M5Stack M5PoECAM-W V1.1 – A ESP32-powered PoE camera module with 3MP OV3660 sensor

M5Stack PoE Camera with Wi Fi

M5Stack M5PoECAM-W V1.1 is a PoE camera module built around the Espressif ESP32 MCU and WIZnet W5500 Hardwired TCP/IP embedded Ethernet controller. The W5500 along with a PoE controller takes care of ethernet and PoE power whereas the 3MP OV3660 sensor is responsible for video and photos. The camera features a wide 65° field of view which makes it suitable for applications like image monitoring and remote data acquisition. Previously we have covered similar camera modules like the LILYGO T-Camera-Plus-S3, Sipeed MaixCAM, and Luxonis OAK-D Series 2 cameras with the latter also having a PoE option. Feel free to check those out if you are interested in the topic. M5Stack M5PoECAM-W V1.1 specifications ESP32-D0WDQ6-V3 wireless module SoC – Espressif ESP32-D0WDQ6-V3 CPU – dual-core Xtensa LX6 processor clocked at up to 240MHz Memory – 520KB SRAM Connectivity – 2.4 GHz 802.11n WiFi 4 and Bluetooth v4.2 BR/EDR and BLE Memory – […]

The Pico Display Base Board offers a simpler way to create Raspberry Pi Pico LCD projects

Pico Display Base Board

The Pico Display Base Board is a printed circuit board from Applying Microcontroller Solutions that provides a platform for building Raspberry Pi Pico-based display projects. It works with a Raspberry Pi Pico board and an LCD screen based on the Solomon Systech SSD1963 display controller. The Pico Display Base Board features a 40-pin header (Display Port) which connects to GPIO on the Pico to provide an 8-bit parallel interface for the display and SPI pins for the touchscreen and integrated SD card. It supports various display sizes from 4.3 inches up to 7 inches. Displays up to five inches can be powered directly by the Pico. A jumper block on the board can be used to pass power to the LCD and wire the display’s optional flash chip to the Pico. A USB-C port on the board can provide an alternative power source for larger displays. It also has male […]

Autosport Labs ESP32-CAN-X2 board combines two CAN bus transceivers with automotive-grade power supply

ESP32-CAN-X2

Autosport Labs, a company that makes products for motorsport acquisition and real-time telemetry, has launched the ESP32-CAN-X2 board with an ESP32-S3 microcontroller, two CAN bus interfaces, and an automotive-grade power supply with a 6V to 20V DC input range. ESP32 boards with CAN Bus have been around for years starting with the Olimex ESP32-EVB Board which we covered in 2017, and followed by boards such as the CAN32 board, CanLite ESP32, or RejsaCAN-ESP32-S3. The ESP32-CAN-X2 adds another option with ESP32-S3 and two CAN Bus interfaces. ESP32-CAN-X2 board specifications: Wireless module – ESP32-S3-WROOM-1-N8R8 MCU – ESP32-S3 dual-core Tensilica LX7 microcontroller up to 240 MHz with 384KB ROM,  512KB SRAM, 16 KB SRAM in RTC Memory – 8MB PSRAM Storage – 8MB flash Wireless – WiFi 4 and Bluetooth LE 5 PCB antenna USB – USB Type-C port for flashing and power CAN Bus 6-pin header for 2x CAN V2.0B communication 1x […]

ACEBOTT QE007 review – An ESP32-based Smart Home STEAM education kit for 8+ years old kids

QE007 ESP32 Smart Home Starter Kit Review

ACEBOTT QE007 ESP32-based Smart Home Starter Kit is a STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Maths) education platform that involves story reading, assembling a wooden house with various electronics sensors wired to an ESP32 board, and learning about electronics concepts (such as voltage and current) and coding with the Arduino IDE through an 18 lesson course. ACEBOTT has various STEAM education kits, and the company sent us the QE007 “IoT Smart Home Starter Kit” for evaluation and review. So I’ll go through an unboxing, report my experience with the assembly process, and the Arduino tutorials by going through some of the eighteen lessons. ACEBOTT QE007 unboxing The kit comes in a nice-looking retail that reads “ACEBOTT Explorer Series QE007” and “ACEBOTT IOT Smart Home Started Kit”. The front of the package also highlights its a STEAM education kit designed for 8+ years old kids. The bottom side gives the backstory […]

