Banana Pi BPI-M8 is a credit card-sized SBC powered by an Allwinner A733 octa-core Cortex-A76/A55 SoC that aims to offer an alternative to the Raspberry Pi 5.

The BPI-M8 comes with 4GB LPDDR5, HDMI and MIPI DSI display interfaces, two MIPI CSI camera interfaces, Gigabit Ethernet, on-board WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.0, four USB ports, a 16-pin FFC PCIe connector, and the usual 40-pin GPIO header. Two variants are offered: the BPI-M8A with 64GB eMMC flash, and the BPI-M8B with 16MB SPI NOR flash.

Banana Pi BPI-M8 specifications:

• SoC – Allwinner A733
  • CPU
    • Dual-core Arm Cortex-A76 @ up to 2.00 GHz
    • Hexa-core Arm Cortex-A55 @ up to 1.80 GHz
    • Single-core RISC-V E902 real-time core
  • GPU – Imagination Technologies BXM-4-64 MC1 GPU with support for OpenGL ES 3.2, Vulkan 1.3, and OpenCL 3.0
  • VPU
    • 4Kp60/8Kp24 H.265/VP9/AVS2 decoding, 4Kp30 H.264 decoding
    • 4Kp30 H.265/H.264 encoding
  • AI accelerator – 3 TOPS NPU
  • Process – 12 nm
• System Memory – 4GB LPDDR5
• Storage
  • 8GB, 16GB, 32GB, 64GB (default), or 128GB eMMC flash
  • MicroSD card slot
  • Optional 16MB SPI flash
  • UFS module socket
• Display interfaces
  • HDMI 2.0b up to 4K at 60Hz
  • 4-lane MIPI DSI connector
• Camera interface – 2x 4-lane MIPI CSI camera connectors
• Audio
  • Allwinner AC101 audio codec
  • 3.5mm headphone jack
  • Digital audio output via HDMI
• Networking
  • Gigabit Ethernet RJ45 port; optional PoE support
  • WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.0 with external antenna
• USB
  • 1x USB 3.0 host port
  • 3x USB 2.0 host port
  • 1x USB Type-C OTG port (also used for power)
• Debug – 3-pin UART header for debug
• Expansion
  • 40-pin Raspberry Pi-compatible header with GPIO, UART, SPI, I2C, PWM, 5V, 3.3V, GND
  • 16-pin FFC PCIe connector (multiplexed with DP, I assume for an external DislayPort adapter board)
• Misc
  • Power, Reset, FEL, and ADC buttons
  • 2x LEDs (power and activity)
  • 2-pin RTC battery connector
  • PWM fan connector
• Power Supply
  • 5V/4A via USB-C connector
  • Optional PoE module via 4-pin header
  • AXP318 PMIC
• Dimensions – 85 x 56 mm
• Weight – 60 grams

The company boasts that three major operating systems are supported: Android, Linux, and Armbian (meaning Ubuntu/Debian). I can also see a Buildroot logo has been thrown into the list… However, when we look at the documentation, there’s no source code or OS images for now, and except for a getting started guide, all the focus is on hardware details. It’s not quite the first Allwinner A733 board around, and OS images for other boards might be adaptable to the BPI-M8. Progress on software support for the A733 has been disappointing compared to earlier claims, especially if you need mainline Linux support…

The closest competitors are the ArmSoM Sige6 SBC, the Orange Pi 4 Pro, and the Radxa Cubie A7A, all of which are also Raspberry Pi-inspired credit card single board computers powered by the Allwinner A733. One of the main differences appears to be whether a specific board exposes PCIe through an M.2 socket or an FFC/FPC connector. As a side note, Banana Pi and ArmSoM are related (there’s even a BPi logo on the Sige6), so it’s unclear why they decided to introduce two similar boards.

Banana Pi sells the BPI-M8A (64GB eMMC flash) and BPI-M8B (16MB SPI NOR flash) for $109 and $73 on AliExpress, respectively. You’ll also find both variants on the Banana Pi shop for $103 and $69. I’ve lost all mental references when it comes to SBC pricing in 2026 due to frequent price adjustments, but after double-checking, the prices seem acceptable, with the Orange Pi 5 Pro 4GB now selling for $69 and the $110 (MSRP) asked for a Raspberry Pi 5 4GB.

The post Banana Pi BPI-M8 – An Allwinner A733 SBC inspired by the Raspberry Pi 5 with PCIe FFC connector, UFS module socket appeared first on CNX Software - Embedded Systems News.

TOOCAA NOVA is a desktop laser cutter and engraver that combines creative functions in a compact body. It comes with a translucent orange cover and an A4 work area of 297 × 210 mm, suitable for making signs, decorations, personalized gifts, and DIY projects. The reviewed model uses a 20W diode laser module for cutting and engraving, and supports materials such as wood, paper, leather, and coated aluminum.

The machine’s highlight is its 5MP AI camera, which displays an image of the material inside the machine in the software, making it easier to align designs with the desired position. It also has an autofocus system that automatically adjusts focus distance and a material card-reading function that helps you select operating settings. It works with TOOCAA Studio to design, import images, and set up jobs including line engraving, fill engraving, and cutting, and connects to the machine via USB or Wi-Fi.

In addition to working on flat materials, TOOCAA NOVA also ships with an optional rotary module for engraving cylindrical objects such as glasses and tumblers. The X-axis assembly can rotate 90 degrees to prepare for use with the accessory. It features a 2.4-inch touchscreen for control and status, and integrates safety systems such as a stop function when the cover is opened, flame detection, tilt detection, and child lock.

TOOCAA NOVA Specifications

• Model – TOOCAA NOVA
• Machine type – Desktop laser cutter and engraver with cover
• Laser – Diode Laser available in 10W and 20W; the reviewed machine is the 20W version
• Work area – 297 × 210 mm or A4 size
• Maximum speed – 600 mm/s or 36,000 mm/min
• Laser spot size for 20W version – 0.15 × 0.15 mm
• Camera – 5MP resolution for viewing the work area and helping position the workpiece
• Focus system – Autofocus with automatic focus distance adjustment
• Material identification system – Reads material identification cards to help select operating settings
• Screen – 2.4-inch color touchscreen
• Host connectivity – USB and Wi-Fi
• Supported software – TOOCAA Studio and LightBurn
• Air assist system – Smart Air Assist adjusts airflow according to the job
• Fume exhaust system – Dual-Channel Exhaust
• X-axis assembly – Rotates 90 degrees for use with the Rotary Module
• Supported laser modules – Diode 10W, Diode 20W, and Infrared 2W, which is an optional accessory
• Safety systems – Stop when cover is opened, flame detection, tilt detection, emergency stop button, and Child Lock
• Dimensions – 513 × 402 × 180 mm
• Weight – 8.27 kg

Unboxing TOOCAA NOVA

Our TOOCAA NOVA laser engraver sample shipped with the following accessories:

• 20W diode laser module for cutting and engraving materials
• Air assist pump kit with air hose and connection cable for blowing air at the cutting or engraving area
• Rotary module with holding accessories for engraving glasses, tumblers, and cylindrical objects
• Adapter and power cable for powering the machine
• USB cable for connecting the machine to a computer
• Exhaust hose for connecting to the exhaust port at the rear of the machine
• Tool kit and screws for installing the module and accessories
• Sample materials with material identification cards for initial cutting and engraving tests
• User manual and documentation

Included accessories may vary by package. Optional accessories are provided only with packages where they are selected. The rotary module is included in the kit reviewed here.

TOOCAA NOVA supports cutting and engraving on many types of materials. The kit we received for testing included 2.8 mm thick basswood, kraft paper, and blue and golden-yellow aluminum tags, along with material identification cards for each type. We used these to test letter engraving, image engraving, and cutting workpieces. The reviewed machine was fitted with a 20W diode laser module.

Each material requires different speed, laser power, and number of passes, and you must also select the mode that matches the job: Line for line engraving, Fill for area engraving, and Cut for cutting along outlines. Although TOOCAA Studio helps read material identification cards and select starting values, you should still test on scrap material because thickness, color, and surface characteristics affect the result.

Details about the sample materials:

• 2.8 mm thick basswood – Suitable for engraving letters and patterns and cutting into parts for signs, models, or decorations.
• Kraft paper – Suitable for cutting patterns, cards, and prototype packaging. Because it is a thin material, laser power and speed must be controlled appropriately to reduce burn marks and prevent ignition.
• Blue and golden-yellow aluminum tags – Suitable for engraving names, logos, and images. The laser creates patterns by changing or removing the colored surface layer, creating contrast between the pattern and the background. This type of work is surface engraving, not cutting through the aluminum sheet.

From the tested workpieces, we used wood to compare several styles of lettering, as well as pattern engraving and cutting. For the blue aluminum tag, we tested engraving a cat image, which showed that a photograph could be transferred onto a small workpiece. However, sharpness and detail level depend on image preparation, pattern size, focus distance, and engraving settings, so images should be adjusted for appropriate light and shadow contrast.

The 20W laser head of the TOOCAA NOVA has a front ventilation opening. This diode laser head is suitable for cutting and engraving wood, paper, leather, and supported materials, as well as surface engraving of coated metal. It works with the machine’s autofocus system to help adjust the focus distance before starting, making it very easy to use.

Laser head specifications:

• Model – TC-Nova-LM-20W
• Type – Diode laser module
• Laser optical power – 20W
• Main laser wavelength – 455 ± 5 nm
• Power supply – 24V DC, 3.5A
• Positioning laser wavelength – 655 ± 5 nm
• Positioning laser power – 3mW
• Laser module hazard class – Class 4; must be used inside the machine and with the cover closed according to requirements

The power adapter has an output of 24V DC, a maximum current of 7.5A (180W power), and converts 100-240V AC power from the outlet into DC power for the machine.

• Type: AC-to-DC power adapter
• Output voltage: 24V DC
• Maximum output current: 7.5A
• Maximum output power: 180W
• Items shown in the image: adapter with cable to the machine and AC power cable

The TOOCAA NOVA rotary module is an optional accessory for rotating the workpiece during engraving. It is suitable for cylindrical objects such as glasses and tumblers. The front has a three-jaw chuck to hold the workpiece centered, while the rear shows the motor, belt, and pulley that transmit power to the chuck to control rotation in synchronization with laser head movement.

• Chuck type: three-jaw, adjustable for the workpiece
• Drive system: motor transmitting power through belt and pulley
• Connection: signal cable to the rotary port inside the machine
• Setup: use Chuck Mode in TOOCAA Studio and specify the workpiece diameter
• Machine preparation: rotate the X-axis assembly up 90 degrees to increase space for installing and placing the workpiece

Setting up the TOOCAA NOVA laser engraver

Start by installing the TOOCAA NOVA laser head onto the X-axis. Slide the module into the mounting position until it seats properly. The module’s connection system makes it easy to change laser heads without connecting separate power cables to the laser head.

• Laser head in the test kit: 20W diode, model TC-Nova-LM-20W
• Mounting position: carriage on the X-axis
• Connection type: connector at the module mounting position
• Focus system: machine autofocus

The TOOCAA NOVA air assist pump is an external air pump kit that sends air through an air hose to the nozzle at the end of the laser head. The air blown onto the working point helps remove smoke and debris from the cut line, reduces soot buildup, and helps reduce burn marks along the workpiece edges. Results depend on material type, laser power, and speed used.

The Smart Air Assist system automatically adjusts airflow depending on the job, and reduces the need to manually adjust airflow between cutting and engraving jobs.

Technical details:

• Type: air pump kit mounted externally to the machine
• Air path: pump → air hose → machine air inlet → nozzle at the laser head
• Connection: pump power cable and air delivery hose
• Control system: Smart Air Assist automatically adjusts airflow according to the job
• Main function: blows away smoke and debris at the cutting point, helping reduce soot stains and scorching
• Operation with exhaust system: the pump blows air locally, while the exhaust system carries smoke out of the machine

To install it, start by connecting the air hose from the pump to the machine’s air inlet so that air is sent to the nozzle at the end of the laser head. Insert the hose firmly into the connector.

The installation of the exhaust hose is also straightforward and done at the rear of the machine. Ideally, you should route the other end to a suitable external ventilation point to carry smoke and odors from cutting or engraving out of the work area. The hose should be kept as short and straight as possible.

The connection ports and power switch are located on the rear panel: a DC jack, a USB-C port for connecting to a computer, an air assist inlet, and a power output for accessories.

TOOCAA NOVA laser engraver also features a “Tool Box” inside the machine for storing small accessories used for installation and maintenance, such as hex wrenches and screws, making them easy to access when installing the laser head or adjusting accessories.

Getting Started with the TOOCAA NOVA laser engraver

After turning on the TOOCAA NOVA laser engraver, the touchscreen displays three operating modes to choose from:

• Offline Mode — Operate the machine directly. Select a prepared job file and run it from the touchscreen without connecting a computer. Suitable for reproducing existing jobs.
• USB Mode — Connect via USB cable: connect the machine to a computer to send jobs from the software. Suitable for use without relying on a Wi-Fi network.
• Wi-Fi Mode — Connect via wireless network: send jobs from a computer over the same network, reducing cabling and making machine placement more convenient.

From the touchscreen home screen, users can enter the Settings menu to manage connections and configure the machine.

The main sections within the Settings page include:

• WiFi: configure wireless network connections
• Equipment: access information and settings related to the machine
• Local File: manage job files stored inside the machine
• Language: select the language displayed on the screen
• Wiki: access manual and usage guidance information

The Wi-Fi page has a switch to turn the connection on and off, and displays detected networks. The connected network is marked with a checkmark and is assigned an IP address such as 192.168.x.xxx, which can be used to connect through the TOOCAA Studio software.

Child Lock and Factory Reset  are additional settings accessible when scrolling down in the menu

TOOCAA Studio is the software for designing, placing patterns, and controlling TOOCAA NOVA cutting and engraving. You don’t need to install anything on your computer, since it’s a web-based solution. Google Chrome is recommended.

The workspace is divided into a toolbar on the left for creating text, shapes, and importing files, a central area for arranging designs, and a top bar for adjusting position, size, and alignment. The right side is used to select materials, manage layers, and configure settings such as Line, Fill, and Cut, as well as speed and laser power.

The main steps to get started are as follows:

• Open the TOOCAA Studio website
• Click the device selection area in the upper-right corner and select TOOCAA NOVA
• Connect via USB or Wi-Fi to match the mode selected on the machine screen. We tested the machine over Wi-Fi.
• Import files such as SVG, DXF, JPG, or PNG, or create text and shapes in the program, then configure the settings depending on the material used
• Check the position using the camera image and the Frame command, and adjust focus before starting to cut or engrave

Start connecting the machine by clicking the device selection area in the upper-right corner of TOOCAA Studio. The program displays a “Select your device” window. Select TOOCAA NOVA and click Confirm to enter connection setup.

When the connection succeeds, the program displays a “Got your device” window with the list of detected devices. For our test kit, the program recognized both the 20W laser head and rotary module. Then click Confirm to enter the workspace.

You can also choose to add a device via IP Address by entering the number shown on the machine’s Wi-Fi settings page. In this test, we entered 192.168.2.133 and clicked Connect. It only works on the same LAN.

Another method is to select the Wi-Fi tab in the Connect Device window and choose the machine from the list discovered by the program. In the image, the name TOOCAA NOVA-269 appears along with an IP address that matches the one shown on the machine screen. After selecting the device and clicking Confirm, you can continue without having to enter the IP manually each time.

After the machine is connected, calibration of the camera needs to be performed so that the image position on the screen matches the actual work area. Prepare a clean A4 or 297 × 210 mm sheet of Kraft paper with no patterns, and place it flat in the machine.

Once the paper is prepared and placed as instructed, the program prompts you to close the cover and check the boundaries with the Frame command. After confirming that the frame aligns with the material edges, click Start to begin calibration, keeping the cover closed throughout the process, including while the machine adjusts focus automatically.

When the calibration process begins, the program shows the status “Processing Mark point”. The machine uses the laser head to create reference marks on the paper for checking the relationship between actual positions and the camera image. During this time, keep the machine steady and do not move the paper.

The program then changes to the status “Focusing Mark point”, indicating that the mark creation step is complete and it has entered the focus adjustment phase for the reference marks. Wait for the system to finish until it confirms that the process is complete. This completes the calibration process.

Note from Camera Calibration Testing: During actual use, we found that camera calibration of the TOOCAA NOVA laser engraver did not always succeed on the first attempt. Several times the process could not complete because the system could not detect the reference marks or the marks created on the material, meaning we had to restart the calibration procedure and spend more time preparing the machine than expected.

Although the program has an instructional screen and shows progress for each step, the fact that the machine creates marks on the material does not mean the system will successfully detect those marks every time. For users who are just starting out, this issue may make them unsure about what to adjust or which step to go back to, especially when they have followed the sequence in the program but the process still cannot finish normally. This is a point where the setup process can stall and reduce the appeal of a system intended to help reduce manual configuration.

However, from this test, we cannot clearly conclude whether the cause is mark visibility, lighting conditions, the material used, or the operation of the software and firmware, so it should not be stated as a camera defect alone. What can be confirmed is that we encountered failed mark detection several times and had to repeat Camera Calibration. Those who want to use camera images to help place workpieces should allow extra time for this step and check that the image position matches the actual workpiece before starting, especially for jobs that require precise alignment of patterns to small areas or workpiece edges.

The camera can read the QR Code on material cards to help select the material type in TOOCAA Studio. Place the card in an area visible to the camera and let the system read the data. In this test, the program detected card code 001 — Basswood, 2.8 mm thick and displayed the material name and details for checking before pressing OK to confirm. This reduces the need to search for materials manually from a list and makes it easier to recall starting settings for preparing cutting or engraving jobs.

We started testing by creating the text “CNX Software” in TOOCAA Studio and separating the text into layers to compare the operation of Line, Fill, and Cut modes on the same wood sheet. Line makes the laser head trace the letter outlines, Fill engraves the area inside the letters, and Cut cuts along the outlines through the material. Separating layers allows speed and laser power to be set independently for each mode.

TOOCAA NOVA engraving and cutting tests

Basswood

For this test, we selected 2.8 mm thick basswood. The speed and power values were selected

• Line: Speed 3,000 mm/min, laser power 30%
• Fill: Speed 16,000 mm/min, laser power 100%
• Cut: Speed 500 mm/min, laser power 100%

The Fill mode uses high speed to engrave the area inside the letters, while Cut mode greatly reduces speed so that the laser delivers energy along the cut line for longer.

In the actual workpiece image, the top row of text has thin outlines, a relatively light color, and wood grain is still clearly visible inside the letters, showing the characteristics of Line work. The fill-engraved text is much darker, with dark brown to almost black burn marks in the letter areas, making the text stand out and easier to read, although some burn stains are also visible around the edges.

For the bottom row of text, the cut lines and letter edges are clearly dark, with shadows along the edges that make the letters appear separated from the wood surface. Note that the user cannot confirm that every part of the letters was cut through and can be lifted out completely, so he/she should check the workpiece before removing it completely from the work areas

Overall, the test image clearly shows the differences between line work, fill engraving, and cutting in terms of darkness and edge appearance. Some burns can still be seen on the cut-out letters despite the air assist.

Sky Blue Aluminum Tag

In TOOCAA Studio, we selected the material Sky Blue Aluminum and Fill mode with 16,000 mm/min speed, 80% laser power

Kraft Paper

We used a track map pattern to test the TOOCAA NOVA laser engraver with a design containing curves, tight corners, and continuous detail. The design was prepared in TOOCAA Studio, with the areas to be engraved separated from the cutting paths so that the parameters could be configured appropriately for each section.

As shown in the photos of the finished piece, the machine was able to reproduce the track shape and create cut lines along the curves. The laser-cut edges are darker than the surface, making the pattern clearly visible. This type of work helps demonstrate the ability to move the laser head along paths more complex than basic shapes.

Settings for Kraft paper:

• Line: Speed 2,800 mm/min, laser power 20%
• Fill: Speed 34,000 mm/min, laser power 40%
• Cut: Speed 1,000 mm/min, laser power 40%

These values show that line work, area engraving, and cutting use different energy per area, with Fill mode using high speed while Cut mode reduces speed so the laser acts along the cut line for longer. For Kraft paper, test on small pieces first because thickness and surface characteristics affect burn marks and cut-through.

Testing the TOOCAA NOVA laser engraver with the rotary module

Preparing the machine for tumbler engraving starts by turning off the machine and disconnecting the power. Then loosen the red locks at both ends of the X-axis, rotate the assembly by 90 degrees, and lock it back firmly. This design changes the laser head direction to suit engraving workpieces held in the rotary unit and increases space inside the machine for placing a tumbler.

We’ll also need to remove cutting bed panels to make space for the rotary module and the tumbler. Do so carefully and clear any debris from previous jobs so it does not obstruct the rotary unit base or workpiece rotation.

We can now place the rotary unit inside the machine and connect the cable to the machine. Insert the connector firmly and route the cable away from the belt, chuck, and the area where the tumbler will rotate. This connection allows the machine to control the rotary unit motor in synchronization with laser head movement.

