CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

June 7, 2022January 22, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

TI Sitara AM623 & AM625 Cortex-A53 SoCs offer low-power AI for HMI and IoT applications

Texas Instruments has just launched the new Sitara AM62 family with AM623 and AM625 single to quad-core Cortex-A53 processors designed to provide IoT gateways and HMI applications with AI processing at low power, in some cases with up to 50% reduction in power consumption. The AM623 processor specifically targets Internet of Things (IoT) applications and gateways that may benefit from object and gesture recognition, while the AM625, equipped with a 3D GPU, should power HMI applications with edge AI and up to two full-HD displays. Sitara AM623 and AM625 processors Sitara AM623/AM625 key features and specifications: CPU – Single, dual, or quad-core Arm Cortex-A53 processor @ up to 1,400 MHz with 512KB L2 shared cache, plus 32KB I+D cache per core Co-processor – 1x Arm Cortex-M4F real-time core at up to 400 MHz with 256KB SRAM with SECDED ECC GPU (AM625 only) – Unnamed 3D GPU with support for OpenGL […]

June 7, 2022June 7, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

OSM Size-0 solder-on LGA module comes with ESP32 WiFi & BLE MCU

German embedded systems company iesy’s ESP32 OSM-0F is an ESP32-based solder-on LGA system-on-module that complies with SGET OSM Size-0 (30x15mm) form factor, offers WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity, and more. The SGET Open Standard Module (OSM) standard defines four module sizes, namely Size-0 (30x15mm), Size-S (30x30mm), Size-M (45x30mm), and Size-L (45x45mm), and all the modules we’ve covered so far were powered by a Linux-capable processor. But it’s more challenging, albeit not impossible, to design a Linux-capable OSM Size-0 module, and that form factor is better suited to microcontroller-class chips like ESP32. (Technically, ESP32 can run Linux, but it’s more for show that any practical applications) ESP32 OSM-0F specifications: Microcontroller – Espressif ESP32 dual-core Xtensa LX6 MCU @ 240 MHz with 512KB RAM, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n and Bluetooth/BLE Storage – 32 Mbit SPI flash Antenna – u.FL connector 188 LGA contact points with Storage – SDIO Networking – 1x 10/100M Ethernet (RMII), […]

June 7, 2022June 7, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

Panfrost now offers a fully-conformant OpenGL ES 3.1 implementation for Mali-G57 (Valhall) GPU

The Mali-G57 GPU part of the Valhall family, and found in several Arm processors such as MediaTek MT8192 and MT8195 SoC powering some Chromebooks, is now supported by the Panfrost open-source driver with a fully-conformant OpenGL ES 3.1 implementation. Last year, Collabora updated Panfrost with support for OpenGL ES 3.1 on Midgard (Mali T760 and newer) and Bifrost (Mali G31, G52, G76) GPUs, and also announced having started working on Valhall GPUs. One part of the work was done in the summer of 2021 with some reverse-engineering work on Mali-G78 GPU’s instruction set, and this has culminated with a fully-conformant OpenGL3.1 for Mali-G57 GPU. Interestingly, it’s not been released by Collabora directly, but through an organization called “Software in the Public Intenerest, Inc.” (or SPI for shorts) which happens to be a non-profit organization incorporated on June 16, 1997, and described as: a non-profit corporation registered in the state of […]

June 6, 2022June 6, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 12 Comments

X1501 Pico SoM – MIPS, Linux in a 16x16mm module

We’ve just written about the Notkia phone repurposing Nokia 168x phones with a new PCB featuring an Ingenic X1000E MIPS processor running mainline Linux, but it turns out the developer (Reimu NotMoe, CTO of SudoMaker) has also designed the X1501 Pico SoM, a tiny 16×16 system-on-module equipped with Ingenic X1501 MIPS system-in-package (SiP). The module can be that small because the single-core 1GHz Ingenic 1501 SiP embeds 8MB LPDDR, as well as apparently a 16Mbit NOR flash that stores stripped-down versions of U-boot and the Linux kernel, plus a minimal, busybox-based rootfs. X1501 Pico system-on-module specifications: SoC – Ingenic X1501 MIPS32r2 processor @ 1GHz, a MIPSr2 real-time core @ 300 MHz (not shown in datasheet), 8MB LPDDR and 16KB tightly coupled SRAM, 16Mbit NOR flash Castellated holes with USB 2.0 OTG, I2C, SPI, SDIO and DVP, analog mono audio output & digital microphone input EFUSE based Secure Boot Power Management […]

