Arduino News - Page 6 of 116 - CNX Software

August 26, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

Flexduino is an Arduino UNO clone made of a flexible PCB

YouTuber “EDISON SCIENCE CORNER” has designed yet another Arduino UNO clone but with a twist as the board is made out of a flexible PCB. Companies like JLCPCB, PCBWay, and others have been offering flexible PCB manufacturing services for a while, mostly for flat cables or small boards that need to fit around a case, but the Flexduino is a complete Arduino UNO clone made of a flex PCB, and it looks rather cool. The flexible Arduino board does work as shown with the RGB LED and power LED in the photo above and YouTube video below, but its usefulness is rather limited, and some corners had to be cut as for instance there’s no ground plane. Nevertheless, it’s a nice demo of flexible PCB technology. The video on the EDISON SCIENCE CORNER channel provides a short demo, shows how the PCB was designed (EasyEDA), and go through the ordering […]

August 24, 2024August 25, 2024 by Tomisin Olujinmi - 5 Comments

ESP8266-powered Netgotchi network security scanner aims to protect your home network

The Netgotchi network security scanner is a simple, compact device based on an ESP8266 wireless microcontroller with a single goal: to defend your home network from intruders and potential bad actors. It is described as “Pwnagotchi’s older brother,” a network guardian that keeps your network safe instead of penetrating it. If you are unfamiliar with Pwnagotchi, it is an A2C-based (advantage actor-critic) “AI” that can penetrate Wi-Fi networks using WPA key material obtained from passive sniffing or de-authentication attacks. The Netgotchi is a reverse Pwnagotchi that alerts you to intruders or breaches in your network. It runs on a simple microcontroller and cannot employ reinforcement learning like the Pwnagotchi. Rather, it pings the network periodically and reports any new potential security threats. The device’s design is as simple as its purpose. It is an ESP8266 microcontroller connected to an OLED display and running an Arduino .ino script, enclosed in a […]

August 23, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Arduino Core for ESP32 gets a Zigbee wrapper library

Some of the newer Espressif Systems wireless SoCs such as the ESP32-H2 and ESP32-C6 support Zigbee through their built-in 802.15.4 radio. It’s been working since the release of the ESP-IDF 5.1 framework along with the ESP-Zigbee-SDK for a while, but Arduino support was less straightforward. But this is about to change as an Espressif engineer nicknamed P-R-O-C-H-Y has recently added a Zigbee wrapper library for the ESP-Zigbee-SDK to Arduino Core for ESP32 that works with ESP32-C6 and ESP32-H2 as standalone nodes and other SoC can be used as radio co-processor attached to an RPC (802.15.4 radio layer). The wrapper library currently supports the following: Zigbee classes and all Zigbee roles Zigbee network scanning Allow multiple endpoints on the same Zigbee device (not tested yet) Supported Home Assistant devices On/off light + switch Color Dimmable light + switch Setting Manufacturer and model name Other tasks currently planned include supporting “Temperature sensor […]

August 21, 2024 by Debashis Das - No Comments

Infineon AIROC CYW20829 Bluetooth LE 5.4 MCU and module family targets industrial, consumer, and automotive applications

Infineon AIROC CYW20829 Bluetooth Low Energy 5.4 microcontrollers

Infineon has recently released the AIROC CYW20829 Bluetooth LE (Low Energy) 5.4 family which now includes SoCs and modules. These SoCs include two Cortex-M33 MCU cores: one 48 or 96 MHz application core for the peripherals, security, and system resources, and one communication core for the 2.4 GHz RF transceiver with up to 10 dBm transmit power and -98 dBm receive sensitivity. This high integration reduces bill-of-material (BOM) costs for a wide variety of applications, including PC accessories, low-energy audio, wearables, solar micro inverters, asset trackers, home automation, and others. Back in 2021, we saw Infineon release the AIROC CYW5557x family of Wi-Fi 6/6E SoCs for IoT and streaming devices with features like enhanced range and improved network efficiency. More recently, Infineon announced the PSOC Edge E81, E83, and E84 MCU based on Cortex-M55/M33 microcontrollers. Feel free to check those out if you are looking for Infineon-specific MCUs. Infineon AIROC […]

August 20, 2024September 2, 2024 by Sayantan Nandy - No Comments

XIAO RA4M1 stamp-sized Renesas RA4M1 USB-C board features 14-bit ADC, 12-bit DAC, CAN Bus interfaces