Next, align the rotary module base with the mounting position and tighten the mounting screws to prevent the base from moving during operation. Stability of the rotary unit affects pattern continuity, because if the base or workpiece moves, the engraving lines may become misaligned or misplaced.

For testing, we secured a white-coated tumbler to the three-jaw chuck, aligning the tumbler axis with the rotary axis and checking that it was held securely, while leaving space for the tumbler and any protruding parts to rotate without hitting internal components.

After installing the rotary module, we tested engraving a pattern onto a coated tumbler. The rotary unit rotated the tumbler in synchronization with laser head movement to create a pattern on the curved surface. The laser removed the coating layer to reveal the underlying metal surface, creating a pattern that contrasts clearly with the tumbler’s base color, including circular lines and internal details, while the tumbler remained held in the chuck during inspection.

This test shows that TOOCAA NOVA can extend from work on flat materials to decorating cylindrical workpieces, suitable for making tumblers engraved with names, logos, or personalized gifts. However, the tumbler should be held perfectly centered.

TOOCA NOVA video review

Conclusion

During our review of the TOOCAA NOVA, we liked the convenience of connecting via Wi-Fi, which means no USB cable between the computer and the machine is needed, and TOOCAA Studio can be opened through a web browser without installing software. Users can prepare designs, configure jobs, and send work from anywhere within the house, office, or workshop, suitable for workspaces where you do not want a computer placed next to the laser machine at all times.

The machine’s highlights include a camera for helping position workpieces, the autofocus system, and material card reading. The laser engraving machine can also be used for flat material work to tumbler engraving with the rotary module. However, we struggled with calibration several times during testing because the system could not detect the marks.

Overall, TOOCAA NOVA is suitable for laser beginners, hobbyists, designers, and small shops that need to produce signs, decorations, or personalized gifts. The machine has an A4 work area and a closed cover, is convenient to place on a desk, and supports both cutting and engraving with the 20W laser head. For us, the appeal of this model is that it makes the workflow easier to access, from preparing designs to sending jobs.

We would like to thank TOOCAA for sending the TOOCAA NOVA laser engraver with the 20W laser module and accessories for testing. The TOOCAA NOVA 20W Creator Bundle (machine, 20W laser head, cutting bed panel, air assist, and rotary module) can be ordered for $1,299.90 on the TOOCAA store or $1399.99 on Amazon. Other packages with different accessories are also available.

CNXSoft: This article is a translation – with some edits – of the original review on CNX Software Thailand by Kajornsak Janjam, edited by Suthinee Kerdkaew.

The post TOOCAA NOVA Review – 20W laser engraver with AI camera, autofocus, and rotary module appeared first on CNX Software - Embedded Systems News.

A few weeks ago, we noted that the Brainchip AKD1500 M.2 module could work with the Raspberry Pi 5 using a compatible M.2 HAT+ expansion card to evaluate the solution or develop applications using the company’s low-power, low-latency neuromorphic AI technology.

To make things even easier, they’ve now introduced the AKD1500 Raspberry Pi 5 Dev Kit that packs a Raspberry Pi 5 8GB, an official M.2 HAT+, and an Akida AKD1500 M.2 B+M-Key card into a metal case.

Most ports from the Raspberry Pi 5 are exposed, namely the Gigabit Ethernet port, the four USB connectors, the two HDMI video outputs,  and the USB-C port for power. The Raspberry Pi 5 power button and an LED on the M.2 HAT+ are also visible through openings in the metal case. The kit requires a camera for operation, but instead of relying on a MIPI CSI-based Raspberry Pi Camera module, users are asked to connect a USB camera.

The kit also ships with a 32GB SD card preinstalled with Ubuntu Server 20.04 LTS (TBC), Python 3.7, and the MetaTF Development Environment. Users just need to connect a USB camera and the Raspberry Pi 5 to their local network over Ethernet or WiFi. You can then type the IP address (e.g., 10.42.0.1 over WiFi) of the development kit in a web browser to access the Akikda Demo Dev Kit launcher for the Visual Wake-Word (VWW) person presence demo, object detection demo (YOLO), edge demo (MobileNet), and Face demo (MobileNet). Everything runs locally on the device without cloud needed.

Once you are done with the demos, you can work on your own custom models with the MetaTF ML Framework. The company also mentions Edge Impulse support, but it’s only mentioned in the product brief, not the user manual. Other features include on-chip training, where models can learn new classes directly on the device without cloud retraining.

It looks good until we look at the price: $1,295. I understand it’s a development kit and not cost-optimized, but you could reproduce something similar with a Raspberry Pi 5 8GB ($175 MSRP), an M.2 HAT+ ($12), the Akida AKD1500 M.2 card ($129), a metal case like Geekworm P579 ($10.99), and a 32GB class A1/A2 microSD card ($10-$20). That’s about $350 plus taxes and shipping for the hardware, and you’ll probably need two hours for hardware assembly and software installation. If you make more than ~$400 per hour, then buying the kit may make sense…

Additional information may be found in the press release.

Thanks to TLS for the tip.

The post Brainchip AKD1500 Raspberry Pi 5 Dev Kit enables users to quickly experiment with event-based neuromorphic AI appeared first on CNX Software - Embedded Systems News.

BIOSTAR EdgeComp MS-U320 is a fanless industrial mini PC powered by an Intel Core 3 304 or Core 5 320 Wildcat Lake SoC with four COM ports, dual 2.5GbE, and 4G/5G cellular connectivity expansion.

The mini PC supports up to 64GB DDR5, M.2 NVMe SSD storage, features 4K-capable HDMI 2.1 and DisplayPort 1.4 connectors, earphone and microphone jacks, and six USB ports. It supports a wide 9-24V DC input and can operate in the -20°C to +50°C temperature range for industrial automation, smart manufacturing, industrial IoT, smart retail, and smart infrastructure.

BIOSTAR EdgeComp MS-U320 specifications:

• Wildcat Lake SoC
  • Intel Core 3 304
    • 5-core CPU – 1x P-cores @ 1.5/4.3 GHz (Turbo) + 4x LPE-cores @ 1.4/3.3 GHz (Turbo)
    • GPU – 1-core Intel Xe3 Graphics @ 2.3 GHz (9 TOPS)
    • NPU – 15 TOPS
  • Intel Core 5 320
    • 6-core CPU – 2x P-cores @ 1.5/4.6 GHz (Turbo) + 4x LPE-cores @ 1.4/3.4 GHz (Turbo)
    • GPU – 2-core Intel Xe3 Graphics @ 2.5 GHz (20 TOPS)
    • NPU – 16 TOPS
• Memory – Up to 64GB single-channel DDR5-6400 via 1x 262-pin SO-DIMM socket
• Storage – M.2 Key M 2242/2280 (PCIe Gen4 x2) for NVMe SSD
• Display
  • HDMI 2.1 up to 3840×2160 @ 60Hz
  • DisplayPort 1.4 up to 4096×2160 @ 60Hz
  • Support for up to two independent displays
• Audio
  • ALC897 audio codec with ALC105 amplifier
  • 3.5mm earphone jack
  • 3.5mm microphone jack
• Networking
  • 2.5GbE RJ45 port via Intel I226-V controller
  • 2.5GbE RJ45 port via Intel I226-LM controller
  • Optional WiFi and Bluetooth via  M.2 Key-E 2230 socket (PCIe Gen4 x1 + USB 2.0) socket
  • Optional 4G LTE/5G cellular connectivity via  M.2 Key-B 3042/3052 socket (PCIe Gen4 x1 + USB 3.2) and SIM card slot
• USB
  • 2x USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-A ports
  • 4x USB 2.0 Type-A ports
• Serial
  • 2x RS232 (COM1,COM2) DB9 connectors
    2x RS232/422/485 (COM3,COM4) DB9 connectors
• Misc
  • Power button
  • Power and HDD LEDs
  • Mounting: optional DIN rail, wall mount, or VESA mount
• Power Supply
  • 9-24V DC via lockable DC jack
  • 12V/7.5A (90W) adapter provided
• Dimensions – 167 x 135 x 60 mm
• Weight – 1.2 kg
• Temperature Range – -20°C to +50°C
• Humidity – 5% to 90%

Based on the specifications and port layout, the EdgeComp MS-U320 industrial mini PC is almost certainly based on the BIOSTAR BIWCL-PAT 3.5-inch SBC we covered last month. OS support includes Windows 11 64-bit, Ubuntu 24.04 Linux, and Windows 11 IoT Enterprise 24H2.

Other fanless Wildcat Lake industrial mini PCs include the Avalue EPC-WCL and Arbor ARES-2100, but if your application requires three or four COM RS232 and RS232/RS422/RS485 ports, the EdgeComp MS-U320 works out of the box without additional USB-to-serial bridges.

As a side note, while we initially considered the Wildcat Lake family to be the successor of Alder Lake-N/Twin Lake families, performance is much better due to Performance core(s) and upgraded graphics, but the price is not quite as competitive. A recent leak by Jaykihn reveals a 6W Moon Lake family that should be closer to Alder Lake-N/Twin Lake pricing, at the cost of losing performance cores and keeping only low-power efficiency (LPE) cores.

Back to the main topic. BIOSTAR has not announced pricing for the EdgeComp MS-U320. Additional information may be found on the product page and in the press release.

Thanks to TLS for the tip.

The post BIOSTAR EdgeComp MS-U320 fanless Wildcat Lake industrial mini PC offers four COM ports, dual 2.5GbE, 4G/5G expansion appeared first on CNX Software - Embedded Systems News.

Waveshare UNO-Q-DSI-TOUCH-10.1A is a 10.1-inch touchscreen display designed for the Arduino UNO Q single board computer.

The Arduino UNO Q exposes its MIPI DSI interface through the 60-pin JMEDIA and JMISC headers, and for all practical purposes, you normally need a board like the Arduino UNO Media Carrier to make use of it. The UNO-Q-DSI-TOUCH-10.1A display solves that by integrating the headers so users can simply insert the Arduino UNO Q into it without an additional adapter board or special wiring.

Waveshare UNO-Q-DSI-TOUCH-10.1A specifications:

• Screen Size – 10.1-inch
• Panel type – IPS panel
• Native Resolution – 1280 x 800
• Refresh Rate – 60 Hz
• Colors – 16.7 millions
• Viewing Angle – 178°
• Brightness – 300 cd/m²
• Contrast Ratio – 800:1
• Response Time – 35 ms
• Multi-touch support
  • Capacitive multi-touch (we’re told the actual number of touch points  somehow depends on the software system)
  • Interface I2C
  • Tempered glass, optical bonding
• Camera support – 22-pin CAMERA0 and CAMERA1 MIPI CSI connectors supporting IMX219 camera modules only.
• Audio
  • Built-in stereo speakers
  • 2x 3.5 mm audio jacks (one audio out+mic, one audio output only)
• Host Interface – Arduino UNO Q’s JMEDIA and JMISC board-to-board connectors
• Misc
  • RGB LED
  • Metal backplate
• Power Supply
  • 5V/3A via USB-C port on UNO Q
  • 5V auxiliary power via USB-C on carrier board
• Dimensions – 239 x 147 x 19.11 mm (thickness excludes Arduino UNO Q)

Connecting the Arduino UNO Q to the display should be straightforward, and users just need to be attention to the board’s orientation and proper alignment with the JMEDIA and JMISC connectors.

Besides the integrated touchscreen display itself, the UNO-Q-DSI-TOUCH-10.1A also exposes two MIPI CSI camera connectors, two speakers, two audio jacks, and one RGB LED. Installation instructions, software configuration (e.g., the need to enable carrier board support in Arduino App Lab), and tips and tricks for all features are provided on the documentation website.

While the official Arduino Media UNO carrier works with both the Arduino UNO Q and VENTUNO Q (whose price has recently been increased to $399), the Waveshare UNO-Q-DSI-TOUCH-10.1A only works with the UNO Q, and the company explicitly says the VENTUNO Q is not supported.

Waveshare sells the UNO-Q-DSI-TOUCH-10.1A for $80.09 on AliExpress and $69.99 on its own store. If you don’t already own an Arduino UNO Q board, bundles are offered with the 2GB/16GB or 4GB/32GB variant of the SBC for $120 and up. The new touchscreen display kit may eventually also show up on the company’s Amazon store.

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Azume, a Munich-based startup, has designed the Azume One, a compact health tracker that attaches to the back of a regular wristwatch to track heart rate, sleep, stress, and daily activity without needing an additional smartwatch.

The device measures 30mm in diameter, is 2.8mm thick, and weighs 5 grams. It features an optical PPG sensor and a motion sensor to track health and activity data, which it sends to an Android or iOS smartphone over Bluetooth 5.4. Other highlights include up to 48 hours of battery life, a removable nano-suction mounting system, and an included wristband for sleep tracking without wearing a watch.

Azume One specifications:

• MCU / SoC – Not specified (Potentially Nordic Semi nRF52-based)
•  Sensors
  • Optical PPG sensor for heart rate and blood oxygen monitoring
  • Motion sensor for activity and workout tracking
  • Skin temperature monitoring
• Connectivity – Bluetooth 5.4
• Misc
  • No display, vibrations, or notifications
  • No subscription required
  • Water-resistant (not suitable for swimming)
• Power
  • Up to 48 hours of battery life (Capacity not mentioned)
  • Approximately 30 minutes charging time
  • Charging station with USB-C cable
  • Mounting – Removable nano-suction attachment, compatible with most wristwatches with a suitable flat caseback
• Dimensions – 30mm diameter × 2.8mm thickness
• Weight – 5 grams
• Certification – CE and FCC certification are ongoing

The device uses a nano-suction surface made of microscopic suction cells to attach to the watch caseback without glue or magnets, so you can remove the module and transfer it between compatible watches without leaving any residue. For sleeping or workouts without a watch, you can also move the sensor into the included FitBand, a soft nylon wristband that holds the module against the skin.

The Azume One tracks heart rate, HRV, blood oxygen levels, respiratory rate, skin temperature, stress, and recovery. It also monitors sleep stages, sleep duration, and sleep quality, along with daily activities such as steps, distance, calories burned, and workouts. The company says it can automatically detect more than 28 workout types, including running, cycling, strength training, yoga, and tennis.

The Azume app displays health and activity data, including heart rate trends, sleep stages, workout information, and daily stress levels. It also provides Recovery, Sleep, and Stress scores based on the collected data. According to the company, the app learns the user’s baseline over the first two weeks and uses it to provide personalized insights. Other features include an Azume Age wellness score, step and calorie goals, activity streaks, and social challenges with friends.

The app is available on the Google Play Store and Apple App Store. Azume says health data is stored on servers in Ireland, encrypted in transit and at rest, and protected under GDPR. You can export or delete your data, while Apple Health integration is optional. The company also plans to provide firmware and app updates without requiring a subscription.

The closest competing solution we’ve seen in the past is the Kairos T-Band smartwatch band designed to add fitness tracking, sleep monitoring, and notifications to existing mechanical watches. The main difference is that the electronics reside in the band instead of under the watch.

The Azume One is available on Kickstarter for €109 (around $122). A limited Founders Edition is also available for €179 (around $199) with additional accessories and early access to new features. Deliveries are estimated for December 2026, although readers should note that CE and FCC certification testing is still underway, so production or shipping could be delayed if hardware changes are required. The company also has not disclosed the MCU, battery capacity, or exact sensor models used in the device. More information is also available on the product page.

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Just last week we wrote about the GL.iNet Mango 2 (GL-MG1300), a low-cost mini travel router built around a MediaTek MT7621A dual-core MIPS SoC. Now, Banana Pi has introduced another MIPS router: the BPI-RT2 router board built around a Realtek RTL8198D dual-core MIPS SoC.

The BPI-RT2 ships with 256MB DDR3 RAM, 128MB SPI-NAND flash, four Gigabit Ethernet ports (one WAN and three LAN), and a USB 3.0 port. It also supports dual-band WiFi 6 with 2×2 MIMO on both the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands. The board measures 97 × 65mm and is designed for home networking, wireless access points, and small business routers.

Banana Pi BPI-RT2 specifications:

• SoC – Realtek RTL8198D
  • Dual-core MIPS interAptiv processor
  • Integrated Gigabit Ethernet switching hardware
  • Memory – 256MB DDR3 RAM
• Storage – 128MB SPI-NAND flash
• Networking
  • 1x Gigabit Ethernet WAN port
  • 3x Gigabit Ethernet LAN ports
  • Dual-band WiFi 6 (802.11ax), AX3000
    • 2.4 GHz – Realtek RTL8892XBR with 2×2 MIMO
    • 5 GHz – Realtek RTL8832D with 2×2 MIMO
    • MU-MIMO support
  • 4x antenna connectors
• USB – USB 3.0 Type-A port
• Expansion – 5-pin and 9-pin headers with GPIO and I²C signals
• Debugging – UART debug interface
• Misc
  • Reset and Boot buttons
  • WPS key
  • Power, WAN, and LAN LEDs
• Power Supply – 12V DC via barrel jack
• Dimensions – 97 × 65mm
• Weight – 250 grams

On the software side, Banana Pi provides an OpenWrt 22.03-based firmware image with source code available on GitHub. Banana Pi also releases a getting started guide showing how to perform firmware updates through the web interface or TFTP, and configure WiFi and GPIO pin assignments. Schematics and DXF design files are available through the documentation page. The firmware is based on Banana Pi’s Realtek BSP rather than an official upstream OpenWrt release. One thing to note is that the underlying OpenWrt 22.03 branch reached end-of-life back in July 2024.

We first heard about the RTL8198D in 2023, when it was listed in Realtek’s WiFi 7 and WiFi 6 router roadmap. Interestingly, that roadmap showed that the RTL8198D was available as either a dual- or triple-core processor.

The BPI-RT2 is not the first low-cost Banana Pi router, and others include the BPI-WiFi5 router, powered by the Siflower SF19A28 dual-core MIPS SoC, and the BPI-WiFi6 router built around the Triductor dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 processor. The BPI-RT2 uses a Realtek SoC while retaining the same 97 × 65mm board size as the BPI-WiFi5 and adding WiFi 6 and USB 3.0.

The Banana Pi BPI-RT2 router board is available on AliExpress for $25.20 plus shipping and on the official Banana Pi store for $26. More information can be found on the product page.

The post $26 Banana Pi BPI-RT2 WiFi 6 router board features Realtek RTL8198D dual-core MIPS SoC appeared first on CNX Software - Embedded Systems News.

The LattePanda Sigma 2 is a compact single board server/computer powered by an Intel Core Ultra X7 358H Panther Lake-H processor with Intel Arc B390 graphics and a 50 TOPS NPU delivering up to 180 TOPS of combined performance for local AI workloads.

The board features up to 64GB of LPDDR5X-8533 RAM, three M.2 M-Key slots, one M.2 E-Key slot, and an OCuLink port for storage, wireless, and accelerator expansion, as well as two Thunderbolt 4 ports, dual 10GbE, USB 3.2 Gen 2 and USB 2.0 ports, and HDMI 2.1, DisplayPort 2.1, and eDP 1.5 display interfaces.

Key Specifications

• SoC – Intel Core Ultra X7 Processor 358H
  • CPU – 16-core (4P + 8E + 4LPE) @ 1.9/1.5/1.5 GHz (base frequency), 4.8/3.5/3.5 GHz (Turbo frequency)
  • Cache – 18 MB Intel Smart Cache
  • GPU – 12-core Intel Arc B390 GPU @ 2.5 GHz up to 122 TOPS (INT8)
  • AI accelerator – 50 TOPS NPU; CPU + GPU + NPU combined: 180 TOPS
  • Processor Base Power (PBP) – 25 Watts
• System Memory – 64GB LPDDR5X-8533 RAM; 136.5 GB/s bandwidth
• Storage
  • 1TB NVMe pre-installed
  • Additional storage devices can be added through M.2 sockets or the OCuLink connector
• Display Interfaces
  • HDMI 2.1 up to 4096 x 2304 @ 60Hz
  • DP 2.1 via USB Type-C up to 7680 x 4320 @ 60Hz
  • eDP 1.5 connector up to 3840 x 2400 @ 120Hz
• Audio
  • 3.5mm microphone and headphone combo jack
  • Digital audio output via HDMI or DP
• Networking
  • 2x 10GbE RJ45 ports via Realtek RTL8127 controllers
  • Optional WiFi and Bluetooth via M.2 Key-E module
• USB/Thunderbolt
  • 2× Thunderbolt 4 (40 Gbps) Type-C ports
  • 2× USB 3.2 Gen 2 (10 Gbps) and 2× USB 2.0 ports
• Expansion
  • 3x M.2 M-Key sockets (PCIe 4.0 x1, PCIe 4.0 x4, PCIe 5.0 x2)
  • M.2 E-Key socket (PCIe 4.0 x1, CNVio3, USB2.0)
  • OCuLink PCIe 4.0 x2
  • 30+4-pin GPIO header for hard control
• Misc – Raspberry Pi RP2350 co-processor for GPIO header control
• Power Supply
  • 20V via USB Type-C (USB PD) port
  • 15~20V DC via 5.5 x 2.5mm power jack
• Dimensions – 146 × 102 mm

The company says the board supports Windows 11 or Ubuntu 24.04 LTS or later. However, the documentation reports Ubuntu 26.04 is pre-installed on the 1TB SSD with all drivers, OVMS (OpenVINO Model Server) serving the local AI model (Qwen3.6-35B-A3B INT4) through an OpenAI-compatible API on port 8080, and OpenClaw accessible on a browser dashboard on port 18789. LattePanda explains that up to 59GB of VRAM can be allocated for AI workloads, providing enough room for 35B-class quantized MoE models and the KV cache required by long-context AI agents, and the Qwen3.6-35B-A3B model runs locally at around 30 tokens per second.

