Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 9 Comments on Arduino to switch from Arm Mbed to Zephyr RTOS

Arduino to switch from Arm Mbed to Zephyr RTOS

Arduino Zephyr RTOS

Following Arm’s decision to stop supporting Mbed from July 2026 onwards, Arduino has now decided to use Zephyr RTOS instead of Arm Mbed for Arduino boards that rely on the latter including Arduino GIGA, Arduino Nano 33 BLE, Arduino Nano RP2040 Connect, as well as Arduino PRO boards/solutions such as the Portenta, Nicla, and Opta families. Note that Arduino UNO, MKR, and Nano families are not impacted by the change since their Arduino Core implementation does not rely on Mbed. The change is not going to happen overnight as software development takes time, and Arduino plans to release the first beta based on ZephyrOS by the end of 2024. and a rollout for various boards starting in 2025 long before Arm Mbed is phased out for good. Arduino is not new to the Zephyr project as the company became a Silver member last year, and they were aware that Arm […]

Posted on by Tomisin Olujinmi - 12 Comments on TinyWatch S3 is an open-source, customizable smartwatch powered by ESP32-S3 SoC

TinyWatch S3 is an open-source, customizable smartwatch powered by ESP32-S3 SoC

tinywatch s3

The TinyWatch S3 is an ESP32-S3 development board in a smartwatch form factor from Seon Rozenblum, also known as Unexpected Maker. It is powered by the ESP32-S3 wireless microcontroller with 8MB quad SPI flash storage and 2MB of additional QSPI PSRAM. It features a 240 x 280 LCD with capacitive touch (via a CST816T module) and several onboard sensors including a 6-axis inertial measurement unit, a magnetometer, and a MEMS microphone. It has a USB-C port for power, programming, and charging a connected LiPo battery (250mAh or 500mAh). While the product’s firmware is still in active development, it is usable as a watch and even a daily driver. The TinyWatch S3 is described as a “wrist-wearable ESP32-S3 development board” but lacks pin headers and is not breadboard compatible. The hardware is open-source but the product is mostly useful for firmware development, testing, and other general projects. The firmware is being […]

Khadas Edge2 Arm mini PC
Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 42 Comments on Building a workstation with Radxa ROCK 5 ITX (Arm) or Milk-V Jupiter (RISC-V) mini-ITX motherboard – Part 1: The hardware

Building a workstation with Radxa ROCK 5 ITX (Arm) or Milk-V Jupiter (RISC-V) mini-ITX motherboard – Part 1: The hardware

Milk-V Jupiter ROCK 5 ITX mini ITX NAS enclosure

Radxa ROCK 5 ITX is a mini-ITX motherboard powered by a Rockchip RK3588 octa-core Cortex-A76/A55 processor, and the Shenzhen Milk-V Jupiter is another mini-ITX motherboard, but based on SpacemIT K1 octa-core 64-bit RISC-V processor instead. When Radxa contacted me about reviewing those, I thought it would be interesting to review a complete kit with a mini-ITX case since I had never built this type of system myself.  Yesterday, I was surprised to receive two large packages and thought maybe a company sent me a 3D printer or laser engraver kit, but instead, I got one package with the two Arm and RISC-V mini-ITX motherboards and another with a mini-ITX NAS enclosure with 6x SATA bays. Radxa ROCK 5 ITX unboxing Let’s look at the ROCK 5 ITX motherboard and accessories first. The motherboard ships with a rear panel and two screws for the M.2 module. The motherboard features the Rorkchip […]

Posted on by Debashis Das - 2 Comments on ASRock DSF-A6000 embedded box PC offers AMD Ryzen Embedded R2314, 2.5GbE, and quad 4K display support

ASRock DSF-A6000 embedded box PC offers AMD Ryzen Embedded R2314, 2.5GbE, and quad 4K display support

ASRock DSF A6000 embedded box PC

ASRock DSF-A6000 embedded box PC is built around the AMD Ryzen Embedded R2314 processor with support for up to 64GB of dual-channel DDR4 memory, three RJ45 ports (two 1GbE LAN, and one 2.5GbE LAN with optional PoE+) for connectivity. For storage, it features an M.2 M-Key slot for NVMe SSD and I/O options include USB 3.2 Gen2 and RS232. In terms of display capabilities, this PC supports up to four 4K displays simultaneously via HDMI 2.0b. Additionally, it supports out-of-band management through an optional MPU-OOB card and features EDID emulation for seamless display setup across various technologies. Previously we have written about similar embedded box PCs like the Distec BoxPC Pro, the AAEON ARES-500AI embedded box PC, the BOXER-8256AI NVIDIA Jetson Xavier NX fanless embedded box PC, and many more feel free to check those out if you are interested in the topic. ASRock DSF-A6000 embedded box PC specifications: SoC […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments on LILYGO T-Halow is an ESP32-S3 board with long-range WiFi HaLow, OV2640/OV5640 camera support

LILYGO T-Halow is an ESP32-S3 board with long-range WiFi HaLow, OV2640/OV5640 camera support

