automation News - Page 35 of 65 - CNX Software

July 27, 2020February 21, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

Sonoff Zigbee Bridge Now Supports Tasmota Firmware, Home Assistant, Zigbee2Tasmota

Sonoff Zigbee Bridge & Tasomota Home Assistant

Sonoff ZBBridge (aka Sonoff Zigbee Bridge) WiFi to Zigbee gateway was launched a few months ago for $16.90 plus shipping, and it’s now also listed on Banggood for $17.99 shipped. It allows users to control Zigbee devices connected to the gateway using the eWelink mobile app used with other Sonoff devices. But many people like to run Tasmota firmware on their Sonoff devices since it’s open-source and provided more flexibility such as integration with Home Assitant or Domoticz. There was already support for Zigbee in Tasmota at the time but only for Texas Instruments SimpleLink CC253x Zigbee MCU’s, and Sonoff ZBBridge is made of an ESP8266 WiSoC and a Silicon Labs EFR32MG21 Gecko Series 2 Cortex-M33 Zigbee microcontroller. So I just suspected that eventually, Sonoff Zigbee Bridge could support Tasmota open-source firmware but that would take some time… It took about four months. Not too bad. It started in the […]

June 29, 2020June 29, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

Aegis Secure WiFi Smart Deadbolt Works with Android/iOS Phones (Crowdfunding)

We previously wrote about smart lock systems that allow you to open your door with the help of your smartphone. Products covered including Xiaomi Sherlock M1 that only works with specific doors/locks, and K1 smart lock box that stores your keys in a rugged box meaning it works with all door mechanisms, but it does not seem particularly secure to me. BOSMA Aegis Bluetooth & WiFi smart deadbolt looks to potentially a more secure solution as it should work with any door, and complements your main lock which you may want to use when you are not at home for longer periods of time. Aegis smart deadbolt specifications: Connectivity – Built-in Bluetooth; WiFi via a WiFi connector shipped with Aegis Voice Assitant Integration – Google Home and Amazon Alexa Optional BOSMA Sentry smart doorbell with Storage – Up to 128GB via MicroSD card slot; cloud storage Video – 1080p video […]

June 7, 2020June 6, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 9 Comments

STM32 based Indoor Air Quality Sensor Connects to Raspberry Pi or Arduino (Crowdfunding)

Indoor Air Quality Sensor Raspberry Pi Arduino

Even before the COVID-19 lockdown, people spent most of their time indoors (around 90% according to some studies), so it’s important to monitor air quality and other metrics like light and sound levels in our homes, workplaces, schools, cars, etc… Metriful Sense indoor environment monitor does just that by reporting multiple metrics such as temperature, humidity, particle concentration, etc… over I2C to microcontroller or processor boards such as Arduino or Raspberry Pi. Sense hardware specifications: MCU – STMicro STM32G071KB Arm Cortex-M0+ microcontroller @ 64 MHz with 128 KB Flash, 36 KB SRAM Sensors Bosch Sensortec BME680 4-in-1 air quality sensor with relative humidity, barometric pressure, ambient temperature, and gas (VOC). Vishay VEML6030 ambient light sensor Knowles SPH0645LM4H-B MEMS microphone Optional – Shinyei PPD42 particle sensor unit I/Os – 10-pin unpopulated header with air particles sensor input, light and sound interrupt outputs, I2C, VPU pin for 3.3V/5V selection, GND, VDD, VIN […]

June 2, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 8 Comments

Sonoff SNZB Zigbee Sensors and Switches Launched for under $10

ITEAD had started to expand from WiFi and RF433 capable Sonoff home automation devices into Zigbee smart home solutions in recent months with the launch of products such as Sonoff ZBBridge WiFi to Zigbee gateway and a TI CC2531 based Zigbee USB dongle preloaded with firmware compatible with Zigbee2MQTT. But so far, they had only one Zigbee node, namely Sonoff BASICZBR3 Zigbee power switch. More options are now available with the launch of four Sonoff SNZB Zigbee sensors and switches working with the company’s ZBBridge. Key features of the four new Zigbee sensors & switches: SNZB-01 Zigbee wireless switch Touch button with single, double press and long press support Battery – 3V (CR2450) Dimension – 43x43x16mm SNZB-02 Zigbee temperature & humidity sensor Unnamed temperature and humidity sensor Battery – 3V (CR2450) Dimension – 43x43x14mm SNZB-03 Zigbee motion sensor Built-in PIR sensor with 6m range and 110°viewing angle. Battery – 3V […]