Seeed Studio has added yet another member to their XIAO board family with the XIAO RA4M1 powered by Renesas’ RA4M1 32-bit Arm Cortex-M4 MCU. This compact board includes 256KB Flash, 32KB SRAM, a 14-bit A/D converter, a 12-bit D/A converter, a CAN bus interface, and onboard charging circuitry. It’s designed for low-power, battery-powered applications. The company started the XIAO family with the Seeeduino XIAO (Microchip SAMD21G18) in 2020, and since then they’ve made several other variants with different processors including the XIAO RP2350, XIAO RP2040, XIAO ESP32C3, XIAO ESP32S3, XIAO ESP32C6, and the nRF52840-based XIAO BLE. Feel free to check them out if you are interested in these boards. XIAO RA4M1 specifications: Microcontroller – Renesas RA4M1 (R7FA4M1AB3CFM) as found in Arduino UNO R4 CPU – Arm Cortex-M4F operating at up to 48 MHz Memory – 32KB SRAM Storage 256 KB code flash memory 8 KB data flash memory USB – 1x […]

August 13, 2024August 13, 2024 by Debashis Das - 3 Comments

LILYGO T-TWR REV2.1 is an ESP32 walkie-talkie board with display, GNSS, and SA868 module

LILYGO has recently introduced an updated version of their T-TWR ESP32 walkie-talkie development board, the T-TWR REV2.1. This new board not only features Wi-Fi and Bluetooth but also has a GPS module for added functionality. Additionally, it has a new RF front-end matching circuit that can be configured to work with both VHF and UHF frequencies. The board is very versatile and can be programmed with Arduino IDE for various applications. The main difference between the older T-TWR and the newer T-TWR REV2.1 is that the new module has better power management with the AXP2102 single-cell Li-battery PWM charger, allowing it to use USB, a 21700 battery, or an 18650 battery, while the original T-TWR only supports USB and an 18650 battery. The new version also includes a GNSS module along with a microphone-switching matrix and a speaker-switching matrix for better sound quality. Additionally, the REV2.1 has the Push-To-Talk button […]

August 12, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

LILYGO T-QTC6 – An ESP32-C6 IoT controller with a 0.85-inch touchscreen LCD

LILYGO T-QTC6 is a cute little IoT controller based on an ESP32-C6 WiFi 6, Bluetooth 5.4 LE, and 802.15.4 wireless microcontroller and a 0.85-inch touchscreen color LCD that can be powered via USB-C or a LiPo battery with the board also supporting charging. The device, sometimes called “T-QT C6” (with a space), also comes with an 8-pin female connector with five GPIOs and a Qwiic connector for UART modules. It’s another addition to the T-QT family with ESP32 wireless microcontrollers and a tiny 0.85-inch display such as the T-QT Pro or the T-QT V1.1. But note that those are development boards, while the T-QTC6 feels more like a complete device. LILYGO T-QTC6 specifications: Wireless Module – Espressif Systems ESP32-C6-MINI-1U SoC – ESP32-C6-FH4 32-bit RISC-V microprocessor up to 160 MHz with 320KB ROM, 512KB HP SRAM, 16KB LP SRAM, 4MB flash Memory – 4MB PSRAM (TBC) Wireless 2.4 GHz WiFi 6 […]

August 12, 2024August 19, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 15 Comments

Challenger+ RP2350 WiFi6/BLE5 board combines Raspberry Pi RP2350 MCU with ESP32-C6 WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.4 LE module

Raspberry Pi RP2350 board ESP32-C6 WiFi module

You don’t need to wait for the Raspberry Pi Pico 2 W to get a Raspberry Pi RP2350 board with WiFi and Bluetooth thanks to the Challenger+ RP2350 WiFi6/BLE5 board that combines an RP2350A microcontroller with an ESP32-C6 module offering 2.4 GHz WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.4 LE connectivity. The board follows the Adafruit Feather form factor with 28-pin through holes for I/Os making it compatible with FeatherWings add-on boards. It comes with a USB-C port for power and programming, and a JST connector plus a charging circuit for people wanting to connect a LiPo battery. Challenger+ RP2350 WiFi6/BLE5 specifications: Microcontroller – Raspberry Pi RP2350A MCU CPU Dual-core Arm Cortex-M33 processor @ 150MHz Dual-core 32-bit RISC-V processor @ 150MHz Only two cores can be used at a given time Memory – 520KB internal RAM 8KB OTP Storage Package – QFN-60; 7×7 mm Memory – 8MB PSRAM Storage – 8MB SPI […]