CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

July 29, 2024July 29, 2024 by Tomisin Olujinmi - 4 Comments

ODrive Micro is a compact, brushless motor controller designed for space-constrained robotics applications (Crowdfunding)

ODrive Micro is a high-performance servo motor drive from ODrive Robotics that comes in an ultra-compact, 32 x 32mm form factor. The controller provides up to 100W continuous power for driving brushless servo motors. The ODrive Micro is the latest in a series of motor controllers from ODrive and builds on the company’s established software and hardware ecosystem. This includes support for CAN Bus, programming libraries, and a web-based graphic user interface for easy and intuitive setup. The Micro features a CAN interface for daisy-chaining other controllers and an onboard 12-bit magnetic encoder for direct mounting without needing an external encoder. It also offers the option to mount hall, quadrature, and SPI external encoders via the J1 header on the board. The ODrive Micro is aimed at robotics applications where space is premium, including hobbyist and professional use. It is similar to the Wukong 2040, ClearCore, and the Serial Bus […]

July 29, 2024July 28, 2024 by Debashis Das - No Comments

Adeept Robot HAT for Raspberry Pi is designed for DIY projects and educational needs

The Adeept Robot HAT V3.0 is a motor and sensor driver HAT that supports Raspberry Pi 5, Pi 4, and Pi 3 models. The board features a bunch of headers that give access to sensor and motor controllers including sixteen servo motor ports, a three-channel line tracking sensor, an ultrasonic sensor, IR receivers, WS2812 RGB LEDs, and more. Additionally, the board features an integrated 8.4V battery charger with a Type-C port for charging. All these features make it easy to build DIY robotics and smart car projects with this HAT. Previously we have written about similar educational robot kits including the Arduino Alvik educational robot, the XGO-Rider self-balancing robot, the Waveshare UGV Rover, SunFounder GalaxyRVR, and much more. Feel free to check that out if you are interested in those topics. Adeept Robot HAT V3.0 specifications HAT Name – Adeept Robot HAT V3.0 Host controller (one or the other) Raspberry Pi […]

ArmSoM CM5 - Raspberry Pi CM4 alternative with Rockchip RK3576 SoC

July 28, 2024August 3, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

Review of Pironman 5 mini PC case for the Raspberry Pi 5 SBC

Pironman 5 review Raspberry Pi 5 tower case

SunFounder has sent me a review sample of the Pironman 5 tower PC case for the Raspberry Pi 5. I had already reviewed the Pironman case for Raspberry Pi 4 last year, so I’ll do something similar this time around with the new Pironman 5 case adding support for NVMe SSD using the PCIe interface from the Pi 5 SBC. The Pironman 5 review will include unboxing and an assembly guide, followed by software installation and features testing (e.g. OLED display, RGB LED control, remote control. soft power off, etc…), before testing the cooling efficiency of the device with some benchmarks. Pironman 5 unboxing The Pironman 5 comes in a package that will be smaller than most people expect. The main features are listed on the side with 5V/5A power input, a 0.96-inch OLED, a tower cooler, M.2 NVMe SSD support, an IR receiver, a CR1220 battery (included), four RGB […]

July 27, 2024July 27, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 22 Comments

Upgraded Radxa ROCK 5B+ SBC gets LPDDR5 memory, eMMC flash, WiFi 6, two M.2 M-Key sockets, 4G LTE/5G support, and more

The Radxa ROCK 5B+ (“ROCK 5B Plus”) is an upgrade to the Rockchip RK3588-powered ROCK 5B Pico-ITX SBC with the same form factor but various changes including a switch from LPDDR4x to LPDDR5, optional built-in eMMC flash, and an onboard WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2 module instead of one connected through an M.2 Key-E connector. Other changes include replacing the M.2 Key-M PCIe Gen 3 x4 socket with two M.2 Key-M PCIe Gen3 x2 sockets, adding a SIM card slot and M.2 Key-B socket for 4G LTE or 5G cellular connectivity, adding an extra USB-C port for power only (was multiplexed with USB-C Display Port connected in ROCK 5B), and the HDMI input relies on a full-size HDMI port instead of a micro HDMI port. Other small changes can be found in the specifications below with differences highlighted in bold and strikethrough. Radxa ROCK 5B+ specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3588 […]

July 26, 2024July 26, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

AAEON ACP-1078 – A Rockchip RK3568-powered 7-inch touchscreen panel PC for manufacturing and logistics

