smart home News - Page 4 of 30 - CNX Software

August 14, 2024August 13, 2024 by Paisit Wongsongsarn - 7 Comments

Mixtile Edge 2 Kit review with Home Assistant, 2-in-1 Zigbee & Z-Wave mPCIe module

We received the Edge 2 Kit IoT gateway on the Rockchip RK3568-powered Edge2 single board computer (SBC) and a 2-in-1 Zigbee and Z-Wave mPCIe card from Mixtile which we will be reviewing from the perspective of smart home applications using Home Assistant open-source home automation framework. Let’s dive into the details. Unboxing Mixtile Edge 2 Kit CNX Software previously reported on the Mixtile Edge 2 Kit in 2022 and you can check the detailed specifications and block diagram in that earlier article. Since then, Mixtile has found a wider range of applications for the device and is also promoting it as an Edge AI Box that performs AI object detection using the Edge 2 Kit (or the more powerful Mixtile Blade 3) using the built-in NPU (Neural Processing Unit) with up to 1 TOPS of AI performance for tasks such as object detection. Let’s unbox it and take a closer […]

August 7, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 10 Comments

Google kills the Chromecast, introduces the Google TV Streamer for both video streaming and Smart Home control

Google has just announced the Chromecast media streamer would be phased out, introducing instead the Google TV Streamer for both TV streaming and the Smart Home with not only gigabit Ethernet, WiFi 5, and Bluetooth 5.1 connectivity, but also Matter support and Thread border router function. The Android TV device comes with 4GB RAM and 32GB eMMC flash, an HDMI 2.1 port supporting up to 4Kp60, and a USB-C port for power and data. A voice remote control is also included, and the solution is not integrated with the Smart Home allowing users to connect to locks and motion sensors through Thread/Matter, monitor their security camera systems, and more. Google TV Streamer specifications: CPU – Not disclosed, but allegedly the MediaTek MT8696 quad-core Arm Cortex-A55 processor @ 1.8 GHz, Imagination GE9215 GPU @ 750MHz as found in the Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max is used here. System Memory – […]

August 6, 2024August 5, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Arduino and LVGL-compatible ESP32-C3 board features a 1.28-inch round touchscreen display fully housed in a case

ESP32-2424S012 round display full enclosure

The ESP32-2424S012 is an ESP32-C3 WiFi and BLE development board with a 1.28-inch round touchscreen color display that is fully housed in a black or white plastic enclosure and suitable for Arduino and LVGL library. As we’ll see further below some have also used it with Tasmota and ESPHome firmware. We previously covered several tiny ESP32-S3/ESP32-C3 boards with a round display such as the LILYGO T-RGB ESP32-S3 board, Makerfabs “ESP32-S3 Round SPI TFT with Touch 1.28″, SB Components’ Dual Roundy, but they either don’t come with a case at all, or only the front is covered, but the bottom is laid bare. The ESP32-2424S012 is quite similar, but it can be purchased with a case that covers both the front and back with some openings for expansion connectors. ESP32-2424S012 board specifications: Wireless module – Espressif Systems ESP32-C3-MINI-1U module SoC – ESP32-C3 RISC-V microcontroller @ 160 MHz with 400 KB SRAM, 2.4 […]

July 31, 2024July 31, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

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

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 […]

July 26, 2024July 26, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

T2-U WiFi and Bluetooth development board supports the Tuya Smart Home framework

The T2-U is a development board compatible with the Tuya Smart Home framework that features a WiFi and Bluetooth module with a 120 MHz RISC processor, some buttons, an LED indicator, GPIOs, power, and a USB-to-serial chip. In 2019, we covered Tuya as a one-stop Smart Home solution allowing companies to easily design and manufacture home automation devices from electronics to the enclosure. For example, the company provides a customizable 4-inch Android touch control panel & Zigbee gateway as well as the Tuya Link SDK allowing customers to further customize the firmware of their Smart Home devices, but I had yet to see a development board compatible with Tuya. T2-U development board specifications: Wireless module – T2-U SoC – Unnamed 32-bit RISC MCU @ 120 MHz with 2 MB flash and 256 KB RAM Wireless Wi-Fi 802.11b, 802.11g, and 802.11n wireless standard. Channels 1 to 14 at 2.4 GHz. Security […]

July 22, 2024July 22, 2024 by Debashis Das - 7 Comments

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 […]

July 19, 2024July 19, 2024 by Tomisin Olujinmi - No Comments

Femtosense introduces the AI-ADAM-100 system-in-package for affordable, efficient AI-based voice processing on the edge

Femtosense’s newest release, the AI-ADAM-100, combines a low-power Arm Cortex M0+ microcontroller from ABOV Semiconductor with the Femtosense Sparse Processing Unit (SPU), an in-house neural processing unit. This combination powers AI voice processing and cleanup capabilities on edge devices. It leverages sparsity techniques to ensure that models can run on edge devices without intensive processing. Sparsity in AI refers to the presence of zeroes or non-zero values in the matrices and tensors used in machine learning models. No computation is required for these zero weights, heavily reducing processing requirements. The Femtosense AI-ADAM-100 aims to bring voice control to various devices such as home appliances, hearing aids, industrial headsets, and consumer earbuds. These appliances can implement voice user interfaces that allow users to talk naturally in their own words. On-device voice cleanup functionality would reduce infrastructure costs and improve the accuracy of the data sent to the cloud. The Femtosense SiP […]

July 17, 2024July 16, 2024 by Paisit Wongsongsarn - 4 Comments

SONOFF SWV Review – A Zigbee Smart Water Valve tested with eWelink and Home Assistant

Today, we are going to test and review another new Zigbee product from SONOFF, the SONOFF Zigbee Smart Water Valve (SWV). This is the first water valve built by SONOFF. When it comes to devices related to water control, whether watering plants or opening and closing valves in tanks or pools, many people might be familiar with the SONOFF 4CHPro model, which is a WiFi smart switch that controls solenoid valves with DC or AC power (valve sold separately). The SONOFF SWV is an all-in-one device that integrates both valve control and IoT functionality in one. It is ideal for plant watering around the house or controlling water filling into pools or tanks. Besides being able to set schedules for opening and closing valves, it also has other interesting features. Let’s look at the details. Unboxing the SONOFF Zigbee Smart Water Valve Inside the box, you will find the valve […]