CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

July 5, 2022January 26, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

LILYGO T-QT V1.1 – A cute little board with ESP32-S3 and a 0.85-inch color display

LILYGO must be churning out at least one new “ESP32” board every month, but I don’t think they’ve ever made one with ESP32-S3. LILYGO T-QT V1.1 board changes that and combines the dual-core WiFi 4 and Bluetooth LE 5.0 AI microcontroller with a 0.85-inch color display. The board also happens to be rather small and cute with a 33 x 18 mm form factor, offers some I/O via headers and a 4-pin connector, and can be powered via its USB Type-C port or a battery, but lacks a charging circuit. LILYGO T-QT V1.1 specifications: Wireless MCU – Espressif Systems ESP32-S3 dual-core Tensilica LX7 @ up to 240 MHz with vector instructions for AI acceleration, 512KB RAM, wireless connectivity Storage – 8MB flash Connectivity via ESP32-S3 2.4 GHz 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi 4 with 40 MHz bandwidth support Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) 5.0 connectivity with long-range support, up to 2Mbps data rate. […]

July 5, 2022May 14, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 42 Comments

ROCK 5B developer edition preview – Part 1: Unboxing and first boot to Debian 11

Radxa ROCK5 Model B (aka ROCK 5B) is one of the most anticipated Rockchip RK3588 single board computers due to its features set and relatively affordable price. It was first showcased in January, but it’s taking a while as the Cortex-A76/A55 SoC is a complex beast. The good news is that the public launch is getting closer as Radxa sent “developer edition” samples to developers and enthusiasts for a “debug party”. I was one of the recipients so, in this post, I’ll have a closer look at the latest revision of the board, and give it a quick try first before going into more details in the second of this preview. ROCK5 Model B unboxing I received the 16GB RAM version which should be the same for all board part of the “developer edition batch. Developers are invited to submit reports to Radxa forums, and since those are public, anybody […]

July 4, 2022February 12, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 29 Comments

Mini review of ORICO “USB 4.0” M.2 NVMe SSD enclosure

Orico USB 4.0 M.2 NVMe SSD enclosure review

ORICO has sent me a sample of a USB 4.0 M.2 NVMe SSD enclosure for review, which was timely as I did not have a fast USB storage option for testing. In this post, I’ll check out the hardware, show how to install an NVMe SSD, and test performance in UP Xtreme i11 mini PC since it happens to come with a USB4 port. ORICO USB 4.0 M.2 SSD enclosure specs and unboxing The exact model I received is the ORICO M234C3-U4 with a Rose Gold aluminum enclosure (107x50x17mm), supporting M.2 M-Key and B+M Key 2230, 2242, 2260, 2280 SSDs (more on that later), and offering up to 40 Gbps through its USB 4.0 port. The device ships with a USB Type-C to USB Type-C/Type-A cable, a thermal pad, a heatsink, two screws, and a multilingual user manual. There’s only one USB Type-C port one the device. M.2 NVMe SSD […]

July 4, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

STEPFPGA FPGA board is programmable with a Web IDE (Crowdfunding)

STEPFPGA MXO2Core miniature FPGA development board is based on Lattice MXO2-4000 FPGA, and designed for education with an easy-to-use Web IDE, instead of the more traditional tools that can be frustrating to use, and detailed tutorials. The board also comes with a 2-digit segment display, some LEDs, push buttons, and a 4-way DIP switch, as well as two rows of twenty pins for I/O expansion, and a USB Type-C port used for power, programming, or mass storage. STEPFPGA MXO2Core specifications: FPGA – Lattice Semi MachXO2 X02-4000 FPGA with 4320 LUTs Display – 2-digit segment display USB – 1x USB Type-C port for power, programming (UART), and mass storage Expansion – 2x 20-pin headers with up to 36x GPIOs, SPI, I2C, 3.3V, VBUS, GND; breadboard-compatible Misc – 2x RGB LEDs, 8x red LEDs, 4-way DIP switch, 4x push buttons Power Supply – 5V via a USB port Dimensions – Small four-layer […]

July 4, 2022July 4, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 11 Comments

Geehy APM32F103 clone of STM32F103 MCU has been tested to work without PCB or code modifications