ESP32-S3 WiFi HaLow board

LILYGO T-Halow is an ESP32-S3 board equipped with a WiFi HaLow module with up to 1.2km range, a connector compatible with OV2640 and OV5640 camera modules, and an 18650 battery holder for power, as well as several GPIOs for expansion. We first wrote about 802.11ah low-power long-range WiFi standard operating at 900 MHz in 2014, but adoption has been slow and we’ve seen a few 802.11ah (WiFi HaLow) chips from Newracom and Morse Micro over the years, as well as USB adapters, a Raspberry Pi HAT, a mini PCIe card, gateways, and some development boards. All those rely on a Linux host, but the LILYGO T-Halow features a TX-AH WiFI HaLow module from Taixin Semiconductor that’s controller by AT commands through an ESP32-S3 or a micro USB port. LILYGO T-Halow specifications: Wireless modules ESP32-S3-WROOM-1 wireless module SoC –  ESP32-S3 dual-core Tensilica LX7 microcontroller @ up to 240 MHz with 2.4 […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments on Remote.It adds Bluetooth assisted WiFi configuration to Raspberry Pi SBC’s

Remote.It adds Bluetooth assisted WiFi configuration to Raspberry Pi SBC’s

Remote.it Dashboard

Remote.It, a company providing remote access services, has released an open-source project to enable Raspberry Pi WiFi network configuration using Bluetooth (BLE), so users can easily configure WiFi on the board by simply using their smartphone. Configuring WiFi on a Raspberry Pi usually involves either: Manual configuration – The user connects a monitor and keyboard to the Raspberry Pi to configure the wireless network directly on the device. Pre-configured SD cards, NVMe SSDs, or USB drives –  The WiFi ESSID and password can be set in Raspberry Pi USB imager, and the Raspberry Pi will automatically connect to the network at boot time. That’s quick, but less flexible since the credentials can’t be modified after deployment, and it only works when using a single wireless network. Remote.It offers a third option for WiFi provisioning using Bluetooth LE. The Raspberry Pi can run headless or fully enclosed into a product, and […]

Rockchip RK3568/RK3588 and Intel x86 SBCs
Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 8 Comments on LOLIN S3 Mini Pro – A tiny ESP32-S3 board with a 0.85-inch display and a multi-color PCB

LOLIN S3 Mini Pro – A tiny ESP32-S3 board with a 0.85-inch display and a multi-color PCB

LOLIN S3 Mini Pro multi-color PCB board

LOLIN S3 Mini Pro is a tiny ESP32-S3 WiFi and BLE board with a 0.85-inch display and it’s one of the first boards I’ve seen with a multi-color PCB that some PCB manufacturers have been offered recently. The board features an ESP32-S3FH4R2 microcontroller with 4MB flash and a 2MP PSRAM, a 128×128 TFT display, a 6-axis motion/attitude sensor, and GPIO headers that make it compatible with LOLIN D1 mini shields for expansion. LOLIN S3 Mini Pro specifications: SoC – Espressif Systems  ESP32-S3FH4R2 CPU – Dual-core Tensilica LX7 microcontroller @ up to 240 MHz Wireless – 2.4 GHz 802.11n WiFi 4 and Bluetooth 5.0 LE connectivity Memory – 2MB PSRAM Storage – 4MB SPI flash Display – 0.85-inch 128×128 LCD TFT display with GC9107/GC9A01 driver Sensor – 6-axis MEMS IMU/attitude sensor (QMI8658C) Expansion 2x 8-pin headers with up to 12x GPIO, ADC, DAC, I2C, SPI, UART, USB OTG; compatible with LOLIN […]

Posted on by Debashis Das - 1 Comment on Lattice MachXO5D-NX FPGA family enables Hardware Security in Programmable FPGAs

Lattice MachXO5D-NX FPGA family enables Hardware Security in Programmable FPGAs

Lattice MachXO5D NX FPGA dev board

Lattice Semiconductor has recently introduced the MachXO5D-NX FPGA family, which integrates a hardware root of trust (RoT) into low-power FPGAs. This addresses security challenges by combining on-chip Flash memory and hardware encryption to minimize code capture risks during load time. The MachXO5D-NX family includes three variants with logic cell counts of 27k (FMXO5-25), 53k (LFMXO5-55T), and 96k (LFMXO5-100T). These FPGAs feature built-in hardware encryption, a cryptographic engine supporting AES-256, ECDSA-384/521, SHA2-256/384/512, and RSA 3072/4096, and a unique secret identity (USID) for device identity protection. Built on a 28-nm fully-depleted silicon-on-insulator (FD-SOI) process, these FPGAs reduce power consumption by 75% and lower soft error rates by 100x(as the company mentions). They support interfaces such as MIPI D-PHY (CSI-2, DSI), LVDS, Gigabit Ethernet, and PCIe, making them suitable for secure edge applications. Lattice MachXO5D-NX FPGA family specifications FPGA – Lattice Semi MachXO5D-NX FPGA family (27k (FMXO5-25), 53k (LFMXO5-55T), and 96k (LFMXO5-100T)) Programmable […]

Khadas VIM4 SBC