Renesas RZ/V2MA microprocessor embeds AI & OpenCV accelerators for image processing

Renesas RZ/V2MA AI OpenCV accelerator

Renesas has launched the RZ/V2MA dual-core Arm Cortex-A53 microprocessor with a low-power (1TOPS/W) DRP-AI accelerator and one OpenCV accelerator for rule-based image processing enabling vision AI applications. The MPU also supports H.265 and H.264 video decoding and encoding, offers LPDDR4 memory and eMMC flash interfaces, as well as Gigabit Ethernet, a USB 3.1 interface, PCIe Gen 2, and more. The RZ/V2MA microprocessor targets applications ranging from AI-equipped gateways to video servers, security gates, POS terminals, and robotic arms. Renesas RZ/V2MA specifications: CPU – 2x Arm Cortex-A53 up to 1.0GHz Memory – 32-bit LPDDR4-3200 Storage – 1x eMMC 4.5.1 flash interface Vision and Artificial Intelligence accelerator DRP-AI at 1.0 TOPS/W class OpenCV Accelerator (DRP) Video H.265/H.264 Multi Codec Encoding: h.265 up to 2160p, h.264 up to 1080p Decoding: h.265 up to 2160p, h.264 up to 1080p Networking – 1x Gigabit Ethernet USB – 1x USB 3.1 Gen1 host/peripheral up to 5 […]

The BBC has released a new web-based Python editor for the micro:bit board

Python Editor micro:bit

There are already Python editors such as Thonny, but the BBC thought those were not good enough and released a new web-based Python editor specifically designed for the micro:bit education board targeting 11 to 14 years old pupils. The micro:bit Python editor includes drag and drop code examples, code structure & error highlighting, auto-complete feature, a simulator to test the code before uploading it to the micro:bit board, and a Quick ideas section to help pupils get started with projects. The BBC’s micro:bit Python editor works with both the micro:bit V1 and V2, but note the simulator shows a micro:bit V2, so if you are using the previous generation micro:bit, some code may work on the simulator but not on your micro:bit V2 board. For that reason, the BBC marked the code that only works on a micro:bit V2 with ‘V2’ in the Reference section.  While the BCC is a […]

Khadas Edge2 review with Android 12

Khadas Edge2 Android 12 review

We’ve already reviewed Khadas Edge2 Pro with Ubuntu 22.04, and I’ve now had time to test the ultra-thin Rockchip RK3588S SBC with Android 12, so I’ll report my experience checking out the features, running some benchmarks, playing videos and games, etc… Flashing Android 12 to Khadas Edge2 board Our board was running Ubuntu 22.04, so in order to enter OOWOW firmware system, I had to keep pressing the function key (middle), then shortly press the reset button, before releasing the function key and entering the OOWOW interface. We can see the Android 11 image from the list we saw last month is gone for good, and a new Android 12 image dated September 20, 2022 is available. I selected that one, and OOWOW downloaded the files and flashed it to the board. Within five minutes, Android 12 was up and running on the board. As somebody who had spent several […]

ANAVI Macro Pad 10 & Knobs input devices run KMK firmware on Raspberry Pi RP2040 (Crowdfunding)

ANAVI Macro Pad 10 Knobs

ANAVI Macro Pad 10, Knobs 3, and Knob 1 are open-source hardware input devices based on the Raspberry Pi RP2040-powered Xiao RP2040 mini module, and equipped with mechanical keys and/or rotary encoders Leon Anavi has some experience under his belt with the earlier Macro Pad 2 and Macro Pad 8 open-source keypads with mechanical keys running QMK open-source firmware on a Microchip 8-bit microcontroller. The new models switch the MCU to the Raspberry Pi RP2040 and to KMK open-source firmware written in CircuitPython. ANAVI Macro Pad 10 specifications: MCU module – Seeed Studio XIAO RP2040 with Raspberry Pi RP2040 dual-core Cortex-M0+ microcontroller @ up to 133 Mhz with 264KB SRAM, 2MB SPI flash, USB Type-C port Inputs – Rotary encoder with clickable switch and nine hot-swappable Cherry MX-style switches Keys – 9x Gateron red, linear, non-clicky mechanical switches and transparent keycaps with yellow LED backlighting Host interface – USB Type-C […]

