WIZnet has recently launched two new Raspberry Pi RP2350-based Ethernet boards – W5100S-EVB-Pico2 and W5500-EVB-Pico2 – based on different Ethernet controllers. The entry-level W5100S-EVB-Pico2 is built around the W5100S controller that features 4 independent sockets and 16 Kbytes of buffer memory. On the other hand, the W5500-EVB-Pico2 is built around the W5500, which features 8 sockets, 32 Kbytes of buffer memory, and improved security features such as OTP memory, Secure Boot, and Arm TrustZone technology. These make the W5500-EVB-Pico2 ideal for projects with robust network handling and advanced security measures. After the recent announcement of the $5 Raspberry Pi Pico 2 we have seen many development boards built around the RP2350 MCU, including the Challenger+ RP2350 WiFi6/BLE5, the Solder Party’s RP2350 Stamp, the Seeed Studio XIAO RP2350, the Cytron MOTION 2350 Pro, and more. Feel free to check those out If you are interested in RP2350-based dev boards. W5100S-EVB-Pico2 and […]
The Epi C3 is a tiny ESP32-C3 development board with USB-C and an onboard antenna
The Epi C3 is a small development board based on the Espressif ESP32-C3 microcontroller with a USB-C connector for power and programming and an onboard ceramic antenna for wireless applications. We have previously covered several tiny ESP32-C3 development boards such as the Microflex series, ESP32-C3-0.42LCD, the XIAO ESP32C3, and LOLIN’s C3 Mini and C3 Pico. The Epi C3 claims the title of the “smallest ESP32 dev board with USB-C and an onboard antenna.” It uses a Johanson ceramic antenna with a “surprising range for its size” and the USB-C port is sunk into the board to reduce footprint. The ESP32-C3 microcontroller on the Epi C3 board is much more powerful than the 8-bit AVR chip on its predecessor, the Epi 32U4. The Epi C3, however, retains many of the older board’s protective features, including TVS diodes on the USB data lines and power input, a 500mA on the USB power […]
Banana Pi BPI-CM5 Pro – A Rockchip RK3576-powered Raspberry Pi CM4 alternative with up to 16GB RAM, 128GB flash, a 6 TOPS NPU
Banana Pi BPI-CM5 Pro, also called ArmSoM-CM5, is a Rockchip RK3576 system-on-module electrically and mechanically compatible with the Raspberry Pi CM4 while offering up to 16GB LPDDR5 memory, 128GB eMMC flash, and a 6 TOPS AI accelerator embedded into the RK3576 SoC. It comes with a WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.3 wireless module, a PMIC for power management, and two 100-pin connectors mostly compatible with the pinout of the Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4. ArmSoM also provides a CM5-IO carrier board to make use of the extra USB 3.0 and PCIe interfaces, and the company told CNX Software they tested the module successfully with the official Raspberry Pi CM4 IO board. Banana Pi BPI-CM5 Pro specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3576 CPU – 4x Cortex-A72 cores at 2.2GHz, 4x Cortex-A53 cores at 1.8GHz GPU – Arm Mali-G52 MC3 GPU with support for OpenGL ES 1.1, 2.0, and 3.2, OpenCL up to 2.0, […]
Android 15 runs on Linaro development boards based on Qualcomm and HiSilicon chips
Android 15 source code was just pushed to AOSP last week, and Linaro has already ported it to four reference development boards based on Qualcomm and HiSilicon/Huawei chips namely Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 devboard (SM8550-HDK), Qualcomm Robotics Board RB5, Qualcomm Dragonboard 845c (DB845c, aka RB3) and HiSilicon Hikey960. Recent Google Pixel phones can already get Android 15 beta, but that makes the aforementioned development boards some of the first hardware platforms running Android 15 which could be useful to app developers and people wanting to customize Android 15 OS for their target product(s). Android 15 worked on the same day as the release to AOSP thanks to a collaboration between Linaro and Google to make sure reference boards get support as soon as possible, and in this case, we had a “0-day boot” as Linaro puts it. This collaboration started in 2022 with Qualcomm Robotics RB3 and RB5 platforms getting […]
