CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

August 15, 2023December 26, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 7 Comments

Mini review of GGtag e-paper display programmable through sound or USB serial

GGtag is a 3.52-inch e-paper display based on the Raspberry Pi RP2040 microcontroller and programmable through sound or USB serial from your web browser, plus it also supports emulation of 125 kHz RFID tags (ASK and FSK). When Radoslav Gerganov contacted me about the upcoming Crowd Supply campaign for the GGtag e-paper badge, I happened to have just discussed using an e-paper display to sell some samples on Facebook Groups where requirements include using the seller’s name and date in the photos. So I asked for a sample if any were available, and I just received it today… GGTag specifications: MCUs Raspberry Pi RP2040 dual-core Cortex-M0+ microcontroller @ 133 MHz with 264KB SRAM Microchip ATtiny85 8-bit AVR microcontroller (used for RFID) Storage – 2 MB flash Display – 3.52-inc e-paper display with USB – 1x USB Type-C port for power and serial programming Sensor – PDM digital microphone for data-over-sound […]

August 15, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Privacy-focused DIY video doorbell leverages ESP32-CAM board, ESPHome firmware, Home Assistant

Seeing the lack of privacy-focused video doorbells on the market, Tristam (aka ThatGuy) decided to design his own doorbell with an ESP32-CAM board purchased from Amazon and flashed with ESPHome open-source firmware for easy integration with Home Assistant so there’s no need to rely on third-party cloud services. The DIY design also comes with other off-the-shelf parts with a momentary push button, a 10kΩ resistor, an RGB LED ring light, M2.5 brass inserts and screws, and a 10-meter micro USB cable all of which can be purchased from Amazon or another shop. He also needed eSUN white PETG filament to 3D print the custom plastic enclosure. The assembly requires two wires to the push button for 3.3V and GPIO 14 pulled to the ground with the 10k Ohm resistor and three wires to the RGB LED ring (5V, GND, GPIO15). Tristam notes the RGB LED ring is optional, and the […]

ArmSoM CM5 Raspberry Pi CM4 alternative with Rockchip RK3576 SoC

August 14, 2023August 14, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

ALFA Network HaLow-U – An 802.11ah WiFi HaLow USB adapter supporting AP and STA mode

ALFA Network HaLow-U is an 802.11ah WiFi HaLow USB adapter based on the Newracom NRC7292 chipset and NXP i.MX 6 processor that works both in access point (AP) and client (STA) modes. It delivers long-range WiFi up to one kilometer in the 900 MHz frequency ISM bands and is mostly useful for IP cameras and high-end sensors. The ecosystem around WiFi HaLow (802.11ah) is expanding slowly, but surely, and we previously covered a mini PCIe card, a WiFi HaLow development board, and a gateway kit to extend the range of IP cameras, and also ALFA Network’s AHPI7292S Raspberry Pi HAT that found its way into RAKWireless WisGate Connect gateway. The new HaLow-U USB adapter adds another way to bring WiFi HaLow connectivity to more devices. HaLow-U specifications: SoC – NXP i.MX6 Arm Cortex-A9 processor System Memory – 256MB DDR3 Storage – 32MB NOR flash Connectivity 802.11ah HaLow Newracom NRC7292 chipset […]

August 14, 2023August 18, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

ArmSoM-p2 pro is a compact Rockchip RK3308B-S SBC for headless applications

ArmSoM-p2 pro is a compact Rockchip RK3308B-S SBC made by a company called ArmSoM and designed for headless applications with Ethernet, WiFi 5 and Bluetooth 5.0, a USB port, a headphone jack, as well as two GPIO headers for expansion. The board also comes with 512MB RAM, 8GB eMMC flash and a microSD card slot for storage, extra audio interfaces through the GPIO header, and optional PoE support, all that in a compact 60×52.2mm form factor. ArmSoM-p2 pro specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3308B-S quad-core Arm Cortex-A35 processor @ up to 1.3 GHz with built-in VAD (Voice Activity Detector) System Memory – 512 MB DDR3 SDRAM Storage – 8GB eMMC flash, microSD card slot Audio 3.5mm headphone jack Audio Output – 2x Line out and 1xSPDIF out on 40-pin GPIO header Audio Input – 8x MIC and 1xPDM/I2S on 40-pin GPIO header Connectivity 10/100M Ethernet RJ45 port with optional 802.3af PoE […]

August 14, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

Kontron K3931-N mITX – An industrial mini-ITX motherboard with Intel Alder Lake N-series processor

