CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

April 9, 2022October 21, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 18 Comments

MangoPi MQ Pro – A $20 RISC-V alternative to Raspberry Pi Zero W

MangoPi MQ Pro is an Allwinner D1 RISC-V SBC that offers an alternative to Raspberry Pi Zero W with the same form factor, and most of the same features including WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity The board has been in the works for several months, but the MangoPi MQ Pro board can now be purchased for around $20 on Taobao with 512MB RAM, and I’d expect it to show up on Aliexpress and/or Seeed Studio within the next few weeks. MangoPi MQ Pro specifications: SoC – Allwinner D1 C906 RISC-V processor @ up to 1GHz with HiFi4 DSP, G2D 2D graphics accelerator System Memory – 512MB or 1GB DDR3L Storage – MicroSD card socket Display – mini HDMI 1.4 port up to 1080p60 or 4Kp30, 20-pin MIPI DSI, CTP, LVDS FPC connector Camera I/F – 24-pin DVP/RGMII connector Audio – Audio out pads Networking 2.4Ghz 802.11b/g/n WiFi 4 and Bluetooth 4.2 […]

April 8, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

E Ink Kaleido 3 color e-paper display increases color saturation by 30 percent, reduces blue light reflections

E Ink’s latest Kaleido 3 color ePaper display increases color saturation by 30 percent compared to the earlier Kaleido Plus color e-paper display, integrates E Ink ComfortGaze new front light technology engineered to reduce the amount of blue light reflected off the surface of the display, in order to provide further comfort while reading. The new modules based on Kaleido 3 will be offered in various panel sizes including 7.8-inch, 10.3-inch, and 13.3-inch, support up to 16 levels of grayscale and 4096 colors, and target eReaders and eNote devices. E Ink explains that Kaleido 3 relies on the company’s Print Color ePaper technology, “where a color filter array (CFA) is used in conjunction with E Ink’s Carta black and white ink film, creating a full-color device for a more fully realized eBook shopping and reading experience”. As I understand it that part has not changed, and it’s just the same […]

April 8, 2022June 13, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

Amlogic T962E2 quad-core Cortex-A55 TV box board supports 4K HDMI input & output

Amlogic T962E2 is an upgrade to the Amlogic T962E quad-core Cortex-A53 SoC we first found in the Alfawise H96 Mini TV box with both HDMI output and HDMI input ports. The new processor offers similar features but comes with more efficient Cortex-A55 cores, a Mali-G31 MP2 supporting modern Vulkan and OpenGL ES 3.2 APIs, and some other improvements including 4K AV1 video playback. While mostly designed for Smart TVs, I found the Amlogic T962E processor in a TV box board with up to 4GB RAM, 32GB eMMC flash, HDMI 2.1 output, HDMI 2.1 input, Gigabit Ethernet, a wireless module, and allegedly running either Android 8, Android 9, or Android TV. TV box boards specifications: SoC – Amlogic T962E2 quad-core Arm Cortex-A55 processor @ up to 2.0 GHz with Arm Mali-G31 MP2 GPU support OpenGL ES 3.2, Vulkan 1.1 and OpenCL 2.0, 1.2 TOPS AI accelerator, 2x HiFi4 DSP System Memory […]

April 8, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

Raspberry Pi OS removes default “Pi” username, adds experimental support for Wayland

The Raspberry Pi Foundation has just released a new version of Raspberry Pi OS that removes the default username (pi) for security reasons, adds experimental support for Wayland, and lets people configure their Raspberry Pi with Bluetooth keyboard and mouse. Default username no more The most significant change in the new Raspberry Pi OS is the removal of the default “pi” user as several countries have legislation against default credentials for security reasons. That includes the Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Bill (PSTI) in the UK, and California’s SB-327 IoT devices security law. Those laws mostly target default passwords, but removing a default username can be useful too to prevent force brute attacks. One consequence of removing the default username is that you won’t be able to skip the wizard in both the Desktop and Lite versions of Raspberry Pi OS since a new user needs to be created first. […]

April 7, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

SmartKnob View is a DIY haptic input knob with WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity

