With the rapid development of the Internet of Things, positioning requirements are getting more strict notably with the need for higher precision and smaller GNSS modules. If you are looking for compact GPS modules that support a variety of satellite navigation systems, including China’s Beidou satellite navigation system BDS, the United States’ GPS, and Russia’s GLONASS with low power consumption (3.3V, 30mA), you may consider Ai-Thinker’s GP-01 and GP-02 GPS modules offering the smallest size. The GP-01 module has a total of 24 interfaces with five GPIO pins, while the GP-02 module has a total of 18 interfaces with three GPIO pins. These two modules are also available in development boards for ease of evaluation and development. Both are cheap, reliable, and based on the state of the art technologies. Thanks to its small size of only 10.3 x 9.9 x 2.4 mm, the GP-02 module can be easily embedded […]
Unsurv offline – An ESP32 GNSS receiver board with NFC, accelerometer (Crowdfunding)
Unsurv offline is a compact and lightweight board with ESP32 WiSoC, a GNSS receiver, an accelerometer, and NFC capabilities to help developers/users collect and analyze location data in a privacy-friendly way. Unsurv Technologies initially developed the board to better understand offline video surveillance with OpenStreetMap (OSM) data. It does so by using a database of camera locations from the OSM on the SD card, “counts” surveillance cameras as you walk past them, and you can then transmit data via NFC and visualize it on your smartphone. The accelerometer is used to wake up the board from deep sleep upon detection of motion. The company has now made the board open-source and other applications are also possible. Unsurv offline specifications: Wireless modules TTGO T-micro32 WiFi 4 and Bluetooth 4.2 module based on ESP32-PICO-D4 SiP with dual-core ESP32 processor, 4MB FLASH, ceramic antenna U-blox CAM-M8C (aka u-blox M8) module with concurrent reception […]
Conexio Stratus – An nRF9160 board with solar energy harvesting capability (Crowdfunding)
Conexio Stratus board is equipped with Nordic Semi nRF9160 System in Package (SiP) with LTE-M (eMTC) & NB-IoT cellular IoT connectivity as well as GPS support through a pair of u.FL connectors for antennas, together with 500MB of mobile data valid for ten years. Designed for battery operation, the devkit comes with built-in battery charging, monitoring, and energy-harvesting circuitry, plus an accelerometer and a temperature and humidity sensor that makes it ideal for prototyping cellular IoT systems such as asset-tracking applications, environmental monitoring, and smart-meter monitoring, among others. Conexio Stratus board Conexio Stratus specifications: SiP – Nordic Semi nRF9160 system-in-package with Arm Cortex M33 MCU, 1 MB Flash, 256 kB RAM, cellular IoT modem, and GPS. Cellular Connectivity 3GPP LTE release 13 Category M1 and NB1 compliant 3GPP release 14 NB2 compliant RF Transceiver for global coverage supporting bands: Cat-M1: B1, B2, B3, B4, B5, B8, B12, B13, B14, […]
TTGO T-Motion USB adapter offers LoRa and GPS for under $30
USB adapters are one of the easiest ways to add new features to existing hardware, and if you’d like to add LoRa connectivity and GPS tracking to any device or board with a USB board TTGO T-Motion USB adapter offers just that. Manufactured by LilyGO, the USB dongle is based on AcSiP S76G system-in-package that integrates an STM32 MCU with a Semtech SX1276 LoRa transceiver and GPS into a single. The GPS antenna is placed on the board inside the enclosure, while the external LoRa antenna is connected through an SMA connector. TTGO T-motion specifications: SiP – AcSiP S76G system-in-package with STMicro STM32L073x Arm Cortex M0+ MCU with up to 192 KB of Flash memory and 20 KB of RAM, Semtech SX1276 supporting global 868 MHz or 915 MHz ISM-Bands, Sony CXD5603GF GNSS receiver. Antenna Internal GPS antenna External LoRa antenna Host interface – USB 2.0 male port Misc – […]
Industrial Android/Linux mini PC ships with optional HDMI input, DTV tuner, 4G LTE modem
