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Geniatech XPI-3566-ZERO – A Rockchip RK3566 SBC that follows Raspberry Pi Zero form factor

Geniatech XPI-3566-ZERO is a Rockchip RK3566 powered single board computer (SBC) that provides an alternative to the Raspberry Pi Zero 2W with a more powerful quad-core 1.8 GHz Arm Cortex-A55 processor, support for 4Kp60 video playback and output, WiFi 5 and Bluetooth 5.0, a built-in eMMC flash, and so on. Geniatech XPI is a family of SBCs that closely follows the design of various Raspberry Pi boards, and after introducing the Raspberry Pi 3 Model B-sized XPI-3566 board last year, the company has now designed a more small Rockchip RK3566 SBC that follows the Raspberry Pi Zero form factor. Geniatech XPI-3566-ZERO specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3566 quad-core Cortex-A55 processor @ up to 1.8 GHz with Arm Mali-G52 2EE GPU, 1 TOPS AI accelerator System Memory – 512MB LPDDR4 (up to 8GB optional) Storage – 8GB eMMC flash (up to 128GB optional) Video Output – mini HDMI 2.0 up to 4Kp60 […]

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Raspberry Pi supplies are improving, but trust may be hard to rebuild with makers

Last December, Eben Upon provided an update about Raspberry Pi availability and expected “unlimited supplied” by H2 2023. Nine months later, Raspberry Pi supplies have indeed improved a lot. Still, some makers with small-volume production have already moved on, and are using alternative solutions. This seems especially true for products based on Raspberry Pi CM4 modules. Tom’s Hardware has just had a fresh look at the Raspberry Pi supply situation, and based on Eben’s tweets noted an increased number of Raspberry Pi boards had shipped in 2023. Eben said June was the second-best month ever for Raspberry Pi Trading with 788,000 units sold, and July looks to breach if the one million units a month is reached, beating the March 2021 records of 814k units. He further expanded saying 119k Zero boards, of which 33k Zero 2 boards (almost entirely consumer), and estimated around 250-400ku went to the retail market. […]

Khadas Edge2 Arm mini PC
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Robo Pico review – A Raspberry Pi Pico W-based motor & sensor control board tested with BocoBot robotic kit

Cytron Robo Pico is a carrier board for the Raspberry Pi Pico (W) specially designed for robotics & IoT applications with a 2-channel DC motor driver, four servo motor ports, and seven Grove I/O connectors to connect various sensors and/or actuators. When the company asked us to review the Robo Pico board, I noticed they had a car robotic kit based on the board called the BocoBot that comes with installation videos and five tutorials including obstacle avoidance movement with ultrasonic sensors, light search, line following, and WiFi remote control. So I asked for the full kit to make the review more fun and interesting. Robo Pico board Robo Pico specifications: Supported MCU board – Raspberry Pi Pico/Pico W and compatible Motor control 2x DC Motor terminals with Motor status LEDs for each motor terminal 2x motor test buttons for each motor terminal Header to connect to 4x servos Expansion […]

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UP 7000 is a powerful x86 alternative to the Raspberry Pi 4 SBC with an Intel Processor N50/N97/N100 CPU

AAEON UP 7000 is an x86 single board computer with a layout similar to the Raspberry Pi 4 but based on a more powerful Intel Processor N50, N97, or N100 Alder Lake-N SoC with Gigabit Ethernet, three USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports, HDMI 1.4 video output, and a 40-pin GPIO header. Not to be confused with the larger UP Squared Pro 7000 also powered by an Alder Lake-N processor, the UP 7000 is an update to the UP 4000 SBC with an Intel Apollo Lake processor introduced just last year. The new fanless board also comes with up to 8GB LPDDR5, 64GB eMMC flash, and an onboard TPM 2.0. UP 7000 (SKU: UP-ADLN01) specifications: Alder Lake-N SoC Intel Processor N50 dual-core processor up to 3.4 GHz with 6MB cache, 16EU Intel UHD Graphics Gen 12 @ 750 MHz; TDP: 6W Intel Processor N97 quad-core processor up to 3.6 GHz with […]

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RP2 Nano is a $6.6 Raspberry Pi RP2040 board with Arduino Nano form factor

ArtronShop RP2 Nano board features the Raspberry Pi RP2040 microcontroller in the Arduino Nano form factor in a way that’s much cheaper than the official Arduino Nano RP2040 Connect board. That’s possible because Thailand-based AtronShop did not include all the bells and whistles such as WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity, sensors, and used a smaller flash. So the RP2 Nano basically offers the same I/Os and features as the Arduino Nano, but the Microchip ATmega328 8-bit AVR microcontroller gives place to the more powerful Raspberry Pi RP2040 dual-core Cortex-M0+ MCU plus 2MB flash, and the board also adds an extra Grove connector for expansion. RP2 Nano specifications: MCU – Raspberry Pi RP2040 dual-core Cortex M0+ microcontroller @ 133 MHz with 264 kB of embedded SRAM Storage – 2MB SPI flash USB – 1x USB Type-C OTG port for power, data, and programming Expansion Arduino Nano headers (2x 15-pin headers) Up to […]

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Review of SunFounder Raspberry Pi UPS Power Supply

SunFounder’s Raspberry Pi UPS Power Supply is a complete UPS kit for the Raspberry Pi 3/4 Model B/B+ with a PiPower board, a 2,000 mAh battery, and all accessories requires for the assembly. It also works with other Raspberry Pi-sized boards that support 5V DC input such as Banana Pi BPI-M5, Libre Computer ROC-RK3328-CC, and other similar SBCs. Many years ago, I bought a Raspberry Pi battery pack for review hoping that it would also work as a UPS, but it was not perfect as the board would sometime reboot during power failure simulations. Since then, there have been many UPS kits launched to the market, but I didn’t try any so far, so when SunFounder contacted CNX Software to review their “Raspberry Pi UPS Power Supply”, I took the opportunity, and I will report my finding in this review. Raspberry Pi UPS Power Supply key features UPS module output […]

Rockchip RK3568/RK3588 and Intel x86 SBCs
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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 […]

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Micro RP2040 is a tiny Raspberry Pi RP2040 module with a USB Type-C port, 28 castellated & through holes

SB Components’ Micro RP2040 is a tiny module based on the Raspberry Pi RP2040 Arm microcontroller with up to 23 GPIOs and a USB Type-C port for easy powering and programming. Ever since the Raspberry Pi RP2040 dual-core Arm Cortex-M0+ microcontroller was released, companies have been making tiny modules based on it. Some come with a USB Type-C port such as the Pimoroni Tiny 2040 and the Adafruit QT Py RP2040 boards, while others focused on providing a smaller form factor for soldering only with design such as the RP2040 Stamp or the minuscule 12x12mm Femto module. The Micro RP2040 module comes with a USB-C port and more I/Os than competing modules thanks to a slightly larger 25 x 24.95mm design. Micro RP2040 specifications: MCU – Raspberry Pi RP2040 dual-core Cortex-M0+ microcontroller @ up to 133 MHz with 264kB of SRAM Storage – 2MB QSPI flash USB – USB Type-C […]

Khadas VIM4 SBC