LicheePi 3A – A SpacemIT K1 RISC-V development board with SoM and carrier board
Sipeed LicheePi 3A is a development board comprised of the LM3A system-on-module based on SpacemIT K1 octa-core RISC-V SoC and the same baseboard as found in the earlier LicheePi 4A equipped with a T-Head TH1520 quad-core RISC-V “LM4A” system-on-module instead. The LicheePi 3A is currently offered with a 32GB eMMC flash and 8GB or 16GB LPDDR4x memory. The carrier board provides a microSD card, two M.2 PCIe sockets for storage or other expansion, two gigabit Ethernet ports, a WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2 module, HDMI and MIPI DSI display interfaces, two MIPI CSI camera interfaces, four USB 3.0 ports, and a 20-pin GPIO header for expansion. Sipeed LicheePi 3A specifications: Sipeed LM3A SoM SoC – SpacemiT K1 CPU – 8-core X60 RISC-V processor @ 1.6 GHz GPU – Imagination IMG BXE-2-32 with support for OpenGL ES3.2, Vulkan 1.2, OpenCL 3.0; 20 GFLOPS VPU – H.265 and H.264 1080p60 decoding/encoding NPU […]
WeAct RA4M1 – A small board with plenty of GPIOs that’s software-compatible with the Arduino UNO R4
Last week, we covered the Maker Go RA4M1-R4 development board, an inexpensive “clone” of the Arduino UNO R4 Minima with some small modifications like support for up to 50V DC input and a 3.3V/5V switch for I/Os. But today, I’ve come across a smaller and cheaper Renesas RA4M1 board that’s also software compatible with the Arduino UNO R4. Meet the WeAct RA4M1. The WeAct RA4M1 is mostly a breakout board for the Renesas R7FA4M1AB3CFM Arm Cortex-M4F microcontroller with two 30-pin GPIO headers, a USB-C port for power and programming, and three buttons. It offers a middle ground between the Arduino UNO R4 Minima and the tiny XIAO RA4M1 USB-C board. WeAct RA4M1 specifications: Microcontroller – Renesas RA4M1 Arm Cortex-M4F MCU @ 48 MHz with 32KB SRAM, 256KB flash USB – 1x USB Type-C port for power and programming Expansion 2x 30-pin headers with GPIO, VIN, VCC, GND 3.3V or 5V […]
Edgeberry allows you to build and manage Raspberry Pi IoT Edge devices
The EdgeBerry is an open-source platform that comprises a base board, hardware cartridges, and software for building Raspberry Pi IoT Edge solutions designed by Belgium-based maker, Sanne Santens. The Edgeberry Base Board is the primary printed circuit board that connects all the other components to the Raspberry Pi. While it is not a HAT (Hardware Attached on Top), it plugs into the GPIO header on the Pi and provides certain interfaces and features that make it easier to use your Raspberry Pi as an IoT Edge device and deploy it in the real world. Unused GPIO pins are exposed on the expansion slot for Edgeberry Hardware Cartridges. Edgeberry Base Board specifications: 40-pin GPIO connector for interfacing with the Raspberry Pi Expansion slot for connecting Edgeberry Hardware Cartridges Misc – Buzzer, Bi-color LED, Button 3A step-down converter 12V DC power jack A unique advantage of the Edgeberry platform is the ability […]
Maker Go RA4M1-R4 core board is a cheap Arduino UNO R4 Minima clone taking up to 50V DC input
The Maker Go RA4M1-R4 core board is another Arduino UNO R4 Minima clone but offered at a price point much lower than the original and the Waveshare R7FA4 Plus A (another clone) since it shows up for only $0.99 on AliExpress with free shipping. Note that the ultra-low price is because of a “Welcome deal” on AliExpress, and the regular price is $7.76, so not everyone may get it for $1. About $8 is still cheap compared to the $20 (18 Euros) asked for the official Arduino UNO R4 Minima board. Let’s look at the clone in more detail to find out if they’ve made any changes to the board. Maker Go RA4M1-R4 core board specifications: Microcontroller – Renesas RA4M1 Arm Cortex-M4F MCU @ 48 MHz with 32KB SRAM, 256KB flash USB – 1 x USB Type-C port for power and programming Expansions – Arduino UNO female + male headers […]