Raspberry Pi Category - CNX Software

December 12, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

15 Euros Olimex RP2040pc Raspberry Pi RP2040 computer board supports Apple and Oric Atmos emulation

Olimex RP2040pc is an inexpensive “all-in-one” computer board based on a Raspberry Pi RP2040 MCU with support for Apple //e, Apple ][+, and Oric Atmos emulation through the Reload emulator. The board features an HDMI port, stereo audio, four USB ports, and two UEXT expansion connectors. It’s not quite the first RP2040 retrocomputing board from Olimex, as they introduced the RP2040-PICO-PC in 2021 with an HDMI port, a 3.5mm audio jack, and a microSD card slot before launching the Olimex NEO6502, which combines a MOS6502 MCU for Apple II, Oric, and Commodore 64 emulators with an RP2040 for HDMI/DVI video output and a few other things. The RP2040pc is similar to the latter, but with more ports and features, and everything is handled by the Raspberry Pi RP2040 microcontroller. Olimex RP2040pc specifications: Microcontroller – Raspberry Pi RP2040 dual-core Cortex-M0+ MCU @ 133 MHz with 264 KB SRAM Storage – 16MB […]

December 12, 2024December 11, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Sfera Labs Strato Pi Max DIN rail industrial controllers now support the Raspberry Pi Compute Module 5

Raspberry Pi Compute Module 5 industrial controllers

The Raspberry Pi Compute Module 5 (CM5) was launched at the end of last month, and we are starting to see companies slowly announce upgraded CM4 designs. Yesterday, we wrote about EDATEC ED-IPC3100 DIN-Rail mountable industrial computers, and today, we’ll cover Sfera Labs’ addition of the Raspberry Pi Compute Module 5 to their Strato Pi Max DIN rail industrial controllers. The controllers still feature a gigabit Ethernet port, a 10/100M Ethernet port, two USB 2.0 ports, a Raspberry Pi RP2040 microcontroller for power management and boot sequence control, and support expansion modules for up to sixteen RS-485 or RS-422 ports, four CAN V2.0B ports, digital and analog I/O, and more. Strato Pi Max specifications (as of December 2024): Base Module Raspberry Pi Compute Module 5 Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 Zymbit SCM options. Microcontroller – Raspberry RP2040 dual ARM Cortex-M0+ at 133 MHz. Storage – eMMC, microSD (dual for XL), M.2 PCIe […]

December 11, 2024December 11, 2024 by Sayantan Nandy - No Comments

SenseCAP Indicator – An ESP32-S3 and RP2040-based Meshtastic LoRa device with a 4-inch touchscreen display

The SenseCAP Indicator is a 4-inch capacitive touchscreen device designed for IoT connectivity and Meshtastic applications powered by Espressif Systems ESP32-S3 and Raspberry Pi RP2040 microcontrollers. It supports Wi-Fi (802.11b/g/n) and Bluetooth 5.0 LE connectivity, as well as LoRa using the Semtech SX1262 chip. The device also provides Grove connectors for expansion and a microSD slot supporting up to 32GB. Preloaded with Meshtastic firmware, the SenseCap Indicator is ready to function as a Meshtastic desktop or car node and can be reconfigured into a LoRaWAN Single-Channel Gateway. It features a 3.95-inch RGB touchscreen with 480×480 resolution, which is larger than most other Meshtastic solutions we’ve covered. Previously, we reviewed the SenseCAP Indicator D1Pro, which shares many features with the SenseCAP Indicator. However, the D1Pro integrates tVOC and CO2 sensors, along with an external Grove AHT20 TH sensor for precise temperature and humidity measurements. With real-time air quality monitoring from the […]

December 6, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

XIAO Powerbread is a breadboard power supply and meter based on XIAO RP2040 or ESP32 USB-C board

XIAO Powerbread power meter for breadboard

The XIAO Powerbread is a breadboard power supply and meter compatible with XIAO RP2040 or ESP32 USB-C boards and equipped with a color LCD display showing real-time voltage, current, and power consumption for 5V and/or 3.3V power rails. Breadboard power supplies are nothing new. We’ve written about several over the years including the Toaster board with adjustable voltage from 5 to 16V, the SwitchTrick switching power supply board, and the MEGO portable breadboard power supply with a built-in battery. The XIAO Powerbread only supports 5V and 3.3V power rails, but its main selling point is its integrated breadboard power meter function. XIAO Powerbread specifications: Supported USB-C modules General purpose MCU – XIAO RP2040, XIAO RP2350 WiFi / Bluetooth MCU – XIAO ESP32S3, XIAO ESP32C3, XIAO ESP32C6 Display – 0.96-inch color TFT LCD with 160×80 resolution and ST7735S SPI controller Power monitoring – 2x TI INA3221 sensors connected over I2C […]

