Raspberry Pi Category - Page 17 of 27 - CNX Software

December 31, 2022December 31, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 21 Comments

Year 2022 in review – Top 10 posts and statistics

It’s the last day of the year and the time to look at some of the highlights of 2022, some traffic statistics from CNX Software website, and speculate on what 2023 may bring us. The semiconductors shortage continued in 2022, but things are looking brighter in 2023 with the full reopening of the world mixed with forecasts of difficult economic times that should keep the demand/supply equation in check. On the Arm processor front the biggest news of the year, at least in this corner of the Internet, was the launch of the Rockchip RK3588 octa-core Cortex-A76/A55 processor together with interesting single board computers that we’ll discuss below. Announced last year, the Amlogic A311D2 octa-core Cortex-A73/A53 was finally made available in a few SBC’s, and we finally got some news about the Amlogic S928X Cortex-A76/A55 SoC showcased in 8K TV boxes, but we have yet to see it in action. […]

December 28, 2022December 28, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

Banana Pi BPI-Pico-RP2040 – Raspberry Pi Pico replica gets USB-C port, I2C connector, and RGB LED

Banana Pi BPI-Pico-RP2040 is basically a clone of the original Raspberry Pi Pico, but with the addition of an RGB LED and a 4-pin I2C connector, and the company replaced the micro USB port with a Type-C connector. The rest of the board, also called Banana Pi Pico, is exactly the same up to the through holes and castellated holes for the I/Os, and has a similar form factor as the Banana Pi BPI-PicoW-S3 that adds WiFi and Bluetooth through the ESP32-S3 wireless microcontroller. Banana Pi BPI-Pico-RP2040 specifications: MCU – Raspberry Pi RP2040 dual-core Cortex-M0+ microcontroller @ up to 133 MHz with 264KB SRAM Storage – 2MB QSPI flash USB – 1x USB 1.1 Type-C port used for power and programming Expansion 2x 20-pin 2.54mm pitch header and castellated holes with 26 GPIOs, 3x 12-bit ADC up to 500 Kbps, 2x UART, 2x I2C, 2x SPI, 16x PWM, 2x programmable […]

December 23, 2022December 23, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

LEGO brick with Raspberry Pi RP2040 runs Doom

James Brown (aka Ancient) has built a tiny computer inside a LEGO brick with a Raspberry Pi RP2040 microcontroller and a 0.42-inch OLED display. And yes, it runs Doom. So finally, the LEGO minifigures have access to a computer suitable for their size :). James did not post a lot of information to reproduce the build by yourself, but he still released the “uGrey” code, written in Micropython, to display greyscale on a monochrome OLED. We can learn from the design in a mesmerizing video (embedded at the end of this post) showing how he made a Raspberry Pi RP2040 computer fit into a LEGO brick. The tiny design is comprised of five main boards/modules: Raspberry Pi RP2040 module The micro USB module Two side modules with other components A 0.42-inch OLED display with 72×40 resolution (SSD1306) Since soldering the four modules together by hand only would be really challenging, […]

December 21, 2022December 21, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

ArduCam Mega – A 3MP or 5MP SPI camera for microcontrollers (Crowdfunding)

ArduCam Mega is a 3MP or 5MP camera specifically designed for microcontrollers with an SPI interface, and the SDK currently supports Arduino UNO and Mega2560 boards, ESP32/ESP8266 boards, Raspberry Pi Pico and other boards based on RP2040 MCU, BBC Micro:bit V2, as well as STM32 and MSP430 platform. Both cameras share many of the same specifications including their size, but the 3MP model is a fixed-focus camera, while the 5MP variant supports autofocus. Potential applications include assets monitoring, wildfire monitoring, remote meter reading, TinyML applications, and so on. ArduCam Mega specifications: Camera Type 3MP with fixed focus 5MP with auto-focus from 8cm to infinity Optical size – 1/4-inch Shutter type – Rolling Focal ratio 3MP – F2.8 5MP – F2.0 Still Resolutions 320×240, 640×480, 1280×720 x 1600 x1200x 1920 x 1080 3MP – 2048 x 1536 5MP – 2592×1944 Output formats – RGB, YUV, or JPEG Wake-up time 3MP – […]

December 7, 2022December 7, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Add an ePaper display to Raspberry Pi Pico W with EnkPi 2.9-inch to 7.5-inch displays (Crowdfunding)

