Arduino has launched the MKR IoT Carrier Rev2 board for Arduino MKR boards with a Bosch SensorTech BME688 4-in-1 pressure, humidity, temperature, and gas sensor replacing the HTS221 humidity sensor and LP22HB barometric pressure sensor, and the LSM6DSOX taking the place of the LSM6DS3, among other some other small changes. First sold as part of the Arduino Oplà IoT Kit, the Arduino MKR IoT Carrier eventually became available on its own in February 2021 offering a display, sensors, and I/Os for Arduino MKR boards with wireless connectivity. The company has now introduced a second revision for the Arduino MKR IoT Carrier with new sensors and repositioning of some of the components following customer feedback. Arduino MKR IoT Carrier Rev2 features & specifications: Compatible with Arduino MKR family boards with WiFi, LoRa, NB-IoT, or 3G cellular connectivity Storage – MicroSD card holder Display – Round 1.3-inch OLED display with 240×240 resolution […]
Maker Feather AIoT S3 – An ESP32-S3 board programmable with CircuitPython or Arduino
Cytron Maker Feather AIoT S3 is an ESP32-S3 board compatible with the Adafruit Feather form factor and suitable for makers and STEM education with features like LEDs for GPIOs, a buzzer, expansion headers and connectors, and support for CircuitPython & Arduino. The WiFi and Bluetooth LE IoT board also supports LiPo and Li-Ion batteries, includes a USB Type-C port for power/charging and programming, and a few buttons. It’s suitable for machine learning thanks to the vector extensions found in the ESP32-S3 microcontroller. Maker Feather AIoT S3 specifications: Wireless module – Espressif ESP32-S3-WROOM-1-N8R8 module with ESP32-S3 dual-core LX7 microprocessor @ up to 240 MHz with Vector extension for machine learning, 8MB FLASH, 8MB PSRAM, WiFi 4 and Bluetooth 5 LE/Mesh USB – 1x USB Type-C port power and programming Expansion 2x GPIO headers compatible with Adafruit Feather form factor and FeatherWing add-on boards 3x Maker Ports compatible with Qwiic, STEMMA QT, […]
Walter ESP32-S3 board supports NB-IoT, LTE-M, and GPS
QuickSpot Walter is an ESP32-S3 development board with built-in WiFi 4 and Bluetooth LE/Mesh connectivity, as well as NB-IoT, LTE-M, and GNSS support through a Sequans GM02SP 5G IoT modem that appears to be a variant of the Sequans Monarch 2 GM02S with GNSS support. Walter specifications: Wireless modules ESP32-S3-WROOM-1-N16R2 module ESP32-S3 dual-core LX7 microcontroller 2MB QSPI PSRAM 16MB QSPI flash 802.11 b/g/n WiFi 4 up to 150 Mbps with on-board antenna Bluetooth 5 LE up to 2Mbps, Bluetooth Mesh Sequans GM02SP modem LTE Cat M1 (LTE-M) and NB1/NB2 (NB-IoT) GNSS and assisted GNSS using GPS and Galileo constellations NanoSIM for cellular connectivity I/Os 2x 14-pin headers with up to 24x GPIO, UART, VIN, 3.3V, and GND 23x test points 3.3V I/O voltage Power Supply 5V (3.0 to 5.5V) DC via VIN pin 5V via USB Type-C port Dimensions – 55 x 24.8 mm Temperature Range – -40°C to +85°C […]
Banana Pi BPI-Pico-RP2040 – Raspberry Pi Pico replica gets USB-C port, I2C connector, and RGB LED
Banana Pi BPI-Pico-RP2040 is basically a clone of the original Raspberry Pi Pico, but with the addition of an RGB LED and a 4-pin I2C connector, and the company replaced the micro USB port with a Type-C connector. The rest of the board, also called Banana Pi Pico, is exactly the same up to the through holes and castellated holes for the I/Os, and has a similar form factor as the Banana Pi BPI-PicoW-S3 that adds WiFi and Bluetooth through the ESP32-S3 wireless microcontroller. Banana Pi BPI-Pico-RP2040 specifications: MCU – Raspberry Pi RP2040 dual-core Cortex-M0+ microcontroller @ up to 133 MHz with 264KB SRAM Storage – 2MB QSPI flash USB – 1x USB 1.1 Type-C port used for power and programming Expansion 2x 20-pin 2.54mm pitch header and castellated holes with 26 GPIOs, 3x 12-bit ADC up to 500 Kbps, 2x UART, 2x I2C, 2x SPI, 16x PWM, 2x programmable […]
M5Stack T-Lite Wi-Fi thermal camera integrates 1.14-inch color display
