kickstarter News - Page 19 of 48 - CNX Software

March 5, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 12 Comments

CloverPI Clusters Up to 4 Raspberry Pi Boards (Crowdfunding)

We’ve seen Raspberry Pi cluster boards before, and most of them either use Raspberry Pi Zero boards or Raspberry Pi Compute Modules. Some examples include Turing Pi Clusterboard for up to 7 RPi CM3 modules, Cluster HAT board taking up to 4 Pi Zero board, and Mininodes Raspberry Pi 3 COM Carrier Board. But some other solutions like Bitscope rely instead on full-sized Raspberry Pi 2/3/4 Model B boards. Another such option is IPTerra CloverPI board allowing up to 4 Raspberry Pi or compatible boards with 40-pin header to be clustered into a single unit powered by one power supply and connected via a 5-port Gigabit Ethernet switch. CloverPI is shown above without RPi boards. The mainboard includes four 40-pin headers, four 6-pin Ethernet headers for SBC’s, as well as one Gigabit Ethernet port, and one power jack. There’s also a board/card fitted in the middle of the latest version […]

February 5, 2020February 5, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Pi-oT MKR Module Enclosure Routes Raspberry Pi GPIO’s to Screw Terminals, includes a Breadboard (Crowdfunding)

Last summer Pi-oT introduced a Raspberry Pi add-on board of the same name targeting commercial & industrial IoT automation. The project was launched on Kickstarter and backers should have received their rewards. The DIN-rail enclosure included with the RPi HAT was popular, so they decided to work on a Pi-OT MKR module enclosure with a similar form factor but instead of using screw terminals for ADC input and relays, they routed some of Raspberry Pi GPIO pins to the terminal, added a breadboard to the case for prototyping, as well as a fan for cooling. Pi-oT MKR module key features: Features: Compatible with any Raspberry Pi board with 40-pin GPIO header Screw terminals – 21 GPIO’s including the I2C pins, 5V, 3.3V and GND from Raspberry Pi header routed to screw terminals Integrated Breadboard Integrated Cooling – 5V header for included fan Circuit Protection Port protection – 330 Ohm resistor […]

February 2, 2020February 1, 2020 by Stephen Vicinanza - 8 Comments

Sania Box Raspberry Pi 4 based DIY Kit is Designed for STEM Education (Crowdfunding)

Sania Box, A Special Kind of DIY RPi4 Based Kit The 13-year-old Sania Jain is a young entrepreneur, published writer and tech aficionado who now offers an embedded computer kit called Sania Box. The Raspberry Pi 4 based embedded system kit comes with an add-on board and has been designed to develop coding skills in anyone 8 years old or more, and for learning IoT, STEM, and for all kinds of DIY fun. Background Some DIY RPi-based kits can be found in our archives, such as the Piper Computer Kit 2 made for children’s education, but there’s now another option thanks to Sania Jain who has been designing, building, and writing in the STEM arena for some time. Sania Jain’s accomplishments are amazing, and look to be just her beginning in STEM-based endeavors. A Concept With Wide Reach The Sania Box was conceived by Sania Jain and built by Moonshot […]

January 31, 2020January 31, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 12 Comments

Reminder: Sometimes Crowdfunding Campaigns Go Wrong

Many products are launched via crowdfunding campaigns, and in theory, both the business and end-users benefit from the opportunity. It helps companies evaluate the demand before committing to large expenses, and reduce their financial risk, while end-users pledging in a crowdfunding campaign will be the first-ever to get the product, and often at a significant discount compared to the eventual retail price. But the flip-side is that they are risks for backers, they did not just buy a product online, but bet on the developers to deliver the products. Sometimes the project fails due to incompetence, unexpected challenges, or even fraudulent behavior from the developers. I remember one project where one of the developers just decided to buy a house with the funds raised instead of developing the promised 3D printer. I was reminded of this important point by email this morning, as I covered TAIHE Gemini 15.6″ full HD […]

January 30, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

Ntablet Android & Linux Tablet Features a Replaceable RK3288 CPU Module, GPIO Board

Most tablets on the market either run Android or Windows, and while some have tried to launch Linux tablets, none of the products have really caught on, although the upcoming PINETAB might change that. Another option might be Ntablet 7″ tablet that runs either Android, Debian or WebOS Linux operating systems, but also offers some innovative features such as a replaceable Rockchip RK3288 CPU module, and an external GPIO board for makers. Ntablet hardware specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3288 quad-core Cortex-A17 processor @ 1.8 GHz with Mali-T760 quad-core GPU System Memory – 2GB LPDDR3 Storage – 16GB eMMC flash, MicroSD card slot up to 32GB Display – 7″ touchscreen IPS display with 1920×1200 resolution Video Output – Micro HDMI port Audio – 3.5mm headphone jack Camera – 5MP front-facing camera (OV5648 sensor) Connectivity – 802.11b/g/n/ac WiFi 5 and Bluetooth 4.0 via Ampak AP6255 module USB – 1x USB 2.0 port, […]

January 22, 2020 by Stephen Vicinanza - 1 Comment

V-Powerbuds Pro TWS Earbuds Support Heart Monitoring & Oxygen Tracking (Crowdfunding)

Vimai V-Powerbuds Pro Multi-function Sport Earbuds Vimai’s V-Powerbuds Pro TWS (True Wireless Stereo) earbuds are multi-function wireless earbuds. In the past, we had reported on the Misfit Specter Bluetooth earbuds that could track fitness input, such as steps, calories, and sleep duration. V-Powerbuds Pro also tracks heart rate, oxygen, and respiration, and supports online & offline voice control. The Component Basics The V-Powerbud Pro are TWS earbuds and have a built-in pulse oximeter to capture heart rate and oxygen levels right from within the ear. The hook design holds the earbuds tightly in place, within the ear, to get an accurate measurement independent of the effects of light. Other types of fitness tracking devices like those located on the wrist, can be affected by light. The Difference From Other Sport Earbuds Although the uses during exercise aspect of this wearable are probably more likely to be a selling point, the […]

January 20, 2020January 20, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

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 […]

January 20, 2020January 20, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

MarsCat is a Bionic Cat Powered by Raspberry Pi 3 (Crowdfunding)

Elephant Robotics MarsCat is a robotic cat that tries to mimic the behavior of actual cats through artificial intelligence. It can have a life of its own roaming the house, and you can also interact with it as it will play with toys/teasers through its camera, and you can send voice command to ask it to walk, run, look at you, be quiet. etc… but the trick is that it may not always obey like a real cat, and its personality will evolve depending on how you interact with it. Beside being a bionic pet, MarsCat can also be used to teach/learn robotics as the company will release an open-source SDK allowing you to change the Python code running on the Raspberry Pi 3 board powering the cat, and access API’s to control the camera, microphone, touch sensors, as well as the 16 servos connected to a Microchip ATMega2560 MCU […]