The Open Home Foundation adds HACS, microWakeWord, and Music Assistant open-source projects

Open Home Foundation adds HACS, microWakeWord, Music Assistant

HACS, microWakeWord, and Music Assistant projects have joined the Open Home Foundation launched a few months ago to manage open-source projects related to Home Assistant and Smart Home applications in general separating them from Nabu Casa’s commercial activities. Note the HACS, microWakeWord, and Music Assistant projects will not operate directly under the Open Home Foundation’s umbrella, but they are external projects that the foundation collaborates on since it believes those are projects worth investing in to further develop the Smart Home ecosystem. Let’s have a quick look at the three projects. Home Assistant Community Store (HACS) is the most used custom integration for Home Assistant and allows users to easily install custom integrations, cards, and themes. Music Assistant gives users control over their media players and audio files handling both local music collection and music streaming services so that users can play any tune anywhere in their house without restrictions. […]

Tuya Ivy smart flower pot monitors your plant’s inner feelings

Tuya Ivy Smart Flower Pot

No need to check the calendar, it’s not the first of April, and Tuya Ivy is indeed a smart WiFi-connected flower pot with a display that will report your plant’s thirst for water, need for more light, and even loneliness… Developed by PlantsIO, the Ivy smart flower pot is powered by an ESP32 wireless microcontroller connected to seven sensors including lighting and moisture sensors, and a display to show various faces. There’s also a USB-C port for power, a microSD card slot for data storage, some buttons, and a touch bar for user interaction. Tuya Ivy specifications: Wireless module – ESP32-WROVER-E SoC – ESP32 dual-core LX6 processor running at 240 MHz with 520KiB internal RAM Memory – 64 Mbit PSRAM (ESP PSRAM64H) Storage – 64Mbit SPI flash (XMC 25QH64CH10) Wireless – 2.4 GHz WiFi and Bluetooth 5.x (Only WiFi appears to be use) Storage – microSD card Display – Tri-color […]

LILYGO T-ETH-ELite ESP32-S3 Ethernet PoE board supports stackable LoRaWAN and Cellular expansion modules

LILYGO T-ETH Elite ESP32-S3 Ethernet board LoRaWAN mPCIE cellular expansion

LILYGO T-ETH-Elite is an ESP32-S3-powered IoT board with an Ethernet RJ45 port supporting PoE and a 40-pin GPIO header for stackable shields that offer support for LoRaWAN, 2G, NB-IoT, or/and 4G LTE cellular connectivity. The ESP32-S3 board allows users to build gateways with Ethernet, WiFi, Bluetooth, GNSS, LoRaWAN, and Cellular (2G, NB-IoT, 4G LTE) connectivity, and they can easily switch cellular modules to match specific requirements. LILYGO T-ETH-Elite specifications: Wireless module – Espressif ESP32-S3-WROOM-1 MCU – ESP32-S3R8 dual-core Tensilica LX7 up to 240 MHz with 512KB SRAM, up to 8MB PSRAM Storage – 16MB flash Connectivity – WiFi 4 and Bluetooth LE 5 PCB antenna Storage – MicroSD card slot Networking – 10/100Mbps Ethernet RJ45 port via W5500 SPI to Ethernet chip USB – USB Type-C port for power and programming Expansion – 40-pin (mostly) Raspberry Pi-compatible GPIO header for shields (up to 23x GPIO, USB 2.0, UART, 5V, 3.3V, […]

TinyWatch S3 is an open-source, customizable smartwatch powered by ESP32-S3 SoC

tinywatch s3

The TinyWatch S3 is an ESP32-S3 development board in a smartwatch form factor from Seon Rozenblum, also known as Unexpected Maker. It is powered by the ESP32-S3 wireless microcontroller with 8MB quad SPI flash storage and 2MB of additional QSPI PSRAM. It features a 240 x 280 LCD with capacitive touch (via a CST816T module) and several onboard sensors including a 6-axis inertial measurement unit, a magnetometer, and a MEMS microphone. It has a USB-C port for power, programming, and charging a connected LiPo battery (250mAh or 500mAh). While the product’s firmware is still in active development, it is usable as a watch and even a daily driver. The TinyWatch S3 is described as a “wrist-wearable ESP32-S3 development board” but lacks pin headers and is not breadboard compatible. The hardware is open-source but the product is mostly useful for firmware development, testing, and other general projects. The firmware is being […]

LILYGO T-Halow is an ESP32-S3 board with long-range WiFi HaLow, OV2640/OV5640 camera support

