CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

May 29, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 11 Comments

Khadas VIM4 SBC review – Part 3: Ubuntu 22.04

Here’s the last part of Khadas VIM4 review with Ubuntu 22.04 “Jammy Jellyfish”. You may want to check out our previous parts with the unboxing and first boot, followed by Android 11 if you haven’t already done so. Ubuntu 22.04 installation on Khadas VIM4 I used the same method of installation with OOWOW firmware that can download the image directly from Khadas server, and install it to the eMMC flash. Since I already had Android 11 running on the board, I had to keep pressing the function key (middle), then shortly press the reset button, before releasing the function key and entering OOWOW interface. From there, I selected Ubuntu 22.04 Gnome, and went ahead with the download. The download was fast with the 758.2MB compressed image downloaded in a couple of minutes, then I simply selected “Install” to go further, and replace Android 11… .. and after rebooting the board […]

May 28, 2022May 28, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 7 Comments

RZBoard V2L – A business card-sized Renesas RZ/V2L SBC for AI vision applications

Avnet RZBoard V2L is an Arm Linux SBC for AI vision applications that’s about the size of a business card (or a Raspberry Pi), and powered by a Renesas RZ/V2L Cortex-A55/M33 processor with an on-chip DRP-AI accelerator. The board also comes with 2GB DDR4, 32GB eMMC flash, 16MB QSPI flash, Gigabit Ethernet, WiFi 5 and Bluetooth 5.0, multiple USB ports, MIPI DSI/CSI interfaces, as well as a Pi HAT compatible 40-pin GPIO header. RZBoard V2L specifications: SoC – Renesas RZ/V2L with 2x Arm Cortex A55 cores @ up to 1.2 GHz, 1x Arm Cortex M33 real-time core @ 200 MHz, Arm Mali G31 GPU @ 500MHz, DRP-AI accelerator, DRP Simple ISP (full HD), and a H.264 Hardware Video Enc/Dec (full HD) System Memory – 2GB DDR4 (16-bit with ECC) Storage 32GB eMMC flash 16MB QSPI NOR Flash MicroSD card socket Video Output – MIPI DSI and HDMI (selectable) Camera I/F […]

May 27, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Lightweight wireless AR Smart Viewer reference design is powered by Snapdragon XR2 platform

Snapdragon XR2 wireless AR smart viewer reference design

Qualcomm unveiled a new Wireless AR Smart Viewer Reference Design powered by the Snapdragon XR2 platform last week with very few details, but the company has now demonstrated the system to some members of the press, so let’s have a closer look. The reference design aims to provide a similar level of performance as a headset connected to PC or premium smartphone, but with some of the processing offloaded to the Snapdragon XR2 processor, thereby eliminating the need for a cord while still achieving lag-free experiences in combination with the Qualcomm FastConnect 6900 WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.3 solution. It is supposed to offer a 40% thinner profile and a more balanced weight distribution than the earlier Snapdragon XR1 smart glasses reference design. Wireless AR Smart Viewer reference design specifications: SoC – Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2 with Octa-core processor with 1x Kryo Gold prime @ 2.84 GHz + 3x Kryo […]

May 27, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

DepthVista USB 3D ToF camera supports close range depth measurement, far-range object detection

DepthVista is a USB Time-of-Flight (ToF) camera designed for precise 3D depth measurement in close range mode (1.2m) and person and/or object detection in far-range mode up to 6 meters away. This ToF camera combines a 3D depth camera capable of 640 x 480 @ 30fps, and an Onsemi AR0234 color global shutter sensor supporting HD and FHD at up to 30fps, plus an 850nm VCSEL (vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser) for safety and the ability to operate in complete darkness. e-con Systems’ DepthVista (See3CAM_TOF_25CUG) specifications: Depth camera 3D camera technology: Time-of-Flight Depth range Near mode – 0.2m to 1.2m Far mode – 1m to 6m Illumination: 850nm pulsed laser (Indoor) Accuracy: Up to 1% depending on environmental conditions Output format: Y16 (raw 12-bit) Resolutions Depth – 640 x 480 @ 30fps IR – 640 x 480 @ 30fps Depth + IR – 640 x 960 @ 30fps FOV – 84.29° (H) […]

