Fanless rugged controller offers 2.5GbE networking, 5G cellular, 9-36V wide power input

9 36V DC fanless rugged mini pc

ARBOR ARES-1980 is a fanless rugged industrial controller powered by an Intel 11th Gen Tiger Lake Core processor with 9-36V wide power input, 2.5GbE, optional 4G/5G cellular and/or WiFi connectivity, and designed for factory automation. The embedded computer also comes with two PoE-capable Gigabit Ethernet ports, support for NVMe and SATA storage, eight digital outputs, eight digital inputs, several serial ports compatible with RS232,  RS422, and/or RS485, and more. ARES-1980 specifications: SoC – Intel Core i3-1115G4E, Core i5-1145G7E (default), or Core i7-1185G7E Tiger Lake processor with Intel Iris Xe graphics System Memory – Up to 64GB 3200MHz RAM via 2x 260-pin DDR4 SO-DIMM sockets Storage 1x M.2 M-Key 2242/2280 (PCIe Gen III x4 + SATA III) socket 1x 2.5-inch HDD/SSD SATA III tray Video Output 1x HDMI 2.0b connector up to 4Kp60 resolutions 1x DisplayPort 1.4 connector up to 4Kp60 resolutions 1x DVI-D connector up to 1080p60 resolution Networking 2x […]

Radxa CM5 – A Rockchip RK3588S module (somewhat) compatible with Raspberry Pi CM4

Radxa CM5

Radxa has been working on the ROCK 5 Compute Module (aka Radxa CM5) system-on-module compatible with Raspberry Pi CM4, but based on the more powerful Rockchip RK3588S octa-core Cortex-A76/A55 SoC. Just like the Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4, it comes in a 55 x 40mm form factor, but instead of just two high-density 100-pin board-to-board connectors, the module includes three to cater for the additional I/Os from the Rockchip processor, just like they did for the Radxa CM3 equipped with a Rockchip RK3566 processor. Radxa CM5 specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3588S octa-core processor with 4x Cortex‑A76  cores @ up to 2.4GHz, 4x Cortex‑A55 core @ 1.8GHz Arm Mali-G610 MP4 “Odin” GPU Video decoder – 8Kp60 H.265, VP9, AVS2, 8Kp30 H.264 AVC/MVC, 4Kp60 AV1, 1080p60 MPEG-2/-1, VC-1, VP8 Video encoder – 8Kp30 H.265/H.264 video encoder 6 TOPS NPU System Memory – 4GB, 8GB, or 16GB LPDDR4x‑4224 SDRAM Storage – Optional 8GB, […]

ArmSoM CM5 Raspberry Pi CM4 alternative with Rockchip RK3576 SoC

How to check TDP (PL1 and PL2 power limits) in Windows and Linux

AMD Ryzen TDP Power Limits Windows 11

A TDP (Thermal Design Power) value in Watts will usually be provided for Intel and AMD processors to help manufacturers design an appropriate thermal solution for a given processor, and it’s often used to estimate power consumption by consumers. But TDP is also often configurable, and manufacturers may decide to increase to decrease the value for higher performance or lower power consumption, so we’ll show you how to check the TDP value, or more exactly PL1 and PL2 power limits in both Windows 11 and Linux (Ubuntu 22.04). Note that TDP is being replaced by PBP (Processor Base Power) in newer processors, with PL1 (Long Duration) corresponding to BPB, and PL2 (Short Duration) to Maximum Turbo Power (MTP), at least on Intel chips. Check the TDP values in Windows 11 You’ll first need to install HWiNFO64 program, then start it leaving all options unticked (default), and go to Control Processor(s) […]

Beelink SEi11 Pro Review – An Intel Core i5-11320H mini PC tested with Windows 11, Ubuntu 22.04

Beelink SEi11 Pro review

The latest mini PC marketed in the ‘Pro’ range from Beelink is the SEi11 Pro and features one of last year’s Intel H-series processors typically used in gaming laptops. Beelink kindly sent one for review and I’ve looked at performance running both Windows 11 and Ubuntu 22.04. Beelink SEi11 Pro hardware overview The Beelink SEi11 Pro physically consists of a 126 x 113 x 40mm (4.96 x 4.45 x 1.57 inches) square metal case. As an actively cooled mini PC, it uses Intel’s ‘10 nm SuperFin’ Tiger Lake processor and the review model included an i5-11320H which is a quad-core 8-thread 3.20 GHz Core processor (at 35W TDP) boosting to 4.50 GHz with Intel’s Iris Xe Graphics. The front panel has an illuminated power button, a 3.5mm headphone jack, a data-only Type-C USB 3.1 port, dual USB 3.1 ports and a reset pin-hole ‘CLR CMOS’. The rear panel includes a […]

