CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

November 16, 2021August 24, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

Goofoo Cube – A $99 easy-to-assemble 3D printer for beginners (Crowdfunding)

The Goofoo Cube is a $99 3D printer that aims to be as easy to assemble as a LEGO kit, and designed for beginners who can print directly from their phone from a library of over 1000 pieces. The compact 3D printer ships in a package barely larger than a shoebox, meaning it does not take much space on your desk but the build volume is rather small (80x80x80mm), supports PLA and PCL filaments, and can print small parts in about 30 minutes with a 0.7mm nozzle. Goofoo Cube specifications: Nozzle diameter – 0.7mm Building volume – 80 x 80 x 80 mm Print speed – 10 to 20 mm/s Non-heated printing bed Supported materials – PLA and PCL Host interface – USB or Mobile phone (WiFi) Power Supply – 24V/2A Dimensions – 255 x 255 x 208 mm Weight – 1.96kg The 3D printer is comprised of five parts […]

November 16, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

Meet Dot – A stamp sized 2-wheel robot powered by a Raspberry Pi RP2040 board

Kaisar (aka Roboticbits) has developed a tiny robot based on Pironomi Tiny 2040 Raspberry Pi RP2040 development board, which he/she claims is the smallest in the world, but it might not be depending on how one measures it. Nevertheless, the Dot is a cool project with two wheels with a 3V DC motor attached to the 22.9 x 18.2 mm board, and a 70mA battery to power the mini robot. Here’s what it looks like in action. Introducing Dot.. a stamp size @Raspberry_Pi #RP2040 robot.. the smallest in the world! Makes a proper use of the @pimoroni #Tiny2040!#raspberrypi #robot #robotics #make pic.twitter.com/rnYghWY6NJ — RoboticBits (@roboticbits) November 11, 2021 Eventually, the robot should be documented on Github, but at this time we have limited information with a photo accompanying the video demo above. Tom’s Hardware got more details about the software as well, with Kaisar saying the firmware was developed with […]

ArmSoM RK3588 AIModule7 NVIDIA Jetson Nano-compatible SOM

November 16, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 10 Comments

Pine64 hostboards for SOQuartz System-on-Module

While the Rockchip RK3566 powered SOQuartz system-on-module is designed to be compatible with most Raspberry Pi CM4 baseboards, Pine64 is working on three baseboards, which it calls hostboards, for SOQuartz, with the latest introduced in the Pine64’s November update designed to fit in a server rack. That means we now have the “small form factor” hostboard that’s about the size of a business card, the Model-A hostboard with more features and the same dimensions as Pine A64 SBC, and the new Blade hostboard compatible with server racks. Let’s have a look at the three baseboards. Small form factor hostboard Key features: Compatible with SOQuartz SoM with quad-core Cortex-A55 processor with 2GB to 8GB RAM, optional eMMC flash up to 128GB, and optional WiFi 5 and Bluetooth 5.0 module Display Interfaces HDMI 2.0 up to 4Kp60 1x MIPI DSI connector Camera interfaces – 2x MIPI CSI connectors Networking – Gigabit Ethernet […]

November 15, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

DockCase Smart Hub multifunction USB-C dock includes an information display (Crowdfunding)

DockCase Smart Hub is an 8-in-1 multifunction USB-C dock with HDMI 2.0, up to 10Gbps USB ports, Gigabit Ethernet, and a feature that makes it unique: an information display. At first, a color display on a USB-C hub/dock may feel like a gimmick, but the information displayed may help you troubleshoot issues with USB & Ethernet speeds, video modes up to 4Kp60 HDR, power usage, and more… DockCase Smart Hub specifications: Display – 1.54-inch color HD screen Video Output – HDMI 2.0 up to 4Kp60 with HDR10, 2/4 lane switchable, 4Kp30 to 4Kp60 upscaling Networking – Gigabit Ethernet USB Input – USB 3.2 Gen 2 up to 10 Gbps supporting up to 100W Output 2x USB 3.2 (10 Gbps) Type-A ports 2x USB 2.0 ports 1x USB 3.2 (10 Gbps) USB-C port Misc – Adjustable cooling fan, button for mode selection. Power Input – Up to 100W via USB-C with […]

November 15, 2021September 26, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 18 Comments

