automation News - Page 26 of 60 - CNX Software

March 17, 2021March 17, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

ClearCore – An Arduino compatible Industrial I/O and Motion Controller

Teknic, a US-based manufacturer of servo motion control components, has designed ClearCore, a Microchip SAME53 Arm Cortex-M4 based industrial I/O and motion controller that can be programmed with the Arduino IDE for quick prototyping, or Atmel Studio 7 with a more advanced C++ API for more complex projects. ClearCore offers four motion axes, 24-volt compatible analog and digital I/O, support for I/O expansion modules, as well as serial and/or Ethernet connectivity via RJ45 ports. Multiple ClearCore can also be daisy-chained for larger applications. ClearCore key features and specifications: MCU – Microchip SAME53 Arm Cortex-M4F microcontroller clocked at up to 120 MHz, with 512 KB flash, 192 KB of SRAM Storage – MicroSD card slot Connectivity 1x 10/100M Fast Ethernet RJ45 port Support for Xbee modules for wireless communication (WiFi, Bluetooth, ZigBee, DigiMesh, 802.15.4, etc.) I/Os 2x RJ45 serial ports for SPI or UART devices (5V output) 3-pin terminal blocks with […]

March 9, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

NXP i.MX 8M Plus 2.5-inch Pico-ITX SBC supports UIO40-Express expansion modules

With NXP i.MX 8M Plus AI processor nearing mass production, we’ve seen many companies introduce i.MX 8M Plus systems-on-module at Embedded World 2021. But as one would come to expect, there should also be single board computers based on the new processor, and Advantech has unveiled the RSB-3720 2.5-inch SBC (aka Pico-ITX SBC) compatible with the company’s UIO40-Express expansion boards. RSB-3720 specifications: SoC – NXP i.MX8M Plus dual or quad-core Arm Cortex-A53 processor up to 1.8GHz (1.6 GHz for industrial temperature range) with Cortex-M7 real-time core, Vivante GC7000UL 3D GPU, 1080p60 H.265/H.264/VP9 decoder, 1080p60 H.265/H.264 encoder, 2.3 TOP/s Neural Network Accelerator System Memory – 4GB or 6GB LPDDR4 4000MT/s Storage – 16 GB eMMC Flash for OS, 8 MB QSPI NOR Flash for board information, microSD socket Video Output – HDMI 2.0a up to 3840 x 2160 at 30Hz Single or dual-channel 24 Bit LVDS with backlight power, 5/12V, Max. […]

March 1, 2021March 1, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

3.5-inch Atom x6000E embedded SBC features 3x GbE, 2x SATA, 6x USB, and more

Several Elkhart Lake SBC’s integrate two Ethernet ports including Avalue ECM-EHL 3.5-inch SBC or Congatec Conga-PA7 Pico-ITX board with the former equipped with 2.5GbE and GbE ports, and the latter two GbE ports. But if your industrial project requires more Ethernet ports, iBase IB836 3.5-inch Atom x6000E embedded SBC offers three Gigabit Ethernet RJ45 ports, as well as two SATA ports, six USB interfaces, plus various display options, as well as M.2 and mPCIe expansion sockets. iBase IB836 specifications: Elkhart Lake SoC (one of the other) Intel Atom x6425E quad-core processor @ 1.8GHz/3.0GHz, with 1.5MB cache, Intel UHD graphics; 12W TDP Intel Atom x6413E quad-core processor @ 1.5GHz/3.0GHz, with 1.5MB cache, Intel UHD graphics; 9W TDP Intel Atom x6211E dual-core processor @ 1.2GHz/3.0GHz, with 1.5MB cache, Intel UHD graphics; 6W TDP System Memory – Up to 32GB via DDR4-3200 SO-DIMM, with IBECC support Storage – 2x SATA ports, 1x mSATA […]

February 17, 2021February 18, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

MaaXBoard Nano SBC targets audio and edge IoT with NXP i.MX 8M Nano SoC

Avnet has launched several Raspberry Pi-inspired MaaXBoard SBCs based on NXP i.MX processors through their Embest subsidiary starting in 2019 with MaaXBoard single board computer powered by an NXP i.MX 8M processor, and following by MaaxBoard Mini with NXP i.NX 8M Mini SoC in 2020. The latest model is MaaXBoard Nano SBC with an NXP i.MX 8M Nano quad-core Cortex-A53 processor best suited to audio and edge IoT applications. MaaxBoard Nano SBC specifications: SoC – NXP i.MX 8M Nano quad-core Arm Arm Cortex-A53 processor @ up to 1.5GHz with Cortex-M7F core @ 750MHz, 2D GPU, 3D GPU, but no video hardware decoding. System Memory -1GB DDR4 SDRAM Storage – 16GB eMMC flash, 256 Mbit QSPI Flash, MicroSD Slot Display Interface – MIPI DSI display Interface Audio – 3.5mm audio jack, 4x built-in microphones Camera I/F – MIPI CSI Camera Interface Networking – Gigabit Ethernet, 802.11 b/g/n/ac WiFi 5, Bluetooth 4.2/5 […]

