CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

March 9, 2023March 9, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

BeaglePlay – A $99 Texas Instruments AM625 industrial SBC with plenty of communication and expansion options

The BeagleBoard.org Foundation has just launched their latest single board computer with the BeaglePlay SBC powered by a Texas Instruments AM625 Cortex-A53/M4/R5 processor with 16GB eMMC flash, 2GB DDR2, and a wide range of I/Os, wired and wireless communication options, and support for expansion module compatible with MikroBus, Grove, and Qwiic connectors. Two wired Ethernet are offered, namely a typical Gigabit Ethernet RJ45 port, as well as a single-pair Ethernet RJ11 port limited to 10 Mbps but with a much longer range and power over data, and wireless connectivity includes dual-band WiFi 4, Bluetooth LE, and Sub-GHz. The board also features HDMI and MIPI DSI display interfaces and a MIPI CSI camera interface. BeaglePlay specifications: SoC – Texas Instruments Sitara AM625 (AM6254) with Quad-core 64-bit Arm Cortex-A53 processor @ 1.4 GHz Arm Cortex-M4F at up to 400 MHz Arm Cortex-R5F PowerVR Rogue 3D GPU supporting up to 2048×1080 @ 60fps, […]

March 8, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Toradex Verdin AM62 – An entry-level Sitara AM623/AM625 SoM for Industry 4.0, Smart Cities, Healthcare…

Toradex Verdin AM62 is a system-on-module based on Texas Instruments AM62 Cortex-A53/M4 processor with up to 1GB LPDDR4 RAM and 8GB eMMC flash that is the most affordable system-on-module from the company’s Verdin family. The module also comes with a Gigabit Ethernet PHY and an optional WiFi 5 and Bluetooth 5 module and exposes various interfaces through its edge connector such as dual Gigabit Ethernet, MIPI DSI and LVDS display interfaces, a MIPi CSI-2 camera interface, and CAN FD, and more. Toradex Verdin AM62 specifications: SoC – Texas Instruments Sitara AM623/AM625 with up to 4x Arm Cortex-A53 cores @ 1.4GHz, 1x Arm Cortex-M4F @ 400MHz, optional 3D GPU with support for OpenGL 3.x/2.0/1.1 + extensions, Vulkan 1.2 (AM625 only) System Memory – Up to 1GB LPDDR4 (16-bit) Storage – Up to 8GB eMMC flash Networking Texas Instruments DP83867IRRGZR industrial-grade Gigabit Ethernet PHY Optional Wi-Fi 5 and Bluetooth 5 module (AzureWave […]

March 8, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

Home Assistant compatible “ESP 360 Remote” controls infrared and 433MHz appliances over WiFi (Crowdfunding)

ESP 360 Remote is an ESP32-based IR and 433 MHz RF remote with built-in sensors used to control home appliances over WiFi and that also integrates with Home Assistant open-source home automation framework. The open-source hardware design is comprised of a mainboard with an ESP32-WROOM-32E module, temperature, humidity, and light sensors, and a board on the top with nine infrared LEDs, one IR receiver, as well as a 433 MHz (or 315 MHz) RF receiver and transmitter with the receivers used for learning the code from the remote controls. ESP 360 Remote 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 Control interface 9x High Power IR LEDs to control devices in all directions (hence the 360 name) IR receiver to learn remote control codes 433 MHz (or 315 MHz) RF transmitter 433 […]

March 8, 2023March 8, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

STMicro STM32H5 Arm Cortex-M33 MCU clocks at 250 MHz, supports STM32Trust TEE Secure Manager

STMicroelectronics has announced the STM32H5 Arm Cortex-M33 “high-performance” microcontroller family clocked at up to 250 MHz and supporting STM32Trust TEE Secure Manager to boost both performance and security in “next-generation smart applications”. The STM32H5 family has three product types namely the higher-end STM32H563/573 with up to 2MB flash, 640KB SRAM, Ethernet, and hardware security, the STM32H562 with a similar design but fewer interfaces, and the entry-level STM32H502 with 128KB flash, 32KB SRAM. STM32H5 key features and specifications: MCU core – Arm Cortex-M33 core with TrustZone technology, digital signal processing (DSP) and floating-point unit (FPU) running up to 250 MHz; Up to 375 DMIPS and a 1023 CoreMark score executing from the flash memory Memory and Storage STM32H563/573/562 – 1 to 2 Mbytes of flash memory, 640 Kbytes of SRAM STM32H503 – 128 Kbytes of flash memory and 32 Kbytes of RAM. OSPI serial flash memory interface Up to 2x SDMMC […]