May 22, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Advantech Edge AI Computer and PoE NVR Feature NVIDIA Jetson Xavier NX SoM

Advantech NVIDIA-Jetson-Xavier NX Edge AI Computer

Following the launch of NVIDIA Jetson Xavier NX SoM last year, we noted several third-party carrier boards and embedded PCs had been announced, and we expected more to come soon. Advantech has now unveiled two systems based on NVIDIA latest module with respectively MIC-710AIX edge AI computer and MIC-710IVX NVR system equipped with eight PoE ports. MIC-710AIX edge AI computer Specifications: SoM – NVIDIA Jetson Xavier NX with 6-core NVIDIA Carmel ARM v8.2 64-bit CPU, 6MB L2 + 4MB L3 caches 384-core NVIDIA Volta GPU with 48 Tensor Cores 2x NVDLA deep learning accelerators System Memory – 8GB 128-bit LPDDR4x Storage – 16 GB eMMC 5.1 flash Storage – M.2 2280 Key-M socket for SSD; SD card socket Video Output – HDMI up to 3840×2160 @ 60 Hz Networking – 2x Gigabit Ethernet (RJ45) via Intel i210IT controller USB – 1x USB 3.0 host port, 1x USB 2.0 host port, […]

May 13, 2020May 13, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

BeagleBone Green Gateway SBC with Ethernet, WiFi, and Bluetooth Launched for $60

BeagleBone Green Gateway SBC was first unveiled last July as an update to BeagleBone Green Wireless board with Ethernet, and Octavo Systems OSD3358 SiP along with some smaller changes like support for 12V power supply and I2C RTC + battery. The board did however lose two USB 2.0 ports to make space for the Ethernet connector. The board was not quite available at the time, but the good news is that you can now buy BeagleBone Green Gateway for $59.99 on Seeed Studio. Specifications have remained the same as the ones provided for the initial announcement: SiP – Octavo Systems OSD3358 with Texas Instruments AM3358 Arm Cortex-A8 processor @ 1.0 GHz, 2×32-bit 200-MHz programmable real-time units (PRUs), 3D graphics accelerator, 512MB DDR3 SDRAM, 4KB EEPROM, and integrated power management Storage – 4GB 8-bit eMMC on-board flash storage (Kington) + microSD socket Connectivity 10/100Mbps Ethernet (RJ45) WiFi 802.11 b/g/n 2.4GHz + […]

May 7, 2020May 7, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

TQ Group Announces NXP i.MX 8X ARM Cortex-A35 Modules as the Processor Finally Becomes Available

TQ Group, headquartered in Germany, has launched two NXP i.MX 8X Cortex-A35 modules with TQMa8Xx and TQMa8XxS SoMs, with the latter being SMARC 2.1 compliant, and both targeting various applications ranging from medical devices, HMIs, industrial controllers and industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) to gateways, building automation, transport, and robotics. The press release explains NXP will officially launch i.MX 8X CPUs on May 14, 2020. We first heard about i.MX 8X in 2016, before an official announcement in 2017, and we wrote about Toradex i.MX 8X SoM in 2018, plus 96Boards AI-ML SBC in 2019, so I naively believed the processor had been around for a couple of years, but the Toradex SoM product is still shown as an “early product announcement” [Update: the page has just been updated since it is now shipping as well], and AI-ML board has just launched with 26 units available on Arrow website. Some […]

May 5, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

Sonoff 4CHR3 is a 4-gang Wi-Fi Smart Switch with optional RF433 Connectivity

ITEAD Studio introduced Sonoff 4CH 4-gang WiFi + RF switch in 2017 with a DIN rail enclosure, compatible with eWelink Android/iOS app, and offering three modes of operations selectable from physical switches on the unit: Self-locking mode – Each relay can be turn on and off independently. Interlock mode – Only one of the relay can be turned on at a given time. For example if R1 is on, and your press R2 to turn it on, R1 will automatically turn off Inching mode – A button press on the unit, mobile app, or RF/WiFi remote control will turn on the relay for X seconds as defined by K6 “delay” switch within a 0.5 to 3600 seconds range. The company has now launched the similar SONOFF 4CHR3 4-gang WiFi switch and 4CHPROR3 model that adds 433MHz connectivity, with the main difference again the previous generation being the ability to select […]