The Raspberry Pi RP2350 microcontroller further enables the Sigma 2 board, and by extension AI agents, to interact with sensors and actuators. The microcontroller runs MicroPython firmware by default, but you can also switch to Arduino programming if you prefer. The aforementioned documentation provides more technical details and instructions to work from a low level (GPIOs/BIOS) up to AI agents and models.

We covered a few other Intel Core Ultra X7 Processor 358H platforms in the past, like the UP Xtreme PTL Edge AI mini PC, ADLINK COM-HPC-mPTL COM-HPC Mini computer-on-module, and ASRock Industrial NUC(S) Ultra 300 BOX Series. These are complete systems or modules that target industrial and B2B customers, and the LattePanda Sigma 2 is offered in a compact SBC form factor and is available to anybody.

That is, if you have enough funds to cover the purchase, since it’s not exactly cheap. The LattePanda Sigma 2 is currently up for pre-order for $2,599 in its 1TB SSD/64GB RAM configuration until mid-November. After that, the price will be $2,799.

The post $2600 LattePanda Sigma 2 single board server features 180 TOPS Intel Core Ultra X7 358H SoC for local AI applications appeared first on CNX Software - Embedded Systems News.

BeagleBoard.org has introduced the BeagleConnect QuadESC, an open-source 4-channel BLDC motor controller/carrier board built around the BeagleConnect Torque SoM. The SoM features TI’s 200 MHz AM13E23019 Arm Cortex-M33 microcontroller with a trigonometric math unit (TMU) and a TinyEngine neural-network accelerator for edge AI applications.

The QuadESC carrier board supports four three-phase BLDC motor outputs, twelve current and twelve voltage sensing channels, four temperature sensors, and battery voltage monitoring. It also includes an eight-pin flight controller connector with DShot, telemetry, and current reporting signals, along with SWD debugging, a buzzer connector, and onboard power regulation.

BeagleConnect Torque SoM

The Torque SoM can also be integrated with custom carrier boards for robotics, motor control, and CAN-connected applications. It provides the processing, sensing, and communication interfaces, while external hardware supplies the motor power.

Specifications:

• Main MCU– Texas Instruments AM13E23019
  • CPU core – Arm Cortex-M33 MCU @ 200 MHz with FPU
  • Memory – 128KB SRAM
  • Storage – 512KB flash
  • Other features – TMU, TinyEngine AI accelerator, 3x 12-bit ADCs, and motor-control PWM.
• Connectivity
  • CAN FD with onboard TI TCAN844 transceiver
  • 4-pin JST-GH CAN/power connector with software-selectable 120Ω termination
  • UART, SPI, and I²C interfaces
• Expansion
  • 100-pad underside LGA interface with 1.27 mm pitch (on the back side)
  • 2x 12-pin expansion rows exposing UART, SPI, analog, PWM, and control signals
  • 30 assigned analog-input routes through the carrier interface
  • Qwiic connector for 3.3V I²C sensors and accessories
• Debugging – 8-pin connector for SWD, UART, reset, boot selection, ground, and debug power
• Security – Hardware support for secure boot, secure debug, secure firmware updates, and cryptographic acceleration
• Power – Regulated 5V carrier input, onboard 3.3V regulation, and separate 3.3V debug-power support
• Dimensions – 25.4 x 38.1 mm (four-layer, 1.6 mm PCB)

The module requires a separate analog reference (VAA) for ADC measurements and a 5V supply for CAN communication. It must also receive regulated carrier power, not raw battery voltage.

BeagleConnect QuadESC Carrier Board

Designed for robotics, drones, and other multi-motor applications, the QuadESC measures 60 x 48 mm and supports 3S to 6S batteries. It uses separate PWM control for each motor and synchronized current measurements for field-oriented control (FOC).

Specifications:

• Controller – BeagleConnect Torque SoM as mentioned above
• Motor control
  • 4x Texas Instruments DRV8323SRTAR three-phase gate drivers with SPI configuration, current-sense amplifiers, and fault reporting
  • 12x TI CSD88599Q5DC half-bridge devices (three per motor)
  • 4x independent three-phase BLDC motor channels
  • Dedicated motor-control PWM module for each channel
  • Current design targets – 40A continuous and 70A burst per motor (subject to thermal validation)
• Sensing
  • 12x low-side phase-current measurements (three per motor)
  • 12x phase-voltage measurements
  • 4x NTC temperature sensors near the power stages
  • Three 12-bit ADCs through the Torque module for synchronized phase-current measurements
• Connectivity
  • CAN-FD through the BeagleConnect Torque module
  • 8-pin flight-controller interface with four DShot signal routes, telemetry, current reporting, battery voltage, and ground
  • 4x three-phase motor connections (J2–J5) and dedicated battery solder terminals (J1)
• Debug – 10-pin ARM/JTAG debug header with SWD access
• Misc – 2-pin buzzer interface
• Power
  • 32V design maximum, not recommended as an operating supply
  • 3S–6S battery input (9–25.2V)
  • TI TPS54360B buck regulator for controller power
  • TI TPS7A4701 analog regulator
  • Battery-voltage monitoring
• Dimensions – 60 x 48 mm PCB

The board can also monitor motor current, phase voltage, battery voltage, and temperature. The four DRV8323 gate drivers share the enable signals, while each driver has its own SPI chip-select and fault output. BeagleBoard.org lists 40A continuous and 70A burst current targets, but these are not verified operating ratings, and it does not specify a burst duration. Actual current capability depends on cooling, ambient temperature, and load duration.

Software support includes Texas Instruments’ ROM bootstrap loader (BSL), which allows developers to load firmware through CAN, I²C, or UART. TI also offers its AM13E2X SDK with drivers, examples, SysConfig, and FOC development tools for the MCU. The module can also be programmed and debugged through SWD using TI’s XDS110 debugger and Code Composer Studio. Zephyr RTOS and OpenOCD support is also planned, but check board-level compatibility before use.

The QuadESC does not ship with ready-to-use motor-control firmware. You need to provide the code for motor control, gate-driver setup, current sensing, and fault handling. Functions such as FOC, DShot decoding, telemetry, and AI-based fault detection depend on the firmware. BeagleBoard.org provides KiCad hardware designs, firmware sources, and documentation covering both boards on GitHub.

The company has not yet announced pricing and availability for QuadESC and Torque. More information is available on the product page and the Embed Consult website.

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LILYGO T-Display K230 is a handheld dev kit based on Canaan’s Kendryte K230 dual-core 64-bit RISC-V processor. The kit features a 4.1-inch AMOLED touchscreen and supports an optional detachable keyboard with battery and optional nRF9151 cellular and GNSS connectivity.

The device also comes with 1GB LPDDR4 RAM, a 2MP camera, HDMI output, Ethernet, WiFi 4, and either an SX1262 or LR2021 LoRa transceiver. These features make this kit suitable for remote monitoring, wireless communication, and other embedded applications.

LILYGO T-Display K230 Kit specifications:

• SoC – Kendryte K230
  • CPU
    • 64-bit RISC-V processor @ 1.6GHz with RISC-V Vector Extension 1.0, FPU
    • 64-bit RISC-V processor @ 800MHz with support for RV64GCB instruction set;
  • AI accelerator
    • KPU with support for INT8 and INT16
    • Compatible with TVM, TensorFlow, PyTorch, ONNX
    • Typical network performance: Resnet 50 ≥ 85fps @ INT8; Mobilenet_v2 ≥ 670fps @ INT8; YoloV5S ≥ 38fps @INT8;
  • GPU – 2.5D graphics engine
  • DPU – 3D depth processing engine
  • VPU – Hardware H.264/H.265 video encoding and decoding
• Memory – 1GB LPDDR4 RAM
• Storage – MicroSD card slot for firmware and data storage
• Display – 4.1-inch 568 × 1232 AMOLED display with RM69A10 driver GT9895 touch controller and MIPI DSI interface
• Video Output – HDMI port supporting up to 1080p30
• Camera – 2MP GC2093 camera supporting 1080p resolution
  • Rotatable camera module for front-facing use
  • Up to three MIPI CSI camera interfaces on the uncased board
• Audio
  • Built-in microphone and speaker
  • MAX98357A I2S audio amplifier
  • 3.5mm headphone jack
• Networking
  • Wireless Connectivity
    • WiFi 4 – RTL8189, 802.11b/g/n, 2.4GHz
    • Bluetooth LE – nRF52840 on the supported expansion board
    • LoRa – Semtech transceiver on the main unit (depending on configuration)
      • Semtech SX1262 – 868/915/923 MHz
      • Semtech LR2021 – 830–940 MHz
    • Cellular – LTE-M and NB-IoT via optional nRF9151-equipped keyboard
    • GNSS – Via optional nRF9151-equipped keyboard
  • 2x MMCX antenna connectors
  • 10/100Mbps Ethernet through RJ45 connector; RTL8152B controller
• USB – 3x USB Type-C ports for power and USB OTG, and nRF52840 debugging
• Expansion
  • 40-pin GPIO header on the main board
  • nRF52840 GPIO expansion header on the cased version
  • Qwiic I2C interface
  • Optional keyboard expansion through a 24-pin docking connector
• Misc
  • AHT20 temperature/humidity sensor on the cased expansion
  • Boot, reset, and power controls
  • Optional backlit QWERTY keyboard
• Power Supply
  • 5V input through USB Type-C
  • Optional keyboard base with two 21700 battery holders
  • BQ25896 battery charging IC and BQ27220 battery fuel gauge
• Dimensions
  • Main board – 104 × 51 × 15.5mm
  • Cased version – Approximately 110 × 58 × 30mm

The optional keyboard expansion adds a physical QWERTY keypad with function keys, arrow keys, and backlighting. It uses a TCA8418 keyboard controller and an XL9555 16-bit GPIO expander. The device also includes two 21700 battery holders and battery management circuitry. It is available in two versions: a standard keyboard and another with a Nordic nRF9151 SiP for LTE-M, NB-IoT, and GNSS connectivity, along with a SIM card slot.

Software support includes the Kendryte K230 Linux SDK, CanMV/RT-Smart firmware, and an LVGL-based launcher with apps for camera, video, audio, LoRa, WiFi, and battery monitoring. The newer Linux firmware also offers experimental Meshtastic and LoRaWAN support. LILYGO provides source code, firmware, examples, and build instructions on GitHub, with additional examples in the CanMV/RT-Smart repository. More details can be found in the wiki.

The design reminds us somewhat of the LILYGO T-Display-P4, a similar smartphone-like development kit built around the ESP32-P4 and ESP32-C6 with an AMOLED display, camera, and LoRa connectivity. However, unlike the T-Display-P4, the T-Display K230 uses Linux-capable dual-core RISC-V processor with a built-in AI accelerator, and support extra features through the optional keyboard. Another related board is the CanMV-K230, launched in 2023, which uses the same Kendryte K230 processor but comes in a conventional development board form factor rather than a handheld design.

The LILYGO T-Display K230 Kit is sold on AliExpress for about $180 (SX1262 and LR2021 variant), and the keyboard adds $133, assuming it is with the nRF9151 at that price. The kit is also sold for about $150 on the company’s official store, to which the optional keyboard adds $70.94 without the nRF9151 module or $113.25 with the module. The bare T-Display K230 board is sold on a different page for $98.79.

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Picotronix is a modular oscilloscope, logic analyzer, and frequency meter from Sydney-based Thort Werx Pty Ltd, based on two Raspberry Pi Pico 2 units, more exactly a Pico 2 used as a signal processor and a Pico 2 W used to drive the display and for wireless connectivity.

The solution is comprised of the Picotronix Main Module with an integrated LCD and three expansion ports, used to connect picoPods plug-in expansion modules to add high-speed ADCs, mixed-logic family logic state analysis, a waveform generator, analog conditioning, and more.

Picotronix key features and specifications:

• Main Module
  • Two-channel digital storage oscilloscope
  • 8-channel logic analyzer, expandable up to 14 channels with a picoPod; up to 150 MHz sample rate
  • Frequency meter
  • Display – 320 × 240 color LCD from Pimoroni
  • Three expansion ports, two 10-pin analog ports, and one 26-pin multifunction port
  • Analog channel
    • Accepts 3 Vpp or 16.6 Vpp at 1 MΩ, with extra BNC AC and DC inputs
    • Captures with the RP2350’s 12-bit ADC, with timebases from 5 ms to 10 µs per division.
  • Auxiliary input doubles as a logic probe or voltmeter and works without either Pico
  • Power – USB, 9–12 V plug pack, or four AAA cells.
• Optional plug-in picoPods
  • Single-ended analog: 500 mV, 1 V, 2 V and 5 V windows, movable anywhere within ±5 V, plus a x10 BNC input to ±50 V.
  • Differential: 2 Vpp, and a ±25 V common-mode pod with software-switched x1/x10 ranges.
  • Wave-05: a 12-bit R2R DAC, 10 mVpp to 3.3 Vpp with a ±5 V programmable offset, plus two precision voltage references.
  • 12-bit Logic State Analyser: sampled at 150 MSPS, in three 4-bit ports that can each serve a different logic family (1.8, 2.5, 3.3 or 5 V).
  • MSO-12: a 100 MSPS 8-bit ADC, 8 logic inputs, and a four-channel 12-bit serial ADC that also detects each logic port’s family voltage.
  • Electronix Lab: a teaching picoPod that connects by cable to all three ports. Configure logic on the pod, generate a real signal from it, and see the result on the display.
  • ADC-100 picoPod: dual 100 MSPS ADCs, capturing up to 75 MSPS on one channel or 50 MSPS on both on a stock 150 MHz RP2350.

The Picotronix is programmable in MicroPython with direct access to the RP2350’s PIO state machines for optimal performance. A PC emulator will also be available to develop MicroPython scipts on your computer.

While we were told that “everything is open”, it’s unclear which part of the project is open-source, since there’s no mention of hardware or firmware release, but the Kickstarter page does indicate part of the code will be open-sourced:

The system’s modular design anticipates diverse software-based functions to be implemented by both our team and the open-source community over time.

….

The open-source nature ensures community development can supplement our efforts, providing multiple development pathways for enhanced functionality.

Documentation is currently limited, and you won’t find a user manual as of now, but more technical details are available in blog posts and YouTube videos, notably a  21-minute comparison to a Tektronix TBS 2000 oscilloscope.

The project has just launched on Kickstarter with a $10,000 AUD (about $7,000 US) funding target. I’ll use the USD equivalent for rewards’ prices. The Picotronix Main Module reward requires a $134 pledge for a full unit and a cable set, and optional picoPods are available at an extra cost. Other rewards are bundles with specific picoPods. Shipping adds $20 to $40 AUD to Australia, and $21 to $42 USD to the rest of the world. Deliveries are expected to start by March 2027.

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Synergy Logic SLM-RP4 industrial PLC is built around a Raspberry Pi 4 SBC and designed for industrial automation, machine control, data acquisition, and Industrial IoT (IIoT) applications.

The DIN-rail mountable controller supports 24V DC input and an SPI-based backplane that connects up to eight Synergy Logic I/O modules, providing up to 128 I/O points. It also features Gigabit Ethernet, WiFi 5, Bluetooth 5.0, USB ports, two micro-HDMI outputs, and a fanless aluminum enclosure. The system runs Raspberry Pi OS with OpenPLC pre-installed for standard IEC 61131-3 logic programming.

Synergy Logic SLM-RP4 specifications:

• SBC – Raspberry Pi 4 Model B (2GB RAM)
• Storage – 16GB microSD card
• Video – 2x micro-HDMI ports
• Audio – 3.5mm audio jack
• Networking
  • Gigabit Ethernet port
  • Dual-band WiFi 5 (802.11ac)
  • Bluetooth 5.0/BLE
• USB
  • 2x USB 3.0 Type-A ports
  • 2x USB 2.0 Type-A ports
  • 1x USB-C port for auxiliary power
• I/O Expansion – SPI-based backplane supporting up to eight stackable SLM modules (18 compatible module models, up to 128 I/O points)
  • Discrete inputs – Up to 16 channels of 12–24V DC or 24V AC/DC inputs, or eight channels of 100–240V AC inputs
  • Input simulator – Eight-channel toggle switch module
  • Discrete outputs – Up to 15 channels of sourcing or sinking DC outputs
  • Relay outputs – 8-channel or 16-channel relay modules with SPST or SPDT contacts
  • Combined discrete I/O – Mixed digital input/output and relay modules
  • Analog inputs – Eight channels of 0–10V or 0–20mA inputs with 13-bit resolution
  • Analog outputs – Eight channels of 0–10V or 4–20mA outputs with 12-bit resolution
  • Combined analog I/O – Four analog inputs (13-bit) and two analog outputs (12-bit)
  • Temperature inputs – Four-channel thermocouples supporting J, E, K, R, S, T, B, N, and C types, along with millivolt inputs
• Misc
  • PWR and BASE status LEDs
  • Programmable RGB status LED
  • Toggle switch for PLC run/stop or custom functions
  • Hardware watchdog
• Power
  • 24V DC Class 2 input (±25%) via terminal block
  • 5V/3A via USB-C (controller only, not the I/O backplane)
• Dimensions – Not specified
• Weight – 289 grams
• Temperature Range – 0°C to 50°C, fanless
• Enclosure – Aluminum, open equipment, 35mm DIN-rail mounting
• Certifications – UL 61010 and UL 61010-2-201 listed; CE marked to EN 61131-2 and EN 61010 standards

The SLM-RP4 uses an SPI-based backplane to connect expansion modules through edge connectors, so no extra cables are needed between modules. Modules connect to the right side of the controller, and their positions determine their slot addresses. Currently, 18 compatible modules (not hot-swappable) are available, including digital I/O, relays, analog voltage and current I/O, and thermocouple inputs.

On the software side, the SLM-RP4 comes preinstalled with Raspberry Pi OS, OpenPLC Runtime, and Synergy Logic’s Python and C++ libraries. It supports OpenPLC Editor 4.3.1 or newer, so you can program the controller using IEC 61131-3 languages such as Ladder Diagram (LD), Structured Text (ST), Function Block Diagram (FBD), and Instruction List (IL), as well as Python and C++ function blocks. The editor also includes an SLM-RP4 hardware support package for configuring I/O modules, assigning IEC addresses, and adjusting SPI backplane settings.

The SPI backplane supports adjustable I/O scan intervals from 1ms to 1000ms, with 10ms set by default. It also detects communication errors and can stop PLC execution and reset outputs to zero if errors exceed a set limit. You can also use the provided Python and C++ libraries to control the backplane directly without OpenPLC, but both methods cannot be used at the same time. A hardware watchdog is also included to help recover from application failures.

Synergy Logic also provides documentation for integrating FUXA, an open-source, web-based HMI/SCADA platform that communicates with OpenPLC or custom applications over Modbus TCP. This allows you to create local dashboards with gauges, indicators, sliders, and trend charts. The documentation also includes examples for analog signal monitoring, thermocouple logging, output control, and Modbus TCP communication.

Other Raspberry Pi-based industrial controllers include Industrial Shield’s Raspberry Pi PLC Industrial Controller, also based on the Pi 4, the EDATEC ED-PLC2010 (CM4) with up to 32 expansion modules and CODESYS Runtime, and the Sfera Labs Strato Pi Max (CM4). Synergy Logic previously introduced the SL-RP4, a Raspberry Pi 4-based industrial controller that relies on external I/O connectivity. The newer SLM-RP4 adds an integrated backplane for connecting SLM modules directly to the controller.

The Synergy Logic SLM-RP4 is available for $249, with expansion I/O modules sold separately. The earlier SL-RP4 sells for $149. More information, including setup guides, software examples, and module datasheets, can be found on the product page and the documentation website.

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MYIR MYC-JR3576 is a SMARC 2.2 system-on-module (SoM) powered by a Rockchip RK3576/RK3576J octa-core Cortex-A72/A53 SoC with a 6 TOPS NPU designed for Edge AI applications.

It features up to  8GB LPDDR5, up to 64GB eMMC flash, an optional WiFI 6E and Bluetooth 5.4 module, and exposes all I/Os through a 314-pin MXM connector as defined in the SMARC 2.2 standard. The company says it’s the socketed counterpart to its LGA-packaged MYC-LR3576 (43 x 45 mm) module introduced in 2024, so the same processor is now available in both solder-down and standard form factors from MYiR.