Geehy APM32F103 is a clone of STMicro STM32F103 MCU that has been tested by at least one person who claims it was just a drop-in replacement and PCB, code, hex, testing, and production did not have to be changed at all. Most STM32 microcontrollers are in short supply with 52+ weeks lead times and prices going through the roof, so people may be looking into the long list STM32 clones and fakes including APM32F103. They all claim to be pin-to-pin and firmware compatible, but when theory meets reality, things may go wrong. For instance, last year I had a conversation with one person who switched to GD32 microcontroller and had all sorts of issues (translated from French): I ordered samples from the GD32F103RCT6 (LQFP64) “clone”, tested them, and it’s a catastrophe… Out of 6 chips, I only managed to flash one. And that one will not boot either. I’ve dived […]

July 3, 2022October 22, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 12 Comments

Getting started with WiFi on Raspberry Pi Pico W board

Raspberry Pi Trading announced the Raspberry Pi Pico W board basically based on the same design as the original Raspberry Pi Pico board with RP2040 dual-core Cortex-M0+ microcontroller but adding a wireless module with WiFi 4 and Bluetooth LE 5.2, although the latter is not enabled on the board at this time. The company sent me a sample for review/evaluation, and I’ll focus on the WiFi part since the Raspberry Pi Pico W supports the same MicroPython and C/C++ SDKs as for the Raspberry Pi Pico board plus additional APIs for wireless connectivity. Raspberry Pi Pico W unboxing The board I received was cut from a 480-unit reel, and I also got a one-meter long micro USB to USB cable, which should probably not be included by default for people ordering the $6 board. Just like its predecessor, the board is tiny, and The pinout is the same as the […]

Rockchip RK3568/RK3588 and Intel x86 SBCs

July 2, 2022February 27, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 27 Comments

ROMA Linux laptop to feature quad-core RISC-V SoC, support Web3, NFT, cryptocurrencies, etc…

ROMA is an upcoming Linux laptop equipped with an unnamed quad-core RISC-V processor with GPU and NPU, up to 16GB RAM, 256GB storage, primarily aimed at software developers, and with Web3 technology integration. The ROMA laptop will be born out of the collaboration between DeepComputing working on engineering and Xcalibyte taking care of system tuning, plus PW (assembly), ECP (security), XC (crypto), Rexeen (voice), and the LatticeX Foundation (PoS blockchain, NFT). ROMA laptop preliminary specifications: SoC – Quad-core RISC-V CPU with GPU for graphics, NPU for AI (12nm chip for the Pro model, 28nm chip for the Standard model) System Memory – 16GB LPDDR4/LPDDR4X RAM Storage – 256GB eMMC flash Security – Arm SC300 security enclave processor Display, keyboard, touchpad I agree that’s a bit light on details. We’re told the laptop will support most Linux operating systems and the company will offer free SoC and SoM upgrades, as well […]

July 1, 2022July 1, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 10 Comments

ZigUNO – An Arduino UNO-sized Zigbee board that works with PTVO firmware

ZigUNO Zigbee development board comes with an Ebyte E18-MS1 module equipped with Texas Instruments SimpleLink CC2530 8051 Zigbee microcontroller and follows Arduino UNO form for Arduino Shield compatibility. The board works with PTVO Zigbee firmware that comes with a graphical configuration tool to select the Zigbee chip used (CC2530), configure I/O behavior (input/output, pull-up, etc…), and more. The developers also suggest using DIYRuZ projects as examples to get started. ZigUNO board specifications: Zigbee module – Ebyte E18-MS1-PCB module with TI SimpleLink CC2530 8051 microcontroller with Zigbee 3.0 (and IEEE 802.15.4) connectivity, 256kB Flash and 8kB RAM, PCB antenna Expansion – Arduino UNO headers (3.3V only, not 5V tolerant) Power Supply – 5V up to 1.5A via 5.5/2.1mm DC jack, 2-pin terminal block, or micro USB port Dimensions – 82x54x13 (Arduino UNO form factor) Temperature Range – 0 to 50°C You’ll find the hardware design files including EasyEDA PDF schematics, BoM, […]