CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

December 15, 2022January 16, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

TwoTrees TS2 laser engraver review – Part 1: Unboxing and assembly

TwoTrees TS2 is a laser engraver with a 10W laser, and the company sent us a sample for review. I usually let Karl review this type of hardware as he’s done previously with the Ortur Laser Master 2 Pro laser engraver, but he happens to be busy with another 10W laser engraver from a different company, so I decided to try it out myself this time around. I’ll write a two-part review, with the first part checking out the specifications, unboxing the package, and reporting my experience assembling my very first laser engraver, before engraving and cutting various materials in the second part of the review. TwooTrees TS2 laser engraver specifications Basic TS2 specifications provided in the user manual: Laser Power – 10 Watts Wavelength – 445 nm +/-5 Control board – Makerbase DLC32 V.20 with ESP32-WROOM-32U module Engraving accuracy – 0.1mm Engraving speed – 10,000mm per minute Engraving size […]

December 15, 2022December 16, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 10 Comments

Olimex AgonLight2 8-bit open-source hardware computer sells for 50 Euros

Olimex has started to take pre-orders for the AgonLight2, a customized version of the Agon Light 8-bit open-source hardware computer based on the Z80 family and running BBC Basic. Bernardo Kastrup and Dean Belfield created the Agon light 8-bit retro computer with VGA and PS2 keyboard port and programmable with BASIC earlier this year and released all hardware design files, the firmware, and documentation on GitHub, and Dean uploaded a one-hour-long video on YouTube. It was designed with EasyEDA, but Olimex re-captured the design in KiCad after getting customer requests, and the new cost-optimized board named AgonLight2 will start shipping by the end of January 2023. AgonLight2 specifications: MCU – Zilog eZ80F92 8-bit microcontroller @ 18.423 MHz with 128 KB flash, 256 bytes conﬁguration Flash memory, 8 KB SRAM (See PDF datasheet for details) System Memory – 512KB, 10ns, parallel SRAM Storage – MicroSD card socket Terminal subsystem MCU – […]

December 15, 2022December 15, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

Business card-sized SBC ships with Intel Core Tiger Lake or AMD Ryzen V2000 processor

We’ve recently reviewed the UP 4000 SBC as a more powerful x86 alternative to Raspberry Pi 4, but if it still does not cut it, AAEON de next-TGU8 or de next-V2K8 should, as the business card-sized single board computers (SBC) are equipped with respectively an Intel Tiger Lake processor up to a Core i7-1185G7E, and an AMD Ryzen Embedded V2000 SoC up to Ryzen Embedded V2516. But the comparison stops at the size, as both SBCs offer sets of features different from the usual Raspberry Pi form factor with notably up to 16GB RAM, SATA and NVMe storage, dual Ethernet (1x 2.5GbE, 1x Gigabit Ethernet), dual 4K display output via HDMI and eDP, some USB 3.2 ports, as well as serial and I/O interfaces via headers. de next-TGU8/V2K8 SBC specifications: SoC de next-TGU8 Intel Core i7-1185G7E quad-core/octa-thread processor @ 1.80GHz / 4.40GHz with Intel UHD graphics; TDP: 15W (TPD up: […]

December 14, 2022December 15, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

JetHome JetHub D1+ automation controller runs Armbian with mainline Linux, supports Home Assistant

JetHub D1+ Linux 6.1 automation controller

Earlier this year, we noted the addition of the JetHome JetHub D1 Linux-based home automation controller to mainline Linux 5.16, and the JetHome JetHub D1p (D1+) was just added to Linux 6.1 with some improvements. Still based on the Amlogic A113x processor, the JetHub D1+ gets more memory and storage with 2GB DDR4 RAM and 32GB eMMC flash, a MicroSD card slot, a new RTL8822CS wireless module, and a micro USB port to easily access the console and/or flash firmware to the device. JetHub D1+ specifications: SoC – Amlogic A113x quad-core Cortex A53 processor @ up to 1.5 GHz System Memory – 2GB DDR4 Storage – 32GB eMMC flash, MicroSD slot Connectivity 10/100M Ethernet RJ45 port Dual-band WiFi 5 up to 867 Mbps and Bluetooth 4.2/5.0 (RTL8822CS) Texas Instruments CC2652P1 Zigbee 3.0 module USB 1x USB 2.0 Type-A host port for peripherals 2x Micro USB ports one console access and […]

