CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

August 27, 2024August 27, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Raspberry Pi Pico Arduino core 4.0 adds support for RP2350 boards

Earle F. Philhower, III has just released the Raspberry Pi Pico Arduino core 4.0 with support for a range of Raspberry Pi RP2350 boards beside the official Raspberry Pi Pico 2. Shortly after the RP2040-based Raspberry Pi Pico board was released, we got two Arduino SDKs, the first being the community-supported Raspberry Pi Pico Arduino core maintained by Earle, and the second being the official Arduino Core Mbed 2.0 for boards as such as Arduino Nano Connect RP2040. We are again likely to have two Arduino SDKs for the RP2350 starting with the Raspberry Pi Pico Arduino core. Key changes in Raspberry Pi Pico Arduino core 4.0: Adds Raspberry Pi RP2350 support (Arm only; RISC-V cores are not supported at this stage) Migrates to Pico SDK 2.0 since it is required for RP2350 support and includes a new OpenOCD and Picotool. Tested features: SPI, I2C, LittleFS, EEPROM, PWMAudio, LWIP-based networking, […]

August 27, 2024August 26, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 17 Comments

Comparison of Raspberry Pi 5 with 2GB and 8GB RAM – Hardware, benchmarks, and power consumption

The Raspberry Pi 5 with 2GB RAM was launched last week, and since I got a sample for review, I decided to compare it to the Raspberry Pi 5 with 8GB RAM to see if I could find any noticeable differences between the two boards. I’ll start with a visual inspection to show differences on the PCBA, then check system information, run some benchmarks, check power consumption, and finally try to open as many tabs in Firefox until the 2GB RAM is filled and the system becomes unusable. Raspberry Pi 5 2GB vs Raspberry Pi 8GB – visual inspection We should first have a quick look at the boards and packages there’s no obvious difference apart from seeing 2GB RAM and 8GB RAM on the respective packages. But if we look closer, we can see the resistors for memory capacity detection are in different locations for “2G” and “8G”, and […]

August 26, 2024August 26, 2024 by Tomisin Olujinmi - 5 Comments

Integrated motor driver and controller bundles ESP32-S3 and TMC2209 for IoT applications

The PD Stepper is a NEMA 17 integrated stepper motor driver and controller board powered by USB power delivery that combines an ESP32-S3 wireless microcontroller, the Trinamic TMC2209 ultra-silent motor driver, and other components onto a single board for Smart Home and automation applications. The maker, Josh R., states that the PD Stepper isn’t another “just because we can” project. It addresses the need for an integrated motor driver and controller module that can used in compact or space-constrained designs. The ESP32-S3 SoC controls the other components on the board and provides wireless connectivity as well as access to development tools and libraries such as ESPHome and ESP-Now. The motor driver IC, Analog Devices’s Trinamic TMC2209, offers efficient, noiseless control of two-phase stepper motors. Other onboard components and connectors include an AS5600 magnetic rotary position sensor, a 3.3V buck converter, a Qwiic/Stemma QT connector, a motor connector, and an AUX […]

August 26, 2024 by Debashis Das - 6 Comments

Microchip LAN887x industrial single-pair gigabit Ethernet transceivers can communicate over 40 meters of cable

Microchip LAN887x family of PHY Transceivers

Microchip has released the LAN887x family of single-pair gigabit Ethernet transceivers adding to their line of Single Pair Ethernet (SPE) devices. This new family of transceivers supports 100BASE-T1(compliant with IEEE 802bw-2015) and 1000BASE-T1(compliant with IEEE 802.3bp) network speeds and can handle extended cable lengths up to 40 meters. They also integrate time-sensitive networking (TSN) protocols and comply with ISO 26262 functional safety standards. Additionally, they can operate in low-power mode with features like EtherGREEN technology and OPEN Alliance TC10 sleep mode. All these features make this IC useful for applications such as automotive, industrial, avionics, robotics, and automation fields. Microchip previously released the LAN8770 100BASE-T1 Ethernet PHY Transceiver which has a max cable length of 15 meters for UTP (Unshielded Twisted Pair) cable and 40 meters for STP (Shielded Twisted Pair) cable. The speed was limited to 100 Mbps, but now, with the release of the new 1000BASE-T1 ethernet controllers, […]

