Orange Pi 3B – A Rockchip RK3566 SBC with an M.2 NVMe/SATA SSD socket, up to 8GB RAM

Orange Pi 3B is a new Rockchip RK3566 SBC that’s like a supercharged Raspberry Pi 3B board with the same form factor, but with a faster processor, up to 8GB RAM, and support for multiple storage options with a microSD card slot, an eMMC flash socket, an M.2 Key-M socket for NVMe (PCIe 2.1) or SATA III SSDs, as well as an SPI flash that should enable features like network boot. The board also features HDMI 2.0 and eDP display intefaces, a Gigabit Ethernet port, a WiFI 5 and Bluetooth 5.0 wireless module, four USB ports, MIPI DSI and CSI connector, and the 40-pin Raspberry Pi GPIO header. It’s powered through a USB-C port taking 5V instead of the micro USB port found in the Raspberry Pi 3B. Orange Pi 3B specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3566 CPU – Quad-core Cortex-A55 processor @ up to 1.8 GHz GPU – Arm Mali-G52 […]

Turing RK1 RK3588 system-on-module for cluster boards is now available (for pre-order)

Turing Pi has been making mini-ITX cluster boards for Raspberry Pi CM4 and NVIDIA Jetson modules for over four years, but last year, the company teased their own Turing RK1 system-on-module based on a powerful Rockchip RK3588 Arm processor with 6 TOPS NPU while launching the Turing Pi 2 cluster board on Kickstarter and raising over 2 million dollars in the process. The Turing RK1 is now available for pre-order with the 8GB RAM going for $130, the 16GB model for $170, and you’d have to spend $260 if you need 32GB RAM. Most people will probably want to add $10 to purchase the RK1 heatsink with a built-in fan as well. Pre-orders are expected to start shipping on October 27. Turing RK1 specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3588 CPU – Octa-core processor with 4x Arm Cortex-A76 @ 2.4 GHz, 4x Arm Cortex-A55 @ 1.8 GHz GPU – Arm Mali-G610 MP4 […]

Khadas Edge2 Arm mini PC

Banana Pi BPI-KVM – A KVM over IP solution based on Rockchip RK3568 SoC

Banana Pi has started working on the BPI-KVM box based on a Rockchip RK3568 SoC, but it’s not a mini PC, and instead, it is a KVM over IP solution designed to remotely control another computer or device as if you were on-site with, for example, the ability to turn on and off the connected device, access the BIOS, and so on. Commercial KVM over IP solutions used to be expensive, but people have started to use Raspberry Pi SBCs with an expansion board such as the PiKVM v3, and more recently Raspberry Pi CM4-based KVM over IP solutions have been launched for under well $200. Seeing the popularity of these solutions, Banana Pi has decided to join the fray with its own BPI-KVM powered by an IO-rich Rockchip RK3568 processor that provides all interfaces needed for this type of application. Banana Pi BPI-KVM (preliminary) specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3568 […]

LuckFox Core3566 – A Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 alternative that sells for $24 and up

We’ve already seen Rockchip RK3566 system-on-modules that follow the Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 with the likes of Pine64 SOQuartz and Radxa CM3. But there’s at least one more Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 alternative based on the RK3566 SoC with the LuckFox Core3566 going for as little as $23.99. I found out about the new module after checking out the upcoming Orange Pi Compute Module 4 (another CM4 alternative based on RK3566), and the LuckFox Core3566 is offered with 2GB or 4GB RAM, an optional 32GB eMMC flash, and an optional WiFi 5 and Bluetooth 5.0 module. LuckFox Core3566 specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3566 quad-core Cortex-A55 processor up to 1.8 GHz with a 32-bit RISC-V MCU, an Arm Mali-G52 GPU supporting OpenGL ES 1.1/2.0/3.2, OpenCL 2.0, Vulkan 1.1, a 0.8 TOPS NPU for AI acceleration System Memory – 2GB to 4GB LPDDR4 Storage – Optional 32GB eMMC module Wireless module […]