MYC-JR3576 – Rockchip RK3576 SMARC 2.2 module

MYIR MYC-JR3576 specifications:

• SoC – Rockchip RK3576 (commercial) or RK3576J (industrial)
  • CPU
    • 4x Cortex-A72 cores @ 2.2GHz, four Cortex-A53 cores @ 1.8GHz
    • Arm Cortex-M0 MCU at 400MHz
  • GPU – ARM Mali-G52 MC3 GPU with support for OpenGL ES 1.1, 2.0 and 3.2, OpenCL up to 2.0 and Vulkan 1.1
  • NPU – 6 TOPS (INT8) AI accelerator with support for INT4, INT8, INT16, BF16, and TF32 mixed operations.
  • VPU
    • Video Decoder: H.264, H.265, VP9, AV1, and AVS2 up to 8K @ 30fps or 4K @ 120fps
    • Video Encoder: H.264 and H.265 up to 4K @ 60fps, (M)JPEG encoder/decoder up to 4K @ 60fps
• System Memory – 4GB or 8GB LPDDR5
• Storage
  • 32GB or 64GB eMMC flash
  • 32Kbit EEPROM
• Display – Lontium LT8912B MIPI DSI to LVDS converter
• Networking
  • 2x Motorcomm YT8531SH GbE controllers
  • Optional Wi-Fi 6E + Bluetooth 5.4 module (NXP IW623-based AzureWave AW-XM729)
• USB – USB 3.0 hub
• 314-pin MXM 3.0 edge connector
  • Storage – SATA III or PCIe 2.1
  • Video Output
    • LVDS
    • MIPI DSI
    • HDMI
    • DisplayPort
  • Video Input – 3x MIPI CSI (2x 4-lane, 1x 2-lane)
  • Audio – 2x SAI
  • Networking – 2x Gigabit Ethernet interfaces
  • USB
    • 1x USB 2.0 OTG
    • 2x USB 2.0 host
    • 2x USB 3.0 host
  • PCIe – PCIe 2.1 (multiplexed with SATA III)
  • Analog – 6x SARADC, 12-bit resolution, up to 1MS/s (optional)
  • Other I/Os
    • 2x CAN FD
    • 4x UART, 2x SPI, 4x I2C, 1x SDIO, 3x PWM, 14x GPIO
• Security – TPM 2.0
• Power Management
  • 5V/2A input
  • RK806S-5 PMIC
• Dimensions – 82 x 50mm (SMARC 2.2 form factor, 12-layer PCB)
• Temperature Range
  • Industrial grade: -40~85°C
  • Commercial grade: 0~70°C

The company provides a Linux 6.1 BSP (Debian/Yocto) and Android 15 support for the system-on-module and the development board described below. As usual for MYiR, the software is not available publicly, and only provided to customers. They only lists software features like Linux 6.1, U-boot 2017.09, and the list of open-source drivers for the board.

MYD-JR3576 development board

The company also provides a SMARC development platform for the module.

MYD-JR3576 development board specifications:

• Storage
  • MicroSD card slot
  • M.2 (PCIe) socket for NVMe SSD
  • SATA SSD connector
• Video output
  • HDMI port
  • DisplayPort connector
  • MIPI-DSI/LVDS display interface
• Camera – 2x MIPI-CSI Camera Interfaces
• Audio – 3.5mm audio input/output jack
• Networking
  • 2x Gigabit Ethernet RJ45 ports
  • WiFi/Bluetooth on SoM
  • Cellular M.2 socket for USB based 4G/5G LTE Module + 2x SIM card slots
  • 2x external antenna connectors (one for WiFi and one 4G/5G)
• USB
  • 2x USB 3.0 host ports
  • 2x USB 2.0 host ports
  • USB 2.0 OTG port
• Serial ports via dedicated connector
  • Isolated RS232 interface
  • Isolated RS485 interface
  • 2x isolated CAN FD interfaces
• Debugging – USB Type-C debug port
• Misc
  • Power switch
  • 3x Buttons: Reset, User, ON/OFF
  • 3x LEDs: Power, System status, User
  • Fan connector
• Power Supply – +12V/2A via power jack
• Dimensions – 206 x 126mm (6-layer PCB)
• Temperature Range
  • Industrial grade: -40~85°C
  • Commercial grade: 0~70°C
  • Note: WiFi Module operates in the -20~70°C range

Note that the “N/A” port on the carrier board are not supported by the Rockchip RK3576 system-on-module, and are available on the SMARC development board for other compatible modules.

We’ve written about several Rockchip RK3576 system-on-modules over the last two years, including Geniatech SOM-3576 (with 314-pin MXM 3.0 connector, but not advertised as SMARC compatible), the Raspberry Pi CM5-inspired Radxa CM4 and Geniatech XPI-3576-CM5 modules, Boardcon LGA3576 LGA system-on-module, and others. However, the MYiR MYC-JR3576 is the first Rockchip RK3576 SMARC system-on-module we’ve covered here, and a quick web search reveals some other options such as the Advantech AOM-5841 and the Vantron VT-SBC-SMARC-3576.

MYiR Tech is one of the few companies that quotes pricing publicly for industrial-grade hardware:

• MYC-JR3576-64E8D-220-C (RK3576, 8GB/64GB, 0 to +70°C) — $209 US
• MYC-JR3576J-32E4D-160-I (RK3576J, 4GB/32GB, -40 to +85°C) — $192 US
• MYD-JR3576 development kit — $293 or $279 depending on the selected module above.

The modules and development kits are shipping now, and sample pricing applies to the first two units. You’ll find more details, including product briefs, 3D step files, and purchase links, on the product page.

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Adafruit has launched the Metro ESP32-P4 Hydra, an Arduino UNO-shaped development board with ESP32-P4, 16MB PSRAM, and 16MB NOR flash, and an ESP32-C6 for WiFi 6, Bluetooth 5.3 LE, Thread, and Zigbee connectivity.

Other features include Raspberry Pi-compatible MIPI DSI and CSI interfaces, a USB 2.0 High-Speed host port, a microSD card slot, and Arduino UNO expansion headers. The board also includes a STEMMA QT connector, LiPo battery charging, and multiple power input options, making it suitable for HMI, camera, and IoT applications.

Adafruit Metro ESP32-P4 Hydra specifications:

• Microcontroller – Espressif Systems ESP32-P4 (v1 chipset)
  • CPU
    • Dual-core 32-bit RISC-V HP (High-performance) CPU @ up to 360 MHz with AI instructions extension and single-precision FPU
    • Single-RISC-V LP (Low-power) MCU core @ up to 40 MHz with 8KB of zero-wait TCM RAM
  • Memory
    • 768 KB HP L2MEM (for dual-core CPU), 32 KB LP SRAM, 8 KB TCM (for LP MCU core)
    • 16MB PSRAM
  • GPU – 2D Pixel Processing Accelerator (PPA)
  • VPU – H.264 and JPEG codec support
• Storage
  • 16MB QSPI NOR flash
  • MicroSD card slot with 4-bit SDIO interface
• Display/Camera
  • 2-lane MIPI DSI connector
  • 2-lane MIPI CSI connector
  • Both are Raspberry Pi-compatible 22-pin, 0.5mm-pitch connectors
• Wireless – ESP32-C6 SDIO module
  • 2.4 GHz WiFi 6 (802.11ax)
  • Bluetooth LE 5.3
  • IEEE 802.15.4 radio supporting Thread and Zigbee (additional firmware integration may be required)
• USB
  • USB Type-C port for power, serial debugging, JTAG, and TinyUF2 drag-and-drop firmware updates
  • USB 2.0 Type-A High-Speed (480 Mbps) OTG host port with software-controlled power and a dedicated 5V boost supply
• Expansion
  • Arduino UNO headers with D0–D13 digital pins and six analog inputs
  • Separate 6-pin SPI header
  • I2C/I3C, UART, SPI, PWM, ADC, TWAI/CAN, and other interfaces
  • STEMMA QT connector for I2C/I3C peripherals
• Debugging – Dedicated hardware/ROM UART debugging connection
• Misc
  • RGB NeoPixel and D13 user LED
  • Reset and Boot buttons
  • On/Off switch
  • Dedicated UART debug connection
  • Battery charging and status indicators
• Power
  • 7–12V DC via barrel jack
  • USB Type-C for power
  • Single-cell LiPo battery connector with onboard charging and voltage monitoring
• Dimensions – 72.3 x 53.3 x 14.7 mm

The MIPI DSI and CSI connectors use the Raspberry Pi 22-pin format, with two data lanes each. Adafruit says the board supports the 5-inch and 7-inch Raspberry Pi Touch Display 2, both with 720 x 1280 resolution and capacitive touch. For cameras, it supports Raspberry Pi Zero-style modules with the OV5647 sensor, but not the newer IMX708-based Camera Module 3.

The board can be programmed using Espressif’s ESP-IDF framework and supports TinyUF2 for drag-and-drop firmware updates over USB. Support for the Adafruit Metro ESP32-P4 was also added to CircuitPython 11.0.0-alpha.2, although the ESP32-P4 port is still in alpha. The company also said it is working on Arduino support. We couldn’t find details documentation for the board, so it must be work-in-progress.

We previously wrote about the Adafruit Metro ESP32-S3, a similar Arduino UNO-style development board but built around ESP32-S3 paired with 8MB PSRAM and 16MB flash. Another similar board is the Adafruit Metro RP2350, which uses Raspberry Pi’s RP2350 MCU and offers an HSTX connector for DVI video output.

The Adafruit Metro ESP32-P4 Hydra is available for $34.95 on the Adafruit store. Note that the board currently ships with the original ESP32-P4 v1 chipset rather than the newer ESP32-P4X v3 revision.

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Renesas has introduced the RX74M and RX74N, two new 32-bit RX family MCUs built on a 22nm process with embedded MRAM. Both MCUs integrate a 600MHz RXv3e core and are designed for industrial automation, motor control, robotics, and energy management applications.

The MCUs feature up to 1MB of code MRAM, 1.5MB SRAM, and 256KB of zero-wait-state local RAM for real-time processing. The RX74M adds an integrated EtherCAT slave controller, dual Gigabit Ethernet MACs with TSN support, and an Ethernet switch for industrial networking, while the RX74N offers a single Gigabit Ethernet interface for general industrial applications. Other features include CAN FD, USB 2.0, I3C, high-resolution PWM timers, and hardware-based security with Renesas Protect Zone.

Renesas RX74M and RX74N specifications:

• MCU – 32-bit RXv3e core clocked at 300/480/600MHz
  • Up to 3,604 CoreMark at 600MHz
  • Single- and double-precision floating-point support
  • Trigonometric function accelerator
  • Register bank save function for faster interrupt response
  • 32KB instruction cache and 32KB data cache with ECC
• Memory
  • Up to 1MB code MRAM with dual-bank support
  • 48KB data MRAM (100,000 programming cycles)
  • 128KB user extra MRAM (configurable as MTJ-OTP)
  • 1.5MB SRAM with ECC
  • 256KB local RAM (2x 128KB) with ECC and zero-wait-state access
  • External SDRAM support, up to 128MB
• Storage
  • SD/MMC host interface supporting SD memory and SDIO
  • Dual xSPI interfaces for external Octal Flash and RAM with execute-in-place (XiP) and on-the-fly decryption
• Camera – Parallel camera capture interface
• Audio
  • 2x serial sound interfaces (I2S)
  • PDM microphone interface
• Networking
  • RX74M
    • 2x Gigabit Ethernet MACs
    • 2-port Ethernet switch with TSN support
    • 2-port EtherCAT slave controller on selected variants
  • RX74N
    • 1x Gigabit Ethernet MAC
    • No integrated EtherCAT slave controller
• USB
  • 1x USB 2.0 High-Speed (480Mbps) Host/Device/OTG
  • 1x USB 2.0 Full-Speed (12Mbps) Host/Device/OTG
• Serial – Up to 13x serial communication interfaces (SCI/UART)
• Other I/O
  • Up to 197x GPIOs
  • 3x SPI controllers, 2x I2C controllers, 1x I3C controller
  • Up to 16x 32-bit general-purpose PWM timers
  • High-resolution PWM with up to 200MHz control clock
  • Up to 3x 16-bit ADC units with 36 input channels
  • Up to 2x 12-bit DACs
  • 2x phase-counting interfaces
  • Up to 6x delta-sigma modulator interface channels (RX74M)
  • Up to 3x CAN FD controllers
• Security
  • Renesas RSIP-E50D security engine
  • AES, RSA, ECC, ChaCha20-Poly1305, SHA-512, SHA3-512, TRNG
  • Protect Zone for secure and non-secure execution environments
  • Secure boot, device lifecycle management, tamper detection, and key zeroization
  • On-the-fly decryption for external memory
• Debugging – JTAG, SWD, FINE
• Misc
  • Temperature sensor
  • RTC and watchdog timers
  • 8x DMA controllers, with additional transfer engines
• Power supply – 1.62V to 3.63V with low power mode support
• Packages
  • 100/144/176-pin LFQFP (480MHz, 10/100Mbps Ethernet; also lacks high-speed USB controller, parallel camera capture interface, and external SDRAM controller)
  • 176/224/320-pin LFBGA (600MHz, up to Gigabit Ethernet)
• Temperature range – -40°C to +125°C (junction temperature)
• Manufacturing process – 22nm

From the specifications, it’s clear that the main difference between the two MCUs is in the networking stack, where the RX74M features dual Gigabit Ethernet MACs, a TSN-capable Ethernet switch, and an EtherCAT slave controller for industrial automation. The RX74N, on the other hand, features a single Gigabit Ethernet interface without EtherCAT or TSN support for general industrial applications. Both MCUs share the same RXv3e core, memory architecture, and security features.

The MCUs also include Renesas’ RSIP-E50D engine with hardware encryption, secure boot, and a Protect Zone function to separate secure and non-secure operations. Renesas says these features help developers to meet security requirements such as the EU Cyber Resilience Act (CRA) and support post-quantum cryptography (PQC).

Software support includes the Renesas Flexible Software Package (FSP), e² studio IDE, C/C++ compilers, and tools from partners such as IAR, Codewerk, and RT-Labs. Renesas also lists Zephyr RTOS and eForce as ecosystem partners. For industrial networking, Codewerk provides PROFINET integration services, while RT-Labs offers its P-Net PROFINET device stack for the RX74M. Renesas also provides sample projects for EtherCAT, EtherNet/IP, Modbus, secure boot, and motor control.

Renesas has also introduced the EK-RX74M and EK-RX74N evaluation kits, along with MCK-RX74M/MCK-RX74N motor control kits and MCB-RX74M/MCB-RX74N motor control CPU boards. The EK-RX74M includes a 600MHz RX74M MCU, two Ethernet interfaces, CAN FD, USB, RS-485, external Octal Flash and RAM, a microSD card slot, and Arduino Uno R3, mikroBUS, and Pmod expansion headers and connectors.

What makes the MCUs interesting is the use of MRAM (which makes programming and updates faster) instead of traditional flash memory for program storage. But this is not the first MCU with MRAM, as in the past the company released RA8T2 Cortex-M85 MCUs, which feature a 1GHz CPU, up to 1MB MRAM, and EtherCAT support for industrial motor control. We have also seen Renesas introduce the RA8D2 and RA8M2 with MRAM and additional graphics and processing features. While those RA series MCUs use Arm Cortex-M85 cores, the RX74M and RX74N are based on Renesas’ own RXv3e architecture.

Renesas has also provided “Winning Combinations,” which are just pre-tested system designs including a Maglev Conveyor System for contactless material handling with real-time motor control and industrial networking, and a Smart HVAC Control with Integrated Slave Actuator for controlling fans, compressors, and other HVAC components.

The Renesas RX74M and RX74N are available now in 300MHz, 480MHz, and 600MHz variants, with the 300MHz versions offering more than 20% lower power consumption than the higher-performance models, according to Renesas. Renesas lists the 600MHz RX74M for $10.74 and $7.62 for the 480MHz RX74N in 1,000-unit quantities. The EK-RX74M and EK-RX74N evaluation kits are also available from Mouser and Future Electronics, with prices starting at $114.84 for the EK-RX74N and $206.88 for the EK-RX74M at Future Electronics. More details about the RX74M and RX74N can be found on the Renesas website and in the press release.

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Deki Engine is an open-source modular C++ engine with a Unity-style visual editor for embedded devices, currently optimized for ESP32 platforms such as LilyGO T-Deck Plus, T-Display S3 AMOLED, and soon Elecrow CrowPanel Advanced 7″ ESP32-P4.

The editor is available for Windows and Linux with a compiler for the 2D graphics engine, and everything is released under an Apache 2.0 license on GitHub. The project also works on desktop through SDL3, which may be convenient during development.

Some of the highlights of the Deki Engine project:

• Workflow
  • Build scenes visually (sprites, text, particles, tilemaps, state machines, tweens)
  • Pick a board in the editor’s Build panel
  • Flash it.
  • The project also runs on desktop through SDL3, or headless with no renderer
• Performance – 60 FPS on ESP32-S3 (See demo video below)
• Package-based solution
  • Hardware packages
    • LilyGO T-Deck Plus with support for display, touch, keyboard, trackball, SD card, GPS and LoRa (SX1262)
    • T-Display S3 AMOLED (and apparently T-Display S3 Touch based on the demo)
    • Upcoming support for CrowPanel Advanced 7″ ESP32-P4
  • Other packages – Software 3D render pass, IMU, RTC, audio over I2S, Wi-Fi, BLE and a Tiled map importer.
• Games can run on Tactility OS for ESP32
• Inspector fields are generated with C++26 static reflection.
• The editor, docs and website are currently available in English, Simplified Chinese, Japanese and Korean languages

More details can be found in the documentation website, but I find it hard to navigate and understand, as everything feels all over the place. Deki Engine was developed by Jairo Baldán (Jai), a game programmer from Spain, as a side project.

Looking at GitHub repositories, it looks like all/most commits were co-authored by Claude, so the project relies heavily on AI assistance, but it looks like a working project, and a AI analysis reports that the code is of high quality is high for a solo/hobby project. We are also shown working demos, first for the editor.

A demo (I supposed that’s the relevant repo) is also shown running on the T-Display S3 Touch at 60 FPS.

It might be an interesting for 2D game development on ESP32-based hardware, and the Deki Engine also supports software-rasterized 3D graphics, but I’m not sure how smooth that would be on ESP32 targets.

The post Deki Engine – ESP32 gets an open source Unity-style editor and C++ 2D game engine appeared first on CNX Software - Embedded Systems News.

ZOTAC ZBOX PRO CM5-PICO is a compact fanless industrial mini PC built around the Raspberry Pi Compute Module 5 (CM5) with up to 16 GB LPDDR4x memory, optional WiFi 5 and Bluetooth 5.0 wireless connectivity.

The mini PC measures 114.8 x 76 x 31.3 mm and features two 4K HDMI outputs, Gigabit Ethernet, and M.2 expansion for NVMe storage or AI accelerators, along with an internal 40-pin GPIO header, camera interfaces, and a wide 5V to 20V DC input for industrial automation, digital signage, and IoT gateway applications. All I/O ports are placed on a single side to simplify cable management and stacking.

ZOTAC ZBOX PRO CM5-PICO specifications:

• SoM – Raspberry Pi Compute Module 5 (CM5)
  • SoC – Broadcom BCM2712
    • CPU – Quad-core Arm Cortex-A76 @ 2.4 GHz
    • GPU – VideoCore VII @ 800 MHz with H.265 hardware video decoding
  • Memory – 2GB, 4GB, 8GB, or 16GB LPDDR4x RAM
  • Storage –  0GB (Lite), 16GB, 32GB, or 64GB eMMC flash
  • Wireless – Optional Wi-Fi 5 and Bluetooth 5.0
• Storage
  • microSD card slot for CM5 Lite variants
  • M.2 2280 M-Key PCIe Gen2 x1 socket for NVMe SSD or AI accelerator
• Display
  • 2x HDMI 2.1 ports supporting up to 4K @ 60Hz each
  • 2x internal 22-pin, 0.5mm-pitch, four-lane MIPI CSI-2/DSI combo connectors
• Camera – Same MIPI CSI-2/DSI combo connectors can also be used for the camera
• Audio – 8-channel digital audio via HDMI
• Networking
  • Gigabit Ethernet RJ45 port with PTP (Precision Time Protocol) support
  • Optional Wi-Fi 5 and Bluetooth 5.0 on Compute Module
  • Optional Quectel EG916Q-GL LTE Cat 1 bis Modem via M.2 3024 B-Key slot
• USB – 2x USB 3.2 Type-A ports, 1x USB Type-C port for firmware updates
• Expansion
  • Internal 40-pin Raspberry Pi HAT/GPIO header
  • Internal RS-232 header (RX, TX, GND)
  • UART0 debug header
• Misc
  • Watchdog timer built into the Broadcom SoC
  • RTC with CR2032 backup battery
  • TVS and ESD diode protection on external I/O ports
  • Internal fan header
  • CM5 boot/EEPROM override header and nRPIBOOT recovery button
• Power – 5V to 20V DC input via DC IN jack
• Dimensions – 114.8 × 76.0 × 31.3 mm (0.27 liters)
• Weight – Approximately 250 grams
• Temperature – -20°C to +55°C (Operating)
• Enclosure – Passive cooling with aluminum enclosure

The ZBOX PRO CM5-PICO ships with Raspberry Pi OS based on Debian 13, and also supports Ubuntu for Raspberry Pi, Twister OS, Emteria Android, LibreELEC, and Home Assistant OS. You can also use the Raspberry Pi software ecosystem, GPIO libraries, camera interfaces, and standard Linux development tools.

