Posted on

Gesto is a Wearable Gesture Motion Solution for Makers (Crowdfunding)

A while ago I wrote about an open source prosthetic arm controlled by signals generated by your arm’s muscles. It used an Arduino board, a bio-feedback shield by Olimex, and inMoov Hand for the arm and hand. It worked, but lacked accuracy. Gesto is a solution based on boards powered by Atmel MCUs that looks somewhat similar, but with higher accuracy (over 100 gestures have been tested), and the project has now been launched on Crowdsupply. Two kits are available: Gesto Stella EMG circuit – ADS1294 MCU – Atmel ATmega1284p 2x EMG cables connector Through holes with GND, PWR, MOSI, MISO, CLK and SC Dimensions – 35 x 20 mm Includes 16 disposable electrodes and relevant cables Gesto Caelum EMG circuit – ADS1294 MCU – Atmel ATmega1284p Sensors – 3-axis accelerometer (MMA8652FC) Connectivity – Bluetooth (RN42-HID) 2x EMG cables connector USB – Micro USB connector Programming – ICSP connector Power […]

Posted on

CTL H4 is a $200 Rockchip RK3288 Chromebook with 4GB RAM

Several Chromebooks with Rockchip RK3288-C processor were launched last quarter, but most models come only with 2GB RAM, and other laptop with 4GB tend to cost over $200. But CTL has now announced CTL H4 Chromebook for Education also based on RK3288 and featuring 4GB RAM for just $199. CTL H4 specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3288-C Quad-Core Cortex-A17 processor up to 1.8GHz with Mali-T764 GPU System Memory – 4GB DDR3L RAM Storage – 16GB storage + Micro SD slot Display – 11.6’’ HD wide screen LED-backlit display; 180 Degree Lay Flat Design/Hinge Video Output – 1x HDMI Audio – headphone jack; stereo speakers; built-in microphone Connectivity – WiFi, Bluetooth 4.0. USB – 2x USB 2.0 host ports Camera – Built-in Battery – Up to 10 hours battery life Misc – Multi-gesture touchpad Dimensions  – 2.54 cm thick Weight – 1.09 kg The laptop also comes with a carry handle, has […]

ArmSoM RK3588 AIModule7 NVIDIA Jetson Nano-compatible SOM
Posted on

Grain Media 8136S / 8138S are Low Cost HD IP Camera SoCs

A few times, my readers told me they really like comments on this blog, and they liked to check recent comments on the left sidebar, and some even subscribed to the Comments RSS Feed, although it might quite busy at times, especially during giveaways. Recently, an interesting conversation started in the comments section about low cost IP camera chips by Grain Media 8136S and 8138S SoCs respectively supporting 720p and 1080p video recording, and cheap enough to make a sub-$10 IP camera board (BoM cost). Beside the maximum resolution supported, GM8136S and GM8138S are mostly similar except the later also supports Gigabit Ethernet against Fast Ethernet for the lower end version, different clock speeds, and some other (minor?) differences. There’s also GM8135S with 512 Mbit RAM (SiP) against 1Gbit RAM (SiP) for GM8136S, and GM8138 including a DDR controller for external memory, while GM8138S including 1Gbit RAM (SiP). Grain Media […]

Posted on

Freescale Introduces a Coin-sized Single Chip Module (SCM) Based on Freescale i.MX 6Dual

As the Freescale Technology Forum 2015 is taking place in Austin, Texas, the company will announce a few new products over the 4-day conference. After the official launch of Freescale i.MX 7 series processors, Freescale unveiled a new product based on their existing i.MX6 platform with “i.MX 6Dual SCM” (Single Chip Module) that integrate a dual core i.MX 6Dual processor with 1 or 2 GB LPDDR2 (PoP), a 16MB NOR flash and a PMIC in a tiny, coin-sized module. Key feature of SCM-i.MX6D module: Freescale i.MX 6Dual application processor with two ARM Cortex A9 core @ 800 MHz and Vivante GPUs (2D/3D) System Memory – 1 or 2 GB LPDDR2 (PoP configuration) Storage – 16 MB SPI NOR (Micron N25Q128A13) Power Supply – Freescale PMIC PF0100 Dimensions – 17mm x 14mm x 1.7mm There are also 109 discrete components on the module. BSPs for Linux and Android will be provided. […]