June 6, 2022June 9, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

MechArm Pi 270 is a desktop robotic arm powered by a Raspberry Pi 4 SBC

Elephant Robotics MechArm Pi 270 is a six-axis robotic arm with a 270mm working radius, support for up to 250 grams payload, and that runs Debian/Ubuntu + ROS on a Raspberry Pi 4 single board computer. The robotic arm was introduced last year in two separate crowdfunding campaigns on Kickstarter and Indiegogo organized by MechArm, which has now joined Elephant Robotics, and now supports myStudio software to upgrade the software, provide video tutorials on how to use the robot, as well as maintenance and repair information. MechArm Pi 270 key features and specifications: Controller – Raspberry Pi 4 Model B SBC with quad-core Cortex-A72 processor, dual-band WiFi 5 & Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity Display I/F – 2x Micro HDMI output port up to 4Kp60 Supported cameras – Official Raspberry Pi cameras or third-party USB cameras USB – 2x USB 3.0 ports, 2x USB 2.0 ports Robotic arm 270mm working range 6 […]

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

Robot cat girl doll leverages Khadas VIM3 SBC for AI-accelerated object detection/tracking

While Khadas VIM4 board has just been launched, the earlier Khadas VIM3 SBC has the advantage of featuring a 5 TOPS NPU that’s being leveraged by Lilium Robotics for their humanoid robots, notably the Lily Delta V7 robot cat girl doll using the Amlogic A311D board to control motors and provide AI features such as face and object detection and tracking. The Delta V7 is offered as an Android kit running Linux (Android refers to humanoid robot here) with a full motorized body kit, a head with a dual camera and sound system, accessories like a dress, wig, cat ears and tail, and other features that are more geared towards the adult crowd… Content of the Lily Delta V7 full Android kit: Full motorized body kit Motorized arms, legs, and torso with wide movement range Arms can support 0.5 kg payload 100 cm high, weighs about 5 kilograms Inserts: Face, […]

Rockchip RK3568/RK3588 and Intel x86 SBCs

June 5, 2022April 2, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 33 Comments

NanoPi R5S preview – Part 2: Ubuntu 20.04 (FriendlyCore)

I started the NanoPi R5S review with an unboxing, a teardown, a quick try of the pre-installed OpenWrt-based FriendlyWrt, and some iperf3 benchmarks on the 2.5GbE interfaces that were rather disappointing. I test further I switched to the Ubuntu 20.04-based FriendlyCore image since I’m more familiar with Debian-based operating systems, and some tools will not run on OpenWrt. Note the performance is still not quite optimal, and that’s why I call this a preview since numbers should improve in the next few months as more people tweak the software. OpenWrt optimizations? But before jumping to Ubuntu, I gave an updated version of FriendlyWrt a try as FriendElec told me they had added some optimizations: We have made some optimizations on the new image, such as NIC interrupt settings, and offload support… So I downloaded “rk3568-eflasher-friendlywrt-20220526.img.gz” found on Google Drive, flashed it to a microSD card with USBImager, and booted it […]

June 3, 2022 by Ian W MORRISON (Linuxium) - 24 Comments

MeLE Quieter3Q Review – Ultra-thin fanless mini PC tested with Windows 11, Ubuntu 22.04

MeLE has released a new and updated version of the Quieter mini PC called the Quieter3Q. Like before, it is a passive mini PC but now features the latest low-powered Intel Celeron Jasper Lake CPU and an upgraded PCIe 3.0 x2 M.2 2280 NVMe SSD slot. MeLE has kindly sent one for review and I’ve looked at performance running both Windows and Ubuntu and connecting an eGPU. MeLE Quieter3Q Hardware Overview The MeLE Quieter3Q is physically the same as before consisting of a 131 x 81 x 18.3mm (5.16 x 3.19 x 0.72 inches) rectangular plastic case with a metal base plate. The top half of the case is finely grooved to mimic the fins of a heat spreader but is made of plastic rather than metal to allow reception to the WiFi antennas as one is directly connected to it. As a passively cooled mini PC, it uses Intel’s […]

Boardcon Rockchip and Allwinner SoM and SBC products