Arylic is better known for its connected audio devices such as the Arylic A50+ wireless amplifier or S50 Pro+ wireless stereo pre-amplifier, but the company has now launched its first passive speakers with the Arylic BK501 and BK651 bookshelf speakers that integrate high-end Heil AMT (Air Motion Transformer) tweeters. The BK501 is a pair of 5-inch speakers with 80W peak power, while the BK651 is a pair of 6.5-inch stereo speakers delivering up to 100W peak power. The specifications table below shows how both models compare. Both speakers support Treble up to 40kHz to feel detailed treble clarity and brightness, 180° wide soundstage, feature a fiberglass mid-woofer and received FSC Environmental Certification. Both designs include an MDF (medium-density fiberboard) cabinet with 15mm thick walls for the KB501 and 18mm thick walls for the BK651. Arylic says the Heil AMT tweeter found in its speakers uses a folded Kapton ribbon diaphragm […]
Rockchip RK3588 embedded PCs support PoE, 4G LTE, 10GbE, 2.5-inch SATA HDD, and more
Mekotronics R58X-Pro and R58X-HDD Rockchip RK3588 embedded PCs are updates to the company’s earlier R58X and R58X-4G mini PCs with features such as built-in PoE module, 4G LTE module, optional 10GbE M.2 PCIe 3.0 module, and a microSD card slot. The R58X-HDD also adds a 2.5-inch SATA bay for HDD or SSD, and the R58X-Pro implements a volume knob and a front panel display. Both R58X-Pro and R58X-HDD embedded PCs still come with up to 16GB RAM, 128GB eMMC flash, support dual 8K video output through HDMI and DisplayPort outputs, feature one HDMI 2.0 video input, two GbE ports, RS485 and RS232 interfaces, a few USB ports and more. Mekotronics R58X-Pro/R58X-HDD specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3588 octa-core processor with four Cortex-A76 cores @ 2.4 GHz, four Cortex-A55 cores @ 1.8 GHz, an Arm Mali-G610 MP4 GPU, a 6TOPS NPU, 8K 10-bit decoder, 8K encoder System Memory – 4GB, 8GB, or […]
Convert your 3D printer into a metal cutting machine with an Electrical Discharge Machining kit (Crowdfunding)
Rack Robotics’ Powercore is an Electrical Discharge Machining (EDM) kit that converts your existing 3D printer (or CNC router) into a machine capable of cutting high-precision and detailed metal parts. We’ve already seen 2-in-1 3D printers and laser engravers such as the Creality Ender 3 S1 Pro, but while this type of machine can usually cut plywood or engrave stainless steel, the laser is not powerful enough to cut through aluminum. The Powercore EDM kit changes that by enabling the cutting of aluminum parts up to 4mm thick, although aluminum sheets that are 1mm or thinner are recommended. But before we get into Powercore details, what is Electrical Discharge Machining exactly? Engineers Edge explains: Electrical Discharge Machining, EDM is one of the most accurate manufacturing processes available for creating complex or simple shapes and geometries within parts and assemblies. EDM works by eroding material in the path of electrical discharges […]
Getting Started with GL-S200 Thread Border Router kit
Last week we checked out the hardware for the GL.iNet GL-S200 Thread Border Router kit with three nRF52840 Thread Dev Boards, and I’ve now had time to work with the kit, so I’ll report my getting started experience in the second part of the review. GL-S200 Initial Set Up I connected the WAN port to my Ethernet Switch itself connected to my modem router and the LAN port to my laptop, so I could access the web interface using the default IP address (192.168.8.1). The GL-S200 uses the same Admin Panel as other GL.iNet routers such as the Beryl AX router we reviewed at the beginning of the year. You’ll be greeted by a wizard to let you select the language and set a new password for the Admin Panel, and once you’re done you’ll have access to the familiar GL.iNet Admin Panel 4.x.x. After completing the wizard, the system […]
$499 NVIDIA Jetson Orin Nano Developer Kit delivers up to 80x Jetson Nano Devkit performance