Soon after writing about RoenDi rotary encoder with a built-in color display, readers pointed me to SmartKnob View, a similar-looking project but featuring an ESP32 module for WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity, plus software-configurable end-stops and virtual detents. The latter is enabled through a brushless gimbal motor paired with a magnetic encoder to provide closed-loop torque feedback control. Just like RoenDi, SmartKnob View comes with a 240×240 round color display but adds tactile feedback so you can change the menu when pressing the display. SmartKnob View specifications: Wireless module – LilyGO Tmicro32 Plys based on ESP32-PICO-V3-02 WiFi and Bluetooth LE SoC (May be changed to ESP32-S3-MINI-1 to enable USB HID support, once Arduino core supports it) Display – GC9A01 1.28-inch 240×240 round LCD covered by a 39.5mm watch glass on rotor Motor – BLDC gimbal motor, with a hollow shaft for mechanically & electrically connecting the LCD USB – 1x USB […]

April 7, 2022April 8, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

AnkerMake M5 3D printer comes with AI camera, prints at up to 300mm/s (Crowdfunding)

Anker is better known for its charger and power banks, but the company has now entered the 3D printer market with the AnkerMake M5 3D printer which is said to print five times faster and comes with an AI camera for monitoring the prints. Besides the up to 300mm/s printing speed, other highlights of the 3D printer include Google Assistant & Amazon Alexa voice assistant compatibility, and easy assembly that requires 3 steps done in about 15 minutes. AnkerMake M5 3D printer specifications: SoC – Ingenic X2000 tri-core MIPS processor with 2x XBurst cores @ 1.2 GHz plus one XBurst0 core @ 240 MHz running Linux MCU – STM32F407 running Marlin firmware Print volume (L x W x H) – 235 × 235 × 250 mm Standard speed – 250 mm/s Speed range – 50 – 300 mm/s Acceleration speed – 2500 mm/s² X-axis movement – 42 – 40 stepper […]

Rockchip RK3568/RK3588 and Intel x86 SBCs

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

Arm SystemReady SR-certified Ampere Altra Developer Platform launched for $3,999

ADLINK has just announced the availability of the Arm SystemReady SR-certified Ampere Altra Developer Platform equipped with the company’s COM-HPC Ampere Altra module with 32 to 80 64-bit Arm Neoverse N1 cores, 32GB to 128GB RAM. An adaptation to the earlier AVA Developer Platform expected to sell for $5,450, the Ampere Altra Developer Platform got a price cut to $3,999 at launch for a system with a 32-core processor, and 32GB DDR4. The system targets software developers wanting to build cloud-to-edge applications using standardized Arm hardware. Ampere Altra Developer Platform specifications: SoM – COM-HPC Ampere Altra module with Ampere Altra 32 to 80-core 64-bit Arm Neoverse N1 processor up to 1.7/2.2/2.6 GHz (32/64/80 cores, TPD: 60W to 175W), 32 GB to 128GB DDR4 ECC memory Storage – 128 GB NVMe M.2 SSD Mainboard – COM-HPC Server Base carrier board Video – VGA port Audio – 3.5mm audio jack Networking 1x […]

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

Antmicro releases open-source hardware Snapdragon 845 baseboard designed with KiCad

Antmicro team has released an open-source hardware baseboard for Quectel SA800U-WF System-on-Module powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 octa-core processor, which they designed with KiCad open-source EDA tool. The baseboard supports NVMe storage and offers Micro HDMI and MIPI DSI video interfaces, Gigabit Ethernet with PoE support, USB 3.1 Type-C interfaces, and other I/Os, plus three separate power inputs. The company expects the design to serve as a starting point for building portable smart assistants, kiosks, VR/AR or smart screens, and more. Antmicro Snapdragon 845 baseboard specifications: Supported system-on-module – Quectel SA800U-WF with: SoC – Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 octa-core Kryo 385 processor (4x Cortex A75 cores + 4x Cortex-A55 cores), Adreno 630 GPU, Hexagon 685 DSP, 4K H.265/H.264 video decoding and encoding System Memory – 4 GB LPDDR4X Storage – 64 GB UFS storage 802.11b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi 5 2×2 MIMO and Bluetooth 5.0 module Board-to-board connector for connection to baseboard Dimensions – […]