August 26, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

Flexduino is an Arduino UNO clone made of a flexible PCB

YouTuber “EDISON SCIENCE CORNER” has designed yet another Arduino UNO clone but with a twist as the board is made out of a flexible PCB. Companies like JLCPCB, PCBWay, and others have been offering flexible PCB manufacturing services for a while, mostly for flat cables or small boards that need to fit around a case, but the Flexduino is a complete Arduino UNO clone made of a flex PCB, and it looks rather cool. The flexible Arduino board does work as shown with the RGB LED and power LED in the photo above and YouTube video below, but its usefulness is rather limited, and some corners had to be cut as for instance there’s no ground plane. Nevertheless, it’s a nice demo of flexible PCB technology. The video on the EDISON SCIENCE CORNER channel provides a short demo, shows how the PCB was designed (EasyEDA), and go through the ordering […]

August 26, 2024 by Sayantan Nandy - No Comments

Renesas RRH62000 multi-sensor indoor air quality monitoring module features particle, VOC, and gas sensors

Renesas Electronics has introduced the RRH62000, a compact multi-sensor module for indoor air quality monitoring. It integrates particle detection, VOC, and gas sensing with an onboard Renesas MCU for sensor management. The module is designed for use in air purifiers, smoke detectors, HVAC systems, weather stations, and smart home devices. The RRH62000 is an integrated sensor module that measures key air quality parameters, including particulate matter (PM1, PM2.5, PM10), total volatile organic compounds (TVOC), Indoor Air Quality Index (IAQ), estimated carbon dioxide (eCO2), temperature (T), and relative humidity (RH). These measurements are combined into a single package, with digital outputs available for each sensor, enabling simultaneous measurement. The module features a six-pin connector for easy plug-and-play integration. The RRH62000 is available with the RRH62000-EVK evaluation kit, which simplifies the testing of the integrated sensor module. The module measures critical air quality parameters and connects to a Windows PC via USB. […]

Rockchip RK3568/RK3588 and Intel x86 SBCs

August 26, 2024August 26, 2024 by Debashis Das - 1 Comment

Nuvoton NuMicro MA35D1-powered industrial SoM and dev board features dual GbE ports, cellular connectivity, and more

MYIR has recently introduced MYC-LMA35 industrial SoM and its associated development board built around the Nuvoton NuMicro MA35D1 microprocessor with two Arm Cortex-A35 cores and one Arm Cortex-M4 real-time core for processing. The SoM comes in a BGA package with connectivity options such as dual Gigabit Ethernet, cellular connectivity, Wi-Fi/Bluetooth, and various other interfaces like RS232, RS485, USB, CAN, ADC, GPIO, and more. All these features make this SoM and its associated dev board useful for demanding edge IIoT applications like industrial automation, energy management systems, smart city infrastructure, and remote monitoring solutions. Previously we have seen MYIR introduce various SoM and development boards like the MYC-LR3568 Edge AI SoM, and the MYC-YF13X SoM and we have also written about similar industrial dev boards such as the Firefly ROC-RK3576-PC, the Nuvoton NuMicro M2L31 development board, and many more. Feel free to check those out if you are interested in the topic. […]

August 25, 2024August 25, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

Review of Napcat wireless NVR with solar-powered security cameras

Napcat solar-powered wireless NVR review

After I reviewed the NapCat smart video doorbell last June, the company asked me to review a wireless NVR with solar-powered security cameras and I understood I would receive a kit with four solar-powered cameras and an NVR with storage preinstalled. In this review, I’ll go through an unboxing, a quick teardown of the NVR, the installation process, and my experience with the Napcat NVR user interfaces (connected to HDMI) and the Napcat Life Android app which I also used with the video doorbell. Napcat wireless NVR N1S22 kit unboxing The package I’ve received reads “N1S22” model of a “Solar-powered Security Camera System” and is quite smaller than I expected. One reason for the small size is that my kit only comes with two cameras instead of four, and the company also did a good job of making everything take as little space as possible. On the net, you’ll see […]