A first look at i-Pi SMARC 1200 (Genio 1200) development kit

ADLINK Technology’s i-PI SMARC 1200 is an industrial prototyping kit for AI IoT and Robotics based on a SMARC 2.1 compliant LEC-MTK-I12000 system-on-module (SoM) powered by the MediaTek Genio 1200 (MT8395) octa-core Cortex-A78/A55 AIoT processor with a 4.8 TOPS AI processor. The company sent me a sample for evaluation and review, and in this first post, I’ll go through an unboxing and how to boot the system with the supported Yocto Linux or Ubuntu. i-Pi SMARC 1200 unboxing The i-Pi SMARC 1200 may be destined for industrial users, but it still comes with a neat retail package. The “i-Pi LEC-MTK-I1200-44-64G/EU” kit features a CPU module with 4GB LPDDR4 memory and 64GB UFS storage. The package includes the board itself preassembled in a desktop frame, a Quick Start Guide, a 19V/2.37A (45W) power adapter with an EU power cord, a micro USB to USB cable for debugging, and two bits for […]

reTerminal DM – A Raspberry Pi CM4-powered 10.1-inch HMI controller

Seeed Studio’s reTerminal DM is an upgrade to the Raspberry Pi CM4-powered reTerminal with a larger 10.1-inch touchscreen display and a greater range of features and interfaces for various industrial applications. Described as a “Panel PC, HMI, PLC, IIoT Gateway all-in-one device”, the new reTerminal DM notably supports 12V-24V variable DC input and optionally PoE power input, its front panel is rated IP65 for protection against liquids and dust, a range of wired and wireless connectivity options are offered, and it also includes some serial and digital input and output interfaces. reTerminal DM specifications: SoM – Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 with Broadcom BCM2711 quad-core Cortex-A72 processor @ 1.5 GHz, up to 8GB RAM, up to 32GB flash Storage – Optional M.2 NVMe SSD via M.2 2280 Key-M slot Display – 10.1-inch display with 1280 x 800 resolution, 10-point capacitive touchscreen 400-nit brightness, 170° H/V viewing angle Video Output – […]

Rockchip RK3568/RK3588 and Intel x86 SBCs

MangoPi mCore-R818 module powers CyberPad 3.1-inch handheld android “tablet”

mCore-R818 is the first time that MangoPi adopts the design combination of a core-lite module and a carrier board. As its name suggests, it is an AllWinner R818 SoM whose SoC integrates an Imagination PowerVR GE8300 GPU for UI rendering, can drive MIPI DSI, LVDS, and RGB displays, as well as cameras through a MIPI CSI interface, 8MP/5MP/2MP interfaces. The Allwinner R818 system-on-module powers a feature-rich carrier board as well as an upcoming Cyberpad Android “tablet” with a 3.1-inch display. MangoPi mCore-R818 The package design of the processor itself is small, so the MCore-R818 core board is only 3x3cm in size, but still contains four components with the Allwinner R818, the eMMC flash, LPDDR4 memory, and the AXP717 PMU. MangoPi provides two hardware configurations: 2GB DDR with 16GB eMMC flash, and 4GB DDR with 32GB eMMC flash. MCore-R818 Core Lite Specifications: SoC – Allwinner R818 CPU – Quad-core Arm Cortex-A53 […]

Using BTT Pad 7 touchscreen display with Raspberry Pi CM4

The BTT Pad 7, or BIGTREETECH Pad 7 in full, is a 7-inch touchscreen display that ships with the CB1 Allwinner H616 system-on-module compatible with Raspberry Pi CM4. The display is mostly designed for 3D printers with its SPI and CAN Bus interfaces, but it can also be used as a standard tablet PC. So today, I’ll switch the CB1 with a Raspberry Pi CM4 Lite module and report my experience doing the conversion and using it as a Raspberry Pi CM4 tablet PC running Raspberry Pi OS, and test it with a 3D printer with Klipper in another post later on. Installing a Raspberry Pi CM4 (Lite) module in the BTT Pad 7 We’ll need the Pad 7, a Raspberry Pi CM4, and a few tools. The first step is to remove the red heatsink by loosening four screws with a 2.0mm hex key, as well as the cover […]

Khadas VIM4 SBC