EnkPi Raspberry Pi Pico W ePaper Display

SB Components is running another crowdfunding campaign with the EnkPi ePaper display powered by a Raspberry Pi Pico W board and offered in four different sizes namely 2.9-inch, 4.2-inch 5.83-inch, and 7.5-inch. Each mainboard also comes with a USB Type-C port, a microSD card socket, an RTC with a backup battery holder, a buzzer, six user buttons, and a JST connector for expansion with GPIO, I2C, UART, and ADC signals. EnkPi specifications: MCU board – Raspberry Pi Pico W with Raspberry Pi RP2040 dual-core Cortex-M0+ microcontroller, 2MB QSPI flash, WiFi 4 module. Storage – MicroSD card socket Display connected over SPI to the Pico W board 2.9-inch tricolor ePaper display with 296×128 resolution 4.2-inch tricolor ePaper display with 400×300 resolution 5.83-inch tricolor ePaper display with 648×480 resolution 7.5-inch tricolor ePaper display with 800×480 resolution Partial refresh support with up to 170 degrees wide viewing angle USB – 1x USB Type-C […]

November 28, 2022November 28, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Raspberry Pi RP2040 development board doubles as a magnetic rotary encoder

Raspberry Pi RP2040 rotary encoder board

PICO DEV M3 is a round-shaped development board based on a Raspberry Pi RP2040 dual-core microcontroller and serves as a magnetic rotary encoder with a few 3D printed parts. Designed by Ahmsville Labs, the board comes with 2MB QSPI flash, various through holes for GPIOs, a USB-C port, and the magnetic rotary encoder supports up to 36,000 steps per revolution and comes with 18 individually addressable LEDs. PICO DEV M3 development board specifications: Microcontroller – Raspberry Pi RP2040 dual-core Arm Cortex-M0+ MCU at 133 MHz with 264kB on-chip SRAM Storage – 2MB QSPI flash USB – 1x USB 1.1 Type-C host/device port Encoder Base resolution of 36 steps, extending up to 36,000 steps per revolution. Ring of 18x individually addressable LEDs Encoder button Ball bearing for a smoother feel compared to traditional rotary encoders Customizable 3D printed encoder Expansion – Through holes placed on the edge of the board for: […]

November 23, 2022June 11, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

EsPiFF board combines ESP32 module with RP2040 MCU in the Raspberry Pi 4 form factor (Crowdfunding)

The EsPiFF board may look like a Raspberry Pi 4 Linux SBC but it is equipped with an ESP32-WROVER WiFi and Bluetooth module together with a Raspberry Pi RP2040 microcontroller that acts as a co-processor. The goal here is to provide a Raspberry Pi 4 replacement for applications that require higher reliability and even 24/7 operation without necessarily needing the processing power and multimedia capabilities of the Broadcom BCM2711 Arm processor found in the Pi or the versatility of a Linux operating system. EsPiFF board specifications: Wireless module – ESP32-WROVER module with dual-core ESP32-D0WDQ6 microcontroller with 2.4 GHz WiFi 4 and Bluetooth, 8 MB PSRAM and 16 MB flash Co-processor – Raspberry Pi RP2040 dual-core Cortex-M0+ microcontroller @ up to 133 MHz with 16MB flash used to emulate the Raspberry Pi’s GPIOs on the 40-pin header Additional storage 2 KB of fast FRAM for permanent storage of process data. (faster […]

November 18, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

Starfish PnP machine control board combines Raspberry Pi RP2040 MCU with TMC2209 motor drivers

StarFish Raspberry Pi RP2040 PnP control board

We’ve already seen the Raspberry Pi RP2040 MCU in a 3D printer controller board, so it should come as no surprise that the dual-core microcontroller also found its way into a Pick-and-Place (PnP) machine control board. Designed by Thea Flowers, the Starfish board leverages the RP2040 MCU capabilities to control three Trinamic TMC2209 motor drivers, MOSFET drivers to control DC vacuum pumps, two vacuum sensors, and offer RS485 and I2C connectivity for feeders and peripherals respectively. Starfish specifications: MCU – Raspberry Pi RP2040 dual-core Cortex M0+ microcontroller at up to 133 MHz with 264 kB of embedded SRAM Storage – QSPI flash Motor drivers – 3x TMC2209 drivers for X, Y1, and Y2 MOSFETs – 2x MOSFETs to control the 2x vacuum pumps Valve drivers – 2x TI DRV120 single-channel relay, solenoid, and valve drivers to control two pneumatic solenoid valves Sensors – 2x CFSensor XGZP6857D I2C pressure sensor modules […]