PiWings 2.0 is a tiny drone based on Raspberry Pi Pico and ESP8266 WiFi module (Crowdfunding)

PiWings 2.0 Raspberry Pi Pico drone variants

SB Components’ PiWings 2.0 is a small drone combining a Raspberry Pi Pico with an ESP8266 WiFi module (ESP-12E) for wireless connectivity, and designed for STEM education and drone enthusiasts. The PiWings 2.0 board supports up to six motors and four servos, includes a 6-axis IMU for auto-leveling, and features I2C, SPI, UART, and GPIO expansion ports for custom sensor and/or actuator support. The drone itself is offered with three, four, or six rotors. PiWings 2.0 key features and specifications: Microcontroller board – Raspberry Pi Pico with Raspberry Pi RP2040 dual-core Cortex-M0+ microcontroller, 264KB SRAM Wireless module – ESP-12E (ESP8266) WiFi module for iBus support Motor Drivers – 6 channels (3A DC) Servo Motors – 4 channels USB – 1x micro USB port (on Raspberry Pi Pico) Expansion – I2C, SPI, UART, GPIO ports Sensor – On-board 6-axis IMU (MPU6050) for auto-leveling Misc – 4x RGB LEDs Power Supply 3V […]

PicoQuake USB vibration sensor is based on the RP2040 MCU and the ICM-42688-P vibration sensor

picoquake usb vibration sensor

The PicoQuake is a USB vibration sensor with a MEMS accelerometer covering a wide range of vibrations. It is capable of capturing vibrations in the low-frequency range (tall buildings, bridges) to the high-frequency range (motors, industrial machinery). It can operate as a standalone device and connect to a computer via a USB cable. Furthermore, it is based on the Raspberry Pi RP2040 microcontroller and uses a low-noise MEMS inertial measurement unit, the TDK InvenSense ICM-42688-P, which combines a 3-axis gyroscope and a 3-axis accelerometer. The low-noise IMU sensor used enables the PicoQuake to profile vibrations of very low magnitude. The PicoQuake sensor is a product from Slovenian maker, PLab, just like the FOCn driver module we took a look at recently. Potential use cases for the PicoQuake include optimizing brushless DC motor vibrations (important in small mobility products such as electric bikes and scooters), tracking trackpad clicks, smart home automation, […]

Espressif releases Arduino ESP32 Core 3.0.0, but PlatformIO support is in doubt

Arduino IDE ESP32-C6 boards

We previously noted the ESP32 Arduino Core 3.0.0 Alpha release added support for ESP32-C6 and ESP32-H2 among other changes. The good news is that Arduino ESP32 Core 3.0.0 is now considered stable, and was released a few days ago based on the ESP-IDF 5.1.4 framework. Users of the Arduino IDE can use it straight away, but as we’ll discuss in more detail below it’s unclear whether PlatformIO will be (officially) supported. There have been many changes since we wrote about the Alpha2 release in November 2023 with 327 commits from 96 contributors. Some of the most recent changes (compared to RC3) include: Updated ESPDuino with extra options (CPU freq and Partition) Add support for WeAct Studio ESP32C3 Attach ETH events at the correct place Enable the possibility to use SPI ETH with only 4 wires Fix ETH.end() Fix ETH.stop() with IDF SPI Nano ESP32: delete programmer.default entry (on main) due […]

M5Stack CoreS3 SE cost-down ESP32-S3 IoT controller features a 2-inch touch display, a microSD card slot, a speaker, two microphones

M5Stack CoreS3 SE ESP32-S3 IoT controller

The M5Stack CoreS3 SE, also called M5CoreS3 SE, is a cost-down version of the M5Stack CoreS3 IoT controller based on the ESP32-S3 wireless microcontroller with a 2-inch capacitive touch display, a microSD card slot, a USB-C port, a speaker, two microphones, and one Grove connector for expansion. The M5Core S3 SE loses the DIN Base so the associate features are gone and DIN rail mounting is not possible by default anymore. That also means the M5Stack CoreS3 SE controller is about twice as thin, and the color is also different (medium grey vs black grey). Major internal changes include the removal of the camera and the three sensors found in the original model. M5Stack CoreS3 SE specifications with highlights in bold and strikethrough showing differences against the CoreS3 model: Wireless MCU – Espressif Systems ESP32-S3FN16R8 CPU – Dual-core 32-bit Xtensa LX7 microcontroller with AI vector instructions up to 240MHz, RISC-V […]

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