Husarion CORE2 STM32 Board for Robotics Projects Works with ESP32, Raspberry Pi 3, or ASUS Tinkerboard

Husarion CORE2 is a board designed to make robotics projects simpler and faster to complete with pre-configured software and online management. Projects can start using LEGOs, before moving to 3D printed or laser-cut version of the mechanical parts without having to spend too much time on the electronics and software part of the project. Two versions of the board are available: CORE2 combining STM32 MCU with ESP32 WiFI & Bluetooth module, and CORE2-ROS with STM32 instead coupled to a Raspberry Pi 3 or ASUS Tinkerboard running ROS (Robot Operating System). Both solutions share most of the same specifications: MCU -STMicro STM32F4 ARM CORTEX-M4 MCU @ 168 MHz with 192 kB RAM, 1 MB Flash External Storage – 1x micro SD slot USB – 1x USB 2.0 host port with 1A charging capability; 1x micro USB port for debugging and programming via FTDI chip Expansion Headers hRPi expansion header for CORE2-ROS […]

GR-LYCHEE Development Board to Combine Renesas RZ/A1LU Processor, ESP32 Module, and a VGA Camera

Japanese semiconductor vendors have mostly stayed away from the maker market, at least outside Japan, as most people would be hard-pressed to come up with a hobbyist development board powered by processor or micro-controller from Toshiba, Sony, Renesas or other Japanese companies, despite the three aforementioned names being in the top 20 semiconductors companies. I can only remember having written about Fujitsu F-Cue 96Boards, as well as Renesas GR-PEACH mbed board since I started this blog 7 years ago. Renesas seems to be the only company to have a real community behind with their “Gadget Renesas” pink-colored development boards, and the latest and seventh board is GR-LYCHEE powered by Renesas RZ/A1LU ARM Cortex-A9  processor, and equipped with a WiFi & Bluetooth module, and a camera. Renesas GR-LYCHEE board preliminary specifications: Micro-processor – Renesas RZ / A1LU (R7S721030VCFP 176-pin QFP) ARM Cortex-A9 Processor  @ 384 MHz with 3MB on-chip SRAM Storage […]

Olimex Launches 22 Euros ESP32-GATEWAY Board with Ethernet, WiFi and Bluetooth LE

Olimex has just launched ESP32-GATEWAY board, as cost-down version of their ESP32-EVB board, still with Ethernet, WiFi, and Bleutooth LE, but without any relays, CAN bus, nor IR control, less I/Os, and a smaller footprint. Olimex ESP32-GATEWAY specifications: Wireless Module – ESP32-WROOM32 module with 802.11 b/g/n WiFi and Bluetooth LE Wired Connectivity – 10/100M Ethernet with RJ45 jack (via LAN8710A) External Storage – micro SD slot Expansion – 20-pin GPIO connector USB – 1x micro USB port for debugging (CH340T) and power Misc – Reset and user buttons Power Supply – 5V via micro USB port Dimensions – 62 x 50 mm Another change is the lack of a LiPo charger to run the board from batteries. Just like most Olimex boards, ESP32-GATEWAY is open source hardware with KiCAD design files available on Github. The software directory is still empty, but Ethernet demo code using ESP32-IDF has been pushed for […]

Olimex ESP32-EVB Board with Ethernet, CAN Bus, and Relays up for Sale for 26 Euros

One of the new feature of Espressif ESP32 SoC over ESP8266 is the inclusion of an Ethernet MAC interface, but so far few boards come with an RJ45 jacks. ESP32 Monster board is an option, also including an OLED Display and CAN Bus, and sold on Tindie for $35, but Olimex has now stocked their ESP32-EVB board with Ethernet, CAN Bus, and two relays, and you can purchase it for 26 Euros per unit, and less in larger quantities. Olimex ESP32-EVB Rev. B specifications: Wireless Module – ESP32-WROOM32 module with 802.11 b/g/n WiFi and Bluetooth LE Wired Connectivity – 10/100M Ethernet with RJ45 jack (via LAN8710A) External Storage – micro SD slot Relays – 2x 10A/250VAC relays with LED status Expansion 40-pin GPIO female header (2.54mm pitch) UEXT connector for sensors and modules CAN Bus USB – 1x micro USB port for debugging (CH340T) and power Misc – Reset and […]