Odyssey Blue mini PC bundle ships with Frigate open-source NVR, Coral USB AI accelerator

Frigate NVR Odyssey Blue mini PC

Odyssey Blue mini PC based on the ODYSSEY-X86J4125 SBC is now offered as part of a bundle with Frigate open-source NVR platform with support for real-time local object detection, and an Coral USB AI accelerator. The Odyssey Blue mini PC is equipped with an Intel Celeron J4125 quad-core Gemini Lake Refresh processor, 8GB RAM, and a 128GB SSD preloaded with an unnamed Linux OS (probably Debian 11) and Frigate Docker container. The solution can run over object detection at 100+ FPS when equipped with a Coral USB accelerator. Since the hardware is not exactly new, and we’ve covered it in detail in the past, even reviewing the earlier generation SBC with Celeron J4105 processor and Re_Computer enclosure, I’ll focus on the software, namely Frigate NVR in this post. Frigate is an open-source NVR program designed for Home Assistant with AI-powered object detection that runs as a Docker container and uses […]

OpenWrt 22.03 released with Firewall4, now supports over 1,580 embedded devices

OpenWrt 22.03

OpenWrt 22.03 open-source Linux operating system for routers and entry-level embedded devices has just been released with over 3800 commits since the release of OpenWrt 21.02 nearly exactly one year ago. The new version features Firewall4 based on nftables, switching from the earlier iptables-based Firewall3, and adds support for over 180 new devices for a total of more than 1,580 embedded devices, including 15 devices capable of WiFi 6 connectivity using the MediaTek MT7915 wifi chip. OpenWrt developers explain that Firewall4 keeps the same the UCI firewall configuration syntax and should work as a drop-in replacement with most common setups, just generating nftables rules instead of iptables ones. You’ll find more details about OpenWrt firewall configuration in the documentation. OpenWrt 21.02 added initial support for the Distributed Switch Architecture (DSA), the Linux standard for configurable Ethernet switches, and OpenWrt 22.03 migrated more targets from swconfig to DSA namely all bcm53xx […]

Rockchip RK3568, RK3588 and Intel x86 SBCs and SoMs in 2025

PureThermal 3 board embeds FLIR Lepton FS thermal camera for $200

PureThermal 3 FLIR Lepton FS board

Groupgets PureThermal 3 (PT3) is a hackable thermal webcam that ships with the low-cost FLIR Lepton FS module, and is compatible with FLIR Lepton (2.x – 3.x) LWIR camera core. The company explains the new model offers the same basic functionality as the PureThermal 2 but with a few changes and additional features, although the motivation for the new design was primarily to address component shortages. Some changes include the removal of pads to install an RF shield, and the Tag-Connect TC2030 programming connector is replaced by the Tag-Connect EC-10-IDC. PureThermal 3 specifications with changes highlighted in bold: Microcontroller – STMicro STM32F412 Arm Cortex-M4 MCU @ 100 MHz with up to 1024 KB flash, 256 KB SRAM Camera support Supports LIR Lepton (2.x – 3.x) LWIR camera cores Ships with FLIR Lepton FS non-radiometric 160 x 120 resolution micro thermal camera module USB – USB Type-C port with USB UVC […]

Sensirion SCD40 CO2 sensor units for makers: M5Stack UNIT CO2 and TeHyBug ESP8285 device

M5Stack UNIT CO2

We just wrote about the Infineon XENSIV PAS CO2 Shield2Go board to measure carbon dioxide (CO2) levels last week, but I’ve just come across two more hardware with a CO2 sensor designed for makers, but based on Sensirion SCD40 sensor instead, and mostly designed to monitor indoor CO2 levels since high concentrations may impact your health negatively. The first one is the M5Stack UNIT CO2 that’s designed to be connected to one of the company’s Core modules through an I2C interface, and TeHyBug portable mini sensor device equipped with ESP8285 WiFi microcontroller, as well as optional AHT10 temperature & humidity sensor and BMP280 pressure sensor, besides the SCD40 sensor. M5Stack UNIT CO2 Specifications: Sensirion SCD40 sensor CO2 Measurement range – 400 ~ 2000 ppm CO2 Sampling accuracy – ±(50 ppm + 5% of reading) Temperature range – -10 – 60°C with 0.8°C   accuracy Humidity range – 0 – 95% RH […]

Boardcon EM3562 Rockchip RK3562 SBC with 8 analog camera inputs