HARDWARIO CHESTER platform is a configurable LPWAN IoT gateway whose main function is to connect as many devices and environments as possible to the Internet using connectivity such as LoRaWAN, LTE Cat M1, or NB-IoT, as well as GNSS for geolocation. Contrary to most IoT gateways, it does not run Linux on an application processor, and instead, the “brain” of the CHESTER IoT gateway is a Raytac Bluetooth 5.0 module based on a Nordic Semi nRF52840 Arm Cortex-M4 microcontroller running Zephyr real-time operating system, which connects to LTE IoT modem and a LoRaWAN module through UART, and expansion modules through I2C, 1-wire, and GPIO interfaces. HARDWARIO CHESTER specifications: Wireless modules/chips Raytac MDBT50Q-P1MV2 Bluetooth 5.0 module based on Nordic Semi nRF52840 Arm Cortex-M4F MCU with 1MB Flash memory, 256kB RAM Nordic Semi nRF9160-SICA-B1A-R7 LTE-M/NB-IoT system-in-package (SiP) with Arm Cortex-M33 MCU, 1024 KB flash, 256 KB SRAM Murata CMWX1ZZABZ-078 LoRa module as […]
EVerest is an open-source software stack for car charging stations
EVerest is a software project initiated by PIONIX GmbH, but now part of the Linux Foundation’s LFEnergy initiative, whose primary goal is to develop and maintain an open-source software stack for EV charging infrastructure. EVerest supports multiple standards and it will run on any device from AC home chargers to public DC charging stations. I noticed the EVerest project in an upcoming talk at the Embedded Open Source Summit 2023 entitled ” EVerest: Electric Vehicle Chargers With Open Hardware and Software” and whose abstract reads in part: You will learn how to build your own electric vehicle charger using open hardware designs in combination with the EVerest open-source software stack for EV charging infrastructure. Following a quick introduction to EV charging technology, with explanations of the standards, protocols, and complexities involved, the talk will go into a deep dive into how you can build your own AC charging station. Reference […]
Using ChatGPT for Robotics – Programming myCobot 280 robotic arm with natural language (Sponsored)
ChatGPT AI chatbot can help engineers write programs, and we recently tested it by letting it write a Python program to read data from an I2C accelerometer. But it can be used for more advanced programs and Microsoft Autonomous Systems and Robotics Group used ChatGPT for robotics and programmed robot arms, drones, and home assistant robots intuitively with (human) language. The long-term goal is to let a typical user control/program a robot without having an engineer write code for the system. Microsoft explains that the current robotics pipelines begin with an engineer or technical user that needs to translate the task’s requirements into code for the system. That’s slow, expensive, and inefficient because a user needs to write code, skilled workers are not cheap, and several interactions are required to get things to work properly. With ChatGPT or other large language models (LLM), a user could “program” the robot with […]
Sony IMX500-based smart camera works with AITRIOS software
Raspberry Pi recently received a strategic investment from Sony (Semiconductor Solutions Corporation) in order to provide a development platform for the company’s edge AI devices leveraging the AITRIOS platform. We don’t have many details about the upcoming Raspberry Pi / Sony device, so instead, I decided to look into the AITRIOS platform, and currently, there’s a single hardware platform, LUCID Vision Labs SENSAiZ SZP123S-001 smart camera based on Sony IMX500 intelligent vision sensor, designed to work with Sony AITRIOS software. LUCID SENSAiZ Smart camera SENSAiZ SZP123S-001 specifications: Imaging sensor – 12.33MP Sony IMX500 progressive scan CMOS sensor with rolling shutter, built-in DSP and dedicated on-chip SRAM to enable high-speed edge AI processing. Focal Length – 4.35 mm Camera Sensor Format – 1/2.3″ Pixels (H x V) – 4,056 x 3,040 Pixel Size, H x V – 1.55 x 1.55 μm Networking – 10/100M RJ45 port Power Supply – PoE+ via […]