While it’s the first Raspberry Pi CM5-based industrial computer from ZOTAC, the ZBOX PRO CM5-PICO already has plenty of competition, including the Waveshare IPCBOX-CM5 with dual Ethernet, RS485/RS232, CAN Bus, and optional cellular connectivity, the EDATEC ED-IPC3100 series with similar industrial interfaces, and many more. Compared to those systems, the ZOTAC system features dual 4K HDMI, a single-sided external I/O layout, and a palm-sized enclosure for digital signage, HMI, and embedded computing applications.

ZOTAC showcased the ZBOX PRO CM5-PICO at ISE 2026 earlier this year. Japanese distributor Ask Corporation lists the device, but needs to be contacted for pricing and availability. More details are available on the product page. ZOTAC also specifies a product supply lifecycle extending through January 2036. The device ships with the main unit, a universal AC adapter, dual Wi-Fi tri-band antennas (on wireless models), and an L-shaped mounting kit with screws.

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LILYGO T-Halow P4 is a compact M.2 development board that combines an ESP32-P4 MCU, an ESP32-C6 wireless co-processor, and a Taixin TX-AH WiFi HaLow module for long-range wireless connectivity.

The board measures just 80 x 22mm (M.2 2280) and uses an M.2 B-key connector to expose GPIO pins and other interfaces for integration into custom carrier boards. It also supports MIPI CSI cameras and MIPI DSI displays, along with hardware H.264 video encoding at up to 1080p30, making it suitable for compact IoT gateways, remote cameras, and industrial monitoring applications.

LILYGO T-Halow P4 specifications:

• SoC – Espressif Systems ESP32-P4NRW32X
  •  CPU
    • Dual-core RISC-V @ 400 MHz with AI instruction extensions and single-precision FPU
    • Single-core RISC-V LP (low-power) MCU @ up to 40 MHz
  • GPU – 2D Pixel Processing Accelerator (PPA)
  • VPU – H.264 and JPEG codec support
  • Memory – 768 KB HP L2MEM, 32 KB LP SRAM, 8 KB TCM, 32MB PSRAM (according to GitHub and wiki; product page says 8MB)
  • Storage – 128 KB HP ROM, 16 KB LP ROM
• Storage – 16MB QSPI NOR flash
• Display interface – 2-lane MIPI DSI connector for external displays, with touch support
• Camera interface – 2-lane MIPI CSI connector with OV2710 camera support
• Wireless
  • ESP32-C6-MINI-1U with 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5, and 802.15.4 (Zigbee / Thread / Matter); connected via  SDIO to the ESP32-P4; External IPEX antenna connector
  • TaiXin Semiconductor TX-AH module
    • 802.11ah HaLow compliant
    • Frequency Bands
      • 859-894MHz (875M SAW) OR
      • 902-928MHz (915M SAW)
    • Channel width – 1/2/4/8MHz
    • Throughput – 150 Kbps to 32.5Mbps
    • Range – Up to 1.2 km (Line of Sight)
    • IPEX antenna connector
• USB – 1x USB Type-C port for power and programming
• Carrier board/Expansion interface – M.2 B-key edge connector with GPIO, I2C, UART, ADC, SD, and other ESP32-P4 interfaces
• Misc – BOOT, Reset, Failsafe, and MCLR buttons
• Power Supply  – 5V DC input via USB-C port
• Dimensions – 80 x 22 mm (M.2 2280 form factor)

On the software side, LILYGO provides examples for WiFi HaLow communication, camera and display operation, and other board functions on GitHub. The examples use ESP-IDF 5.4.1 or newer, with the HaLow module controlled through SPI for data transfer and UART for AT commands. A browser-based configuration tool is also available for configuring the HaLow module through Web Serial.

We previously reported on the original LILYGO T-HaLow, which used an ESP32-S3 alongside the same Taixin WiFi HaLow module. It also supports an OV2640/OV5640 camera, and features an RJ45 Ethernet port, a microSD card slot, and an 18650 battery holder. In contrast, the T-Halow P4 uses a more powerful ESP32-P4 with MIPI camera and display interfaces, while adding WiFi 6 connectivity through the ESP32-C6.

The LILYGO T-Halow P4 is available on AliExpress for $36.98, and on the company’s official store for $26.57 from a China warehouse, or $31.07 for a 915 MHz version (H777) shipping directly from a US warehouse.

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Shanghai-based RoboParty has introduced the RP1 (ROBOTO 01), an open-source humanoid robot designed for robotics research, embodied AI development, and motion-control experiments. The robot is available in two configurations: the standard RP1 with 24 active degrees of freedom (DoF) and the RP1 Pro with 30 DoF.

The robot stands 1.35 meters (~4.43 feet) tall and is built around a Rockchip RK3588 processor, with the Pro model adding an Allwinner A733 processor and an NVIDIA Jetson Orin NX development computing module. Other features include in-house ROMOMO joint actuators with up to 160 N·m peak torque, interchangeable head modules, optional dexterous hands, and a 10Ah battery rated for up to three hours of operation. A separate 480MHz MCU handles real-time motion control, while a dual-voltage battery system supports hot-swapping without shutting down the robot.

RoboParty RP1 specifications:

• Computing
  • RP1 – Rockchip RK3588 processor with a 6 TOPS NPU, 8GB LPDDR4x RAM, and 32GB eMMC storage
  • RP1 Pro – Rockchip RK3588 + Allwinner A733 processor, NVIDIA Jetson Orin NX (16GB) development module
  • Real-time control – 480MHz MCU for motion scheduling, power sequencing, and emergency-stop functions
  • Optional development computing module for the standard RP1
• Display
  • RP1 – Features a motion-control head that uses a simple LED eye display
  • RP1 Pro – Features a dedicated interaction screen
• Camera
  • RP1 – No camera included as standard
  • RP1 Pro – Monocular RGB camera
  • Optional stereo RGB camera with the data-collection head
  • Optional Intel RealSense D435i depth camera and 3D LiDAR with the perception head
• Audio
  • RP1 – Speaker
  • RP1 Pro – Speaker + microphone and interaction display
• Degrees of freedom
  • RP1 – 24 DoF (6 per leg, 5 per arm, and 2 for the waist)
  • RP1 Pro – 30 DoF (6 per leg, 7 per arm, 2 for the waist, and 2 for the head)
  • Dexterous-hand degrees of freedom are counted separately
• Joint actuators – 4x in-house ROMOMO joint module designs using two-stage planetary gear reductions and inner-rotor motors; up to 160 N·m peak torque for the 100mm-diameter module
• Motion
  • Maximum running speed – Up to 4 m/s
  • Slope climbing – Up to 30°
  • Maximum step height – 50mm
  • Minimum obstacle size for avoidance – 50mm (manufacturer specification)
• Head and hands
  • Four interchangeable head configurations: locomotion, interaction, perception, and data collection
  • RP1 – Dummy hands as standard
  • RP1 Pro – 6-DoF dexterous hands as standard
  • Additional grippers and 22-DoF dexterous-hand options
• Sensors – 6-axis IMU
• Networking
  • 2x RJ45 Ethernet jacks for wired networking, debugging, and communication
  • Wireless – WiFi 6, Bluetooth 5.2, 4G cellular
• USB – 2x USB Type-A, 2x USB Type-C
• Expansion – Hardware interfaces and mounting points for additional sensors and peripherals
• Safety
  • Three-channel emergency stop protection and enclosed, pinch-resistant joints
  • Hardwired or 433MHz emergency-stop signaling to the real-time MCU
• Power Supply
  • Internal 24V wiring and adapter board for end effectors
  • 10Ah dual-battery system with hot-swapping
  • 48V main lithium battery and 30V auxiliary battery for maintaining critical control power during battery replacement
  • Up to 3 hours of operating time
  • 140W USB-C fast charging and magnetic charging
  • Approximately 1.5 hours charging time
  • Supports operation while charging
• Dimensions – 1350 x 450 x 200mm; Limb lengths – 250mm thigh, 300mm lower leg, and 550mm single-arm length
• Construction
  • AL6061 aluminum alloy shoulder, arm, wrist, thigh, and lower-leg components
  • AL7075-T6 aluminum alloy foot plates
  • Polycarbonate (PC) chest enclosure
  • Resin head enclosure and selected arm, thigh, wrist, and shin covers
  • Polyurethane (PU) hip-joint bumpers, protective covers, thigh pads, handgrips, and foot surfaces
  • Sandblasted, polished, and spray-painted finishes, depending on the component
• Weight – Approximately 39kg (RP1) / 41kg (RP1 Pro), including battery and end effectors
• Operating temperature – -10°C to +40°C

The standard RP1 features 5-DoF arms and a basic locomotion head, while the Pro version offers 7-DoF arms with additional wrist movements, a two-axis neck, and an interaction head. Both models support interchangeable end effectors, including RoboParty’s RP Hand, a five-finger dexterous hand with six actively controlled axes and CAN-FD communication. The RP Hand has 11 mechanical degrees of freedom, including five passive or coupled DoF, and uses a worm-gear transmission. It weighs approximately 379 grams and supports optional tactile sensing.

The robot uses RoboParty’s RBE-MAIN-RK3588S main controller, that features the RK3588 application processor with a separate  (unnamed) real-time MCU. The RK3588 handles AI inference, vision, speech, and interaction, while the MCU manages motion scheduling and emergency-stop functions. Each ROMOMO joint module also has a built-in driver that handles current, velocity, and position control loops locally, with the main controller sending commands and receiving feedback over CAN-FD.

On the hardware side, RoboParty has published its design resources in the RP1_hardware GitHub repository. These include editable SolidWorks assemblies and parts, Parasolid models, mechanical drawings, PCB fabrication files, Gerbers, component placement data, wiring harnesses, and bills of materials for the different robot configurations. The repository also provides manufacturing files for 14 custom circuit boards, including Gerbers, BOMs, component placement coordinates, and 3D models. The company’s original hardware designs are licensed under CERN-OHL-W-2.0.

The software is spread across different GitHub repositories, where the RP1_firmware repo hosts the Linux BSP, USB-to-CAN-FD bridge firmware, and software packaging tools. The roboparty_deploy repository provides a ROS 2-based deployment framework with motor and IMU drivers, Intel RealSense camera integration, ONNX-based policy inference, robot configuration files, and a Python SDK.

For simulation and training, the RP1_description repo provides URDF and MJCF robot models, meshes, and various assets, while the roboparty_train repo includes NVIDIA Isaac Lab-based reinforcement learning workflows, motion imitation, RSL-RL training, and MuJoCo Sim2Sim testing. The 24-axis robot configuration already supports a training-to-deployment workflow. However, the 28-axis body configuration used by the Pro model does not have dedicated training tasks or released default policy files at this time.

The company also provides various learning projects, including AMP, BeyondMimic, MimicLite, and UFO for motion imitation and humanoid control. These projects are part of the PartyOS ecosystem, which connects motion control, simulation, policy training, and deployment on physical robots. Some parts of the software are still under development, and the dedicated RP1 deployment guide in the deployment repository is marked as coming soon. The UFO repository also notes that its RP1 TeCH policy has not yet been tested on the physical robot.

Although RoboParty describes RP1 as a fully open-source platform, not all components are available as source code. The ROMOMO repository provides joint-module specifications, drawings, CAN-FD protocol documentation, and test reports, while host-side motor drivers are available in roboparty_motors. However, the embedded firmware source for the ROMOMO actuators could not be found in the published repositories. The UFO learning framework is also distributed under a CC BY-NC 4.0 non-commercial license.

We have previously reported on similar humanoid robots, including the Unitree R1, a 1.21-meter-tall robot with 26 DoF, and the Raspberry Pi-powered SamuRoid with 22 DoF. We also looked at the Mini π bipedal robot, which was also tagged as open-source but was limited to motion algorithms. RoboParty takes a different approach by open-sourcing mechanical CAD, PCB design files, firmware components, and software for simulation, training, and deployment.

At the time of writing, RoboParty does not confirm pricing or a shipping schedule for the RP1 and RP1 Pro. More details are available on the product page, the documentation website, and the main GitHub repository.

Thanks to TLS for the tip.

The post RoboParty RP1 (ROBOTO 01) – A full-stack open-source humanoid robot with up to 30 degrees of freedom appeared first on CNX Software - Embedded Systems News.

GL.iNet Mango 2 (GL-MG1300) mini dual-band WiFi 5 travel router is built around the MediaTek MT7621A dual-core processor. It is designed to share hotel WiFi, wired Ethernet, or mobile internet connections with multiple devices.

The router measures just 89 x 63 x 15mm and weighs 100 grams. It supports WiFi speeds of up to 400 Mbps on the 2.4 GHz band and 866 Mbps on the 5 GHz band, along with WireGuard VPN speeds of up to 184 Mbps and OpenVPN speeds of up to 95 Mbps with DCO. Other features include dual  Gigabit Ethernet ports, USB 3.0, USB-C power, and others.

GL.iNet Mango 2 (GL-MG1300) specifications:

• Processor – Mediatek MT7621A dual core MIPS 1004Kc processor @ 880Mhz
• Memory – 128MB DDR3L RAM
• Storage – 128MB SPI NAND flash + 2MB SPI NOR flash
• Networking
  • 2x Gigabit Ethernet ports (WAN/LAN)
  • Dual-band 802.11a/b/g/n/ac WiFi 5
    • 2.4 GHz – Up to 400 Mbps (2×2 MIMO)
    • 5 GHz – Up to 866 Mbps (2×2 MIMO)
    • 2x internal dual-band antennas
  • VPN – Up to 184 Mbps with WireGuard and 95 Mbps with OpenVPN DCO
  • Optional cellular connectivity through a compatible USB modem or smartphone tethering
• USB
  • 1x USB 3.0 Type-A port
  • 1x USB Type-C port for power
• Misc – Reset button, configurable toggle switch, status LED
• Power Supply – 5V/2A via USB-C
• Consumption – Less than 5W
• Dimensions – 89 x 63 x 15mm
• Weight – 100 grams
• Operating Temperature – 0°C to 40°C

The router also supports captive portals, so you only need to sign in once to share public WiFi with multiple devices. You can manage the router through GL.iNet’s web interface or mobile app.

The Mango 2 runs GL.iNet firmware 4.10 based on OpenWrt 22.03.4 and supports both WireGuard and OpenVPN client/server modes, with compatibility for more than 30 VPN service providers. It also supports Tailscale for remote access, multi-tunnel VPN configurations, and policies that allow users to select which devices or websites use the VPN connection.

We have previously written about other GL.iNet travel routers, including the Slate (GL-AR750S-Ext), Beryl AX (GL-MT3000), and Slate 7 (GL-BE3600). The Mango 2 is a more compact, entry-level model with dual-band WiFi 5 instead of the WiFi 6 on the Beryl AX or WiFi 7 on the Slate 7. It retains Gigabit Ethernet, USB 3.0, and VPN support, making it suitable for basic travel networking without the higher wireless speeds of the newer models.

The GL.iNet Mango 2 (GL-MG1300) is listed on AliExpress for $ 62.99 and on the company’s official store for $49.99. However, the company doesn’t sell it in the US due to FCC-related restrictions, which will also impact all its future routers. The company offers a 2-year warranty and a 30-day money-back guarantee.

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Following our coverage of a 4.3-inch ESP32-S31 display development board, a Facebook reader pointed out the GUITION JC3636F118C-I-YR1 rotary encoder with a built-in 1.8-inch touchscreen display.

It appears to be an update to an earlier ESP32-S3 model, now equipped with an ESP32-S31NRV16 WiFi 6, Bluetooth 5.4, and 802.15.4 SoC with 16MB of PSRAM. The rotary knob also includes 16MB SPI flash, a speaker, a microphone, and an optional rechargeable battery.

GUITION JC3636F118C-I-YR1 specifications:

• SoC – ESP32-S31NRV16
  • CPU
    • RISC-V HP (High-performance) RV32IMAFCP CPU @ 320 MHz with FPU, SIMD, etc.
    • RISC-V LP (Low-power) MCU core
  • Memory – 512 KB SRAM, 32 KB low-power SRAM, 16MB PSRAM
  • Wireless
    • 2.4 GHz WiFi 6 (802.11ax)
    • Bluetooth 5.4 with support for LE Audio, direction finding, Bluetooth Mesh 1.1, and Classic (BR/EDR)
    • 802.15.4 radio for Zigbee, Thread, and Matter
• Storage
  • 16 MB flash
  • MicroSD card slot (for WiFi configuration, music or MJPEG video playback, etc.)
• Display
  • 1.8-inch round 262K color TFT display with 360×360 resolution
  • ST77916 SPI driver
  • CST816 capacitive touch controller
  • Adjustable backlight
• Audio
  • Built-in speaker (PCM5100APWR)
  • Built-in MEMS microphone (MSM261D4030H1CPM)
• Control – CNC knob with haptic feedback (DRV2605LDGSR haptic driver IC)
• USB – USB Type-C port (orientation-sensitive)
  • Reverse insertion (Type-C notch facing up) for file transfer
  • Normal insertion (Type-C notch facing down) for firmware programming.
• Power Supply
  • 5V via USB-C port
  • Optional rechargeable battery (capacity not listed)
• Power Consumption – About 1.3 Watts
• Dimensions – 66mm Ø x 22 mm
• Weight – About 160 grams

GUITION JC3636F118C-I-YR1 comes preloaded with firmware with a clock, a countdown timer, a music player, an MJPEG and AVI video player, a photo frame function, a spectrum analyzer when playing audio, Bluetooth audio, USB audio, and USB HID (knob controls the volume on your computer).

The company also mentions “secondary development in environments such as Arduino IDE, ESP-IDF, MicroPython, and GUITION” program, but the provided zip file only contains ESP-IDF 6.1.0 samples (demo firmware, LVGL-based music & MJPEG video player, Xiaozhi voice assistant) and a currently empty Arduino folder, along with basic instructions, specifications, datasheets, schematics (PDF), and tools.

The main benefits of upgrading from ESP32-S3 to ESP32-S31 in this type of hardware are the faster cores, multimedia capabilities (2D graphics engine, MJPEG decoder), a wider range of wireless options, and a 480 Mbps USB 2.0 interface. The downsides are mainly that the ESP32-S31 is rather new, so firmware is not quite as mature, and it’s slightly more expensive.

GUITION sells the new JC3636F118C-I-YR1 ESP32-S31-based rotary encoder for $40.09 on AliExpress including shipping (but not taxes) with the battery, and $38.49 without the battery. For reference, the earlier ESP32-S3-based “JC3636K518C” model goes for $39.13 on AliExpress with a battery (and I’m shown a $33.39 “SuperDeals”).

Thanks to Rob for the tip.

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Espressif Systems ESP-Mosaico is an ESP32-S31 development platform with a 480 × 480 OLED touchscreen, haptic feedback, a built-in battery, USB Type-C connectivity, and expansion I/O.

It’s specifically designed for AI <-> hardware integration and targets magnetic expansion toys, motion sensing, square touch display HMI, and edge voice/multimedia applications.

ESP-Mosaico specifications:

• CoreBoard
  • SoC – ESP32-S31NRV16
    • CPU
      • RISC-V HP (High-performance) RV32IMAFCP CPU @ 320 MHz with FPU, SIMD, etc.
      • RISC-V LP (Low-power) MCU core
    • Memory – 512 KB SRAM, 32 KB low-power SRAM, 16MB PSRAM
    • Wireless
      • 2.4 GHz WiFi 6 (802.11ax)
      • Bluetooth 5.4 with support for LE Audio, direction finding, Bluetooth Mesh 1.1, and Classic (BR/EDR)
      • 802.15.4 radio for Zigbee, Thread, and Matter
  • Storage
    • 1 Gbit (128 MB) SPI NAND flash for asset storage.
    • 16 MB (128 Mbit) SPI NOR flash (GD25Q128EWIGR) for program and data storage.
  • Display – 2.16-inch QSPI touch display with 480 x 480 resolution; CO5300 driver + CST9220 touch
  • Audio
    • NS4150B 3W mono Class-D amplifier
    • LMA2718B331 microphone connected to ES8311 low-power mono audio codec
  • USB – USB 2.0 Type-C port for power/charging and programming
  • Sensors
    • 2x 3-axis magnetometers (BMM150)
    • 6-axis accelerometer + gyroscope (BMI270)
  • Misc
    • Power, Function, and BOOT buttons
    • Charge LED
    • Vibration motor
    • 2.4 GHz chip ceramic antenna
  • Power Management
    • 5V input via USB-C port
    • TLV62569 buck converter (3.3V)
    • SY7088 boost converter
    • TP4057 Li-ion battery charger
    • BQ27220 fuel gauge
    • HE9073A33 LDO for audio codec
• BaseBoard connected over a 60-pin B2B connector to the CoreBoard
  • Audio – Onboard speaker driven by the NS4150B amplifier.
  • Expansion
    • 2x 20-pin 2.54 mm pitch headers
    • Back expansion pads with GND, BOOT, RST, RX, TX, 5V, and GND
  • Power management
    • 3.7 V / 65 mAh Li-ion battery
    • TLV62569 buck converter (3.3V)
• Dimensions – TBD

The ESP-Mosaico is advertised as a “modular” development platform, and for now, the company has designed two expansion modules:

• The Camera Module supports a 3.2 MP OV3640 sensor (PCB V1.2) or a 1MB SC101IOT sensor (PCB V1.4); both used at 1024 × 768 resolution
• The Multi-function Interaction Module features a GL5506 photoresistor, an AS312 PIR sensor, an IR LED, six WS2812 RGB LEDs, and two pads for mechanical keys or capacitive-touch channels.

