power News - Page 2 of 17 - CNX Software

May 20, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 10 Comments

Matter 1.3 specification adds support for water and energy management, electric vehicle chargers, and various household appliances

The Connectivity Standard Alliance (CSA) has just announced the release of the Matter 1.3 specification and SDK with energy reporting, support for water and energy management devices, electric vehicle chargers, several new “major appliances”, namely various kitchen appliances and laundry dryers, and various other features. As a reminder the Matter protocol was initially introduced several years ago under the name Project CHIP to improve the interoperability of Smart Home devices from various vendors, so for example, users could connect a Matter-compatible Philips Hue light bulb to a Samsung gateway, or a white-brand Matter sensor with Google Home, etc… Matter started to pick last year with several products launched, and Paisit notably reviewed the MINI Extreme Wi-Fi Smart Switch (MINIR4M), the first Matter device from SONOFF, last October. Matter 1.3 adds various new capabilities and devices. Matter 1.3 highlights: Support for Water and Energy Management Devices Energy Management – Matter 1.3 […]

April 22, 2024April 22, 2024 by Debashis Das - 2 Comments

Microchip 8-bit AVR DU family supports secure USB connectivity and 15W power delivery

At Embedded World 2024, Microchip announced their new AVR DU family of 8-bit MCUs featuring a full-speed USB 2.0 data interface along with USB-C 15W Power Delivery enabling up to 12Mbps data transfer and charging. They also have features like secure bootloaders and Program and Debug Interface Disable (PDID), which protect your embedded designs. Based on the Harvard architecture, these MCUs can have up to 64 KB of Flash memory, 8 KB of SRAM, and 256 bytes of EEPROM. Their wide operating voltage range of 1.8V to 5.5V makes them suitable for small, space-sensitive devices, power bricks, and rechargeable devices. But one thing to note is that the USB function is only available for VDD above 3.0V and I2C Fm+ (Fast-mode Plus) is only supported for 2.7V and above. I²C Fm+ extends the standard I²C protocol, boosting communication speeds up to 1 MHz while maintaining compatibility with older I²C devices. It’s […]

March 14, 2024March 14, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 10 Comments

$35 SONOFF POW ring smart power meter (POWCT) safely supports up to 100A

SONOFF POW Ring smart power meter is the first CT clamp-based WiFi power meter from ITEAD. It is designed for installation in an electric cabinet to measure whole-house power consumption with up to 100A current. The power meter relies on an ESP32 microcontroller for control and wireless connectivity with a range of up to 130 meters thanks to an external high-gain antenna. It is supported by the usual eWelink mobile app that also enables integration with Google Home, Amazon Alexa, and IFTTT services, and ITEAD also mentions integration with the Home Assistant open-source framework. SONOFF POW Ring (POWCT) specifications: MCU – ESP32 WiFi and Bluetooth microcontroller Connectivity – 2.4 GHz WiFi 4 (802.11b/g/n) with SMA antenna connector for an external antenna to be placed outside of the electrical cabinet Current transformer (CT) interface type – RJ9 Current transformer detection range – 0 to 100A Measurement category – CAT II 0-100A […]

February 23, 2024February 23, 2024 by Tomisin Olujinmi - 12 Comments

Spark Analyzer is a USB-C PD analyzer and power supply based on ESP32-C3 (Crowdfunding)

Spark Analyzer is an ESP32-C3-powered device built to streamline the process of developing and debugging USB-C Power Delivery (UCPD) solutions. The board’s design is simple, compact, and includes helpful power delivery and analysis functionality, at an affordable price. Spark Analyzer runs on an ESP32-C3FH4 microcontroller, a low-power SoC with a single-core RISC-V CPU with onboard 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 5 (Low Energy) connectivity. The wireless chip lets users control the Spark Analyzer and monitor its operation remotely. It also supports integration with other smart devices via Matter. The device allows you to adjust voltage output from 5V to 20V, depending on your project requirements. Power is sent to a connected device via the two-pin screw terminal block on the device, and a Cross Chip sensor measures the electrical current sent through the device using Hall effect. It includes a software safety feature that turns off the output field-effect […]

February 6, 2024February 6, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

Solar power manager module supports 6V-24V input range, battery charging, MPTT function, and outputs 5V/3A