March 8, 2023August 14, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 9 Comments

Banana BPI-P2 Pro headless SBC features RK3308 CPU, PoE Ethernet, WiFi 5, audio jack

Banana Pi BPI-P2 Pro is Rockchip RK3308 quad-core Cortex-A35 SBC for headless applications with a PoE-capable Ethernet port, WiFi 5, a USB port, an audio jack, and two GPIO headers for expansion. You may think the Banana Pi guys have gone crazy by calling such entry-level level SBC “Pro”, but that’s because the company previously released the BPI-P2 Zero and BPI-P2 Maker single board computers based on Allwinner H2+ quad-core Cortex-A7 processor, so the BPI-P2 Pro is indeed an improvement albeit with some caveats. Banana Pi BPI-P2 Pro specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3308 quad-core Arm Cortex-A35 processor @ up to 1.3 GHz with built-in VAD (Voice Activity Detector) System Memory – 2GB LPDDR2 SDRAM [Update: According to Rockchip RK3308 specifications, the maximum memory capacity is 512MB, so Banana Pi may have meant 2 Gbit instead, meaning 256MB of RAM]. Storage – 8GB eMMC flash, microSD card slot Video Output – […]

March 7, 2023March 9, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

RAKwireless programmable 5G & LoRaWAN small cell device runs Ubuntu on Raspberry Pi CM4

RAKwireless “All-in-One 5G” is a programmable 64-bit Ubuntu indoor device that integrates AGW (access gateway) through a Raspberry Pi CM4 as well as 5G and 4G LTE cellular and LoRaWAN connectivity. The device is powered through its 2.5GbE PoE++ port and designed for private 5G networks for industrial automation, public safety, and transportation, and RAKwireless says you can also “start earning cryptocurrency by providing LTE cellular and LoRa coverage”, but I could not find details about monetization at this time. RAKwireless “All-in-One 5G” specifications: SoM (AGW) – Raspberry Pi CM4 system-on-module with Broadcom BCM2711 quad-core Cortex-A72 processor with 4GB RAM and 32 eMMC flash, WiFi 5 and Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity 5G/4G cellular connectivity LTE Mode- TDD Frequency Bands – Band 48 (3550 MHz to 3700 MHz); band N78 is also supported for global coverage Channel Bandwidth5/10/15/20 MHz Max TX Power – 24 dBm Receiver Sensitivity – -100 dBm Built-in 2-port […]

Rockchip RK3568/RK3588 and Intel x86 SBCs

March 7, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 13 Comments

LibreELEC 11 released with Kodi 20, brings back Amlogic platforms

LibreELEC 11 lightweight media center Linux distribution based on Kodi 20 “Nexus” has just been released with various improvements on x86 and Arm platforms. Kodi 20 was released and available for download in January with AV1 hardware video decoding in Android and x86 (VAAPI) platforms with AV1-capable GPU or VPU, FFMPEG 4.4, Pipewire support in Linux, and a few others. LibreELEC 11 enables you to have a dedicated, and fast booting, HTPC based on a mini PC, a Raspberry Pi SBC, or an Arm-based TV box with all features from the latest Kodi release. LibreELEC 11 supports Raspberry Pi 2 to 4 SBCs, 64-bit x86 hardware, various Allwinner, Rockchip, and Amlogic SBCs and TV boxes with x86, Raspberry Pi, and Rockchip hardware considered more stable and feature complete. LibreELEC 10.0 did away with Amlogic TV boxes and single board computers because of driver issues, but LibreELEC 11.0 brings Amlogic back […]

March 7, 2023March 8, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

Review of micro:bit XGO Robot Kit – An educational robot dog with a Bluetooth joystick

ELECFREAKS micro:bit XGO Robot Kit is a robotic dog designed for robotics education. It moves realistically and acts like a real pet dog, and can help teach various technology concepts related to mechanical engineering, electronics, programming, and artificial intelligence (AI). The kit support both the BBC Micro:bit V1 and V2 boards which can be programmed with Microsoft MakeCode, Python, the Arduino IDE, and other languages. The XGO robot is compact and can be easily used on a desk or table. The robot is made of aluminum metal coated with a beautiful anodized finish. Each leg has 12 high-quality digital servos moving each joint, 3 on each side, totaling 12, helping the robot dog to move smoothly and flexibly. The robot can be controlled with apps, a joystick, and up to 19 ready-made postures, such as holding hands, looking for food, sitting down, squatting, etc… Content of the XGO robot kit: […]