33 MCUs for real-time control applications in motor control and power conversion systems. The family includes 18 MCUs categorized into two lines, the Entry Line (C3P2, C3M3) and the Main Line (C3P5, C3M5). These MCUs can be used for various applications including home appliances, industrial drives, robots, light electric vehicles (LEVs), solar systems, and HVAC systems. The Entry Line operates at up to 100 MHz and supports a 12-bit SAR ADC with a sampling rate of up to 6 Msps, making it suitable for basic motor control and power conversion tasks. In contrast, the Main Line offers higher performance with up to 180 MHz operation, a faster 12-bit SAR ADC up to 12 Msps, and 4-channel High-Resolution PWM (HRPWM) for precise control. It also supports Wide Bandgap (WBG) switches for high-frequency power systems. Other features of this MCU include DSPs, FPUs, […]
anyon_e DIY laptop features Rockchip RK3588 SoC, 13.3-inch 4K AMOLED display, aluminum chassis
We’ve already seen several Rockchip RK3588 laptops with the Cool Pi laptop and GenBook RK3588, as well as the open-source hardware MNT Reform Next. anyon_e is another open-source DIY laptop based on Rockchip RK3588 octa-core Cortex-A76/A55 SoC but with higher-end specifications compared to competitors. The anyon_e features a 13.3-inch 4K AMOLED display, a wireless QWERTY mechanical keyboard, a custom aluminum chassis that keeps the thickness of the laptop to just 18mm, and a battery good for about 7 hours. It’s based on the FriendlyELEC CM3588 core board found in the CM3588 NAS Kit. anyon_e laptop (preliminary) specifications: SoM – FriendlyELEC CM3588 SoC – Rockchip RK3588 CPU – 4x CortexA76 cores @ up to 2.4 GHz, 4x CortexA55 core @ 1.8 GHz GPU – Arm Mali-G610 MP4 GPU Video decoder – 8Kp60 H.265, VP9, AVS2, 8Kp30 H.264 AVC/MVC, 4Kp60 AV1, 1080p60 MPEG-2/-1, VC-1, VP8 Video encoder – 8Kp30 H.265/H.264 video encoder […]
GEEKOM A6 Ryzen 7 6800H mini PC review – Part 1: specifications, unboxing, and teardown
GEEKOM A6 is a mid-range mini PC powered by an AMD Ryzen 7 6800H octa-core/sixteen thread processor with AMD Radeon Graphics 680M, up to 64GB dual-channel DDR5, up to 2TB NVMe (PCIe 4.0 x4) SSD storage, 2.5Gbos Ethernet, Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.2. It also features several USB4, USB 3.2, and USB 2.0 ports, supports up to four separate 4K monitors via HDMI 2.0 ports and USB Type-C ports, and comes with Windows 11 Pro pre-installed. GEEKOM sent us a sample of the A6 mini PC for review, and we’ll start with a look at the specifications, an unboxing, and a teardown in the first part of the review, before testing Windows 11 and Ubuntu 24.04 in more detail in the next parts. As its name implies, it should offer a middle ground between the Ryzen 7 5800H-powered GEEKOM A5 and the AMD Ryzen 9 7940HS-based GEEKOM A7 mini PCs […]
STM32H7-powered open-source hardware 3D printer mainboard supports up to 6 stepper drivers
Designed by Boltz R&D, the SmartPrintCoreH7x 3D printer mainboard is an open-source mainboard built around an STM32H7 microcontroller and designed to work with 3D printers from Creality, Anet, and Voron. It supports up to 6 stepper drivers (5 standard drivers plus 1 dedicated driver) and can be expanded further using the “SmartPrintCore Extravaganza” module for additional stepper drivers. Key features of this motherboard include a jumper-less setup, automatic power source switching, and support for both 12V and 24V power supplies. It uses high-efficiency TI buck converters to provide power for multiple fan and servo ports, and there is a dedicated power supply for peripherals, SBCs, and Wi-Fi modules. The board is equipped with a variety of connectors, including Molex, Ultra-Fit, Mini-Lock, and JST-GH for power, motors, and peripherals. SmartPrintCoreH7x specifications: MCU – STMicro STM32H723 Arm Cortex-M7 32-bit core @ 550 MHz with 1MB Flash, 564 KB RAM, FPU, DSP, Ethernet, USB […]
Phison’s aiDAPTIV+ AI solution leverages SSDs to expand GPU memory for LLM training