May 27, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

hm-panelizer – A KiCad companion GUI tool for panelizing PCBs

Gerard (aka halfmarble) has released hm-panelizer open-source software allowing for a panelization of PCBs via a simple GUI interface and doubling as a Gerber file viewer. He’s mostly tested it with PCBs designed in KiCad 6.x, but it should also work with design files from other tools. Note that hm-panelizer is just a side project, and Gerard released it as an open-source project in hopes that it might be useful to users and the community will contribute to it. The project relies on kivy cross-platform library, pygame and pycairo libraries, as well as pcb-tools and pcb-tools-extension projects. There are some requirements for the utility to work on with your PCB : Use the metric system The PCB Gerber files must use Altium/Protel filename extensions The board outline gerber file (.gm1) must be present “Disable aperture macros” when exporting Gerber files (this may not be needed for simple designs and only […]

May 26, 2022December 14, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 8 Comments

Rockchip RK3588 CPU module exposes more I/Os through four board-to-board connectors

We’ve already seen several Rockchip RK3588 modules with Firefly Core-3588J, Turing RK1, and Banana Pi RK3588_CV1, all with an edge connector to insertion into the carrier board. Rongpin RD-RK3588 system-on-module is a little different with four board-to-board connectors that enable a slightly more compact design, and should expose more I/Os than say a 314-pin MXM edge connector. The module ships with up to 16GB of RAM, 128 GB of storage, a Rockchip RK806-1 PMIC, and the company also offers a development kit with RD-RK3588-B baseboard fitted with the module for evaluation and early software development. RD-RK3588 board-to-board module RD-RK3588-C core module specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3588 octa-core processor with 4x Arm Cortex-A76 cores @ up to 2.4 GHz, 4x Arm Cortex-A55 cores, Arm Mali-G610 MP4 GPU with support for OpenGL ES3.2, OpenCL 2.2, Vulkan1.1, 6 TOPS NPU, 48MP ISP, 8Kp60 video decoding, 8Kp30 video encoding System Memory – 4GB, 8GB, […]

Rockchip RK3568/RK3588 and Intel x86 SBCs

May 26, 2022May 30, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 16 Comments

Ultra compact GaN ATX power supply delivers up to 250 Watts

To me, an ATX power supply is one of those big boxes delivering 500W+ inside a PC tower, but since it’s not possible to create hardware with much lower power consumption, HDPLEX has designed an ultra-compact 250W passive ATX power supply using the same GaN (Gallium Nitride) technology as found in some tiny USB-C power supplies. With a 170x50x25mm footprint, the company claims it is the world’s smallest ATX PSU, and it is especially well suited to SFF PC enclosures, but it should also work pretty well in other space-constraints applications with a board equipped with an ATX connector, or through an adapter board, or even some RGB LED projects. GaN ATX power supply specifications: Wattage – 250W (94% Efficiency). Input Voltage – 90V-264V 50/60hz DC output +3.3V up to 10A +5V up to 10A +12V up to 20A -12V up to 1A +5VSb up to 3A Max combined power […]

May 26, 2022November 16, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 12 Comments

x86 system-on-module features 1GHz DM&P Vortex86DX3 processor

DM&P Vortex86DX3 is an x86 embedded processor launched in 2015 that we’ve previously found in single board computers and mini PCs, but I’ve just noticed ICOP was offering the SOM304D3 system-on-module based on the single and dual-core versions of the Vortex86DX3 SoC. The SOM304D3 is available with 1 or 2GB DDR3 RAM, works in a wide temperature range (up to -40°C to +85°C), and is designed for space-constrained industrial applications, especially those requiring legacy interfaces like ISA, IDE, and/or a parallel port (aka printer port). SOM304D3 specifications: SoC – DM&P Vortex86DX3 single or dual-core x86 processor @ 1 GHz, 2D GPU System Memory – 1GB or 2GB DDR3 Storage – Optional 4GB eMMC flash; SPI flash for AMI BIOS 4x 76-pin board-to-board connectors: Storage – SATA 1.0, IDE, SD Display VGA up to 1920 x 1080 @ 60Hz TFT LCD up to 1024 x 768 @ 60Hz Audio – 1x […]

Boardcon Rockchip and Allwinner SoM and SBC products