February 12, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Commell LP-179 Pico-ITX motherboard ships with Intel Tiger Lake UP3 embedded processor

Intel first introduced Core i3/i5/i7 Tiger Lake UP3 processors with Intel Xe graphics in early September 2020, soon followed with embedded versions of Tiger Lake UP3 a couple of weeks later, and then Celeron 6305E, still for embedded & IoT applications, with support for features such as 2.5GbE and quad-display support. We’ve already seen some Tiger Lake UP3 motherboards with AAEON UP Xtreme i11 (122 x 120 mm) and IEI tKINO-ULT6 mini-ITX SBC, but if you’d like a more compact Tiger Lake solution, Commell LP-179 Pico-ITX motherboard may be an option with a choice of Core i7-1185G7E or Celeron 6305E processor. Commell LP-179 specifications: SoC (one or the other) Intel Core i7-1185G7E quad-core/octa-thread Tiger Lake UP3 embedded processor @ 1.8 GHz / 4.4 GHz (Turbo) with 12MB cache, 96EU Intel Iris Xe graphics; 12 to 28W TDP Intel Celeron 6305E dual-core Tiger Lake UP3 embedded processor @ 1.8 GHz (No […]

February 8, 2021February 8, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

ESP8266 board with 24-pin ATX connector drives RGB LED strips

“Adding Open Hardware to Open Software for a More Equitable IoT” talk at FOSDEM 2021 discussed the importance of open-source hardware and software for IoT devices, notably to avoid getting a brick after the cloud service is suddenly terminated. Adrian McEwen then specifically talked about his “My Baby’s Got LED” ESP8266 open-source hardware board powered by… a USB charger? nope. A battery? You’ve got to be kidding. Instead, the ESP8266 board is equipped with an ATX connector taking a standard power supply found in PC towers and desktops. But why? That’s because the board is designed to control a string of Neopixels/WS2812 RGB LED’s, and a 500W ATX power supply can power up to 500 lights. MCQN’s “My Baby’s Got LED” board specifications: Wireless module – ESP-WROOM-02 ESP8266 module with WiFi 4 connectivity LED strip connector – 4-pin terminal block Expansion – 2x 9-pin unpopulated 2.54mm pitch header for easy […]

January 29, 2021September 22, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 7 Comments

UniPi Gate RS485 Linux IoT Gateway features 600 MHz Rockchip RK3328 SoC

Based in the Czech Republic, UniPi Technology design and manufacture programmable logic controllers, gateways, sensors and systems for smart homes, building management systems, industry and automation projects. Their latest product is UniPi Gate G100/G110 Linux IoT gateway with Ethernet and RS485 interfaces. When the company contacted CNX Software about the gateway, they told us the system was based on a quad-core Cortex-A53 processor clocked at 600 MHz. Since we are not aware of such SoC, we asked, and UniPi told us it was Rockchip RK3328. That processor is normally clocked at 1.5 GHz, and it turns out the company purposely underclocked the processor to 600 MHz to extend the temperature range and reduce the heat emitted by the CPU. UniPi Gate G100 & G110 specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3328 quad-core Cortex-A53 processor @ 600 MHz System Memory – 512MB RAM Storage – 16GB eMMC flash, MicroSD card slot Networking – […]

January 23, 2021January 23, 2021 by Abhishek Jadhav - 12 Comments

DevEBox STM32H7 Development Boards are made for Factory Automation

When it comes to STMicroelectronics’ STM32H7 series, there are three product lines- Dual-core lines, Single-core lines, and Value lines. ARM Cortex-M7 based – STM32H7 MCU series is capable of delivering 1327 DMIPS/ 3224 CoreMark. These MCUs are designed for factory automation (HMI, process control, power management), connectivity & security (Alarm panel, Wireless Modules). To continue with the growth of the STM32H7 series, we have China-based MCUdev DevEBox’s STM32H7XX-M development boards taking a single-core line and a value line module. The two STM32H7XX-M development boards use STM32H743VIT6 and STM32H750VBT6 core modules. The STM32H743VIT6 comes from a single core line that offers ARM Cortex-M7 gets up to 2 Mbytes of dual-bank flash memory and 1 Mbytes of RAM. While the STM32H750VBT6 module from the value line is one of the cost-effective STM32H7 devices featuring 128 Kbytes of flash memory. STM32H7 Development Boards These boards from MCUdev measure approximately 40mm x 68mm in […]