CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

May 1, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 13 Comments

ESP32-H2-DevKitM-1 ESP32-H2 development board launched for $10

Espressif Systems unveiled the ESP32-H2 Bluetooth 5.2 LE & 802.15.4 RISC-V microcontroller in August 2021, but the ESP32-H2-DevKitM-1 development board based on the ESP32-H2-MINI-1 module has only been selling on the official Espressif’s Aliexpress store for $9.90 for a few weeks. The ESP32-H2-DevKitM-1 development board allows the development of applications with Bluetooth 5.2 LE, Zigbee, Thread, and/or Matter connectivity, features two USB Type-C ports, Boot & Reset buttons, and RGB LED, and two rows of 15 pins exposing all I/Os from the ESP32-H2-MINI-1 module. ESP32-H2-DevKitM-1 specifications: Wireless module – ESP32-H2-MINI-1 MCU – Espressif Systems ESP32-H2 32-bit RISC-V microcontroller at up to 96 MHz with 320 KB SRAM, 128 KB ROM, 4 KB LP memory, Bluetooth 5.2 LE/Mesh and 802.15.4 (Zigbee/Thread/Matter) radios. Storage – 4MB flash storage (E1N4 on the photo above should mean 4MB, but there are also ESP32-H2-MINI-1 modules with 1MB and 2MB flash) PCB antenna Dimensions – 13.2×16.6×2.4 […]

May 1, 2023May 1, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

Review of TwoTrees TTC 450 CNC router machine with 80W and 500W spindles

TwoTrees TTC450 CNC router machine review

TwoTrees TTC 450 is a CNC router machine for precision cutting with a working area of 460x460x80 mm. The machine can handle 2D and 3D, 3-axis X, Y, Z movement, features a 32-bit microcontroller, a touchscreen control display, and supports WiFi network connection. The TTC 450 can also read files on an SD card for offline operation, and workpieces can be made of a variety of materials such as wood, acrylic, Plastwood, carbon fiber sheet, aluminum, metal, and various engineering plastic materials. TTC 450 CNC router specifications Work Area – 450 x 450 X 80 mm Body Material – Metal frame & Aluminium 4080U Profile Drive System – Translation screw drive with double Y-axis system Mainboard – DLC32 V2.1 (ESP32-based as found in TwoTrees TS2 laser engraver) Stepper Driver – A4988 1.3A Stepper Motors – 17HS8401S, NEMA23 20mN.m Spindle – 74W, 8000RPM Max Speed – 800mm/Min Running Accuracy – +/-0.1mm […]

May 1, 2023May 1, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 25 Comments

BIGTREETECH Pi v1.2 – A Raspberry Pi-sized Allwinner H616 SBC for 3D printers

BIGTREETECH Pi v1.2, also known as the BBT Pi v1.2, is a Raspberry Pi-sized Allwinner H616 single board computer (SBC) specially designed for 3D printers with many of the same ports as the Raspberry Pi 3/4, but also features 12V-24V DC power input and connectors for the ADXL345 3-axis accelerometer, CAN Bus, and so on. The board is equipped with 1GB RAM, a microSD card slot to run the operating system (Debian 11 with Klipper), a 4K capable micro HDMI port, Fast Ethernet and WiFi 4 networking, four USB ports, and the usual 40-pin Raspberry Pi header. BTT Pi specifications: SoC – Allwinner H616 quad-core Arm Cortex-A53 @ 1.5GHz with Arm Mali G31 MP2 with support for OpenGL ES 3.2 System Memory – 1GB DDR3L SDRAM Storage – MicroSD card slot Video Output Micro HDMI 2.0a port up to 4Kp60 resolution SPI port for display Audio – 3.5mm audio jack […]

April 29, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

MicroPython 1.20 released with Raspberry Pi Pico W support, mip package manager, smaller footprint

Damien George has recently announced the release of MicroPython 1.20 with support for the Raspberry Pi Pico W board., a new lightweight package manager called mip, a smaller footprint thanks to the use of compressed type structs, and many other changes. mip package manager The new mip package manager uses a custom protocol optimized for embedded systems to query and install packages, and intends to replace upip for installing packages from micropython-lib or any URL. Mip can be run directly on a device, as long as it has network connectivity, or via mpremote from a host computer. Damien explains all pure-Python drivers have been moved from the micropython repository to the micropython-lib repository as part of the change in order to make it easier to install the packages needed for a given project. MicroPython is getting smaller The MicroPython binary size has been reduced by many kilobytes for all ports […]

April 28, 2023April 28, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 12 Comments