Espressif explains that the Mosaico firmware enables two development approaches:

• Chat Coding through ESP-Claw – It enables users to rely on natural language to quickly build working hardware prototypes without setting up a local development environment.
• Vibe Coding through ESP-ZeroCode AI – In this mode, AI Agents handle most of the engineering workflow, including implementation, deployment, testing on physical hardware, and continuous iteration.

For some reason, there are two places for documentation. The Espressif documentation website provides more technical details about the hardware, while the ESP-Mosaico Guide includes instructions to get started with the Chat and Vibe coding mode described above.

The ESP-Mosaico has been on Taobao and third-party AliExpress stores (at inflated prices) for a couple of months, but you can now purchase the complete devkit with camera and interaction module for $59 on the Mosaico store. You’ll also find an optional $15 battery module there.

The post ESP-Mosaico – An ESP32-S31-based modular development platform for AI-assisted hardware creation appeared first on CNX Software - Embedded Systems News.

The Raytron SE5 1280 is a high-resolution uncooled infrared module designed for integration into OEM thermal imaging systems. Based on a 1280 × 1024 uncooled VOx infrared detector with a 12 μm pixel pitch, the module delivers more than 1.3 million infrared pixels in a compact form factor measuring no more than 29 × 29 × 15.7 mm and weighing less than 26 g.

1280 × 1024 VOx Detector for High-Resolution Thermal Imaging

At the core of the SE5 1280 is a 1280 × 1024 uncooled VOx infrared detector with a 12 μm pixel pitch, operating in the 8–14 μm long-wave infrared (LWIR) band.

With more than 1.3 million infrared pixels, the detector provides a substantially higher spatial resolution than conventional 640 × 512 thermal imaging configurations. This can help thermal imaging systems capture finer temperature patterns and spatial details, particularly when identifying relatively small thermal targets or distinguishing objects that are close together in the image.

The detector also offers a NETD of ≤40 mK, indicating its ability to detect relatively small differences in thermal radiation under specified test conditions. Combined with the high pixel count, the detector provides the underlying sensing capability for applications where both thermal sensitivity and image detail are important.

The SE5 1280 supports thermal imaging at up to 60 Hz, while temperature measurement can be performed at up to 30 Hz, making the module suitable for applications that require responsive thermal video as well as temperature data.

Dedicated ISP for Thermal Image Processing

The SE5 1280 uses Raytron’s LY300 dedicated infrared image processing ISP chip, which is specifically developed for Raytron’s uncooled infrared detectors.

While the detector captures infrared radiation and converts it into electrical signals, the LY300 processes the raw infrared data and converts it into a usable thermal image. The chip integrates a range of image-processing, video-processing, and temperature-analysis functions to support the requirements of uncooled thermal imaging systems.

LY300 supports resolutions of up to 1920 × 1080 at 30 fps and provides key image-processing functions including non-uniformity correction (NUC), dead-pixel correction, horizontal and vertical stripe removal, spatial and temporal noise reduction, wide dynamic range (WDR) processing, detail enhancement, edge enhancement, and brightness adjustment.

For thermal analysis, the processor supports temperature measurement and isotherm analysis. It also provides video-processing functions such as image cropping, image flipping, up to 8× continuous digital zoom, pseudo-color mapping, and OSD.

The LY300 supports multiple video and control interfaces, including DVP, MIPI, USB 2.0, VOSPI, UART, I²C, and SPI, providing flexibility for integration into different OEM thermal imaging systems.

Key LY300 Specifications

Shutterless Non-Uniformity Correction

Pixel-to-pixel response differences are an inherent characteristic of uncooled infrared detectors. Even when individual pixels receive the same infrared radiation, their electrical outputs can differ due to variations in detector materials, microstructure, and readout circuits.

Thermal detectors can also experience response changes as their operating temperature and surrounding conditions change. Non-uniformity correction is therefore required to maintain image quality during operation.

The SE5 1280 supports shutterless NUC, allowing the module to perform non-uniformity correction without relying on a mechanical shutter as the reference for periodic correction.

By reducing dependence on a mechanical shutter, this approach can be useful for applications that require continuous thermal imaging as well as compact mechanical designs with fewer moving components.

Shutterless operation does not mean that NUC is unnecessary. Instead, the correction is handled algorithmically rather than relying on a mechanical shutter event.

Compact Form Factor for OEM Integration

The SE5 1280 can be configured with 19 mm, 35 mm, 55 mm, and 75mm lens options, allowing manufacturers to select an appropriate field of view and working distance for different applications.

Commercial Drone and Aerial Imaging

The module’s compact size, low weight, and low power consumption make it suitable for UAV payloads where size, weight, and power consumption are important design constraints. Its 1280 × 1024 resolution provides detailed thermal imagery for aerial inspection, observation, and mapping applications.

Automotive and ADAS

The SE5 1280 can be integrated into automotive thermal imaging systems and ADAS applications, providing infrared sensing alongside conventional visible-light cameras. Its high-resolution thermal imaging can provide additional information in low-light and reduced-visibility conditions, complementing visible-light sensors for automotive perception.

Security and Monitoring

For security and monitoring applications, the combination of 1280 × 1024 resolution and ≤40 mK NETD enables the module to capture detailed thermal imagery and detect subtle temperature differences. This makes it suitable for fixed or mobile thermal imaging systems operating in low-light or challenging visibility conditions.

Industrial Inspection and Temperature Measurement

The module supports temperature measurement, isotherm analysis, and a range of image-processing functions, making it suitable for industrial thermal inspection and temperature monitoring. Its compact form factor also allows thermal imaging capabilities to be incorporated into space-constrained industrial equipment.

Handheld and Outdoor Imaging

The SE5 1280 combines a compact form factor, a weight of less than 26 g, and typical power consumption below 1.3 W, making it suitable for handheld thermal imaging products and portable outdoor equipment. Its multiple video interfaces also provide flexibility for integrating the module into different portable imaging platforms.

Looking Ahead in Infrared Imaging

The SE5 1280 brings together high-resolution infrared sensing and dedicated image processing in a compact OEM module, providing a practical platform for manufacturers developing thermal imaging products.

The module also reflects Raytron’s broader development of infrared imaging technologies across sensing and processing. Alongside thermal imaging modules such as the SE5 1280, Raytron is developing dedicated processing platforms including Falcon500, its third-generation infrared AI image processor, for the next generation of intelligent infrared imaging applications.

The post Raytron SE5 1280: 1280×1024 Uncooled Thermal Imaging Module for OEM Applications (Sponsored) appeared first on CNX Software - Embedded Systems News.

Earlier this month, we saw how the humble ESP32-S3 could be turned into an SDR transmitter and receiver; then we saw developer h0m3us3r release the w1700k-sdr project, which turns a Gemtek W1700K Wi-Fi 7 router into a wideband SDR receiver.

The LR2021-SDR open-source project by Samuel Reynolds (SAMS0N1TE) follows the same principle and turns the Semtech LR2021 LoRa transceiver into a software-defined radio (SDR) capable of receiving signals from 100 MHz to 2.74 GHz. Using an undocumented command in the chip’s ROM, this project exposes raw 16-bit I/Q samples, allowing software to decode P25 Phase 1 digital voice, POCSAG pager messages, and analog FM signals without an external SDR dongle.

LR2021-SDR firmware features:

• Supported hardware – Semtech LR2021 running ROM 1.24; not compatible with the SX1262 variant for raw I/Q access.
• Receive frequency range – 100 MHz to 2.74 GHz (experimentally tested), extending beyond the datasheet’s specified 150–960 MHz and 1.5–2.5 GHz bands.
• Transmission frequency range – 100 MHz to 2.74 GHz (experimentally tested), extending beyond the datasheet’s specified 150–960 MHz and 1.5–2.5 GHz bands.
• I/Q capture – 16-bit I and Q samples over SPI, with clean short captures at up to 250,000 complex samples per second
• Continuous reception – 125,000 samples/s for up to 391 seconds without reported FIFO loss or dropped sample blocks
• Signal decoding – P25 Phase 1 digital voice, POCSAG pager messages, and analog FM through LakeShark.
• Bluetooth LE – Reception of BLE 1M advertising packets on channels 37, 38, and 39 using the chip’s built-in BLE packet engine
• Recording – Raw I/Q captures for offline signal analysis, decoding, and replay, including triggered recordings with pre-trigger samples

Normally, the LR2021 handles LoRa, FSK, FLRC, and other modulation and provides decoded packets to the host processor. The LR2021-SDR project bypasses this normal operation using an undocumented ROM command that exposes the raw baseband signal. The processor can then process the I/Q samples in software, allowing it to receive signals that the chip’s standard packet interface does not directly support.

The developer tested the receiver across the 100 MHz to 2.74 GHz range using the board’s clock harmonics and separate signals generated by a HackRF One inside a shielded enclosure. The tests confirmed reception at 100 MHz, 1.3 GHz, 2.6 GHz, and 2.74 GHz. However, the measurements were performed on a single board, and the results do not establish calibrated receiver sensitivity or guarantee the same frequency coverage on other hardware.

The developer also tested continuous I/Q capture at 125,000 samples per second, with three sessions running for up to 391 seconds without reported FIFO loss or queue rejection. Short captures at up to 250,000 samples per second also worked, but higher rates of 500,000 and 1,000,000 samples per second caused FIFO overflows because the 16 MHz SPI interface could not transfer the data fast enough.

LR2021-SDR also supports experimental signal transmission, including P25 voice test signals, temperature sensor data, and OOK/FSK remote-control signals. In one test, a separate receiver successfully decoded 72 P25 voice frames and recovered the original test tone. Other tests included sending temperature sensor data received by rtl_433 and replaying remote-control signals decoded by a Flipper Zero. For now, transmission is limited to short bursts, and continuous transmission and live voice support are still under development.

LakeShark (used above) is an open-source firmware project by the same developer that turns the LilyGO T-Display P4 into a handheld SDR scanner using an external RTL-SDR dongle. With LR2021-SDR, the developer has now enabled raw I/Q capture directly from the onboard Semtech LR2021 transceiver, allowing LakeShark to receive and decode P25 voice, POCSAG pager messages, and analog FM signals without an external SDR dongle.

The project’s GitHub repository includes the GPL-3.0-licensed C library, standalone ESP32-P4 capture firmware, Python tools, build instructions, and detailed test results. Users can install LakeShark for live decoding and handheld operation or use the standalone firmware to capture I/Q samples over USB for analysis on a computer. The project remains experimental, and an LR2021-equipped board with an appropriate antenna is required.

Via Hackaday

The post Semtech LR2021 LoRa chip gets the SDR treatment, supports 100 MHz to 2.74 GHz appeared first on CNX Software - Embedded Systems News.

Linus Torvalds announced the release of Linux 7.3 on LKML last Sunday:

It’s Sunday afternoon, and this week I somehow kept my wits together long enough to keep track of the day of the week, so the release isn’t randomly delayed. Will wonders never cease?

Anyway, nothing very special seems to have happened this last week, so as expected the final 7.3 is out, and thus tomorrow the merge window for 7.4 opens. Except I’m on my annual family vacation, so instead of merging anything first thing in the morning, I’ll spend most of the day on a boat and under water. I’ll get back to merging in the afternoon, but I expect my schedule to be a bit unusual for a while.

I hope I can still complete the merge window in the usual two weeks, but it may be that I’ll end up with an extra week of merging just to catch up.

Note that that extra week doesn’t mean that I’ll accept pull requests that come in past the usual timing – the rules are still that what gets merged should be ready *before* the merge window opens, not some kind of late development *during* the merge window. So don’t try any shenanigans.

Below is the shortlog for the last week of 7.3 development. It looks fairly spread out, no real pattern to it: random fixes all over.

Linus

Released about two months ago, Linux 7.2 brought us cache-aware task scheduling for faster performance and fewer cache misses, a fair(er) GPU scheduler, USB4STREAM for streaming data with USB4, and phase IV of the swap table implementation, among other changes. Now, let’s look at Linux 7.3 with a list of key changes and a deep dive into Arm, RISC-V, and MIPS architecture changes.

Some Linux 7.3 highlights

Some notable changes to Linux 7.3 include:

• Improved VRAM management for low-end GPUs – When your GPU does not have enough VRAM (Video RAM), different applications can end up competing for VRAM. This release allows using the dmem cgroup to alleviate the situation where two applications compete for RAM. Instead of backing off immediately, the system will try evicting unprotected buffers from the domain to make space for the protected one. This ensures that applications can actually use all the memory protection awarded to them by the system, without being prone to ping-ponging. More details on pixelcluster.dev.
• Btrfs and Ext4 performance improvements
  • Btrfs regains the Direct I/O performance it lost in previous releases. For non-SSD disks, the removal of an unnecessary 1 jiffy delay during logging workloads leads to decreased latency and 5x increased throughput. fsync with the no-holes feature enabled (default since btrfs-progs 5.15) is also 5x faster.
  • Ext4 improves performance of direct I/O parallel writes and fallocate() performance, and a buffered-write regression has been fixed.
• Better FUSE io_uring performance – Linux 7.3 allows FUSE servers to pass in a buffer pool that the kernel will use for servicing requests, in a way that reduces the memory usage requirements. It also adds zero-copy to FUSE io-uring to further improve performance. Check out the official documentation for details.
• Support for cgroup sub-schedulers (sched_ext) – The implementation of sched_ext is now complete. It allows a cgroup have its processes be managed by its own BPF-based task scheduler. Different cgroups can have different BPF sub-schedulers and take different scheduling decisions. Read this LWN article for more information.

