CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

February 5, 2013February 5, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

Raspberry Pi Model A is Now Available (But Only in Europe)

The Raspberry Pi has just announced that RS Components and Premier Farnell/element14 have now Raspberry Pi Model A boards in stock. Raspberry Pi Model A is a cost down version of Model B using the exact same PCB but with less RAM (256 MB vs 512 MB), no Ethernet, and only one USB port. This model seems more suitable for embedded projects, and you can get connectivity via Ethernet, Wi-Fi, 3G… USB dongles. It consumes about a third of the power of the Model B, which will certain help with projects powered by solar panels or batteries. It could also be suitable as an even cheaper XBMC player, but if you need to add a USB Hub to connect extra peripherals, it may not really be worth it. Model A is only be available in Europe for now, but will eventually be available worldwide. It will cost UK customers 26.02 […]

February 4, 2013February 4, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Texas Instruments HG3352 Home Automation & Energy Gateway Reference Design

Texas Instruments has recently announced HG3352 Home Gateway Reference Design that can connect to home energy systems, or/and home automation systems. This reference design, powered by TI Sitara AM3352 Cortex A8 processor, supports ZigBee, Wi-Fi, NFC, Bluetooth, and Ethernet connectivity to allow developers to create home gateways that can interface with multiple systems, products and applications within a smart home. Here are the key features and benefits of TI HG3352 Home Gateway Reference Design: SoC – TI Sitara’s AM3352 ARM Cortex-A8 processor running Linux OS System Memory – 2GB DDR3 Storage – 2GB NAND Flash memory Connectivity: Single ZigBee device (CC2530) supports ZigBee Home Automation and ZigBee Smart Energy standards. WiLink 8.0 solution supports Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and Bluetooth low energy in a single chip. 6-channel power management integrated circuit (TPS650250) with dynamic voltage scaling provides high power efficiency. Expansion headers give developers flexibility to support power line communications (PLC) and […]

ArmSoM CM5 Raspberry Pi CM4 alternative with Rockchip RK3576 SoC

February 4, 2013February 4, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

How To Root Droid Stick A2 mini PC

Droid Stick A2 mini PC does not come rooted, so here’s a simple rooting guide for the device. First, make sure you’ve installed the latest firmware, then follow the instructions below (Source: ARMTvTech): Copy update_Superuser.zip to the root of a micro SD card. Insert the microSD card to Droid Stick A2, and power the device Go the Apps menu in Android, and launch “Upgrade” app. Select Local Upgrade Select update_Superuser.zip Select Reboot And Install Package Let the update go through, and let it boot to Android. You should now have root access. This method deleted old version of su and Superuser.apk, copies su to /system/bin & Superuser.apk to /system/app, and changes permissions on those files. It may also work on other AMLogic AML8726-M1 / M3 / MX based devices. If you are interested in knowing exactly what it does, unzip update_Superuser.zip, and open /META-INF/com/google/android/updater-script. For some reasons, the first time I […]

February 4, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

Crazyflie Nano Quadcopter Open Source Development Kit

If you can’t wait until 2014 to get the MeCam, Seeedstudio has something for you: The Crazyflie Nano Quadcopter, which looks similar to the MeCam, but does not feature a camera, its control board is powered by STM32F103CB MCU @ 72 MHz with 128kb flash and 20kb RAM (so, no it won’t run Linux), and at $173 the price is significantly higher. Here are Crazyflie key features: Small and lightweight, around 19g and about 90mm motor to motor Flight time up to 7 minutes with standard 170mAh Li-Po battery Standard micro-USB connector for charging which takes ~20min for the stock 170mAh Li-Po battery On-board low-energy radio@1mW based on the nRF24L01+ chip. Up to 80m range (environment dependent) when using the Crazyradio 2.4 GHz USB dongle Radio bootloader which enabled wireless update of the firmware 32 bit Cortex M3 MCU: STM32F103CB @ 72 MHz (128kb flash, 20kb RAM) 3-axis high-performance MEMs […]

February 2, 2013February 3, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 50 Comments

Droid Stick A2 Firmware With Google Play Fix

If you have read my previous review of the Droid Stick A2, I was pretty upset about Google Play since I could not install most of the apps. This is now fixed, and Kimdecent has released a firmware upgrade. Here’s how to upgrade: Download g02refDongle-ota-20130201.rar Extract it in your PC, and copy the files (g02refDongle-ota-20130201.zip and uImage_recovery) to the root of your microSD card (Formatted as FAT32) Insert the microSD into Droid Stick A2 Boot the mini PC normally, and launch the “Upgrade” app Select Local Upgrade, then select g02refDongle-ota-20130201.zip and click on Reboot and Install Package Droid Stick A2 will reboot, and it should start upgrading Android. Done Since I’ve been messing up with Android and broken something, “Reboot and Install Package” does nothing for me (some permissions issues with /cache/recovery/command), so I could not verify this works or not. Finally, I could install it on the first version […]

February 2, 2013February 2, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Red Raspberry Pi Board is Now Available in China

If you have a Raspberry Pi, most likely it will have a green PCB since that’s the way they are manufactured it. The good news is that the Raspberry Pi is be available in its natural color Red very soon, however it will only be officially sold in mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan. The reason for the geographical limitation is because Farnell and RS components have a worldwide co-exclusive license to sell the Raspberry Pi, and the selected Chinese manufacturer, Egoman Technology Corp , won’t be allowed to sell out of China. However, it will be hard to prevent third parties in China from buying the product, and selling it via Ebay or Aliexpress. The other reason for the differentiation is that the Red Raspberry Pi won’t be CE/FCC certified, even though, at the beginning, at least it will basically have the same components of the Green Raspberry […]

Rockchip RK3568, RK3588 and Intel x86 SBCs abd SoMs

February 2, 2013February 2, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Replicate CAPE Adds 3D Printring Capability to the Beaglebone

Beagleboard.org launched the Beaglebone Cape Design Contest back in November, several designs were submitted, and yesterday, they announced the 3 winning CAPEs who will be manufactured and sold by Circuitco Electronics: Replicape by Elias Bakken – 3D printer cape Interacto by Chris Clark – Cape with a triple axis accelerometer,a gyroscope, a magnetometer and a 640×480 30fps camera. Geiger cape by Matt Ranostay – Geiger counter cape Since today I’ve started to write about 3D printing, let’s carry on and have a closer look at the Replicape. The Replicape 3D printer cape includes: 5 stepper motors (X, Y, Z, Ext1, Ext2) 3 high power MOSFETs (PWM controlled) for 2 extruders and 1 HPB 3 medium power MOSFETs (PWM controlled) for up to 3 fans 3 analog input ports for thermistors 3 inputs for end stops (X, Y, Z) Programmable current limits on steppers motor drivers (SMD). No need to manually adjust […]

February 2, 2013February 2, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

3D Systems Cube and CubeX 3D Printers and Cubify Online Service

3D Systems was at CES 2013 to showcase their 3D printers, and their online 3D printing ecosystem called Cubify, where you can design your own model, order the object to be 3D printed, which is then shipped to your door. They have 2 printers that are available for the home market: Cube 3D printer ($1,399) Print size: 140 x 140 x 140 mm / Resolution: 200 microns CubeX 3D printer ($2,799 to $4,399) Print size: 275 mm x 265 mm x 240 mm / Resolution: 125 microns. The CubeX can support 1, 2, or 3 printer heads in order to print objects with multiple colors and/or materials. Charbax shot a video with the company, and I’ve learnt quite a few interesting things about 3D printing: It’s been around for nearly 30 years, but only used by the industry until recently. 3D printing takes a lot of time. The small spaceship […]