Arduino Cinque Combines SiFive RISC-V Freedom E310 MCU with ESP32 WiFi & Bluetooth SoC

SiFive introduced the first Arduino compatible board based on RISC-V processor late last year with HiFive1 development board powered by Freedom E310 MCU, but  the company has been working with Arduino directly on Arduino Cinque board equipped with SiFive Freedom E310 processor, ESP32 for WiFi and Bluetooth, and an STM32 ARM MCU to handle programming. Few other technical details have been provided for the new board, but since it looks so similar to HiFive1, I’ve come with up with preliminary/tentative Arduino Cinque specifications: MCU – SiFive Freedom E310 (FE310) 32-bit RV32IMAC processor @ up to 320+ MHz (1.61 DMIPS/MHz) WiSoC – Espressif ESP32 for WiFi and Bluetooth 4.2 LE Storage – 32-Mbit SPI flash I/Os 19x Digital I/O Pins 19x external interrupt pins 1x external wakeup pin 9x PWM pins 1/3 SPI Controllers/HW CS Pins I/O Voltages –  3.3V or 5V supported USB – 1x micro USB port for power, […]

SHA2017 Conference Badge To Feature ESP32 SoC, e-Paper Display

In most conference, you’ll wear a badge showing your name, job description and company, but with the price of electronics going down, it may be time for a conference badge upgrade. SHA2017 is a non-profit outdoor hacker camp taking place in The Netherlands in 2017 on August 4 – 8, and the organizers are planning to use a special badge comprised of Espressif ESP32 processor, and an e-Paper Display. SHA2017 Badge specifications: Wireless Module – Espressif ESP32 based ESP-WROOM-32 module with WiFi and Bluetooth Display – 2.9″ e-paper display (296×128) Storage – micro SD slot Expansion – 12-pin expansion header with GPIOs, I2C, 3.3V, GND Debugging – micro USB port + USB->TTL chip for programming Misc – Direction keys, select, start, A and B buttons for input; 6x RGB, LEDs; pager motor for notifications Battery – Battery sized to last at least a day Beside your name and company details, […]

Getting Started with ESP32-Bit Module and ESP32-T Development Board using Arduino core for ESP32

Espressif ESP32 may have launched last year, but prices have only dropped to attractive levels very recently, and Espressif has recently released released ESP-IDF 2.0 SDK with various improvements, so the platform has become  much more interesting than just a few weeks ago. ICStation also sent me ESP32-T development board with ESP32-bit module, so I’ll first see what I got, before trying out Arduino for ESP32 on the board. ESP32-T development board with ESP-bit Module – Unboxing & Soldering One thing I missed when I asked for the board is that it was not soldered, and it comes in kit with ESP32-bit module in one package, and ESP32-T breakout board with headers in another package. The 21.5x15mm module is based on ESP32-DOWNQ6 processor with 32 Mbit (4MB) of flash, a chip antenna, and a u.FL connector. The module is apparently made by eBox, and also used in Widora board with […]

Whitecat ESP32 N1 Board Combines ESP32 WiFi + Bluetooth SoC with a LoRa Transceiver, Runs Lua RTOS

Espressif ESP32 SoC is gaining traction right now as prices have come down, and there’s still an on-going fight among LPWAN standards with LoRaWAN being fairly popular in Europe. Whitecat, a group of engineers from several companies based in Citilab, Barcelona, Spain, has designed a board that combines both ESP32 and a LoRA transceiver, bringing an alternative to Pycom LoPy board, but instead of running MicroPython, they have developed Lua-RTOS. Whitecat ESP32 N1 hardware specifications: SoC – Espressif ESP32 dual-core Tensilica LX6 microprocessor @ up to 240MHz with 520kB internal SRAM Storage – 4MB flash memory Connectivity LoRa WAN transceiver working in the 868 (EU) MHz / 915 (USA) MHz with on-board antenna, and u.FL connector for external antenna Integrated 802.11b/g/n WiFi transceiver with on-board antenna, and u.FL connector for external antenna Integrated dual-mode Bluetooth (classic and BLE) I/O Headers – 2x 16-pin with SPI, I2C, I2S, SDIO, UART, CAN, […]

UP 7000 x86 SBC