While looking for new and interesting products I found ADLINK’s DLAP Supreme series, a series of Edge AI devices built around the NVIDIA Jetson AGX Orin platform. But that was not the interesting part, what got my attention was it has support for something called the aiDAPTIV+ technology which made us curious. Upon looking we found that the aiDAPTIV+ AI solution is a hybrid (software and hardware) solution that uses readily available low-cost NAND flash storage to enhance the capabilities of GPUs to streamline and scale large-language model (LLM) training for small and medium-sized businesses. This design allows organizations to train their data models on standard, off-the-shelf hardware, overcoming limitations with more complex models like Llama-2 7B. The solution supports up to 70B model parameters with low latency and high-endurance storage (100 DWPD) using SLC NAND. It is designed to easily integrate with existing AI applications without requiring hardware changes, […]
Seeed Studio 2-Channel Wi-Fi AC Relay Review – An ESPHome smart switch with power meter function
We have received the Seeed Studio 2-Channel Wi-Fi AC Relay for review. It is an IoT/Smart Home device featuring a 2-channel relay (wet contact) that operates over a WiFi network, and provides an alternative to SONOFF Smart switches like the SONOFF R2 Dual. The Seeed Studio device is a bit larger and instead of relying on eWelink firmware, it natively supports Home Assistant since it’s pre-installed with ESPHome open-source firmware. Alternatively, if you prefer standalone deployment (without Home Assistant), you can manage it via the web browser. In addition to the basic relay function to control the AC-powered appliances, it also acts as a power meter. This is a good ready-to-use option for Home Assistant enthusiasts who prefer not to assemble their own components. Some practical applications include controlling electrical appliances such as lighting. Let’s dive into the details. Seeed Studio 2-channel AC Wi-Fi Relay unboxing The package we received […]
Intel floats Modular PC design proposal for repairable laptops and mini PCs
Intel has published an article proposing a modular PC design that would improve the repairability/right-to-repair of laptops and mini PCs and reduce e-waste through the replacement of motherboard, display, and M.2 or FPC add-on modules for the user-facing ports. Making repairable, modular electronic devices is not a new idea, and the Framework laptops are probably the best-known option now, but they do come at a premium. But most projects are limited success, for instance, Project Ara modular smartphone from Google eventually died off. We’ve also covered modular or open-source hardware solutions from smaller companies over the years such as Firefly Station P3D modular Arm mini PC with swappable cards, or Olimex Teres-I DIY and open-source hardware laptop. It’s good news that a large company like Intel is taking the repairable, modular PC topic seriously, but as we’ll see below it’s currently a high-level proposal with few technical details. Most laptops […]
WL-AC1000 AP controller can manage large fleets of wireless routers and access points
Wallys Tech WL-AC1000 is an access point (AP) controller designed to manage and optimize the operation of multiple access points (APs) within large-scale wireless networks that you may find in factories, airports, hotels, train stations, etc… The WL-AC1000 is powered by a quad-core Arm processor coupled with 1GB RAM, 8MB NOR flash, and 256MB NAND flash. It is equipped with four GbE ports and one 2.5GbE port to connect the access points through switches. It’s available as a desktop version and a 1U enclosure to mount in a rack. Wallys Tech WL-AC1000 specifications: SoC – Quad-core ARM 64-bit A53 @ 1 .8 GHz processor (likely some Qualcomm QCS part) System Memory – 1GB (2x 512MB) DDR3L Storage 8MB NOR flash 256MB NAND Flash Networking Gigabit Ethernet RJ45 port with PoE 3x Gigabit Ethernet RJ45 ports 2.5Gbps Ethernet RJ45 port Power Supply – 24V DC Dimensions WL-AC1000-E – 192 x 122 […]