December 14, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 18 Comments

Sipeed LM4A – T-Head TH1520 RISC-V module to power Raspberry Pi 4 competitor and cluster board

Sipeed LM4A is a quad-core RISC-V system-on-module based on the T-Head TH1520 SoC found in the ROMA laptop and destinated to be found in a Raspberry Pi SBC competitor as well as a cluster board. The LM4A, which stands for Lichee Module 4 Model A, comes with 4GB to 16GB RAM, and up to 64GB flash, and connects to the carrier board through a 260-pin SO-DIMM connector. The TH1520 is one of the rare RISC-V SoCs with a 3D GPU, and the SBC based on LM4A has been shown to outperform the Raspberry Pi 4 in benchmarks as we’ll see below. Sipeed LM4A specifications: SoC – Alibaba T-Head TH1520 quad-core RISC-V Xuantie C910 (RV64GCV) processor @ 2.5 GHz, Xuantie C906 audio DSP @ 800 MHz, low power Xuantie E902 core, 50 GFLOPS Imagination 3D GPU, and 4 TOPS NPU System Memory – 4GB, 8GB, or 16GB RAM Storage – Optional […]

December 14, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 7 Comments

Rockchip RK3588 system-on-module exposes 400 pins through high-density connectors

Rockchip RK3588 system -on-module with 400 pins

Forlinx FET3588-C is a relatively compact Rockchip RK3588 system-on-module measuring 68x50mm and exposing many of the processor’s I/Os through four 100-pin high-density connectors. The module ships with up to 8GB LPDDR4x and 64GB eMMC flash, and the company also provides the OK3588-C development board for evaluation with HDMI output and input, two MIPI DSI interfaces, five camera connectors, dual Gigabit Ethernet, M.2 sockets for WiFi and 4G/5G cellular connectivity, and more. Forlinx FET3588-C RK3588 system-on-module Specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3588 octa-core processor with 4x Arm Cortex-A76 cores @ up to 2.4 GHz, 4x Arm Cortex-A55 cores, Arm Mali-G610 MP4 GPU with support for OpenGL ES3.2, OpenCL 2.2, Vulkan1.1, 6 TOPS NPU, 48MP ISP, 8Kp60 video decoding, 8Kp30 video encoding System Memory – 4GB or 8GB LPDDR4x (16GB planned) Storage – 32GB or 64GB eMMC 5.1 flash (128GB planned) Carrier board interface – 4x high-density 100-pin board-to-board connectors Storage – Up […]

Rockchip RK3568/RK3588 and Intel x86 SBCs

December 13, 2022December 13, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Open AI Lab EAIDK-610 devkit targets computer vision education with OpenCV

Open AI Lab EAIDK-610 is an embedded AI development kit powered by a Rockchip RK3399 processor, recently added to Linux 6.1 and described as “popularly used by university students” in the kernel changelog. But I had never heard about it, and it turns out it’s because it’s popular with students in China, and most documentation is written in Chinese. The development board is equipped with 4GB LPDDR3, a 16GB eMMC flash, HDMI video output, Gigabit Ethernet and WiFi 5, a few USB ports, a 40-pin GPIO header, and more. EAIDK-610 specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3399 System Memory – 4GB LPDDR3 Storage – 16GB eMMC flash and MicroSD card slot Video Output HDMI 2.0 up to 4Kp60 MIPI DSI up to 1280×720 @ 60 fps 4-lane eDP 1.3 Audio – Speaker header, built-in microphone, 3.5mm audio jack, I2S header, digital audio via HDMI Camera I/F – 2x MIPI CSI up to […]

December 13, 2022December 14, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 10 Comments

Raspberry Pi availability improves, “unlimited supplies” expected by H2 2023

The Raspberry Pi SBCs have been in short supply for a couple of years, especially for individual buyers since Raspberry Pi Trading prioritizes commercial customers, but Eben Upton has just announced some good news with over 100,000 boards comprised of a mix of Raspberry Pi Zero W, Pi 3A+, and Raspberry Pi 4 2GB and 4GB variants being made available for single-unit sales through approved resellers. Eben however notes there’s more to do, and recommends buying from an approved reseller to get the boards at the recommended retail price (RRP), checking rpilocator to check for availability, and potentially considering switching to the Raspberry Pi Pico or Pico W if the project allows it as there’s plenty of stock for the MCU boards. Industrial and enterprise customers who still have issues can get in touch with the company by email using business <at> raspberrypi.com. But based on some feedback I received, […]