Would it be good to have an all-in-one Windows platform used to both develop Arduino code and run that code to control I/O of your project? Or alternatively, have a single board computer capable of video processing and real-time I/Os? That platform already exists. UDOO X86 II SBC features an Intel Braswell processor combined with an Arduino Leonardo compatible Microchip ATmega32U4 MCU. But there’s now another, more powerful option courtesy of Seeed Studio with the oddly named ODYSSEY-X86J4105800 SBC equipped with an Intel Celeron J4105 quad-core Gemini Lake processor to run Windows 10 or Linux distributions, and a Microchip SAMD21 ARM Cortex-M0+ microcontroller compatible with Arduino Zero. ODYSSEY-X86J4105800 SBC specifications: SoC – Intel Celeron J4105 quad-core processor @ 1.5/2.5 GHz (Turbo) with 12EU Intel UHD Graphics 600 @ 250-750 MHz; 10W TDP System Memory – 8GB LPDDR4 RAM Storage Optional 64GB eMMC flash (fitted to ODYSSEY-X86J4105864 model), 1x SATA III data […]
PX-HER0 ARM Cortex-M0 Development Board and Ecosystem is for Beginners and Veterans (Crowdfunding)
PX-HER0 ARM Cortex Development Board and Ecosystem Piconomix is offering an embedded Arm Cortex-M0 development board that is aimed at the education, beginner maker, and enthusiast crowd. The PX-HER0 is a development board with an ecosystem of sourcing materials for learning the entire ARM structure through an open-source C library and full documentation. The Basics of the Board The PX-HER0 is a low-power board, running an STM32 MCU with an Arm Cortex-M0 core. There is an LCD Display, that is viewable even in direct sunlight, and the entire package is lightweight and very functional. Mass Storage To activate the bootloader, a double-tap of the RESET button, and the mass storage drive HERO-BOOT appears in the host computer. Drag and Drop are active and the UF2 file can be dragged right to the drive. The Ecosystem The ecosystem for the PX-HER0 is backed by an extensive C Library and documentation […]
Google Summer of Code 2020 Mentoring Organizations Announced
Every year Google organizes the Summer of Code inviting students to work on open-source projects and even get paid for it. The company first select mentoring organizations, before accepting applications from students. Google has now announced the 200 organizations/projects that have been selected for Summer of Code 2020. Many projects are higher-level software development such as web development or desktop programs development but there are also projects closer to the hardware-side of things with operating systems and multimedia projects. Some interesting organization and/or projects part of the audio / graphics / video / multimedia category include: apertus Association developing AXIOM open-source hardware camera FFmpeg multimedia framework to decode, encode, transcode, de/mux, stream, filter & play audio and video stream found in many projects OpenCV Open Source Computer Vision Library for computer vision and deep learning applications. XOrg foundation for X Window System and related projects such as Mesa, DRI, Wayland, […]
GetWired Aims to Make RS-485 Wired Home Automation Affordable and User-friendly (Crowdfunding)
You may think about installing a home automation system, and WiFi may appear like the obvious way to go since it removes the need for cumbersome cabling, but wired networks are more reliable and secure, and there’s no need for batteries to be recharged or replaced. However, such wired home automation systems may be difficult to install and are often expensive, so Domatic decided to work on a solution to lower the costs and improve the ease of installation and use. Meet GetWired RS-485 wired home automation solution. Getwired is comprised of four modules communicating over the standard RS-485 protocol: MCU Module based on Microchip ATMEGA328PB MCU @ 8 MHz with 64KB SPI flash, an RS-485 transceiver, a 12-pin interface for connecting shields and 6 different Molex connectors for I/O including PWM, analog, interrupt pins, as well as I²C and 1-wire interfaces – Dimensions: 40 x 25 mm 2SSR Shield […]