Tinker Board S R2.0 SBC features Rockchip RK3288-CG W processor

ASUS Tinker Board S R2.0 is a revision of the original Tinker Board S board launched in 2018 with a 16GB eMMC flash. The R2.0 model relies on Rockchip RK3288-CG W quad-core Cortex-A17 processor and gets an upgrade to Bluetooth 4.2 from Bluetooth 4.0. The rest of the specifications remain the same with 2GB DDR3, HDMI 2.0 and MIPI DSI video interface, a MIPI CSI camera interface, a 3.5mm audio jack, Gigabit Ethernet, a WiFi 4 and Bluetooth 4.x module, four USB 2.0 host ports, and a 40-pin color-coded Raspberry Pi compatible header. Tinker Board S R2.0 specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3288-CG.W quad-core ARM Cortex A17 processor up to 1.8 GHz with Mali-T764 GPU @ up to 600 MHz supporting OpenGL ES 1.1/2.0 /3.0, and OpenCL 1.1 System Memory – 2GB dual-channel DDR3 Storage – 16GB eMMC flash + microSD slot Video output & Display I/F 1x HDMI 2.0 up […]

April 28, 2023April 28, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

Mixtile Core 3588E Rockchip RK3588 system-on-module works with NVIDIA Jetson TX2 NX carrier boards

Rockchip RK3588 SoM NVIDIA Jetson TX2 NX alternative

Mixtile Core 3588E is a system-on-module powered by a Rockchip RK3588 SoC and equipped with the 260-pin SO-DIMM connector found in the NVIDIA Jetson TX2 NX (and Jetson Nano, Xavier NX, Orin Nano modules). We’ve seen several companies make Raspberry Pi CM4 alternatives such as Radxa CM3 or Pine64 SoQuartz, and Mixtile even has its own Core 3568M SoM that can be used as a drop-in replacement for the Raspberry Pi CM4. But I had not seen companies try to make system-on-modules based on NVIDIA Jetson’s 260-pin SO-DIMM edge connector, and that’s exactly what the Mixtile Core 3588E has to offer. Mixtile Core 3588E specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3588 CPU – Octa-core processor with 4x Arm Cortex-A76 cores @ up to 2.4 GHz, 4x Arm Cortex-A55 cores GPU – Arm Mali-G610 MP4 GPU with support for OpenGL ES3.2, OpenCL 2.2, Vulkan1.1 AI accelerator – 6 TOPS NPU with support for […]

Rockchip RK3568/RK3588 and Intel x86 SBCs

April 28, 2023April 28, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 19 Comments

Meet the $1,000 ESP32 board with 512 GPIOs (12V/24V)

KinCony IoT’s KC868-A566 is an ESP32 WiFi & BLE IoT board with a massive 512 GPIOs, more specifically with 256 12V/24V digital outputs and 256 digital inputs that should meet most people’s requirements, except for its price, as it is currently selling for $1,000 on Aliexpress. The board is based on ESP32-WROOM-32E, and besides the massive numbers of GPIOs, also adds four analog input ports, an Ethernet port, and an RS485 connector. The company also made sure it can run ESPHome open-source firmware and integrates well with Home Assistant open-source home automation framework. KinCony IoT KC868-A566 board specifications: Wireless module – ESP32-WROOM-32E with ESP32 dual-core microcontroller 4MB flash 2.4 GHz WiFi and Bluetooth LE connectivity, built-in PCB antenna, fully compatible with ESPHome firmware Ethernet – 100/10Mbps Ethernet via vertical RJ45 jack USB – 1x USB Type-C port Serial – RS485 interface I/Os 256x MOSFET outputs (12V/24V 5000mA per channel) with […]

April 27, 2023April 27, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

Onyx BOOX Tab Ultra C 10.3-inch color E-Ink Android tablet comes with stylus support

Onyx Boox Tab Ultra C 10.3-inch color e-ink tablet

Onyx BOOX Tab Ultra C is an Android 11 tablet with a 10.3-inch E-Ink Kaleido 3 color display with 2480 x 1860 black & white resolution, 1240 x 930 color resolution, a capacitive touchscreen and support for a stylus with 4096 levels of pressure. The tablet is an evolution of the BOOX Tab Ultra black-and-white tablet with a 4096-color E-Ink display using the latest Kaleido 3 screen that increases color saturation by 30 percent and reduces blue light reflections compared to earlier Kaleido Plus displays. BOOX Tab Ultra C specifications: SoC – Unnamed “Qualcomm Advanced” octa-core processor (likely the 2.0 GHz Snapdragon 662 octa-core Cortex-A73/A53 processor like in its black-and-white predecessor) System Memory – 4GB LPDDR4X Storage – 128GB UFS 2.1 flash, microSD card slot Display 10.3-inch Kaleido 3 (4,096 colors) Carta 1200 glass screen with flat cover-lens Resolution: B/W: 2480 x 1860 (300 ppi); color: 1240 x 930 (150 […]