smart home News - CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

December 3, 2024December 2, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

Matter 1.4 specification improves multi-admin and energy management, adds new devices like solar panels, batteries, and water heaters

We covered the Matter 1.3 specification in May 2024, but the Connectivity Standards Alliance is wasting no time and the Matter 1.4 specification is already out with features and improvements such as “Enhanced Multi-Admin”, Matter certifiable Home Routers and Access Points, energy management enhancements, and several new device types such as solar power equipment and batteries. Matter has been deployed in millions of Smart Home products in just a few years and aims to enable interoperability between devices from multiple vendors. Paisit reviewed a few Matter products from SONOFF including the MINIR4M Smart Switch, SONOFF Zigbee Bridge Ultra, and SwitchMan M5 Matter wall switch, and while Matter interoperability is working since devices can be controlled from Matter-compatible apps (e.g. Apple Home), users do lose some features found in the “native” app such as eWelink in the case of SONOFF devices. Matter 1.4 key improvements and new features: Home Routers and […]

November 28, 2024November 28, 2024 by Tomisin Olujinmi - No Comments

ESP32-based YULC USB-C LED Controller features dual power inputs, supports WLED and ESPHome firmware

The YULC (Yes, a USB-C LED Controller) board is a compact, ESP32-S3-powered LED controller with USB-C and DC jack power inputs. It is a fully featured board that can easily replace a rat’s nest of wires and save space and time. This ESP32 LED controller features a built-in buck regulator that converts input power from the USB-C port or barrel jack to the voltage needed for the LED strips. The YULC provides two separate LED channels with a level shifter each to ensure clean and powerful data output, removing the need for a sacrificial pixel or external level shifter. Each channel also has a power MOSFET that can turn off the channels individually and dim simple LED strips via PWM. AAElectronics, the maker, has previously released an IR remote—the Home Assistant-compatible ESP 360 Remote—which we covered at the time. Similar products include the SMLIGHT A1-SLWF-03, DFRobot’s EDGE102-DMX512, and the PixelBlaze […]

November 25, 2024November 25, 2024 by Sayantan Nandy - 3 Comments

nRF54L15 DK: A Development Kit for nRF54L15, nRF54L10, and nRF54L05 SoCs with Bluetooth, Thread, and Zigbee

The nRF54L15 DK is a development kit designed to evaluate the wireless SoCs of the nRF54L15, nRF54L10, and nRF54L05 wireless SoCs. These SoCs support multiple wireless protocols, including Bluetooth Low Energy, Bluetooth Mesh, Matter, Thread, Zigbee, and 2.4GHz proprietary protocols, with data rates of up to 4Mbps. The kit integrates the nRF54L15 SoC and provides emulation capabilities for the nRF54L10 and nRF54L05, enabling flexible testing and development across the nRF54L Series. The nRF54L series SoCs differ in memory configurations to meet various application requirements. The nRF54L15 includes 1.5 MB of non-volatile memory (NVM) and 256 KB of RAM for high-performance applications. The nRF54L10 features 1.0 MB of NVM and 192 KB of RAM for mid-range use cases, while the nRF54L05 offers 0.5 MB of NVM and 96 KB of RAM for entry-level designs requiring fewer resources. The kit is supported by the nRF Connect SDK and tools, providing access to […]

November 20, 2024November 23, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 12 Comments

Black Friday and Cyber Monday 2024 – International deals and coupons

While Black Friday and Cyber Monday used to be a US-only event, it changed many years ago, and we’ve been writing about international Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals and coupon codes since 2014, since a large portion of our audience cannot benefit from promotions on Amazon’s Black Friday and Cyber Monday events that will take place from November 21 until December 2 this year. So I’ve gathered some international Black Friday and Cyber Monday 2024 deals and discount coupon codes from relevant manufacturers and popular online stores such as Aliexpress, Banggood, and others. Aliexpress Black Friday and Cyber Monday event Aliexpress’ Black Friday and Cyber Monday 2024 event has already started. There are three periods: Nov 19-21 PST – Warm Up event where users can find and add items to the cart before purchasing during the main event. Nov 22-30 PST – “On Sale” event with discounts up to […]

November 20, 2024November 19, 2024 by Sayantan Nandy - 2 Comments

DFRobot EDGE102-DMX512 lighting controller combines ESP32-S3 MCU and DMX512 protocol chip