ESP32 DevKitC V4 IoT development board ships with ESP32-WROOM-DA dual antenna module

ESP-WROOM-DA development board

The ESP32 DevKitC V4 is now selling with the ESP32-WROOM-DA module with two PCB antennas that was introduced last year in order to offer a longer WiFi range and better reliability. The development kit is exactly the same as the other ESP32 DevKitC V4 models, and the only difference is the dual antenna design. When running a recent version of the Arduino Core for the ESP32 (2.0.3 or greater), the ESP32 will automatically switch to the antenna with the strongest signal in order to deliver the best connectivity possible. ESP32 DevKitC V4 specifications: Wireless module – ESP32-WROOM-DA (PDF datasheet) with SoC – Espressif Systems ESP32-D0WD-V3 dual-core LX6 microprocessor with 520 KB SRAM, 2.4 GHz WiFi 4 and Bluetooth 4.1 connectivity Storage – 4MB SPI flash Two PCB antennas (ANT1 and ANT2) USB – 1x Micro USB port for power, programming, and debugging through USB-to-UART bridge up to 3 Mbps Expansion […]

Nuvoton NuMicro MA35D1 Arm Cortex-A35/M4 microprocessor to power Linux edge IIoT gateways

NuMake-HMI-MA35D1-S1

Novoton NuMicro MA35D1 microprocessor features two Arm Cortex-A35 cores, one Arm Cortex-M4 real-time core, and two Ethernet interfaces for Linux-based edge IIoT gateway. The SoC also is offered in variants supporting external DDR memory or integrated up to 512MB RAM, 154 or 208 GPIOs, and an optional “Enhanced ADC”. The MA35D1 also comes with a TFT interface for up to 1920×1080 displays, several hardware security features, and the company says the microprocessor facilitates Tiny AI/ML for edge computing despite not integrating an AI accelerator. Nuvoton NuMicro MA35D1 key features and specifications: CPU sub-system 2x Cortex-A35 cores running at up to 800 MHz Cortex-M4 real-time core at up to 180 MHz Memory sub-system On-chip 384 KB SRAM (Cortex-A35 256 KB + Cortex-M4 128 KB) Multi-Chip Package (MCP) DDR up to 512MB External DDR interface for MA35D16A087C SKU Storage Quad SPI NAND Flash Controller Secure Digital Host Controller (SDHC) Display and Video […]

3D game running on FPGA shown to be 50x more efficient than on x86 hardware

3D game FPGA

Sphery vs. shapes is an open-source 3D raytraced game written in C and translated into FPGA bitstream that runs 50 times more efficiently on FPGA hardware than on an AMD Ryzen processor. Verilog and VHDL languages typically used on FPGA are not well-suited to game development or other complex applications, so instead, Victor Suarez Rovere and Julian Kemmerer relied on Julian’s “PipelineC” C-like hardware description language (HDL) and Victor’s CflexHDL tool that include parser/generator and math types library in order to run the same code on PC with a standard compile, and on FPGA through a custom C to VHDL translator. More details about the game development and results are provided in a white paper. Some math functions were needed, including: floating point addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, reciprocals, square root, inverse square roots, vector dot products, vector normalization, etc. Fixed point counterparts were also used for performance reasons and to […]

AMD launches Ryzen Embedded V3000 Zen3 processors for storage and networking applications

AMD Ryzen Embedded V3000

AMD has just launched the Ryzen Embedded V3000 family of processors with four to eight Zen3 cores, a DDR5 memory interface, twenty PCIe Gen4 lanes, and two 10GbE interfaces that make it ideal for storage and networking applications, especially since there’s no GPU at all. The new embedded processors succeed the Ryzen Embedded V2000 Zen2 family introduced two years ago, and the Ryzen V1000 processors in 2018. For some reason, AMD decided to compare the new V3000 processors against the latter and claims up to 124% greater CPU performance, 50% improved memory transfer rate, twice the number of CPU cores, and improved I/O connectivity. There are five Ryzen Embedded V3000 SKUs at launch with the V3C48, V3C44, V3C18I, V3C16, and V3C14 whose key differences can be found in the table below. The AMD Ryzen Embedded V3C18I “industrial” processor also works in sub-zero temperatures for automotive and industrial applications. Shared specifications […]

EmbeddedTS embedded systems design