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Texas Instruments Launchpad MSP-EXP430G2 & Capacitive Touch Booster

This is a guest post about the low cost Launchpad MCU devkit. This kit was unveiled in 2010, but since I’d never written about this $4.30 development kit previously, I’ve accepted to publish the post below with slight modifications and amendments. You may be itching to get started with a micro-controller based project but held back because of the high cost of the development boards, and the complex nature of tools required. The good news is that Texas Instruments have come up with a development kit – including a board and the required development software tools. This tool is intended for beginners as well as experienced users. In fact, at under $5, the Texas Instruments’ LaunchPad gives you a complete environment in which you can get started with your projects. This LaunchPad Development Kit is a part of the Texas Instruments MSP430 Value Line series of micro-controllers. You can program, […]

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TechNexion EDM Modules: Open Software and (somewhat) Open Hardware ARM & x86 CPU Modules

TechNexion, a Taiwanese “embedded solution” company, was present at Computex 2012 showcasing their ARM & x86 CPU Modules and corresponding development kits. The company recently created the EDM Standard, an open hardware and software standard for x86 and ARM Computer on Modules available under the creative commons share alike license. Their EDM modules come in three form factors: EDM Compact: 82 x 60 mm (ARM only) EDM Standard: 82 x 95 mm (ARM and x86) EDM Extended: 82 x 145 mm (x86 only) They have already designed 5 modules based on this standard: EDM-CF-iMX6 EDM Compact Module powered by Freescale i.MX6 (solo, dual or quad) EDM-CT-AM437x EDM Compact Module powered by TI Sitara AM437x (single core Cortex A9) EDM-SF-iMX6 EDM Standard Module with Freescale i.MX6 EDM-ST-AM437x EDM Standard Module with TI Sitara AM437x EDM-XI-QM77 EDM Extended Module with Intel QM77 3rd generation i3/i7 core I could not find information about […]

ArmSoM CM5 Raspberry Pi CM4 alternative with Rockchip RK3576 SoC
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Texas Instruments Wi-Fi Miracast Wireless Display on OMAP 4470

A few days ago, Texas Instruments announced a Wi-Fi CERTIFIED Miracast Video Streaming Solution based on OMAP4470 and WiLink 7.0, and they said in their press release that they would demo the platform at Computex 2012. Charbax is currently there, and shot a video showcasing different use cases possible with Miracast such as multi-tasking while streaming and mirroring. This technology looks very promising, especially since existing devices based on OMAP4470 will be able to support it with just a software update. You’ll also need to have a Miracast compliant TV, but eventually you should be able to buy a Miracast HDMI dongle for your TV (instead of buying a new TV), which is basically the board used in the demo except they use cables. This technology could be a threat to the MHL standard. The only advantage of the latter is that you don’t need power supply as it will […]

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ASUS Windows RT Tablet 600: The First Ever Windows 8 Tablet Is Powered By Nvidia Tegra 3

Nvidia announced on its blog that ASUS unveiled a Windows RT (previously known as Windows 8 on ARM) tablet powered by Nvidia Tegra 3 and featuring a 10.1-inch touch screen display. This is a convertible tablet with an optional keyboard dock, so it’s like a transformer with Windows 8. The Asus 600 is said to have the following specifications: Nvidia Tegra 3 (Quad Core Cortex A9) 2 GB RAM 10.1-inch Super IPS+ display (Resolution  1366 x 768) 8MP rear camera with an LED flash 2MP front camera. WiFi and Bluetooth 4.0 connectivity GPS support Gyroscope, compass and NFC. You can watch the hands-on video below provided by Nvidia. ASUS didn’t disclose pricing or availability.