Arm updates in Linux 7.3

• Allwinner
  • Clk driver  – Some cleanups to the Allwinner clock driver library and support for the Allwinner A733 RTC clocks added.
  • Allwinner A733 – Add MMC, RTC, NMI controller support
  • Device tree changes for Linux 7.3
    • A10 – PMU interrupt number fixed
    • A100/A133 – Gains LRADC
    • Enabled overlay support for sun8i-h2-plus pi boards
    • A523 – Gains consumer IR receiver
    • H728-based X96QPRO+ TV box gets S/PDIF audio output
    • PinePhone’s mpu6050 mount orientation fixed
    • Various style fixes
  • Defconfig Arm64 – Enable the LRADC
  • New devices
    • Baijie Helper A133
    • NetCube Systems OpenNMC (dobermann)
• Rockchip
  • Clock driver
    • Clock driver for Rockchip RV1106
    • Fix for Rockchip rk3576 spi source mux
    • Better representing fractional PLL coefficients in Rockchip clk driver
    • Fix for the Rockchip dclk of the 3rd video-port to not affect other components when its rate gets changed
  • PHY – Updated Rockchip clock lane phase tuning and 2500 Mbps support and TMDS rate handling
  • Pinctrl – Added support for Rockchip RK3308B and RV1106 SoCs
  • IOMMU – Rework Rockchip state handling and fix clock, probe, and stale-fault handling
  • CAN-DF controller – Add support on RK3588
  • Watchdog – Added for RV1106
  • New devices
    • EmbedFire LubanCat 4 board (RK3588S)
    • Anbernic RG Vita-Pro game console (RK3576)
    • Vicharak Vaaman2 and Axon boards (RK3588)
    • LCKFB Taishan Pi 3M board (RK3576)
    • Orange Pi 5 Pro board (RK3588S)
    • Graperain G3568 v2 board (RK3568)
    • HINLINK/LinkStar H28K router (RK3528)
    • Youyeetoo YY3588 SBC (RK3588)
    • Alientek DLRV1126 carrier board and CLRV1126F core module (Rockchip RV1126)
    • LincStation E1
• Amlogic
  • Clock driver
    • Added Amlogic A9’s AO and peripheral clks
    • Fix the incorrect parent number of the 32k clock on Amlogic GXBB
  • Meson PCIe controller driver – Correct the PERST# GPIO state so it remains asserted until power and REFCLK become stable to fix enumeration failure
  • SoC driver – Amlogic SoC support for A1 and T7 is added
  • Amlogic drivers
    • Clock measure debugfs fixup
    • Clock measure support for Amlogic A1 & T7
  • Arm device tree – N/A
  • Arm64 device tree for Linux 7.3
    • Amlogic AXG fixups for PCIe and NAND
    • Overall indentation and whitespace fixups
    • Amlogic A9 Pinctrl & GPIO IRQ nodes
    • Clock measure nodes for Amlogic T7 & A1
  • New device – N/A
• Samsung
  • Added Samsung Exynos 1580 high-end mobile phone SoC (from 2024)
  • PHY – Samsung hdptx driver improvements for modernizing the register access and code cleanup
  • Pin control – Added Samsung Exynos 8855 SoC
  • Input
    • Updates to Samsung keypad driver to keep interrupts disabled while the device is closed, along with wakeup logic cleanups and use of pm_runtime_active guards
    • Update to Samsung SUR40 contact count based on PixelSense specification
  • Clock driver
    • Exynos990: Add few missing clocks and correct the gate clock parents in the PERIS clock controller.
    • Cleanup – Use kzalloc_flex for __counted_by checks in Samsung clk driver.
  • SoC drivers
    • Fix very old leak of OF node in PMU driver.
    • Few cleanups and new bindings for Exynos Auto v920 HSI0 syscon.
  • DTS Arm changes – Add Bluetooth to Exynos5250-based Google Manta (Nexus 10) board.
  • Samsung DTS Arm64 changes for Linux 7.3
    • New SoC Exynos8855 (market naming: Exynos 1580) – basic support with its SMDK development board.
    • ExynosAutov920: Add HSI0 syscon node.
    • Several non-functional (white-space and style) changes to match with DTS coding style as reported by recent dt-check-style tool. Goal is to get to no dt-check-style --mode strict warnings over time.
  • Defconfig changes – N/A
  • New Devices – Samsung Exynos8855 SMDK
• Qualcomm
  • New SoC – “Mysterious” Qualcomm’s Cortex-A78C-based “Shikra”
  • ASoC – Qualcomm LPASS fixes for playback constraints and WSA macro volume
  • Backlight – Qualcomm WLED: Remove redundant dev_err() calls
  • MFD
    • Qualcomm SPMI PMIC: Document PMG1110 and haptics device
    • Qualcomm TCSR: Add compatible for Hawi, Maili, and Shikra SoCs, document the IPQ9650 TCSR block
  • Thermal
    • Add Qualcomm Master BandGap thermal monitor support
    • Add Maili Temperature bindings compatible
  • Clock driver
    • Qualcomm Maili GCC, TCSR, RPMh, and video clks
    • Qualcomm Shikra GCC, RPM, GPU, display, and audio clks
    • Qualcomm Nord display and graphics clks
    • Qualcomm Glymur camera and EVA clks
    • Qualcomm Hawi video clks
  • PHY
    • Qualcomm SM8475 QMP USB PHY and PCIe PHY, IPQ9650 QMP PCIe PHY, QUSB2 PHY for Shikra SoC, Hawi support for QMP PCIe PHY and UFS PHY.
    • Glymur QMP PCIe Multi-PHY driver and multiple link-mode support, IPQ5210 PCIe PHY support
    • Qualcomm drop duplicate v8 DP headers, improved runtime handling for QMP drivers
  • Soundwire – Qualcomm SCP address paging, bus mclk_freq support. Increase of data ports to 17 and driver improvements
  • Pin control
    • Added Qualcomm Maili TLMM SoC, PMG1110 PMIC, and Eliza LPASS LPI TLMM SoC
    • Qualcomm TLMM GPIOs are unconditionally marked as wakeup capable
    • Qualcomm improvements on top of the Qualcomm PDC (power domain controller) irqchip improvements from tglx:s tree
    • Qualcomm IPQ806x and IPQ9650 non-urgent pin group fixups
  • PCIe controller driver
    • Add IPQ9650 compatible with global interrupt
    • Add IPQ5210 compatible with IPQ9574 fallback
    • Add DT binding and driver support for Hawi SoC
    • Skip PERST# GPIOs provided by downstream PCIe devices, which should be handled by drivers of those devices
    • Stop advertising Attention Button Present (no Qcom SoCs support Attention Buttons) so pciehp can use Presence Detect Changed events
  • WiFi – Qualcomm (ath12k)
    • Much kernel infrastructure integration work
    • AHB platform MultiPD support
  • IOMMU
    • ARM SMMUv2
      •  Device-tree binding updates for Qualcomm Eliza, Maili, Shikra and IPQ9650 SoCs
      • Add support for Qualcomm SM8450
    • Fix Qualcomm runtime-PM, probe unwind, fault reporting and page table initialization races
  • ASoC
    • Updates in Qualcomm driver stack
    • New platforms: Qualcomm LPI MI2S, SM8475, WSA855X
  • I2C – Added support for Qualcomm Nord SA8797P, SA8255p
  • Driver updates
    • Add Maili platform bindings for SCM, IMEM, AOSS, and PMIC GLINK. Add Shikra IMEM, RPM SMD, LLCC, and UBWC support, including handling for firmware-configured LLCC ECC interrupts.
    • Add the generic Peripheral Authentication Service with SCM and OP-TEE backends, and migrate the MSM DRM and IPA drivers to it.
    • Add SCM SMC-call tracepoints and configurable minidump delivery through always-on SRAM. Correct SCM download-mode pointer ordering and improve download-mode probe diagnostics.
    • Rework the UBWC configuration database and add Milos and Shikra configuration. Add protection-domain mappings for SA8775P and QCS8300, support newer ICE versions, Hawi subsystem statistics, and SDM850 identification.
    • Simplify Qualcomm SoC Kconfig selection and architecture dependencies.
    • Use managed resources in EBI2 and RPMh RSC probe paths to correct cleanup on failures.
    • Add SMEM parsing for DDR configuration data and use its highest bank address bit to select the appropriate UBWC configuration.
    • Enable generic PAS trusted-zone APIs for the Iris and Venus media drivers.
    • Fix SCM probe retry state, reserved-memory cleanup, and an early IRQ-handler NULL dereference. Enable QSEECOM EFI variable access on the Asus Zenbook A16.
    • Correct GENI firmware-size validation using the hardware CFG RAM depth and correct the PMIC GLINK Thunderbolt extradata layout.
    • Document the Nord AOSS side channel and the IMEM minidump SRAM property.
    • Clean up Qualcomm statistics macros and the WCNSS binding schema.
  • Arm64 device tree updates
    • Introduce DeviceTree support for the Shikra SoC, its GCC and RPM clock controllers, CQM, CQS, and IQS SoM platforms, and their evaluation boards. Document the Hawi and Maili SoCs.
    • Add the Eliza CQS SoM and EVK platforms, the QCS8550 RB5 Gen 2, Vicharak Axon Mini, HONOR MagicBook Art 14, Microsoft Surface Pro 12, Xiaomi 12 Lite, Motorola Edge 30, Sony Xperia M2, and Motorola Moto G2 device trees.
    • Extend Eliza support with USB, SD card, touchscreen, PMIC, interconnect, thermal, CPU and LLCC bandwidth-monitor, QUPv3, and ADSP GPR descriptions.
    • Expand Glymur support with GPU, camera and EVA clock controllers, LPASS audio, CoreSight, PCIe, USB, IMEM and PIL memory regions, power domains, thermal cooling, and CRD peripherals. Add SoCCP, PMIC regulator, TRNG, and CPU-capacity descriptions.
    • Add display, IPA, camera, USB, audio, crypto, TRNG, CoreSight, and thermal support to the Kaanapali, Milos, Hamoa, and related platforms. Add embedded controller support for Hamoa and Glymur boards.
    • Improve networking-platform descriptions with IPQ PCIe port, PHY, clock, PWM, regulator, and interrupt updates. Update CTCU, display, Iris, audio, camera, PCIe, USB-C, power-domain, memory-region, and thermal descriptions across established Qualcomm platforms.
    • Correct bindings and DeviceTree validation for Qualcomm compatible strings, legacy fallback compatibles, node naming and formatting, address ranges, clock specifiers, reserved memory, regulators, GPIOs, and peripheral wiring.
    • Add IPQ9574 PCIe bridge descriptions and enable PCIe0 and PCIe2 for QCN92xx Wi-Fi cards on RDP454. Align IPQ5018, IPQ6018, and IPQ8074 PCIe PHY and reset descriptions with the port-node binding.
    • Extend Shikra platform enablement with CQM and IQS SoM Wi-Fi and Bluetooth descriptions. Enable CDSP, LPAICP, and MPSS remote processors on CQM, CQS, and IQS EVKs, and add SMP2P, QUPv3, DDR bandwidth monitor, CPU frequency
      hardware, EPSS L3 interconnect, OPP tables, thermal zones, GPIO reservations, and display and GPU clock controllers.
    • Enable Eliza CQS EVK audio and add its LPASS macro and SoundWire descriptions. Add PMIC ADC support for Hamoa, Monaco, and Lemans, and ADC channel macros for the third-generation ADC block. Add minidump SRAM configurations across affected Qualcomm platforms.
    • Fix QMP PHY vdda-phy and vdda-pll supply assignments across Qualcomm platforms. Correct PCIe IOMMU mappings for QCS6490, Lemans, Monaco, Talos, SM, SC, and related boards. Fix the Glymur/Mahua PDC interrupt mapping, USB HS properties, and wakeup configuration; correct board identifiers, pin configuration, GPIO supplies, default bus frequency, and
      DT validation issues.
    • Enable the X1E80100 deepest idle state, configure SPMI ADC thermal monitoring on SM8550 and SM8650, add the Milos GPU clock controller, and assign SM8650 CCI clock rates.
  • Arm32 device tree updates
    • Add initial device tree support for the MSM8926-based Sony Xperia M2 and the MSM8226-based Motorola Moto G2 (2014).
    • Add touchscreen, Bluetooth pin configuration, NFC, and multicolor status LED support to the MSM8974-based HTC One M8 device tree.
    • Add the coreriver,tc360-touchkey compatible touchkey node to the MSM8960 Samsung ExpressATT device tree and label PM8921 XOADC channels.
    • Consolidate shared IPA properties in the SDX55 device tree.
  • Arm64 defconfig updates
    • Enable the Qualcomm reference device embedded-controller driver for Hamoa and Glymur
    • Enable the DMIC sound driver for Monaco and Lemans platforms
    • Enable the BAM-DMUX WWAN driver for Shikra and other platforms using A2 BAM hardware.
  • New Devices
    • Asus Zenbook A16 (UX3607OA)
    • Eliza CQS SoM platform and Eliza CQS EVK board
    • Vicharak Axon Mini SBC (QCS6490)
    • Motorola Moto G2 (2014 phone)
    • Sony Xperia M2
    • Microsoft Surface Pro 12in
    • Shikra IQ2390S/CQ2390M system-on-modules and EVKs
    • Xiaomi 12 Lite 5G (taoyao)
    • Motorola Edge 30 (dubai)
• MediaTek
  • MFD driver
    • MediaTek MT6397: Add mt6323 AUXADC and EFUSE support
    • MediaTek MT8195 SCP: Add support for MT8189 SoC
  • Clock driver – Add MediaTek MT8173 MFG_TOP
  • PCIe controller driver – Add support for PCIe controller in EcoNet EN7528 and EN751221 SoCs
  • PCIe Gen3 controller driver – Add mediatek-gen3 ‘memory-region’ for restricted DMA buffer
  • WiFi (mt76):
    • MT7928 support
    • MT7925 NAN support
    • MT7996 AP powersave improvements
  • SoC driver updates
    • Fix a missing error check in mtk-socinfo, and also a missing MODULE_DEVICE_TABLE() in the mtk-dvfsrc driver.
    • Rework how the MMSYS tables are specified with the macro, separating the component’s hardware instance from the actual type, resolving a prerequisite for the restructuring of mediatek-drm.
  • Arm32 updates
    • Fixes a minor indentation issue in the MT8127 device tree
    • Adds support for the Auxiliary ADC found in the MT6323 PM
  • Arm64 device tree updates for Linux 7.3
    • Indentation/whitespace fixes for some device trees
    • Documentation improvements for MediaTek Mute-X
    • dtbs-check warning fixes
      • MT8390 Tungsten boards: removal of unnecessary cells
      • MT6795 SoC: removal of deprecated property in UART DMA
    • MT6359 PMIC’s RTC now uses the correct compatible string
    • MT8183/86/88/92/95 SoCs gain support for the UART DMA IPs
    • MT8186 gets a new CCI OPP table to resolve lockups
    • MT8188/83 Chromebooks now got the correct SPI NOR supply
    • MT8192 Asurada drops support for the (unused) MMC1 port
    • MediaTek Genio 510/700/1200 EVKs and Radxa NIO-12L now get their PMIC power input tree completed with assignment of
      the correct supplies
  • Defconfig updates – N/A
  • New devices – N/A
• Other new Arm hardware platforms and SoCs
  • Altera – Cortex-A720-based Agilex72 SoC FPGA.
  • Apple – Gains support for M3 Pro, Max, and Ultra SoC (based on basic M3 support from Linux 7.2),
  • NVIDIA – Lenovo ThinkEdge SE70 desktop box (Jetson Xavier NX)
  • NXP
    • Variscite DART-MX8M PLUS module, Sonata board
    • Variscite VAR-SOM-MX8 QuadMax module, Symphony board
  • Texas Instruments
    • BeagleBadge (AM62L3)
    • Variscite VAR-SOM-AM62 and Symphony board
• Raspberry Pi-specific changes
  • V3D – Reduce PM runtime autosuspend delayThe 100ms autosuspend delay was only ever a workaround: shorter delays caused more frequent runtime suspend/resume cycles on the BCM2711 (Raspberry Pi 4), which exposed the cache and MMU coherency bugs as random GPU hangs.With those hangs resolved, the inflated delay is no longer necessary. Reduce it from 100ms to 50ms so the GPU power domain can be released sooner once the GPU goes idle.
  • VC4
    • Fix binner slot allocation failing on an idle GPU (Raspberry Pi 3 bug)
    • Use managed KMS polling to fix UAF on unbind
  • Add support for 7-inch Raspberry Pi Touch Display 2 on Toradex Versin board

RISC-V updates in Linux 7.3

There are also a healthy number of changes to the RISC-V architecture:

• Add initial definitions and discovery for the Smcsrind, Sscsrind, Smcntrpmf, Ssccfg, Smcdeleg, Zicclsm, Ziccamoa, Ziccif, Ziccrse, Za64rs, and Ssqosid RISC-V ISA extensions
• Improve the RISC-V update_mmu_cache_range() implementation by using flush-by-ASID, enabling performance improvements on
  microarchitectures that support related optimizations; and by taking advantage of the Svinval RISC-V ISA extension on microarchitectures
  that support it
• Shrink CFI shadow stack allocation further (to 512MB) to save virtual address space (and physical memory on systems with strict overcommit policies)
• Add initial CPU context switch support for QoS tagging (Ssqosid)
• Change our vector misaligned access speed test code to be synchronous, avoiding a bunch of bugs related to unnecessary asynchronicity
• Enable ARCH_HAS_ACPI_TABLE_UPGRADE for RISC-V to help with ACPI table debugging (similar to ARM64 and x86)
• Extract vDSO section offsets at build time, rather than run time, to avoid the boot time overhead
• Use assembler directives to control the use of instructions from the RISC-V ISA extensions Zacas and Zabha, rather than compiler -march
  flags that could affect the whole kernel (similar to ARM64)
• Add a kselftest for kprobes support for the c.jal instruction on RISC-V
• When UEFI runtime services are available, use them to restart and power off
• Fix ARCH_HAS_ACPI_TABLE_UPGRADE for RISC-V by adding a missing include file to the ACPI code
• Move contiguous DMA memory reservation later in the boot, to ensure that the correct global and per-node pools are allocated when
  CONFIG_CMA_SIZE_PERNUMA is enabled
• Disallow probes on breakpoint handlers to avoid recursing indefinitely into do_trap_break()
• Patch the compat vDSO during runtime alternatives processing, not only the standard vDSO
• Remove some leftover XIP support elements missed by commit 9b3a2be84803 (“riscv: Remove support for XIP kernel”)
• Fix broadcast timer switching in ACPI LPI power states by implementing a RISC-V version of arch_get_idle_state_flags()
• Miscellaneous fixes, including: vDSO makefile simplification; marking our default_power_off() as __noreturn; error path fixes in the PMU SBI perf driver; RISC-V extension capitalization consistency; the use of BIT() macros in one of our include files; and some documentation fixes
• Alibaba T-Head (TH1520)
  • DRM – th1520-dw-hdmi
    • Fix error check on dw_hdmi_probe() return value
    • Fix remove() callback
  • PWM – Use vertical import style
  • Device tree – Set of changes for the remaining IO expansion chips on the TH1520-based LicheePi 4a board.
• Canaan/Kendryte
  • Added K230 RISC-V-based 64-bit AI SoC, based on the earlier K210 chip
  • Initial support for CanMV-K230 and K230-EVB
• Microchip – Hwmon – PolarFire SoC temp/voltage sensor
• Sophgo
  • SG2000 is a mixed Arm/RISC-V chip that was already supported using the Arm core but is now also added for RISC-V along with
    several other variants of the cv18xx series
  • Device tree
    • Initial support for Milk-V Duo S (SG2000) and Duo 256M (SG2002) boards
    • Allow DMA multiplexer setting channel number for DMA controller
•  Spacemit
  • Thermal control –  Add a devm action to clean hardware interrupts, sampling, and control registers on Spacemit K1
  • PHY – Spacemit USB3/PCIe comb PHY driver
  • PCIe controller driver – Add missing MODULE_DEVICE_TABLE() to generate module alias info for OF-based module autoloading
  • Clock driver
    • Add clock for SpacemiT UFS controller
    • Add SpacemiT I2S clock and fixes
  • Device tree changes
    • K3 SoC
      • Enable SD card support
      • Enable QSPI
      • Fix reset delay of ETH PHY
      • Fix PHY ID of ETH
      • Symbolic PDAM ID
      •  Add SPI controller support
      • Add USB and PHY support
      • Add I2S nodes
    • K1 SoC
      • Symbolic PDAM ID
      • Enable cpufreq support
      • Fix max CPU core voltage
    • K3 boards
      • Pico-ITX
        • Enable ALDPS on RTL8211F PHY
        • Disable 125MHz clock on RTL8211F PHY
        • Enable NOR flash
        • Add EEPROM support
      • CoM260 module –  Add EEPROM support
    • K1 boards
      • Milk-V Jupiter – Enable CPU DVFS
      • Initial support for Banana Pi BPI-CM6 and IO board
      • Orange Pi R2S – Enable PCIe
•  StarFive
  • PCIe controller driver
    • Fix resource leaks on error paths in host_init()
    • Fix runtime PM handling and teardown ordering to avoid register access while power or clocks are disabled
    • Check for runtime PM resume failure to avoid register access while power or clocks are disabled
  • SPI – Add support for StarFive JHB100 SFC (SPI Flash Controller)
  • Device tree – Add bindings for StarFive JHB100 PLIC

MIPS changes

As usual, there are just a few MIPS updates:

• Switch GPIO code to use swnodes
• Rework of TXX9 GPIO code
• Enable multi-VPE for econet
• Cleanups and fixes

Full list:

• mips: dts: econet: Describe dual-VPE 34Kc processor
• mips: econet: add multi-vpe capability to EN751221
• MIPS: ptrace: Fix syscall skipping via PTRACE_SYSCALL
• mips: remove dead select
• MIPS: BCM47XX: Convert buttons to software nodes
• ssb: gpio: Add and register software node for GPIO controller
• bcma: gpio: Add and register software node for GPIO controller
• MIPS: ip22-gio: Drop #include of <linux/mod_devicetable.h>
• MIPS: TXX9: Clean up txx9_iocled_init()
• MIPS: TXX9: Convert gpio_txx9 to dynamic GPIO base allocation
• MIPS: TXX9: Drop GPIOLIB_LEGACY select
• MIPS: TXX9: Use GPIO lookup table for iocled LEDs
• MIPS: TXX9: Reduce TXX9_IOCLED_MAXLEDS to 3
• MIPS: TXX9: rbtx4927: Use GPIO lookup table for TXx9 LEDs
• MIPS: TXX9: rbtx4927: Use GPIO lookup table for SIO DTR
• MIPS: TXX9: Remove txx9_7segled_*() forward declarations
• MIPS: TXX9: Remove tx4938_spi_init() and txx9_spi_init()
• MIPS: kernel: proc: Use two seq_putc() calls in show_cpuinfo()

There were 18,765 non-merge commits in total, of which 1,920 had the “Assisted-by” tag, meaning about 10% of commits to the Linux kernel were assisted by AI agents, or at least AI usage was voluntary reported for these commits. The “Assisted-by” tag requirement will go away in the next releases.

You can check out a more detailed Linux 7.3 changelog, generated with comments only, using the command git log v7.2..v7.3-rc7 --stat. Alternatively, you can also read the changelog on Kernelnewbies.

The post Linux 7.3 release – Main Changes, Arm, RISC-V, and MIPS architectures appeared first on CNX Software - Embedded Systems News.

BIOSTAR BIWCL-PAT is a 3.5-inch industrial SBC built around the Intel Core Series 3 “Wildcat Lake” SoC family, ranging from the Core 3 304 to the Core 7 360.

The board supports up to 64GB DDR5-6400 memory, three independent displays, and dual 2.5GbE networking. It also features three M.2 slots for NVMe storage, Wi-Fi/Bluetooth, and 4G/5G cellular connectivity, along with USB 3.2 ports, four serial interfaces, and an 8-bit digital I/O header. The compact 148 x 102mm form factor makes it suitable for industrial automation, edge computing, AIoT, human-machine interfaces (HMI), and POS/kiosk applications.

BIOSTAR BIWCL-PAT specifications:

• Wildcat Lake SoC (one or the other)
  • Intel Core 3 304 penta-core CPU with 1x P core @ 1.5 GHz / 4.3 GHz (Turbo) and 4x LPE cores, 1-core Intel Xe3 Graphics @ 2.3 GHz; TDP: 15W
  • Intel Core 3 305 hexa-core CPU with 2x P cores @ 1.5 GHz / 4.3 GHz (Turbo) and 4x LPE cores, 1-core Intel Xe3 Graphics @ 2.3 GHz; TDP: 15W
  • Intel Core 5 315 hexa-core CPU with 2x P cores @ 1.5 GHz / 4.4 GHz (Turbo) and 4x LPE cores, 2-core Intel Xe3 Graphics @ 2.3 GHz; TDP: 15W
  • Intel Core 5 320 hexa-core CPU with 2x P cores @ 1.5 GHz / 4.6 GHz (Turbo) and 4x LPE cores, 2-core Intel Xe3 Graphics @ 2.5 GHz; TDP: 15W
  • Intel Core 5 330 hexa-core CPU with 2x P cores @ 1.5 GHz / 4.6 GHz (Turbo) and 4x LPE cores, 2-core Intel Xe3 Graphics @ 2.5 GHz; TDP: 15W
  • Intel Core 7 350 hexa-core CPU with 2x P cores @ 1.5 GHz / 4.8 GHz (Turbo) and 4x LPE cores, 2-core Intel Xe3 Graphics @ 2.6 GHz; TDP: 15W
  • Intel Core 7 360 hexa-core CPU with 2x P cores @ 1.5 GHz / 4.8 GHz (Turbo) and 4x LPE cores, 2-core Intel Xe3 Graphics @ 2.6 GHz; TDP: 15W
  • NPU – 15–17 TOPS, except Core 3 305 which has none
• Memory – DDR5-6400 SO-DIMM slot supporting up to 64GB RAM
• Storage – M.2 M-key 2242/2280 socket with PCIe 4.0 x2 for NVMe SSD
• Display
  • HDMI 2.1 up to 3840×2160
  • DisplayPort 1.4 up to 4096×2160
  • LVDS via internal header up to 1920×1200 (with 3.3V/5V/12V selection and LVDS inverter header)
  • Triple independent display support
• Audio
  • Realtek ALC897 w/ ALC105 audio codec
  • Support for 4-ohm 2W amplifier
  • Internal headers for Mic-in, Line-out, Line-in, and Speaker-out
  • Onboard buzzer
• Networking
  • Dual 2.5GbE RJ45 ports via Intel i226-LM and Intel i226-V controllers
  • Optional WiFi and Bluetooth via M.2 E-Key module
  • Optional 4G LTE/5G via M.2 B-Key module and Nano SIM card slot
• USB
  • 2x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A ports (rear)
  • 2x USB 2.0 Type-A ports (rear)
  • 2x USB 2.0 interfaces via internal header
• Serial
  • 2x RS232 via internal box headers
  • 2x RS232/422/485 via internal box headers (with RI/5V/12V voltage selection)
• Expansion
  • M.2 B-Key 3042/3052 socket (PCIe 4.0 x1 + USB 3.2) with SIM slot
  • M.2 M-Key 2242/2280 socket (PCIe 4.0 x2)
  • M.2 E-Key 2230 socket (PCIe 4.0 x1 + USB 2.0)
  • 8-bit DIO header (3.3V/5V selectable)
• Security – Onboard TPM 2.0
• Misc
  • Onboard Power LED for APCI power status
  • RTC battery header
  • IT8786E-I Super I/O controller
  • LCD brightness and volume control header
  • CPU PWM fan connector
  • Clear CMOS and front-panel headers
  • I2C and SMBus headers
  • 5-pin header for Volume UP/DOWN & LCD Brightness UP/DOWN
• Power Supply
  • 9V to 24V DC input via 2-pin Phoenix terminal block or 4-pin box header
  • AT/ATX power select header
• Dimensions – 148 x 102 x 1.6 mm (3.5-inch SBC form factor)
• Temperature– Operating: 0°C to 60°C; Humidity: 5% ~ 90%

The SBC is compatible with Windows 11 IoT Enterprise 24H2 or later and Ubuntu 24.04. BIOSTAR provides a user manual and Windows 11 x64 drivers on its product page, including chipset, Intel Management Engine, graphics, LAN, audio, Serial IO, and NPU drivers. Additional downloads include Intel Dynamic Tuning Technology, Innovation Platform Framework (IPF), Smart Sound Technology (SST), and Platform Monitoring Technology (PMT) drivers.