M5Stack T-Lite is a Wi-Fi thermal imager with the same MLX90640 IR array thermal camera found in the M5Stack Thermal Camera 2 Unit plus a 1.14-inch color display to visualize the results on the device itself. Based on the ESP32-PICO-D4 system-in-package with WiFi and Bluetooth, the solution allows the user to access the 32×24 pixels thermal image either on the built-in display, or streamed to the local network or the cloud. M5Stack T-Lite specifications: SiP – ESP32-PICO-D4 system-in-package with ESP32 dual-core Tensilica LX6 microcontroller with 448 KB ROM and 520 KB SRAM, 2.4 GHz WiFi 4 and Bluetooth 4.2, and a 4MB SPI flash Thermal camera – Melexis MLX90640 infrared (IR) sensor with 32×24 pixels IR array, range: -40°C to 300°C with +/-1.5°C resolution, FoV: 110°x75° (See datasheet) Display – 1.14 inch color TFT LCD with 240×135 resolution, ST7789v2 driver Expansion – 4-pin Grove HY2.0-4P interface (“Port A”) with I2C, […]
Merlot is an open-source hardware tricolor wireless E-paper display
paperd.ink Merlot is a tricolor E-paper display with an open-source hardware control board based on ESP32 wireless SoC that is programmable with Arduino, MicroPython, or the ESP-IDF framework. We first wrote about the paperd.ink 4.2-inch ESP32-based monochrome e-Paper display last year, but the company has now refined its design with the “paperd.ink Classic” replacing the 3D printed enclosure with a vacuum cast enclosure and adding a 1,900 mAh battery. They also launched a new model, the Merlot, based on the same design but with a display supporting three colors: black, white, and red. Merlot specifications: Wireless module – ESP32-WROOM-32 module with ESP32 dual-core processor, 4 MB SPI flash, 2.4 GHz WiFi 4 & Bluetooth LE connectivity Storage – MicroSD card slot for storing images, files, etc Display – 4.2″ tricolor e-Paper display with 400 x 300 resolution; full refresh: ~ 17 seconds; partial update: also 17 seconds… USB – 1x […]
Banana BPI-Bit-S2 BBC Micro:bit compatible board supports WiFi
Banana BPI-Bit-S2 is a board for the education market that’s compatible with the BBC Micro:bit V2, but offers WiFi connectivity instead of Bluetooth LE through an Espressif Systems ESP32-S2 wireless microcontroller. The BPI-Bit-S2 succeeds the earlier Banana Pi BPI-Bit with ESP32 WiFi & BLE microcontroller that was a closer match to the original BBC Micro:bit than the new ESP32-S2 board for which I see little benefit, except for the slightly lower price tag. Banana BPI-Bit-S2 specifications: Wireless MCU – Espressif Systems ESP32-S2FN4R2 single core LX7 microcontroller with 320 kB SRAM, 2MB PSRAM, 4MB flash, 2.4 GHz WiFi connectivity LEDs – 25x RGB LED matrix USB – 1x USB Type-C port for power and programming Sensors – 2x light sensors, 1x thermistor sensor Expansion – 3x I/O rings, 3V/GND rings, 20-pin edge connector (compatible with BBC Micro:bit V2 design) with up to 16x GPIO, I2C, SPI, 3.3V, and GND Misc – […]
ArduCam Mega – A 3MP or 5MP SPI camera for microcontrollers (Crowdfunding)
ArduCam Mega is a 3MP or 5MP camera specifically designed for microcontrollers with an SPI interface, and the SDK currently supports Arduino UNO and Mega2560 boards, ESP32/ESP8266 boards, Raspberry Pi Pico and other boards based on RP2040 MCU, BBC Micro:bit V2, as well as STM32 and MSP430 platform. Both cameras share many of the same specifications including their size, but the 3MP model is a fixed-focus camera, while the 5MP variant supports autofocus. Potential applications include assets monitoring, wildfire monitoring, remote meter reading, TinyML applications, and so on. ArduCam Mega specifications: Camera Type 3MP with fixed focus 5MP with auto-focus from 8cm to infinity Optical size – 1/4-inch Shutter type – Rolling Focal ratio 3MP – F2.8 5MP – F2.0 Still Resolutions 320×240, 640×480, 1280×720 x 1600 x1200x 1920 x 1080 3MP – 2048 x 1536 5MP – 2592×1944 Output formats – RGB, YUV, or JPEG Wake-up time 3MP – […]