Waveshare Solar Power Manager Module (D) is a compact power module for solar panels with support for 6V to 24V input, MPTT (Maximum Power Point Tracking), and battery charging. It outputs 5V up to 3A via a USB-C port or terminal block and should be suitable for a range of projects. A few weeks ago, we wrote about the FireBeetle 2 ESP32-C6 IoT development board with DFRobot highlighting support for solar charging of lithium batteries thanks the the CN3165 chip. But with a range of just 4.5 to 6V for solar panel input and a lack of support for MPTT, several readers were unimpressed by the solution. The Waveshare Solar Power Manager Module (D) recently popped up in my news feed, and I thought it might be worth a look. Waveshare Solar Power Manager Module (D) specifications: Solar panel input 6V to 24V via DC jack or 2-pole screw terminal […]

February 1, 2024January 31, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Renesas RA8T1 Cortex-M85 MCU targets motor control applications

It took a while before Renesas released its first Arm Cortex-M85 microcontroller (RA8M1) in October 2023, but the company has now launched the RA8T1 Cortex-M85 MCU for motor control just a few weeks after announcing the RA8D1 for HMI applications. The RA8T1 group is the third Cortex-M85 microcontroller family from Renesas with a feature set optimized for motor control and leveraging machine learning through Arm Helium technology and a DSP for predictive maintenance requirements for motors. Renesas RA8T1 key features and specifications: MCU core – Arm Cortex-M85 clocked at 480 MHz with Helium MVE (M-Profile Vector Extension) with 32KB I/D caches, 12KB data flash Memory & Storage 1MB SRAM including 128KB TCM 1MB to 2MB Flash memory 2x SD/MMC host interfaces (SDHI) Communication interfaces Ethernet MAC with DMA USB – 1x USB 2.0 Full Speed interface 2x CAN-FD Up to 6x SCI (UART, Simple SPI, Simple I2C) 2x SPI up […]

January 18, 2024January 18, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

Raspberry Pi 5 gets a PoE HAT+ kit that doubles as a cooling solution

Waveshare PoE HAT(F) is an 802.3af/at-compliant 24W Power-over-Ethernet (PoE) HAT+ board designed for the Raspberry Pi 5 that also cools the SBC with its embedded fan, a heatsink, and two thermal pads. The Chinese company has beaten Raspberry Pi to it as the UK company is working on releasing the L-shaped 25W “PoE+ HAT(+) for Raspberry Pi 5” a little later. The existing official Raspberry Pi PoE+ HAT delivers up to 25.5 Watts which would be enough to power the Pi 5, but since the PoE header has been moved to another location, it’s not compatible anymore, so new solutions are needed such as the Waveshare PoE HAT(F). Waveshare PoE HAT(F) specifications: Supported SBC – Raspberry Pi 5 only Connected via 40-pin Raspberry Pi GPIO header and 4-pin PoE header PoE (Power Over Ethernet) IEEE 802.3af/at-compliant Input voltage – 37V-57V DC input Output 2-pin header – 12V/2A max GPIO header […]

January 10, 2024January 10, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

Emporia Vue Gen 2 energy monitor ships with 16 CT clamps, supports single and three-phase power

We’ve just written about the “Smart Powermeter” measuring the power consumption of AC appliances through six CT clamps and running either ESPHome or Arduino firmware on ESP32-S3 WiFi and Bluetooth microcontroller. Some people asked about tri-phase and having more CT clamps. One of the commenters then recommended readers to look at the Emporia Vue energy monitor that ships with 16 CT clamps for individual devices/rooms, two 200A CT clamps for whole house monitoring, and supports single-phase up to 240VAC line-neutral, single, split-phase 120/240VAC, and three-phase up to 415Y/240VAC (no Delta). So let’s do that now. Emporia Vue Gen 2 specifications: Connectivity – 2.4 GHz WiFi 4 Probes 2x 200A current sensors for service mains; 3.5mm plug; dimensions: 65 x 44 x 41mm 16x 50A current sensors to individually monitor air conditioner, furnace, water heater, washer, dryer, range, etc; 2.5mm plug, dimensions: 41 x 23 x 26; accurate from ±2% […]