Posted on

Freescale Launches i.MX 7 Series Cortex A7 + Cortex M4 Processors for IoT Applications

Freescale announced plans for i.MX 7 and i.MX 8 processors in 2013, but it’s only in the last few months there have been some patchsets submitted to the ARM Linux Kernel mailing list, and so far all documentation was only available to companies and developers under NDA. Now the company has officially launched i.MX 7 series, and although all documents are not available yet, Freescale has released a factsheet providing an overview about the processors. Freescale i.MX 7 series processors targets applications such as wearables, e-readers, secure point-of-sale equipment, smart home controls, industrial automation products and other IoT solutions. Two processors are currently available: the single core i.MX 7Solo processor, and the dual core i.MX 7Dual processor. Both basically share the same specifications, but beside the extra Cortex A7 core, i.MX 7Dual also adds on extra USB host port, a PCIe interface, an extra Gigabit Ethernet port, and a 4th […]

Posted on

$28 CX939 Android TV Stick is Powered by Rockchip RK3128 Processor

We’ve seen a few low costs devices powered by Rockchip RK3128 quad core processor recently, such as FirePrime development board, or Ruach A20s TV box, but CX939 is an even cheaper device, in HDMI TV stick form factor that currently sells for $28.20 on Aliexpress. Transpeed CX939 TV dongle specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3128 quad core ARM Cortex A7 @ 1.2 GHz with ARM Mali-400MP2 GPU @ 500 MHz System Memory – 1 GB DDR3 Storage – 8 GB NAND flash + micro SD card slot Connectivity – 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi with external antenna, and Bluetooth Video & Audio Output – HDMI 1.4 up to 1080p USB – 1x USB 2.0 port, 1x micro USB OTG port, 1x micro USB port for power Misc – Button (for power?) Power Supply – 5V/2A via micro USB port Dimensions – N/A The device runs Android 4.4.2, and is said to be pre-loaded […]

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

Ruach A20s is a $35 Android TV Box Powered by Rockchip RK3128 SoC

Ruach A20 was a media player based on Allwinner A20 processor released about a year ago. Now Ruach Electronics launched an updated model featuring Rockchip RK3128 quad core Cortex A7 processor with the somewhat confusing name Ruach A20s. Ruach A20s specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3128 quad core ARM Cortex A7 @ 1.2 GHz with ARM Mali-400MP2 GPU @ 500 MHz System Memory – 1 GB DDR3 Storage – 8 GB NAND flash Connectivity – 10/100M Ethernet, 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi Video Output – HDMI 1.4 up to 1080p, composite (RCA) Audio Output – HDMI, stereo audio output (RCA) USB – 2x USB 2.0 ports Misc – IR sensor, power button (mechanical On/Off switch), recovery pin hole Power Supply – 5V/2A Dimensions – 11.8 x 7.8 x 3.0 cm The features and ports are just like the older model, so the main difference is really only the Rockchip processor. The model still […]

Posted on

IoT Wi-Fi Modules Comparison Table – ESP8266 vs CC3000 vs RN131 vs HDG204

We now have several options to add WiFi to IoT / embedded projects at relatively low cost, and ESP8266 based solutions clearly wins on costs, but are there some advantages to other higher priced modules? To help us find out, Mike Barela has put up a comparison table with some Wi-FI modules based on Espressif ESP8266, Texas Instruments CC3000, Microchip RN131, and H&D Wireless HDG204 processors. Note 1 – Also comes in Arduino Shield size with SD card slot for $39.95 Note 2 & 3 – Adafruit and Sparkfun sell tested units with AT Firmware for $6.95. lower prices are available on eBay, but quality may vary. Note 4 – Currents are probably somewhat higher than stock ESP-12 due to onboard LED and regulator. The comparison is not exhaustive, but it still appears to show ESP8266 solutions support most features than pricer competing modules. There are however case where competing […]

Boardcon CM3588 Rockchip RK3588 System-on-Module designed for AI and IoT applications