NVIDIA Jetson Orin Nano Developer Kit is an upgrade to the popular Jetson Nano Developer Kit that delivers 80 times the performance, up to 50 times the performance per watt, and gives the developers the ability to design entry-level AI-powered robots, smart drones, intelligent vision systems, and more. The Jetson Orin Nano has a similar form factor as the original Jetson Nano, but is fitted with a Jetson Orin Nano 8GB module with up to 40 TOPS AI performance, and is equipped with a DisplayPort video output, USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports, two M.2 Key M sockets for SSDs, Gigabit Ethernet, a pre-installed Wi-Fi module, and connectors for cameras. NVIDIA Jetson Orin Nano Developer Kit specifications (compared to Jetson Nano Developer Kit-B01) The new developer kit is supported by the Ubuntu 20.04-based NVIDIA JetPack 5.1.1 SDK, as well as application-specific frameworks such as NVIDIA Isaac ROS and DeepStream, which are […]
Pironman review – A Raspberry Pi 4 enclosure with M.2 SATA, safe power off, RGB LED strip, and more
SunFounder Pironman is a Raspberry Pi 4 enclosure inspired by Michael Klement’s DIY Raspberry Pi 4 mini server with an OLED display and ICE Tower cooling solution, as well as some improvements such as an aluminum alloy and acrylic enclosure, support for an M.2 SATA SSD, a power button for safe shutdown, an IR receiver, and an RGB LED strip. The company sent me a Pironman kit without Raspberry Pi 4 for review. I’ll check the package content, go through the assembly, software installation, and testing of the unique features listed above. Pironman unboxing Some of the main specifications are listed on the side of the package. The enclosure comes fully disassembled with the Pironman board, metal and acrylic panels, RGB LED strip, OLED display, heatsink, fan, adapters, flat cables, screws, standoffs, and so on. The top of the Pironman board (JMS580-V1.8) comes with a JMicron JMS580 USB 3.2 Gen […]
SONOFF MINIR4 review – A Tiny WiFi Smart Switch tested with eWelink app/web, and R5 controller
In this post, we’ll review the SONOFF Mini Extreme, also known as MINIR4, WiFi smart switch based on ESP32 wireless MCU by installing it into a wall-mounted light switch box and controlling it with both the eWelink mobile app for Android and the SONOFF R5 scene controller. SONOFF MINIR4 Installation We’ve already gone through the specifications, unboxing, and teardown in the announcement, so I’ll get straight to the installation part. Note this review was done with a light switch “box” (about 11x6cm) in Thailand, so your mileage may vary. The first challenge is that contrary to the similarly-sized SONOFF ZBMINI Extreme Zigbee switch, the MINIR4 WiFi switch requires a neutral cable, and most lights in Thailand are wired without a neutral wire, so I had to get the neutral wire from the outlet switch box underneath. When I call those “boxes” there are really holes in the wall here… Wiring […]
MNT Pocket Reform open-source 7-inch modular laptop launched on Crowd Supply
The MNT Pocket Reform, a smaller version of the MNT Reform laptop, with a 7-inch display has just launched on Crowd Supply with an NXP i.MX8M Plus system-on-module, but also compatible with an NXP Layerscape LS1028A module, Raspberry Pi CM4, Pine64 SOQuartz, and an AMD Kintex-7 FGPA module. The open-source modular laptop also comes with a 128GB eMMC flash, 8GB RAM, WiFi 5 and Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity on-module, an optional 1TB NVMe SSD, a backlit 60-key mechanical keyboard with an optical trackball and four buttons, a micro HDMI port to connect an external display, a few USB ports, and Ethernet through an ix industrial connector. MNT Pocket Reform specifications: SoM – Boundary Devices Nitrogem8M Plus system-on-module with SoC – NXP i.MX 8M Plus quad-core Arm Cortex-A53 @ 1.8GHz with Cortex-M7 real-time core, Vivante GC7000UL GPU, 2.3 TOPS NPU with open drivers, H.264/H.265 Video Decoder with open drivers (Hantro), and HiFi4 […]