November 29, 2024November 29, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Picade Max USB Controller board supports two joysticks and up to 30 arcade buttons

Pimoroni Picade Max USB Controller is a Raspberry Pi RP2040 board designed for arcade game consoles with support for two joysticks and up to 30 buttons through standard DuPont socket connectors and one Plasma button connector. The board comes with a 2MB QSPI flash for the firmware, a USB-C port for power and programming, one of DuPont socket connectors exposes three ADC inputs, 3.3V, and GND, and there’s also a Qwicc/Qt STEMMA connector for I2C module expansion, plus BOOT and RESET buttons for programming. Picade Max USB Controller specifications: Microcontroller – Raspberry Pi RP2040 dual-core Arm Cortex M0+ MCU @ 133 MHz with 264kB of SRAM Storage – 2MB QSPI flash supporting XiP USB – 1x USB Type-C port for power and programming User inputs DuPont socket connectors 2x 4-way joystick inputs 30x arcade button inputs Plasma button connector Expansion Qw/ST (Qwiic/STEMMA QT) connector for I2C modules 3x ADC […]

November 28, 2024 by Debashis Das - 2 Comments

Waveshare launches three RP2350 USB-C development boards with castellated design, battery support, built-in Ethernet port

Waveshare has announced four new USB-C and USB-A development boards based on the Raspberry Pi RP2350 MCU: the Waveshare RP2350-Plus dev board, the Waveshare RP2350-Zero Mini dev board, the Waveshare RP2350-ETH Mini dev board, and the Waveshare RP2350-GEEK USB dev board. The RP2350-Plus is a low-cost, high-performance Pico-like development board with the RP2350 MCU, various I/O, battery support, USB Type-C, and compatibility with Raspberry Pi Pico modules. The RP2350-Zero Mini is another compact dev board with castellated pins, 29 GPIOs, USB Type-C, PIO, and versatile peripheral support, ideal for IoT, robotics, and embedded systems. The RP2350-ETH Mini dev board has Ethernet support and various GPIO functionalities, making it ideal for IoT development. Like any other RP2350 board, the Waveshare RP2350 boards support C/C++ and MicroPython SDKs with drag-and-drop firmware flashing via USB mass storage. Waveshare RP2350-Plus development board The Waveshare RP2350-Plus is a low-cost development board that comes in a […]

November 27, 2024 by Debashis Das - 1 Comment

Waveshare RP2350-GEEK USB development board doubles as a debugger for Raspberry Pi and other Arm boards

Waveshare has recently launched the RP2350-GEEK USB development board which can also be used as a debugger for Raspberry Pi boards and other Arm-based targets. Built around the Raspberry Pi RP2350 MCU this development board/debugger features a 1.14-inch 65K color IPS LCD, a USB Type-A interface, a microSD card slot supporting SDIO and SPI communication, 16MB NOR-Flash, and multiple interfaces, including 3-pin SWD, USB to UART, and I2C ports. The board is compatible with standard CMSIS-DAP debugging tools like OpenOCD, which attaches to Raspberry Pi’s 3-pin debug connector for debugging. It also features open-source firmware for easy upgrades. Housed in a plastic case, the development board looks like a USB drive and is suitable for debugging, testing, and firmware development in IoT, embedded systems, and educational projects. Waveshare RP2350-GEEK Raspberry Pi debugger specifications Microcontroller – Raspberry Pi RP2350A MCU CPU – Dual-core Arm Cortex-M33 processor @ 150MHz Memory – 520KB internal RAM […]

November 25, 2024November 25, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 9 Comments

$7 Raspberry Pi Pico 2 W board launched with 2.4 GHz WiFi 4 and Bluetooth 5.2 wireless module

As expected, the Raspberry Pi Pico 2 W – the wireless version of the Raspberry Pi Pico 2 – is now available with an extra 2.4GHz WiFi 4 and Bluetooth 5.2 wireless module at an official price of $7. We’ll go through the specs and perform a mini review in this post trying out both WiFi and Bluetooth code samples. It’s not the first Raspberry Pi RP2350 with WiFi and Bluetooth we’ve seen, as Pimoroni introduced the Pico Plus 2 W board with an RP2350B MCU and Raspberry Pi RM2 Wi-Fi and Bluetooth module, and iLabs launched the Challenger+ RP2350 WiFi6/BLE5 board relying on ESP32-C6 wireless module. However, the Raspberry Pi Pico 2 W is the official board, is cheaper, and will certainly be the most popular/widely used. Raspberry Pi Pico 2 W specifications Raspberry Pi Pico 2 W specifications: SoC – Raspberry Pi RP2350 CPU Dual-core Arm Cortex-M33 @ […]