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Microchip SAMA5 based Giant Board Launched on Crowd Supply for $50 and Up

Earlier this year we gave you details about some new development board, most especially about the Giant board. A tiny single board computer that runs Linux on Arm Cortex-A5 processor.  This super tiny single-board computer (SBC) is based on the Adafruit Feather form factor. Unlike its name, the giant board is actually a small microchip. And it packs an awful lot of power for its size. The news is that it has launched on Crowd Supply for $50 and up. In addition, the giant board implements the power of size, which makes it unique. It squeezes SBC into a package the size of a microcontroller board. This will in turn relax memory, storage, and processing constraints. Consequently allowing you to effectively work on your projects. Another thing to know about the Giant Board is that it runs full Debian Linux.  Giving developers and users access to an endless number of […]

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Open Source ESP32 3D Printer Board Supports Marlin 2.0 Firmware

Espressif ESP32 processor was initially designed for cost-sensitive IoT projects thanks to its built-in WiFi & Bluetooth connectivity and low price, but the WiSoC’s fairly powerful two Xtensa cores found other uses such as face detection and audio applications among others. But a few people are now collaborating to bring ESP32 to the world of 3D printers with an open source hardware RepRap 3D printer controller board that has beta support in Marlin 2.0 RC1 firmware. There’s no commercially available ESP32 3D printer controller board right now, so only prototypes from the community are available. There are mainly two version of the boards: R1 and R2 designed by Simon Jouet, and at least one member – Felixstorm – made his own R2 board from the MIT licensed KiCad based design. R2 is a better design leveraging ESP32’s I2S interface to have more output pins and improve stepping. Felixstorm connected the […]

ArmSoM CM5 Raspberry Pi CM4 alternative with Rockchip RK3576 SoC
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LEGO Minifigure shaped Mini SAM M4 Board Supports CircuitPython and Arduino

If you are a fan of the Lego movie. Perhaps you have always wanted to use Lego bricks to make something innovative and techy. Then the Mini SAM M4 board is here for you, as it is a LEGO minifigure-sized development board. Additionally, the design and layout of the board is based around the classic 1980’s ‘spaceman’, and is made by Ben Shockley. Although the board is very small, it has a lot of wonderful features. It comes with an analog reference decoupling/filtering capacitors. Also, it has an analog to digital ferrite bead, as well as a debounce circuitry for the reset and user buttons. Furthermore, the board’s software and firmware can be developed using CircuitPython or Arduino. The development board is either based on the Microchip SAMD51G 48-Pin 32-Bit ARM – Cortex M4F MCU (Mini SAM M4), or features the Microchip SAMD21G 48-Pin 32-Bit ARM Cortex -M0+ MCU running […]

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KB-IDE Open Source IDE Supports ESP-IDF, Arduino, and Visual Programming for ESP32 Boards

We’ve previously written about MakerAsia when covering their KBX Extension case for Kidbright ESP32 educational board. The company has now launched a new product, but it’s not an hardware platform, and instead KB-IDE is an open IDE (Integrated Development Environment) ESP32 boards. The IDE is suitable whatever your level from kids getting started with supports visual programming, to Arduino programming, and even the official Espressif ESP-IDF framework for more experienced makers. The IDE comes with with a Board Manager, a Plugins System and works with any Arduino Library out of the box. Made with Vue.js framework, KB-IDE is open source with the code available on Github.  You can install a binary release, or build it from source for Windows, Linux, or Mac OS. Since it’s open source, it’s also expandable so makers can customize it, for instance by adding new architectures (AVR and ARM are already planned), new boards,  creating […]

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TH3D EZBoard Lite Board Upgrades Ender and Creality CR-10 3D Printers

The basic setup of Creality 3D’s very popular Ender and CR-10 series 3D printers now have a drop-in board upgrade that is poised to rival printers that cost many times more than the Creality models. The original board only utilizes the ATmega2560 microcontroller, the A4988 stepper motor drives, with those cheap Chinese capacitors. The board runs Marlin 1.x open source firmware.  This setup is very close to the Arduino Mega 2560 and the RepRap RAMPS 1.4 board which are some of the most common and simplest board combinations in the world. The upgrade from TH3D, is the EZBoard Lite, makes some very important changes to the overall board ability, scalability and functionality. The physical process of upgrade is simple and easy. The outcome is an increase in speed and functionality that is comparable to 3D printers costing 5 to 10 times as much. Features Easy Drop-In Installation No Soldering No […]

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Khadas VIM3 Development Board to Launch for $69.99 and Up on June 24

After ODROID-N2, Khadas VIM3 is the second Amlogic S922X powered development board to become available to the maker community. However, while the former have been available for a couple of month, we only knew most of Khadas VIM3 specifications so far. Shenzhen Wesion has now announced a launch date and pricing for the board, and as well as released a few more details. Khadas VIM3 Basic and Pro will start selling on June 24 for respectively $69.99 with 2GB RAM and 16GB flash, and $99.99 with 4GB RAM and 32GB flash. Those prices are very attractive, and competitive against ODROID-N2 due to the extra features like built-in flash. The downside is that those are introductory prices that will be effective for the first production batch and until July 22, 2019 only, after which prices will increase. The company also provided a comparison table showing the main difference between their earlier […]

Rockchip RK3568, RK3588 and Intel x86 SBCs and SoMs in 2025
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Khadas VIM3 Amlogic S922X Board to Support M.2 NVMe SSD, WiFi 5, and Bluetooth 5 Connectivity

Ever since the Amlogic S922X powered ODROID-N2 SBC launched last March, I keep reading praise for the processor and board which both deliver great performance at a relatively low price. Hardkernel was the only company that sold such a board so far, but this is about to change with some competition coming from Shenzhen Wesion with their upcoming Khadas VIM3 board that includes 2 to 4GB RAM, 16 to 32GB eMMC flash storage, a wireless module, support for M.2 NVMe SSD, and more. Even though more are planned in the future, two Khadas VIM3 models have been announced so far – Basic and Pro – with the following preliminary specifications: SoC – Amlogic S922X hexa-core processor with 4x Arm Cortex-A73 and 2x Cortex A53 cores, Arm Mali-G52 MP4 GPU, built-in Cortex-M4 core for “always-on” processing MCU – STMicro STM8S003 with Programmable EEPROM for power management, customizations, and boot media configuration […]

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Battery powered MEGO Portable Power Supply fits into Breadboards

Breadboard power supplies like MB102 have been around for years, and some  even designed a variable power supply for breadboards, but EVO-IN-MOTION MEGO looks much neater as a fully enclosed power supply, 4 to 24V output, fitted with a LiPo battery, and a display to show current voltage. MEGO enabled on-the-go breadboard projects without any cables for the power supply. Just connect the power supply, and you’re good to go with power delivered from the built-in battery. MEGO power supply specifications: Output Voltage – 4-24V DC Maximum Power – 6W Safety – Overload protection; short circuit protection Typical Power Efficiency – 88% Voltage Display Accuracy – <1% Ripple Voltage – <1% Load Regulation – 270mV Battery – 7.4Whs (2,000 mAh @ 3.7V) Misc – Power button;, adjust knob for output voltage; low battery and charging LEDs Dimensions – 73 x 59 x 32 mm Weight – 100 grams Temperature Range […]

Boardcon EM3562 Rockchip RK3562 SBC with 8 analog camera inputs