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Linaro 12.05 Release with Kernel 3.4 and Android 4.0.4

Linaro has just released version 12.05 based on Linux Kernel 3.4 and Android 4.0.4. This release provides lots of improvement for Origen (Samsung Exynos 4) on Android,  further work has been done on big.LITTLE processing and ARMv8 work appears to have started for Ubuntu and Debian. armel vs armhf benchmarks show a massive improvement (up to 15x) when using armhf for povray (3D rendering),. but for most other tests, there is little improvement, and in some rare cases armhf is slightly slower than armel. Here are the highlights of the release: Android Created a stable Google hangout build for Origen Updated DS-5 and gator daemon to 5.10 Stress tests from big.LITTLE testing have been integrated into LAVA Completed big.LITTLE Android tasks Monkeyrunner tests for automating common Android usage have been integrated into LAVA Ordered a new power measurement device from National Instruments Updated and Origen 3.4 rc7 Completed Android HAL […]

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e-con Systems Unveils e-CAM51_USB 5MP USB Camera Module

e-con Systems, an embedded design services company specializing in the development of camera solutions, has just announced the launch of e-CAM51_USB USB Camera comprised of a 5-megapixel Autofocus Camera Module (e-CAM52_5640_MOD) based on OmniVision OV5640 CMOS image sensor.This camera module targets document camera visualizers, interactive teaching & meeting solutions, OCR, scientific research, telemedicine/health, biometrics and robotics applications. The e-CAM51_USB camera module supports GPIO and microphone with an integrated analog-to-digital converter (ADC).  It does not require specific drivers since it is compliant with USB Video Class (UVC) and USB Audio Class (UAC). OmniVision OV5640 CameraChip sensor features automatic image control functions such as: Automatic exposure control (AEC) Automatic white balance (AWB) Automatic band filter (ABF) 50/60Hz automatic luminance detection Automatic black level calibration (ABLC) Most of these features are supported via the standard UVC protocol providing good applications interoperability on Linux and Windows. Some e-CAM51_USB features such as GPIO control, Auto […]

Rockchip RK3568, RK3588 and Intel x86 SBCs and SoMs in 2025
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Willow Garage Launches The Open Source Robotics Foundation (OSRF)

Willow Garage announces the formation of the Open Source Robotics Foundation (OSRF), an independent, non-profit organization founded by members of the global robotics community whose goal is to support the development, distribution, and adoption of open source software for use in robotics research, education, and product development. The OSRF Board of Directors is composed of the following members: Wolfram Burgard. Dr. Burgard, a professor at the University of Freiburg,  heading the Laboratory for Autonomous Intelligent Systems. His major research interests lie in mobile robotics, state estimation and control, as well as artificial intelligence. Ryan Gariepy, co-founder and CTO of Clearpath Robotics. Clearpath Robotics is a company specializing in the design and manufacture of unmanned vehicle solutions for industrial R&D. Brian Gerkey,  Director of Open Source Development at Willow Garage who has worked on the open source Robot Operating System (ROS) since 2008. Dr. Gerkey will be CEO of the OSRF. Helen […]

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Toshiba Unveils TMPM061 Cortex-M0 MCU for Smart Meters

Toshiba America Electronic Components (TAEC) has announced the TMPM061, a new 32-bit ARM Cortex-M0 MCU  specifically designed for smart metering applications. This new micro-controller provides a single chip solution for smart meters, eliminating the need for the two-chip approach with an analog front end (AFE) and a MCU, delivering a smaller footprint and lower costs. In order to simplify smart meter power measurement, the TMPM061 features an onboard power calculation engine that can calculate active energy, reactive energy and power factor as well as monitoring voltage and frequency fluctuation. In addition, the TMPM061 features up to 128KB on-chip Flash ROM and 8KB on-chip RAM, as well as on-board peripherals including: 3-channel 24-bit Delta-Sigma analog-to-digital converter (ADC) supporting sampling up to 6 kHz 10-bit ADC Temperature-compensated real-time clock (RTC). 9-channel 16-bit timer LCD display controller Temperature sensor Voltage detection circuit Watchdog timer 5-channel general-purpose serial interface Serial bus interface (I2C bus mode or […]

Boardcon EM3562 Rockchip RK3562 SBC with 8 analog camera inputs