Arduino Education Unveils Four New STEAM Kits for Pupils and Students
We briefly mentioned the Bett Show 2020 in an article about a Snapdragon 7c laptop for education that Microsoft will showcase at the event, but Arduino Education is also present and introduced four new educational kits for pupils and students at different stages of their curriculum. Education Starter Kit – Age: 11+ This kit is for secondary school pupils with no prior experience with electronics or programming. It comes with Arduino boards, breadboard, a multimeter, and other accessories to get started. The kit also includes teacher guides and lessons to wire projects and start programming. IoT Starter Kit – Age: 14+ The IoT starter kit (no photo provided) requires some basic knowledge and targets advanced secondary school and university students who want to learn about the Internet of Things with the kits including various sensors and step-by-step tutorials for ten different projects to help students get introduced to automation, logging, […]
Piksey Atto is a Tiny Arduino Compatible Board with Castellated Holes (Crowdfunding)
Atto is a unit prefix in the metric system denoting a factor of 10−18, so it’s unsurprising that at least one company, namely Nionics, made a small Arduino compatible board called Atto. But somebody must have forgotten to do a web search, as BitsNBlobs Electronics created their own tiny Arduino compatible board, also named “(Piksey) Atto“, and based on the same Microchip ATmega32U4 8-bit AVR MCU. But there are some important differences as we’ll see below. Piksey Atto specifications: MCU – Microchip ATmega32U4 8-bit AVR microcontroller @ 16 MHz with 32KB flash, 2.5KB SRAM, 1KB EEPROM Expansion – 18x castellated through holes for 11 digital I/Os, 4x PWM, and 4x analog inputs, USART/SPI/I2C USB – Micro USB port for power and programming Power Supply – 5V via micro USB port Dimensions – 20.32 x 12.7mm Weight – 1.3 grams Piksey Atto is about twice the size and weight of Nionics […]
Seeeduino XIAO is a Tiny Arduino Zero Compatible Board with Battery Support
Seeeduino XIAO is the smallest Arduino compatible board from SeeedStudio’s Seeduino family. Measuring just 23.5×17.5 mm, the board is equipped with Microchip SAMD21 Arm Cortex-M0+ microcontroller and exposes various digital and analog I/Os. Seeduino XIAO specifications: MCU – Microchip SAMD21G18 ARM Cortex-M0+ microcontroller at up to 48MHz with 256KB Flash,32KB SRAM USB – 1x USB type C port for power and programming Expansion I/Os 2x 7-pin headers with 11x analog inputs, 11x digital I/Os, 1x DAC, SPI, UART, and I2C 3.3V I/O voltage (not 5V tolerant) Misc – 1x user LED, power LED, 2x LEDs for serial port downloading, Reset pads, SWD pads, 32.768KHz crystal oscillator Power Supply – 5V via USB-C power, power pads (VIN/GND) for battery Dimensions – 23.5×17.5×3.5 mm All main components are placed under a shield, but there may be some charger chip (nope: see comments) as the company explains the board supports batteries via the […]
Arduino Portenta H7 STM32H7 Cortex- M7/M4 Industrial Board Runs Arduino Code, Python and JavaScript
Arduino is now at CES 2020 promoting its Arduino Pro all-in-all IoT solution for professionals with the Arduino Pro IDE, Arm Pelion IoT platform for device management, and a new Portenta industry-grade board family starting with Arduino Portenta H7 board powered by STMicro STM32H7 dual-core Arm Cortex-M7/M4 microcontroller. Arduino Portenta H7 Specifications: Microcontroller – STMicro STM32H747XI Cortex-M7 @ 480 MHz + M4 @ 200 MHz MCU with 2MB dual-bank Flash memory, 1 MB RAM, Chrom-ART graphical hardware accelerator System Memory – 2MB SDRAM (upgradeable up to 64MB) Storage – 16MB QSPI NOR Flash (Upgradeable up to 128MB) Connectivity 2.4GHz WiFi 802.11b/g/n up to 65 Mbps and Bluetooth 5.1 BR/EDR/LE via Murata 1DX module On-board 10/100M PHY Video I/F – MIPI DSI & 8-bit camera interfaces via 80-pin expansion connector, DisplayPort over USB-C port USB – 1x USB 2.0 Type-C port for power (PD), programming, and DisplayPort output I/Os Arduino MKR […]