Kontron K3931-N mITX industrial Alder Lake-N mini-ITX motherboard

Kontron K3931-N mITX is a mini-ITX motherboard based on an Intel Core i3 or Processor Alder Lake N-Series processor designed for fanless industrial applications with features like TSN and wide 8V to 34V DC input, but still only operating in the 0 to 60°C temperature range. The motherboard supports up to 32GB DDR5 memory, SATA, M.2 NVMe and/or M.2 SATA storage, up to triple display setups, and offers dual Ethernet (GbE + 2.5GbE), plenty of USB interfaces, five serial interfaces, as well as expansion through M.2 sockets, a PCIe slot, and a GPIO header. Kontron K3931-N mITX specifications: Alder Lake-N SoC (one or the other) Intel Processor N50 dual-core processor up to 3.4 GHz with 6MB cache, 16EU Intel UHD Graphics; TDP: 6W Intel Processor N97 quad-core processor up to 3.6 GHz with 6MB cache, 24EU Intel UHD Graphics; TDP: 12W Intel Processor N200 quad-core processor up to 3.7 GHz […]

August 12, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Coin cell-powered boards provide an easy way to test USB-C cables

The A2C caberQU and C2C caberQU boards enable the quick and easy testing of respectively USB-A to USB-C and USB-C to USB-C cables without external hardware. Powered by a CR2032 coin cell battery, the boards apply a voltage to all pins of a cable and measure which ones are connected to the other end. The results can be visualized immediately through various LEDS on the board. The C2C caberQU board comes with a dedicated LED for each of the 24 USB pins and the shield, and it’s possible to test the USB Type-C to USB Type-C cable in several different modes: USB 2.0/1.1 USB Power Delivery USB 3.0/3.1/3.2 Alternate Mode Debug Accessory Mode Audio Adapter Accessory Mode The A2C caberQU board has fewer pins and LEDS for testing USB-A to USB-C cables specifically, but it works the same way. Peter Traunmüller (aka petl) has shot a video showing one of […]

Rockchip RK3568, RK3588 and Intel x86 SBCs and SoMs in 2025

August 11, 2023August 11, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 8 Comments

TerraMaster F2-212 is a 2-Bay NAS powered by Realtek RTD1619B Arm Cortex-A55 SoC

TerraMaster F2-212 is a 2-bay NAS powered by Realtek RTL1619B quad-core Cortex-A55 processor with support for support TRAID flexible disk array management tool, BTRFS file system, Snapshot, and TFSS disaster recovery tool. If you’ve never heard about TRAID (TerraMaster RAID) and TFSS (TerraMaster File System Snapshot) that may be because those are developed internally by TerraMaster as respectively a RAID solution with an automatic combination of disk space, hard disk failure redundancy protection, and automatic capacity expansion, and a BTRFS snapshot tool with support for COW (copy-on-write), filesystem level snapshots, custom snapshot schedules, and more. TerraMaster F2-212 specifications: SoC – Realtek RTD1619B quad-core Cortex-A55 processor @ up to 1.7 GHz System Memory – 1GB RAM Storage 2x SATA bays for 3.5-inch SATA HDD and/or 2.5-inch SATA SSD/HDD for up to 2x 22TB drives; hot swapping support File systems Internal Drive – BTRFS, EXT4 External Drive – EXT3, EXT4, NTFS, FAT32, […]

August 11, 2023August 11, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Lo-Fi ESP32-S3 board features LoRa module for low-power long-range connectivity (Crowdfunding)

SB Components’ Lo-Fi is an ESP32-S3 board equipped with a LoRa module for low-power long-range connectivity, and the company has also introduced two LoRa USB dongles with either Type-A or Type-C connectors. Lo-Fi specifications: Wireless module ESP32-S3-WROOM-1: SoC – ESP32-S3 dual-core LX7 microprocessor @ up to 240 MHz with Vector extension for machine learning, WiFi 4 & Bluetooth 5 LE/Mesh Memory – 8MB OSPI PSRAM Storage – 8MB QSPI flash PCB antenna Dimensions – 25.5 x 18.0 x 3.1 mm Unnamed LoRa module Tx power of up to 22dBm (160mW) adjustable by software Rx sensitivity of up to -138 dBm ISM bands – 433MHz, 868MHz, and 915MHz Range – Up to 5km range Data rates – 300 bps to 62.5 kbps RoHS compliance External LoRa antenna Display – 1.14-inch TFT display with 240×135 resolution USB – 1x USB Type-C port for programming and power Expansion – 2x 20-pin GPIO headers […]