AAEON ACP-1078 Rockchip RK3568 7-inch Panel PC

AAEON ACP-1078 is a 7-inch touchscreen panel PC powered by a Rockchip RK3568 quad-core Cortex-A55 AI SoC with 12V to 24V DC input, and an IP65-compliant aluminum front bezel suitable for manufacturing and logistics use cases. The fanless panel PC ships with up to 4GB RAM and 16GB eMMC flash and offers dual GbE networking, HDMI output, five USB ports, two COM ports, a microSD card slot, and a 3.5mm audio jack. AAEON ACP-1078 panel PC specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3568 CPU – Quad-core Cortex A55 processor at up to 2.0 GHz GPU – Mali G52 GPU with support for OpenGL ES 1.1/2.0/3.2, OpenCL 2.0, Vulkan 1.1 VPU 4Kp60 H.264, H.265, VP9, 1080p60 MPEG-4/-2/-1, VP8, and VC1 video decoder 1080p60 H.264/H.265 video encoder AI accelerator – 0.8 TOPS NPU System Memory – 2GB or 4GB LPDDR4 Storage 16GB eMMC flash MicroSD card socket mSATA socket Display 7-inch WSVGA (1024 x […]

July 26, 2024July 26, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

T2-U WiFi and Bluetooth development board supports the Tuya Smart Home framework

The T2-U is a development board compatible with the Tuya Smart Home framework that features a WiFi and Bluetooth module with a 120 MHz RISC processor, some buttons, an LED indicator, GPIOs, power, and a USB-to-serial chip. In 2019, we covered Tuya as a one-stop Smart Home solution allowing companies to easily design and manufacture home automation devices from electronics to the enclosure. For example, the company provides a customizable 4-inch Android touch control panel & Zigbee gateway as well as the Tuya Link SDK allowing customers to further customize the firmware of their Smart Home devices, but I had yet to see a development board compatible with Tuya. T2-U development board specifications: Wireless module – T2-U SoC – Unnamed 32-bit RISC MCU @ 120 MHz with 2 MB flash and 256 KB RAM Wireless Wi-Fi 802.11b, 802.11g, and 802.11n wireless standard. Channels 1 to 14 at 2.4 GHz. Security […]

Rockchip RK3568/RK3588 and Intel x86 SBCs

July 26, 2024 by Debashis Das - 2 Comments

iBASE IB961 3.5-inch SBC features 13th Gen Intel Core processors, dual 2.5GbE LAN, three M.2 sockets

The iBASE IB961 from FORTEC Integrated (previously known as Distec) is a 3.5-inch Single Board Computer (SBC) built around 13th Gen Intel Core processors. The board can support up to 32GB of DDR5-5200 non-ECC memory via 1x SO-DIMM socket and features dual DisplayPort (1.2), eDP, and LVDS interfaces along with dual 2.5GbE Ethernet for connectivity. Additionally, the SBC also includes 3x M.2 slots (M-Key, E-Key, B-Key) for expanded storage and 5G cellular communication. These features make the device useful for applications like automation, edge computing, transportation, digital signage, and kiosks/ATMs. iBASE is well known for its SBCs and mini PCs and previously we have written about their products including the IBASE ISR500 fanless Edge AI computer, the IBASE 3.5-inch SBC with AMD Ryzen Embedded V2000 processor, the IBASE IBR215 Pico-ITX SBC. Additionally, we have written about similar SBCs and Mini PCs with 13th-gen Raptor Lake SoC including the GEEKOM GT13 […]

July 26, 2024July 25, 2024 by Debashis Das - 2 Comments

Flipper Zero hacking tool gets CAN bus add-on board for vehicle diagnostics and security research

Electronic Cats’ Flipper Add-On CANBus is a new add-on board for the Flipper Zero adding CAN bus communication to the popular wireless hacking tool. Built around the MCP2515 CAN controller chip this add-on card communicates with the Flipper Zero through an SPI interface. It allows users to sniff, send, and log CAN bus packets directly from the Flipper Zero, which means now you can analyze and manipulate CAN bus traffic for vehicle diagnostics, security research, and DIY projects. Previously we have seen Flipper Zero add an RP2040-powered video game module, and before that, we noted the developers launched their own app store with open-source apps. Additionally, we have written about Flipper Zero alternatives such as the M1 multitool so feel free to check those to know more about those solutions. Electronic Cats Flipper Add-On CANBus specifications Compatibility – Flipper Zero CAN Controller – Microchip MCP2515 CAN bus controller with SPI […]