EDGE102 DMX512 Lighting Programming Controller

DFRobot’s EDGE102-DMX512 is a DMX512 lighting programming controller based on ESP32-S3 wireless MCU designed for efficient management of stage, theater, and venue lighting. With integrated WiFi and Bluetooth, the controller supports wireless programming and control, simplifying the setup of advanced lighting systems. It offers RS485 (master/slave modes) interfaces, I2C, UART, and GPIO pins for compatibility with a wide range of sensors and boards. This controller enables automation through sensor integration, supporting devices such as infrared detectors, sound level meters, and laser sensors. Its eight optically isolated industrial switch inputs ensure seamless compatibility with PNP sensors, allowing lighting effects to respond automatically to environmental inputs. By reducing dependence on manual DMX consoles, it is well-suited for automated lighting in theaters, stages, and commercial venues. EDGE102-DMX512 specifications: SoC – Espressif ESP32-S3 CPU – Dual-core Tensilica LX7 up to 240 MHz with vector instructions for AI acceleration Memory – 512 KB of internal […]

November 2, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Seeed Studio’s XIAO MG24 and XIAO MG24 Sense boards target battery-powered Matter and BLE applications

Seeed Studio has added two members to its XIAO family of tiny MCU boards with the XIAO MG24 and XIAO MG24 Sense boards based on Silicon Labs EFR32MG24 multi-protocol wireless SoC and designed for battery-powered Matter over Thread and Bluetooth LE 5.3 applications. Both 21×17.8 mm USB-C boards feature a 78MHz Silabs MG24 Cortex-M33 microcontroller with 256kB SRAM and 1536KB flash, an additional 4MB SPI flash on-board, and 22 pins and pads for GPIO pins, analog inputs, and power signals, plus a reset button and two LEDs. The “Sense” model adds an analog microphone and a 6-axis IMU sensor. XIAO MG24/MG24 Sense specifications: SoC – Silicon Labs EFR32MG24 (EFR32MG24B220F1536IM48-B) MCU cores Arm Cortex-M33 @ 78.0 MHz with DSP instruction and floating-point unit for user application Arm Cortex-M0+ core for wireless Memory – 256 KB RAM Storage – 1536 KB flash Wireless protocols – Matter, OpenThread, Zigbee, Bluetooth Low Energy 5.3, […]

October 31, 2024October 31, 2024 by Sponsored Post - 2 Comments

Siterwell wired and wireless smoke alarms offer low false alarm rate, high precision detection (Sponsored)

Siterwell wireless and wired smoke and carbon monoxide (CO) alarms offer a low false alarm rate and high precision detection thanks to a maze design, dual-wavelength light technology, and AI-powered scene learning. Siterwell is a high-tech enterprise that provides integrated solutions across various fields, including smart security, smart home, and smart city based on IoT technology and security products. They are committed to advancing home safety with innovative and efficient solutions. Siterwell smoke alarms specifications and highlights: High-precision detection with an alarm accuracy of 99.96% Design optimized to decrease the number of false alarms with Maze design/micro-mesh design to reduce interference from other particles such as mosquitoes/dust/smoke particles Dual-wavelength light detection to accurately detect smoke from both fast-burning and smoldering fire Mechanical creep simulation, mechanical impact simulation, air-fluid dynamics simulation, and optical modeling to prevent false alarms while cooking AI-powered scene learning – Upon activation, the device begins to learn […]

October 29, 2024October 31, 2024 by Debashis Das - 4 Comments

CodeCell is a ESP32-C3 mini development board for robots, wearables, smart home projects

CodeCell ESP32 C3 mini development board

Engineer and YouTuber Carl Bugeja recently developed CodeCell, a tiny ESP32-C3 development board designed as the brain for robots, wearables, and smart home devices. This module features a nine-axis inertial measurement unit (IMU) for motion fusion and an optional VCNL4040 light sensor. It includes a USB Type-C port for data and power as well as a lithium-polymer battery with a charging circuit. Measuring just 18.5 x 18.5mm this compact board is even smaller than other tiny ESP32 development boards such as Waveshare’s ESP32-S3-Zero and Seeed Studio’s XIAO ESP32S3. However, the Epi C3 is smaller at 23 x 12.75 mm, and so are the Unexpected Maker NANOS3 (25 x 10 mm) and Unexpected Maker OMGS3 (28 x 11 mm). CodeCel ESP32-C3 mini development board specification Microcontroller – ESP32-C3 RISC-V MCU 160MHz 32-bit RISC-V processor core 400kB SRAM, 4MB flash storage Wi-Fi 4 and Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) connectivity Sensors Vishay VCNL4040 light […]