Using Pico:ed V2 board as a replacement for BBC Micro:bit
We’ve received a sample of the Pico:ed V2 board developed by ELECFREAKS and will show how to use it as a replacement for the BBC micro:bit in a project using CircuitPython. We’ve already covered the board in detail with specifications, block diagram, and pinout diagram before, and it’s basically a Raspberry Pi Pico RP2040 board with BBC Micro:bit form factor including a 17×7 Dot Matrix LED display, some buttons, a buzzer, but no wireless connectivity, relying only on USB instead. CircuitPython firmware installation on the Pico:ed V2 board The board supports C/C++, MicroPython, and CircuitPython programming languages, and for this review, we’ve decided to download the CircuitPython UF2 firmware. Press and hold the BOOTSEL button after having downloaded the firmware file… … and connect the board to your computer using a USB cable before releasing the BOOSEL button on the Pico:ed V2 board, which should then show up as the […]
Nordic Semi nRF54H20 Cortex-M33 + RISC-V wireless SoC supports Bluetooth 5.4, LE Audio, Bluetooth mesh, Thread, Matter, and more
Nordic Semi nRF54H20 is a 320 MHz multiprotocol wireless SoC with several Arm Cortex-M33 and RISC-V cores, support for Bluetooth 5.4 and greater with features like LE Audio and Bluetooth mesh, as well as Thread, Matter, and so on. It is the first part of the fourth generation nRF54 family manufactured with a 22nm process, and its application processor doubles the processing power (2x CoreMark) of the Arm Cortex-M33 application core in the nRF5340 SoC and embeds up to 2MB flash, 1MB SRAM. nRF54H20 preliminary specifications and highlights: CPU Application core – Arm Cortex-M33 @ up to 320 MHz with 2 MB Flash + 1MB SRAM Network core – Arm Cortex-M33 Several RISC-V cores (for low power?) Wireless Bluetooth 5.4 LE with direction-finding, Bluetooth mesh, LE audio, etc… 802.15.4 radio for Thread, Matter -100 dBm RX sensitivity @ 1 Mbps for Bluetooth LE Up to 10 dBm TX power New […]
Cytron CM4 Maker Board review – Part 2: NVMe SSD, RTC, Buzzer, Grove modules, ChatGPT…
We’ve already checked out Cytron’s CM4 Maker Board kit with a Raspberry Pi CM4 system-on-module and booted the system with the included 32GB “MAKERDISK” Class 10 microSD card preloaded Raspberry Pi OS in the first part of the review. For the second part of the CM4 Maker review, I’ve mostly used the 128GB NVMe SSD provided by the company and played with other features of the board including the RTC, the buzzer, some Seeed Studio grove modules, and even got help from ChatGPT for one of the Python programs I used. Booting Cytron CM4 Maker Board with the “MAKERDISK” NVMe SSD I connected several Grove modules with GPIO and I2C interfaces, a Raspberry Pi Camera Module 3, an Ethernet cable, two RF dongles for a wireless keyboard and mouse, an HDMI cable to a monitor, and finally inserted the provided 5V/3.5A USB-C power adapter. The MAKERDISK SSD comes with Raspberry […]
AMD Alveo MA35D media accelerator transcodes up to 32 1080p60 AV1 streams in real-time
AMD Alveo MA35D media accelerator PCIe card is based on a 5nm ASIC capable of transcoding up to 32 Full HD (1080p60) AV1 streams in real-time and designed for low-latency, high-volume interactive streaming applications such as watch parties, live shopping, online auctions, and social streaming. AMD says the Alveo MA35D utilizes a purpose-built VPU to accelerate the entire video pipeline, and the ASIC can also handle up to 8x 4Kp60, or 4x 8Kp30 AV1 streams per card. H.264 and H.265 codecs are also supported, and the company claims its “next-generation AV1 transcoder engines” deliver up to a 52% reduction in bitrate at the same video quality against “an open source x264 veryfast SW model”. AMD Alveo MA350 highlights: Auxiliary CPU – 2x 64-bit quad-core RISC-V to perform control and board management tasks AI Processor – 22 TOPS per card for AI-enabled “smart streaming” for video quality optimization Memory – 16GB […]