We’re seeing several companies known for their Android TV boxes switch to higher-margin industrial Android/Linux mini PCs with, for instance, Zidoo M6 mini PC powered by Rockchip RK3566 processor and designed for IoT applications, digital signage, and more. Geniatech APC820 is another industrial mini PC running either Android or Linux, on the older, yet more powerful Rockchip RK3399 SoC, and offering a different set of options including 4K or Full HD HDMI input, digital TV tuner, and/or a 4G LTE modem. Geniatech APC820 specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3399 hexa-core processor with 2x Cortex-A72 cores up to 1.8GHz, 4x Cortex-A53 up to 1.4GHz, Mali-T860 GPU with support for OpenGL ES1.1/2.0/3.0/3.1, OpenCL, and DirectX 11.1 System Memory – 2GB or 4GB RAM Storage – 16GB eMMC flash by default (Option for 8GB to 128GB), MicroSD card slot Video Output HDMI 2.0 up to 4Kp60 Internal LVDS connector with backlight Internal eDP connector […]
Pico 2G Expansion adds GSM/GPRS & GNSS to Raspberry Pi Pico (Crowdfunding)
You may have heard about the 2G/3G sunset with the older cellular networks being phased out in many countries. But it’s not always straightforward, as telecom operators may have to obtain regulators’ permission for the shutdown notably because of the eCall emergency services integrated into cars in Europe. Eventually, eCall will be migrated toward IMS Voice and 2G M2M services to 4G LTE IoT and 5G LPWA, but in the meantime, 2G networks are still operating in parts of the world, and UK-based SB Components has just introduced the Pico 2G Expansion board for Raspberry Pi Pico based on the SIM868 module. Raspberry Pi Pico 2G Expansion specifications: Compatible with Raspberry Pi Pico board Display – 1.14-inch LCD Cellular & GNSS Connectivity SIM868 module with GPRS multi-slot class 12/10, mobile station class B GSM 850/900/1800/1900 MHz GNSS – GPS/GLONASS/BDS Bluetooth 3.0 with audio support SIM card holder 2x SMA antenna […]
Qualcomm QCM2290/QCS2290 SoM and Devkit target Industrial IoT applications
Last June, Qualcomm introduced several industrial IoT solutions that we did not cover at the time with Qualcomm QCM2290/QCS2290 IoT chip for camera applications, industrial handhelds, retail and tracking, Qualcomm QCS8250 WiFI 6 & 5G SoC for connected healthcare, digital signage, retail, and video collaboration, Qualcomm QCS6490/QCM6490 WiFI 6E & 5G SoC for connected healthcare, logistics management, retail, transportation, and warehousing, and Qualcomm QCS4290/ QCM4290 designed for cameras, industrial handhelds, and security panels with 4G LTE and WiFi 6 connectivity. Shortly after Qualcomm’s announcement, Thundercomm introduced the TurboX C2290/CM2290 system-on-module respectively based on Qualcomm’s quad-core Cortex-A53 QCS2290 SoC and QCM2290 SoC adding 4G connectivity. The module also offers WiF & Bluetooth, as well as MIPI display & camera interfaces, and the TurboX CM2290/C2290 development kit is also available to get started. TurboX CM2290 and C2290 SoM Specifications: SoC – Qualcomm Snapdragon QCM2290 or QCS2290 quad-core Cortex-A53 processor at up to […]
Avnet AVT9152 – nRF52840 & nRF91 IoT module and devkit
Avnet AVT9152 is an IoT module and development kit that combines two Nordic Semi wireless solutions, namely nRF52840 Bluetooth 5.2/LE multiprotocol SoC and nRF91 IoT cellular system-on-module with NB-IoT, LTE-M, and GPS connectivity. The module supports Avnet’s enterprise-ready IoTConnect Platform, and the development kit combines with IoT module with a 3-axis accelerometer, a 3-axis gyroscope, as well as pressure, temperature, relative humidity, ambient light, and motion (PIR) sensors to help with the development of IoT applications such as tracking devices, vending machines, points-of-sale, smart buildings, industrial IoT, and more. Avnet AVT9152 module – nRF52840 + nRF91 Key features and specifications: Wireless SoC/SiP Nordic Semi nRF9160 Cortex-M33 based system-in-package (SiP) with LTE-M/NB-IoT global carrier certification for LPWAN connectivity; support for power save mode, PSM and eDRX Nordic Semi nRF52840 Cortex-M4F microcontroller with Bluetooth 5.0 and Bluetooth LE for short-range communication Flexible LTE and GPS antenna options 50x castellated holes with UART, […]