ECS LIVA Mini Box QC710 Desktop – A $219 Windows on Arm Developer Kit

The “Snapdragon QC710 Developer Kit” for Windows 10 on Arm app development was unveiled last May, and it’s now available for $219 on Microsoft Store as the “ECS LIVA Mini Box QC710 Desktop”. The developer kit can also be purchased at a discount for $197.10 by students, parents(!), teachers, and members of the military. I suppose this applies only to the US military and showing your Taliban membership card may not work. The developer kit looks like a standard mini PC and features a Qualcomm Snapdragon 7c Compute Platform (SC7180), 4GB RAM, 64GB eMMC flash, HDMI output, 10/100M Ethernet and WiFi 5, and several USB ports. ECS LIVA Mini Box QC710 Desktop specifications: SoC – Qualcomm Snapdragon 7c Compute Platform (SC7180) with octa-core Qualcomm Kryo 468 (2x Cortex-A76, 6x Cortex-A55) CPU @ up to 2.4 GHz, Adreno 618 GPU System Memory – 4GB Storage – 64GB eMMC flash, MicroSD card […]

November 15, 2021November 18, 2021 by Sponsored Post - Comments Off

Only 3 days left to get a Raspberry Pi RP2040 + ESP32 board at 80% discount (Sponsored)

There’s always a bunch of DIY electronics on Kickstarter, but right now nothing is as compelling as UDOO KEY. Built by UDOO, a multidisciplinary team that has already completed (and delivered) four highly successful Kickstarter projects, UDOO KEY is an innovative, never-before-seen combination of Raspberry Pi RP2040 and ESP32. Mind you: unlike the newest microcontroller by Arduino, UDOO KEY doesn’t simply use the ESP32 for connectivity. Instead, it features a fully programmable ESP32, offering the widest set of options in the field when it comes to Edge AI. Predictive maintenance, sound recognition, keyword recognition, gesture recognition, face recognition, object detection & classification… these are just a few of the many applications you can build, also thanks to the several programming languages and libraries supported, such as Micropython, C, C++, TensorFlow Lite and TinyML. This is not some fancy mini PC for low-budget gaming, but a platform for AI at the […]

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

November 14, 2021November 17, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 13 Comments

How to flash firmware to Rockchip devices in Windows and Linux (2021 Edition)

We’ve written several articles detailing methods to flash firmware to Rockchip devices in Windows or Linux over the years, with tools like RKAndroidTool, RkFlashKit, upgrade_tool, or the open-source rkdeveloptool utility. This is mostly useful to flash another OS or if the device does not boot, as most products will now support OTA firmware updates. But following my review of Zidoo M6 with Android 11, I’ve now got a Linux image for the Rockchip RK3566 mini PC, so let’s revisit the firmware flashing methods in 2021. Zidoo sent me instructions for Windows, but since I’m a Ubuntu user, I flashed the firmware with the Linux tools used by Firefly. The same methods should work for the older processors such as RK3066, RK3288, and RK3399, besides the more recent Rockchip RK3566 and RK3568 processors. How to flash Rockchip firmware in Linux [Important update: If your device comes with both eMMC flash and […]

November 13, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 10 Comments

Android 12 on Raspberry Pi 4 – (Almost) everything works

Android 12 (AOSP) source code was released last month, and a developer took the opportunity to port Android 12 to the Raspberry Pi 4 single board computer and derivatives. More specifically, KonstaT created an unofficial build of LineageOS 19.0 for Raspberry Pi 4, Raspberry Pi 400 keyboard PC, and Compute Module 4 working on systems with at least 2GB of RAM. While it’s reserved for advanced users, the Android 12 build appears to work pretty well with most features supported including: Video HDMI display including CEC Touchscreen/multi-touch (USB touchscreens, Waveshare SPI touchscreens) Hardware-accelerated graphics (V3D, OpenGL & Vulkan) Audio HDMI, 3.5mm jack, USB microphones, Bluetooth speakers/headphones Audio DACs such as Hifiberry DAC+ Connectivity Ethernet WiFi including tethering Bluetooth including Bluetooth tethering GPS using external USB modules USB tested with USB mouse, keyboard, storage, etc… USB-C: ADB, MTP, PTP, USB tethering I/Os (GPIO, I2C, SPI) tested with Remote controls via external […]