The LANA-TNY is a compact development board created by Phyx and built around the CH32V203 RISC-V microcontroller. It offers a low-cost solution for embedded development and features a built-in USB bootloader, eliminating the need for an external programmer to flash the firmware. With a USB-C connector and a minimalist design, the board provides essential components to start development quickly. At its core, the Phyx LANA-TNY is powered by the CH32V203G6U6, a 32-bit RISC-V microcontroller from WCH Electronics, capable of running up to 144MHz with 1-cycle multiply/divide operations. It includes 10KB of SRAM, 32KB of single-cycle Flash, and 224KB of additional external flash for program or data storage, though the external memory operates at a slower speed. The CH32V203 microcontroller supports a range of peripherals, including ADC, timers, USB devices, UART, I2C, and SPI, making it suitable for a wide variety of embedded applications. Designed in the style of Adafruit’s QT […]
Radxa X4 review – An Intel N100 alternative to Raspberry Pi 5 tested with Ubuntu 24.04
We already looked at the Radxa X4 kit featuring an Intel N100 SBC with a design similar to the Raspberry Pi 5 and accessories including a Radxa Power PD 30W power adapter, an NVMe SSD, and a USB-C to USB-C cable, in the first part of the review, before installing Ubuntu 24.04 on the board.
In the second part of the review, we will test Ubuntu 24.04 in more detail with some benchmarks and power consumption measurements to show how well it works (or not) compared to a Raspberry Pi 5. We will also test the 40-pin GPIO header on the Radxa X4 controlled through a Raspberry Pi RP2040 microcontroller.
Arduino releases a power management library for Arduino Pro modules to optimize power consumption
Arduino has released a new power management library designed for Arduino Pro modules to help users monitor battery usage, fine-tune charging parameters, and optimize the power consumption of their Arduino code by notably enabling sleep and standby modes on supported devices. Currently, the Arduino Portenta H7 boards, the Arduino Portenta C33, and the Nicla Vision module are supported by the new power management library. The company explains some boards consume under 100 microamperes in deep sleep mode enabling months or even years of continuous runtime on a single charge, so making use of those features is important to lower the power consumption of battery-powered IoT devices and wearables. Arduino power management library key features: Battery monitoring – Reports battery metrics such as voltage, current, percentage, and temperature. Battery health tracking – Monitors battery health with detailed insights into temperature and reported capacity. Charging control – Monitors and adjusts charging parameters […]
Adafruit Feather RP2350 board with HSTX port enables video output and display interfaces
“Adafruit Feather RP2350 with HSTX port” is a Raspberry Pi RP2350 MCU development board that features an onboard 22-pin high-speed serial transmit interface (HSTX) port. The board also features a built-in 200mA+ LiPo charger, an RGB LED, a STEMMA QT connector, and a USB Type-C port for power and programming. The board is compatible with FeatherWings and supports development with various programming languages. These features make this board suitable for a wide range of applications, from embedded projects and IoT devices to educational purposes and prototyping. Previously we have covered a variety of RP2350-powered development boards, including the MOTION 2350 Pro, designed for robotics and motor control; the Solder Party’s RP2350 Stamp, ideal for space-constrained applications; and the WIZnet Raspberry Pi RP2350 boards designed for IoT and internet-connected applications. Feel free to check those out if you want to take a look at some of the unique development boards. Adafruit […]
ESP32-C6 WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.0 USB-C development board integrates 1.47-inch TFT LCD Display
Waveshare has introduced the ESP32-C6-LCD-1.47 development board powered by an ESP32-C6 RISC-V microcontroller with WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5 connectivity and equipped with a 1.47-inch display with a 172×320 resolution. With a 4MB flash, an RGB LED, and a microSD card slot for extra storage, this board is suitable for projects that need a compact display, low power consumption, and wireless connectivity such as AIoT applications and human-machine interfaces (HMI). Earlier this month, we covered the ESP32-S3 USB dongle, another development board from Waveshare designed for HMI applications with the same 1.47-inch display with a 172×320 resolution, but a USB Type-A port instead of the USB-C port found in the model covered today. In the past, we’ve written about other ESP32-based development boards for HMI applications, including the LILYGO T-HMI, ESP32-S3-Touch-LCD-4.3B, and Waveshare’s ESP32-S3 LCD Driver Board supporting both square and round displays. Feel free to check them out if […]
Waveshare 4-inch E-ink Spectra 6 full-color e-paper display is designed for the Raspberry Pi
Waveshare recently launched the 4-inch e-Paper HAT+(E), a E-Ink Spectra 6 full-color e-paper module designed to work with the Raspberry Pi using the HAT+ standard. This 600×400 pixel display includes E-Ink Spectra 6 technology and doesn’t have a backlight. The Spectra 6 allows for high contrast and color saturation whereas no backlight means the display consumes very low power. The device communicates using SPI and is compatible with various controller boards like Raspberry Pi and Arduino. These features make this device useful for places like supermarkets, unmanned stores, shelf levels, hospital wards, and more. Waveshare has launched various e-paper displays in the past including the EINK-DISP-103 E-paper HDMI Display, the 4.2″ and 7.5″ Waveshare NFC-powered e-Paper display, and most interestingly the 7-Color e-Paper Display. Feel free to check those out if you are looking for high-quality displays. Waveshare 4-inch spectra 6 color e-paper display specification Display – E-Ink Spectra 6 […]
M5Stack ESP32-S3-Pico-based devkits: ATOMS3R with 0.85-inch color display, and ATOMS3R Cam with VGA camera
M5Stack ATOMS3R and ATOMS3R Cam are two tiny devkits based on ESP32-S3-Pico system-in-package and a similar design but the first one features a 0.85-inch color color IPS display, while the other is equipped with a GC0308 VGA camera. Both modules measure just 24x24mm with a thickness of around 13mm, integrate BMM150 and BMI270 motion sensors, offer GPIO expansion through female headers and a grove connector, and feature an infrared transmitter and a USB Type-C port for power and programming. Those are the second devkits based on the ESP32-S3-Pico SiP after we covered the tiny OMGS3 module earlier this week. M5Stack ATOMS3R with display ATOMS3R specifications: SiP – Espressif ESP32-S3-PICO-1-N8R8 SoC ESP32-S3 dual-core Tensilica LX7 up to 240 MHz with 512KB SRAM, 16 KB RTC SRAM Wireless – WiFi 4 and Bluetooth 5 LE + Mesh Memory – 8MB QSPI PSRAM Storage – 8MB QSPI flash Display – 0.85-inch color IPS screen […]
SparkFun’s $125 “Indoor Air Quality Combo Sensor” combines the SCD41 and SEN55 environmental sensors
SparkFun has released a new air quality multi-sensor board, the Indoor Air Quality Combo Sensor, which integrates the SCD41 and SEN55 sensors from Sensirion for measuring carbon dioxide, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), particulate matter, relative humidity, and temperature. The air quality multi-sensor board simplifies power management for the two sensors via onboard DC voltage conversion and allows a single Qwiic connection for power and communication. It features two Qwiic connectors and a 0.1”-space through-hole header for I2C and power. The board is not a complete solution for indoor air quality monitoring. It has to be connected to a Qwiic-enabled microcontroller such as SparkFun Thing Plus Matter, DataLogger IoT, and the ESP32 Qwiic Pro Mini. Users can install the required Arduino libraries — the Arduino Core library, Sensirion I2C SEN5x, and SparkFun SCD4x — either via the Arduino library manager or directly from SparkFun. The device is open-source, with hardware files, […]