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WeAct RA4M1 – A small board with plenty of GPIOs that’s software-compatible with the Arduino UNO R4

Last week, we covered the Maker Go RA4M1-R4 development board, an inexpensive “clone” of the Arduino UNO R4 Minima with some small modifications like support for up to 50V DC input and a 3.3V/5V switch for I/Os. But today, I’ve come across a smaller and cheaper Renesas RA4M1 board that’s also software compatible with the Arduino UNO R4. Meet the WeAct RA4M1. The WeAct RA4M1 is mostly a breakout board for the Renesas R7FA4M1AB3CFM Arm Cortex-M4F microcontroller with two 30-pin GPIO headers, a USB-C port for power and programming, and three buttons. It offers a middle ground between the Arduino UNO R4 Minima and the tiny XIAO RA4M1 USB-C board. WeAct RA4M1 specifications: Microcontroller – Renesas RA4M1 Arm Cortex-M4F MCU @ 48 MHz with 32KB SRAM, 256KB flash USB – 1x USB Type-C port for power and programming Expansion 2x 30-pin headers with GPIO, VIN, VCC, GND 3.3V or 5V […]

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DietPi 9.7 and Armbian 24.8 released with improved support for Rockchip, Amlogic, and Allwinner SBCs

Armbian and DietPi are two separate projects that provide Linux-based OS images optimized for Arm-based single board computers. The last time we had a look at both projects was in June with the release of Armbian 24.5.1 and DietPi 9.4, but there have been several updates since then including the releases of the latest DietPi 9.7 and Armbian 24.8 Yelt just a few days ago. So let’s check out the latest changes. DietPi 9.7 DietPi is a lightweight Debian-based Linux distribution for SBCs and server systems that ships as a minimal image but users can install any packages they want, including the ones required for desktop environment, to match the requirements of the applications. It’s notably used by the Linamp project – a Raspberry Pi 4-based project that brings WinAMP to real life – that we covered a few weeks ago. DietPi 9.7 was released on August 25, 2024 with […]

ArmSoM CM5 Raspberry Pi CM4 alternative with Rockchip RK3576 SoC
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T1000-E Card Tracker is a thin, credit card-sized GPS tracker with Meshtastic support

Seeed Studio has introduced the T1000-E, an updated version of the SenseCAP T1000 Card Tracker, built for Meshtastic. This rugged tracker is compact, about the size of a credit card, making it easy to carry or attach to assets. It uses Semtech LR1110 RF transceiver, Nordic Semi nRF52840 wireless SoC, and MediaTek/Aihora AG3335 GPS module for precise, low-power tracking and communication. With an IP65 rating for dust and water resistance, the T1000-E is ideal for reliable asset tracking. The T1000-E supports LoRa and Bluetooth v5.1 for communication and includes a 3-axis accelerometer, an LED, a buzzer, and a button for operation. It has internal antennas for GNSS, LoRa, Wi-Fi, and BLE communication range of 2 to 5 km, depending on the environment. SenseCAP Card Tracker T1000-E specifications: SoC – Nordic Semiconductor nRF52840 CPU – 32-bit Cortex-M4 core with FPU running at 64 MHz Flash – 1 MB RAM – 256 kB […]

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Using RISC-V cores on the Raspberry Pi Pico 2 board and RP2350 MCU – From blinking an LED to building Linux

Raspberry Pi Pico 2 was released last month with a Raspberry Pi RP2350 microcontroller equipped with two Arm Cortex-M33 cores and two 32-bit RISC-V “Hazard3” cores with up to two cores usable at any time. So in this guide, we’ll show how to use the RISC-V cores on the RP2350 MCU, compare their performance against the Arm Cortex-M33 cores, and even build Linux for RISC-V for RP2350 boards that have PSRAM. Apart from the extra memory and more powerful cores, plus new features related to security and the HSTX interface, the Raspberry Pi Pico 2 and Pico will be very similar to the end user and the instructions in our article “Getting Started with Raspberry Pi Pico using MicroPython and C” remain valid. I don’t think there’s a MicroPython RISC-V image yet, so we’ll focus on running C programs on the RISC-V cores. A quick check with the Arm cores […]

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LILYGO T-Deck Plus – A Blackberry-like ESP32-S3 devkit with QWERTY keyboard, trackball, LoRa, GPS, battery, and more

The LILYGO T-Deck Plus is an ESP32-S3 based handheld development kit that resembles a Blackberry phone with a QWERTY keyboard and trackball. The device features a 2.8-inch IPS LCD, a GPS module, a LoRa transceiver, and a 2,000mAh battery which means you can take it outside and do some pen-testing and research. Additionally, the board features a microphone, a speaker, and a microSD card slot for storage. Just last year, LILYGO introduced the LILYGO T-Deck ESP32-S3 development board with LoRa and a 2.8-inch display, and the T-Deck Plus builds on the earlier design but also adds a GPS module and a higher capacity battery. LILYGO T-Deck Plus specifications ESP32-S3-WROOM-1 wireless module SoC –  ESP32-S3FN16R8 dual-core Tensilica LX7 microcontroller @ up to 240 MHz with 2.4 GHz 802.11n WiFi 4 and Bluetooth 5.0 LE connectivity Memory – 8MB PSRAM Storage – 16MB SPI flash PCB antenna Storage – MicroSD card slot Display – […]

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EDATEC ED-SBC2300 – A Raspberry Pi CM4-powered industrial Mini-ITX motherboard

The EDATEC ED-SBC2300 is an industrial mini-ITX motherboard built around the Raspberry Pi CM4. The motherboard offers various storage options including eMMC flash, microSD card, and mSATA SSD. It supports dual displays (HDMI + LVDS or HDMI + eDP with touchscreen), offers diverse connectivity with USB, GbE port, RS232, RS485, and GPIO, and boasts integrated security features like RTC, EEPROM, and crypto authentication. The board supports a wide 9V-36V DC power input and PoE is also an option through an add-on board. With its compact size, flexible I/O, and industrial-grade features, the ED-SBC2300 series suits applications like kiosks, digital signage, industrial automation, and IoT devices. Previously we have written about similar products from EDATEC including the RPI CM4-based industrial computer, the EDATEC ED-HMI2320-156C fanless panel PC, and the EDATEC ED-HMI2120-101C, also an industrial panel PC with an 10.1-inch capacitive touchscreen. Feel free to check those out if you are interested […]

Rockchip RK3568, RK3588 and Intel x86 SBCs and SoMs in 2025
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platform-espressif32 fork to enable PlatformIO support for ESP32-C6, ESP32-C5, ESP32-H2, and ESP32-P4 SoCs

When Espressif Systems released Arduino ESP32 Core 3.0.0 we noted that PlatformIO support was in doubt due to business issues between Espressif and Platform IO developers. There has been no progress since then, and PlatformIO is not even reviewing or merging community contributions to their platform-espressif32 library. So if you want software that’s officially supported by Espressif, you should stick to the Arduino ESP32 Core. But if you are a fan of PlatformIO for ESP32, there’s hope even for the newer chips like ESP32-C6, ESP32-H2, and ESP32-P4 among others, as pioarduino community members have now forked the platform-espressif32 library to keep the project alive. Users can still rely on the official PlatformIO repository for existing ESP32 boards and microcontrollers, but new ESP32-C6, ESP32-H2, ESP32-C5, ESP32-H4, and ESP32-P4 SoC will only be supported by the fork. pioarduino which stands for “people initiated optimized arduino” will maintain the fork, and currently, Arduino […]

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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. […]

Boardcon EM3562 Rockchip RK3562 SBC with 8 analog camera inputs