ESP32-S3 WiFi HaLow board

LILYGO T-Halow is an ESP32-S3 board equipped with a WiFi HaLow module with up to 1.2km range, a connector compatible with OV2640 and OV5640 camera modules, and an 18650 battery holder for power, as well as several GPIOs for expansion. We first wrote about 802.11ah low-power long-range WiFi standard operating at 900 MHz in 2014, but adoption has been slow and we’ve seen a few 802.11ah (WiFi HaLow) chips from Newracom and Morse Micro over the years, as well as USB adapters, a Raspberry Pi HAT, a mini PCIe card, gateways, and some development boards. All those rely on a Linux host, but the LILYGO T-Halow features a TX-AH WiFI HaLow module from Taixin Semiconductor that’s controller by AT commands through an ESP32-S3 or a micro USB port. LILYGO T-Halow specifications: Wireless modules ESP32-S3-WROOM-1 wireless module SoC –  ESP32-S3 dual-core Tensilica LX7 microcontroller @ up to 240 MHz with 2.4 […]

LOLIN S3 Mini Pro – A tiny ESP32-S3 board with a 0.85-inch display and a multi-color PCB

LOLIN S3 Mini Pro multi-color PCB board

LOLIN S3 Mini Pro is a tiny ESP32-S3 WiFi and BLE board with a 0.85-inch display and it’s one of the first boards I’ve seen with a multi-color PCB that some PCB manufacturers have been offered recently. The board features an ESP32-S3FH4R2 microcontroller with 4MB flash and a 2MP PSRAM, a 128×128 TFT display, a 6-axis motion/attitude sensor, and GPIO headers that make it compatible with LOLIN D1 mini shields for expansion. LOLIN S3 Mini Pro specifications: SoC – Espressif Systems  ESP32-S3FH4R2 CPU – Dual-core Tensilica LX7 microcontroller @ up to 240 MHz Wireless – 2.4 GHz 802.11n WiFi 4 and Bluetooth 5.0 LE connectivity Memory – 2MB PSRAM Storage – 4MB SPI flash Display – 0.85-inch 128×128 LCD TFT display with GC9107/GC9A01 driver Sensor – 6-axis MEMS IMU/attitude sensor (QMI8658C) Expansion 2x 8-pin headers with up to 12x GPIO, ADC, DAC, I2C, SPI, UART, USB OTG; compatible with LOLIN […]

4.3-inch ESP32-S3 wireless touchscreen display features terminal block with RS485, CAN Bus, I2C, DIO

ESP32-S3 display RS485 CAN Bus terminal block

Waveshare “ESP32-S3-Touch-LCD-4.3B” is a capacitive touch display development board built around an ESP32-S3 SoC with RS485, CAN Bus, I2C, and isolated DIO interfaces provided through a terminal block. The devkit features a 4.3-inch capacitive touch display that has an 800×480 resolution, RTC, and a microSD card slot. Combined with a wide input voltage range of 7-36V DC, the ESP32-S3-Touch-LCD-4.3V is suitable for IoT HMI, smart home automation, and more. Previously we have written about similar development boards from Waveshare like the ESP32-S3 1.69-inch touch display, the $15 Waveshare 1.69-inch IPS touch LCD module, the Waveshare RP2040-LCD-0.99-B rounded display but they would offer no expansion pins or GPIO through pads or 4-pin connectors, while the ESP32-S3 display features a terminal block with additional interfaces like RS485 pr CAN Bus that should make wiring more convenient and versatile for the target applications. Waveshare ESP32-S3 touch LCD specifications: Wireless MCU – Espressif Systems ESP32-S3R8 […]

StackyFi ESP32-S3 board features camera connector, 40-pin GPIO header for Raspberry Pi HAT (Crowdfunding)

StackyFi ESP32-S3 Raspberry Pi Zero board

SB Components’ StackyFi is an ESP32-S3 WiFi and Bluetooth IoT board with a 40-pin GPIO header compatible with most Raspberry Pi HAT expansion boards and a camera connector for image capture to a microSD card or machine learning applications. The Raspberry Pi Zero-sized board also comes with two USB Type-C ports, one “native” and the other for serial debugging, an IMU sensor, an RGB LED, and Boot and Reset buttons. The board can be powered through one of the USB-C ports or a LiPo battery. It partially builds upon the earlier StackPi board with a Raspberry Pi RP2040 microcontroller. StackyFi specifications: Wireless module – ESP32-S3-WROOM-1 MCU – ESP32-S3 dual-core Tensilica LX7 up to 240 MHz with 512KB SRAM Memory – TBD PSRAM Storage – TBD flash Wireless – WiFi 4 and Bluetooth LE 5 PCB antenna Storage – MicroSD card Camera I/F – FPC connector that works with OV2640 camera […]

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