Previously, we wrote about the Advantech MIO-5356, another 3.5-inch Wildcat Lake SBC with up to 64GB DDR5 memory, triple-display support, and M.2 expansion. We also covered the ASRock Industrial NUC 300 series, which offers similar processors, dual 2.5GbE, and DDR5-6400 memory in a smaller form factor, and AAEON recently introduced the even smaller, credit card-sized UP-WCL industrial SBC. The BIOSTAR BIWCL-PAT differentiates itself with four serial interfaces, LVDS display support, and three dedicated M.2 slots for storage and wireless connectivity.

BIOSTAR has not announced pricing or availability details for the BIWCL-PAT 3.5-inch Wildcat Lake SBC. Additional details are available on the product page (note: a PDF is automatically downloaded if you can on that link…) and in the press release.

The post BIOSTAR BIWCL-PAT – A 3.5-inch industrial Wildcat Lake SBC with dual 2.5GbE, triple display support appeared first on CNX Software - Embedded Systems News.

Axera AX8860P is a new 16-core Cortex-A55 SoC with up to 128 TOPS/256 TOPS (FP4) NPU, 256-bit LPDDR5/5X memory, and PCIe 5.0 connectivity, aiming to power desktop AI solutions competing with NVIDIA DGX Spark at a fraction of the cost.

Dr. Qiu Xiaoxin, founder and CEO of Axera, unveiled the new AX8860/AX8860P processor a few days ago at the China International Industrial Fair, along with upcoming products from Sipeed and Radxa.

Axera AX8860P key features and specifications:

• CPU – 16x Arm Cortex-A55 processor
• AI – Up to 256 TOPS
• VPU – 64-channel decode, 16-channel encode
• Memory – Up to 128GB 256-bit LPDDR5x with 273GB/s bandwidth
• Interconnect – PCIe 5.0 + AXLink (C2C) cascading with 80% efficiency for multi-chip cards and systems
• Power Consumption – About 40 Watts under load
• Package – 78 × 78 mm module
• Process – 6nm

The AX8860P SoC is said to support vLLM, SGLang, PyTorch, ONNX, Hugging Face formats, OpenAI-compatible APIs, and Axera’s toolchain. Some documentation is already available showing how to convert a MobileNetV2 ONNX model into an “axmodel” running on the Axera chip.

In terms of hardware, Radxa will introduce a “Pocket Supercomputer” powered by the AX8860P SoC, but has yet to provide details since it’s still a few months away.

Sipeed also has a few AX8860P PCIe cards on the way (with up to four chips with the MaixBlade), and a MaixStation mini AI computer for which we have more details, and you can even reserve one.

MaixStation specifications:

• SoC – Axera AX8860P described above
• System Memory – 32GB or 128GB LPDDR5x
• Host interface
  • USB 3.0 Type-C port connected to a laptop
  • 10GbE SFP+ cage connected to the local network
• Misc
  • Power button
  • Ethernet/USB-C mode switch
• Power Supply – 65W USB PD via USB Type-C port
• Power Consumption – 40W typical
• Dimensions – 110 x 110 x 30 mm

A single 32GB node can run Qwen3.8‑27B, a single 128GB node supports Qwen3.8‑Flash‑Next 125B, a dual node with 256 GB RAM can handle DeepSeek V4‑Flash 284B, and a quad-node (Maixstation Pro) with 512GB manages DeepSeek V4.1‑Flash 552B.

Sipeed also shared Qwen benchmarks comparing the MaixStation 128GB to the DGX Spark 128GB. The numbers show it’s only slightly faster, but they expect further optimization will widen the gap.

The company explains that “256 TOPS” beats the “1,000 TOPS” advertised by NVIDIA because the latter is sparse FP4, which real models can’t use, while Dense is around 500 on paper, but Spark only puts a small slice of it to work, while MaixStation makes better use of its 256 TOPS.

The bandwidth is the same for both systems at 273 GB/s, but Axera AX8860P is said to implement architecture improvements to “keep more of those 273 GB/s busy”. Finally, MTP (speculative decoding) is turned off in the benchmarks above for side-by-side comparison.

The NVIDIA DGX Spark was first unveiled in March 2025 for $3,000 to $4,000, but since then, price increases have kicked in, and it sells now for $6,949.99. While the MaixStation is not for sale now, the company says the 32GB model will go for under $2000 and the 128GB model for under $4000, let’s make that $3,999… Daisy-chaining more than two systems is also much cheaper on the MaixStation since you only need a cable, but a $4000 200G/400G switch for the NVIDIA systems.

Sipeed will launch it on Kickstarter in a few months and invites users to pay a $30 reservation fee to get 100 off once the crowdfunding campaign starts. You’ll find more technical details and the reservation link on the product page.

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M5Stack has released the PaperDIY series, an updated version of its 2020 M5Paper ESP32 development kit, featuring an ESP32-S3 MCU and a 4.7-inch e-paper display with 16 levels of gray.

It comes in two versions: the PaperDIY Complete Kit, which ships factory-assembled in a 3D-printed enclosure, and the PaperDIY Assembly Kit, which is designed to be integrated into custom projects. Both boards also include a microSD card slot for extended storage, a built-in 140mAh battery, and a custom M5PM1 low-power management chip.

M5Stack PaperDIY specifications:

• Core module – Espressif Systems ESP32-S3-WROOM-1-N16R8
  • SoC – ESP32-S3
    • CPU – Dual-core LX7 processor with up to 240MHz
    • Memory – 512KB SRAM, 8MB Octal PSRAM
    • Storage – 384KB ROM
    • Wireless – WiFi 4 802.11b/g/n and Bluetooth 5.0 LE
  • Storage – 16MB flash
  • PCB antenna
• Storage – MicroSD card slot
• Display – 4.7-inch (960 × 540) ED047TC1 e-paper display with 16-level grayscale and an 8-bit parallel interface for direct display control, protected by an acrylic screen pressure plate
• USB – USB Type-C port for power and programming
• Expansion – 2x FPC 0.5mm 12-pin interfaces (exposing I2S and SPI signals)
• Misc
  • 1x Power Button
    • Single click (Power on / Reset
    • Double click (Power off)
    • Long press (Enter download mode)
  • 2x User Buttons
• Power
  • 5V via USB Type-C port
  • 5V power pads
  • Built-in 140mAh, 3.7V lithium battery with SH1.0-2P connector
  • M5PM1 power management IC (monitors battery, USB voltage, controls e-paper boost circuit)
  • Consumption – 40.95mA @ 4.2V, with peaks up to 161mA
• Dimensions and weight
  • Assembly Kit – 115.3 × 62.5 × 5.5 mm; 26.4 grams
  • Complete Kit – 120 × 68.2 × 6.3 mm; 43.1 grams; 3D-printed (PLA) enclosure
• Temperature – 0°C to 40°C

On the software side, M5Stack supports Arduino IDE and provides the M5Unified and M5GFX libraries for hardware and display control, along with a separate M5PM1 library for power management. The company also provides factory firmware source code based on ESP-IDF, which also includes examples for battery monitoring, Wi-Fi scanning, microSD card access, and button operation. M5Stack mentions that it currently supports flashing via M5Stack’s WebBurner, but it does not mention UiFlow graphical programming support yet. Additional resources, including schematics, pin mappings, datasheets, and enclosure design files, are available in the documentation.

As mentioned earlier, the original M5Paper was released back in 2020 with a similar 4.7-inch grayscale e-paper display, touchscreen support, sensors, and a larger battery, but it was built around a generic ESP32. The new PaperDIY drops the touchscreen and sensors but upgrades to an ESP32-S3. We have also seen a similar product from LILYGO, the T5 4.7-inch E-Paper S3 Pro, which uses the same ED047TC1 display and ESP32-S3 but features different expansion options, including an optional 18650 battery holder.

Crucial Screw Warning: The documentation includes a “Screw Specification Note” for the Complete Kit’s M2 mounting holes: Screws must have a thread length of less than 3mm. Using longer screws will press against the e-paper display and permanently damage it.

The M5Stack PaperDIY Assembly Kit is available on AliExpress and the company’s official store for $25. The Complete Kit costs $29.90 on the official store, but is currently out of stock.

The post M5Stack PaperDIY Kits pair an ESP32-S3 MCU with a 4.7-inch e-Paper display appeared first on CNX Software - Embedded Systems News.

Seeed Studio has introduced the XIAO IPS touch display series, a family of six compact development boards built around the XIAO ESP32-S3 Plus or XIAO nRF52840 Plus MCU, with 0.96-inch, 1.14-inch, and 1.47-inch IPS color displays.

All six boards include a 6-axis IMU, a PDM digital microphone, user buttons, and LiPo battery support. The larger 1.47-inch version adds capacitive touch and a microSD card slot, whereas the 1.14-inch model includes a Grove I2C connector for connecting external sensors. The ESP32-S3 versions support Wi-Fi and Bluetooth LE connectivity, while the nRF52840 models focus on lower-power Bluetooth LE applications. The boards are designed for portable dashboards, smart home controllers, wearable devices, sensor monitoring, and other small IoT projects.

XIAO IPS Display Series specifications:

• Wireless board (one or the other)
  • XIAO nRF52840 Plus
    • Wireless MCU –  Nordic nRF52840 Arm Cortex-M4F microcontroller @ up to 64 MHz with 1 MB flash, 256 KB SRAM, Bluetooth 5.0, NFC, 802.15.4 connectivity
    • Storage – 2 MB onboard Flash
    • Wireless Connectivity – Bluetooth 5.4 (BLE), 802.15.4, and NFC
    • Antenna – Ceramic antenna
    • USB – USB 2.0 Type-C for power supply and console
  • XIAO ESP32S3 Plus
    • SoC – Espressif ESP32-S3R8
      • CPU – Dual-core Tensilica LX7 microcontroller up to 240 MHz with vector instructions for AI acceleration
      • Memory – 8MB PSRAM
      • Wireless – WiFi 4 and Bluetooth 5.0 LE + Mesh connectivity
    • Storage – 16MB SPI flash, MicroSD card socket
    • Antennas – IPEX1 antenna for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth
    • USB – USB 2.0 Type-C for power supply and console
• Storage – MicroSD card slot (1.47-inch model only)
• Display
  • 1.47-inch – 172 × 320 resolution (JD9853A driver) and capacitive touch support
  • 1.14-inch – 135 × 240 resolution (ST7789 driver); no touch
  • 0.96-inch – 80 × 160 resolution (ST7789 driver); no touch
  • Interface – SPI
• Audio – Onboard PDM digital microphone
• Sensors – Onboard 6-axis IMU (LSM6DS3) for motion sensing, orientation, and wake-on-motion
• Expansion
  • I2C and I2S interfaces through expansion pads (1.14-inch model only)
  • Additional GPIO access through expansion pads
• Debug interface – JTAG (ESP32-S3) or SWD (nRF52840)
• Misc
  • Physical slide power switch (ON/OFF)
  • 2x push buttons (1.47-inch and 0.96-inch variants only)
  • 3x push buttons (1.14-inch variant only)
  • Exposed user-button pads (1.47-inch and 1.14-inch variants only)
  • Touch interrupt and motion detection support
• Power Supply
  • 5V via USB-C port
  • 3.7V LiPo battery through a 2-pin JST connector
  • Battery voltage monitoring on both controller variants
  • Battery status detection on nRF52840 models
• Power Consumption (Active, not deep sleep)
  • 0.96-inch –  ESP32-S3: 159.76mA; nRF52840: 28.69mA
  • 1.14-inch – ESP32-S3: 160.05mA; nRF52840: 39.07mA
  • 1.47-inch –  ESP32-S3: 130.53mA; nRF52840: 83.32mA
• Dimensions
  • 1.47-inch – 26.4 × 51.4 × 12.6 mm
  • 1.14-inch – 26 × 48 × 10.6 mm
  • 0.96-inch – 18.8 × 43.6 × 10.6 mm

So the main difference between the two variants is wireless connectivity and power consumption. The ESP32-S3 Plus variant features Wi-Fi connectivity, making it suitable for connected dashboards, smart home controllers, and IoT applications. The nRF52840 Plus variant supports BLE connectivity and lower power consumption, making it better suited for battery-powered wearables and portable devices.

On the software side, the boards can be programmed using the Arduino IDE. Seeed Studio provides getting-started guides, display examples, and demonstrations for the microphone, IMU, buttons, battery monitoring, and MicroSD storage. The ESP32-S3 version uses the Seeed_GFX2 graphics library, with examples for drawing graphics, touch input, displaying BMP images from a microSD card, recording audio, and motion-based interactions. Additional documentation, including schematics, KiCad design files, 3D models, and factory firmware, is also available through the Wiki. Finally, a free 3D-printable case designed by community member Gokul is also available.

We have previously written about plenty of small display development boards, including Seeed’s own Round Display for XIAO, the XIAO ePaper DIY Kit based on the same nRF52840 Plus, but it drives an e-ink panels, theres also Waveshare’s ESP32-S3-LCD-1.28 and ESP32-S3-Touch-LCD-1.47 boards, Makerfabs’ ESP32-S3 Round SPI TFT 1.28-inch, and similar RP2350/ESP32-C6 1.28–1.47-inch LCD kits. Compared to all of that, the XIAO IPS Display series is a little different, as it combines a pre-soldered XIAO nRF52840 Plus with a rectangular IPS display in 0.96-, 1.14-, and 1.47-inch sizes, plus onboard IMU and battery support.

The Seeed Studio XIAO IPS display series is available for $11.99 to $20.33 on AliExpress, as well as on the Seeed Studio Store for $15.90 to $19.90.

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After a successful campaign for Xerxes Pi back in 2025, Rapid Analysis has returned with a Xerxes Home Lab ecosystem that includes the Xerxes Pi 2026 and Xerxes Nano carrier board. The upgrade includes M.2 NVMe storage support on the bottom of the board, an I2S Qwiic connector for digital audio, and added debug and boot jumper pins for easier headless deployment.

Designed for home labs, edge AI developers, and small businesses, the Xerxes Pi 2026 supports Raspberry Pi CM4/CM5 and other CM modules, Gigabit Ethernet, optional PoE+, and CSI/HDMI expansion. The larger Xerxes Nano supports NVIDIA Jetson Orin Nano and Turing RK1 modules, adding M.2 PCIe, OCuLink, and SPI/UART connectivity. Both boards support active cooling and compact 1U rack installations.

Xerxes Pi 2026

Xerxes Pi 2026 specifications:

• Supported SoMs – Raspberry Pi CM4, CM5, and compatible alternatives via 2x 100-pin high-density mezzanine connectors
• Storage
  • M.2 M-key PCIe Gen 2 x1 socket for NVMe SSDs (underneath)
  • MicroSD slot for compute modules without eMMC
• Networking – Broadcom BCM54210PE Gigabit Ethernet RJ45 port with optional PoE/PoE+
• USB – USB Type-C for power and compute-module boot/recovery operations
• Expansion
  • SH-series Qwiic connector for I2C and I2S peripherals
  • Mezzanine expansion connector breaking out CSI and HDMI signals
• Debugging – Dedicated SH-series serial debug connector for headless setup
• Misc
  • Boot jumper pin (for easy OS flashing/recovery)
  • PoE-to-USB power selection jumper
  • Standard PWM fan connector
  • Power, activity, and network status LEDs
• Supply – 5V via USB Type-C or PoE
• Dimensions – 120 x 40 mm (fits vertically in 1U rack)

Xerxes Nano carrier board

For more demanding AI workloads, the company has also introduced the bigger Xerxes Nano for NVIDIA Jetson Orin Nano Super (up to 16GB memory) and Turing RK1 (up to 32GB RAM) modules. It also includes an OCuLink connector for connecting external GPUs and other PCIe devices.

Xerxes Nano specifications:

• Supported SoMs – NVIDIA Jetson Orin Nano / Turing RK1
• Storage – M.2 PCIe Gen 3 supports up to three PCIe Gen 3 lanes (under the module)
• Networking
  • Gigabit Ethernet RJ45 port with PoE
  • SFP+ cage
• Expansion
  • OCuLink connector for compatible external PCIe hardware
  • SPI and UART interfaces
  • I²C and I²S interfaces for sensors, displays, and audio peripherals
• Misc
  • PWM fan connector
  • USB-to-PoE power jumper
• Power – USB power or optional PoE, selectable through a jumper
• Dimensions – 120 x 60 mm (half Nano-ITX, fits horizontally in 1U or vertically in 1.5U)

The OCuLink interface can be used to connect compatible external GPUs, AI accelerators, or other PCIe devices, although support depends on the connected compute module, drivers, and power requirements.

Software support, open-source hardware

The boards can run operating systems supported by their respective compute modules, including Raspberry Pi OS, Ubuntu Server, and NVIDIA JetPack. You can also run Docker, Home Assistant, Immich, Open WebUI, and other self-hosted applications. Rapid Analysis has also developed the open-source Xerxes Home Lab management tool, currently available for macOS, with Windows and Linux versions planned. The macOS app can discover devices over SSH, monitor system information such as RAM, disk usage, and fan speed, manage Docker containers, and handle SSH keys. The company also provides KiCad hardware design files for the Xerxes Pi 2026  on GitHub, as well as hardware documentation.

The company also offers 3D-printable rack and enclosure designs including a 1U rack that holds one Xerxes Nano and four Xerxes Pi 2026 boards. Other options include single-board enclosures, 6-slot mini racks, and 12-slot 19-inch racks.

Upcoming Xerxes Compute Module X

The company also talks about the Xerxes Compute Module X, an upcoming Raspberry Pi CM5 alternative with a Rockchip RK3566 quad-core Cortex-A55 processor with an integrated 1 TOPS NPU for lightweight edge AI, and 8GB of RAM. The company calls it a “Lite” because it removes onboard Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and eMMC storage; instead, it uses Ethernet and external storage such as microSD or NVMe through a compatible carrier board.

When I asked Dr. Rob Newport, founder and chief engineer of Rapid Analysis, for photos and additional details, he replied:

I’d like to keep the CM photos and details confidential at this time. The reason is that it will be using a novel design to mount and rework the memory on the CM to keep costs down. We will be open-sourcing the CM, but we don’t want larger companies scooping up this innovation before we complete our Kickstarter and send out rewards.

Kickstarter campaign and price information

The Xerxes Home Lab campaign is currently live on Kickstarter and has already surpassed its $6,996 USD ($10,000 AUD) funding goal. Rewards start at $49 USD for the Gadgeteer package, which includes one Xerxes Pi 2026 carrier board, PoE accessories, heatsinks, and an enclosure. The Ultimate Home Lab package costs $280 USD and includes six Xerxes Pi boards with a mini rack, while the Agentic AI Studio package costs the same and includes one Xerxes Nano, four Xerxes Pi boards, and a rack. The twelve-board Ultimate Enterprise package costs about $559 US. The 8GB Xerxes Compute Module X is offered as an add-on for about $100 US, with estimated shipping in December 2026.

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The post Xerxes Pi 2026 and Xerxes Nano carrier boards offer NVMe, PoE, and OCuLink for Raspberry Pi and Jetson modules (Crowdfunding) appeared first on CNX Software - Embedded Systems News.

Just a few days ago, we wrote about the ESP-SDR project, which turned an ESP32 into an SDR receiver (and now SDR transmitter), but the data was streamed over UART, which couldn’t keep up with the sample rate. Now, developer h0m3us3r has released w1700k-sdr, also an open-source project that turns a Gemtek W1700K Wi-Fi 7 router into a wideband SDR receiver.

The project uses the router’s built-in MediaTek MT7996 radio to capture raw 14-bit I/Q samples at up to 320 MSps across the 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, and 6 GHz bands. The captured data is then streamed over a 10 GbE connection using the router’s Airoha AN7581 SoC to a Linux computer, where you can view the live spectrum and waterfall in a browser. To make this work, the project replaces the router’s stock firmware with a custom Linux system and radio firmware, allowing it to capture raw I/Q data instead of processing normal Wi-Fi traffic.

W1700K SDR features and specifications:

• Supported hardware – Gemtek W1700K (HW 1.x) and W1700K2 (HW 2.1) Wi-Fi 7 routers
  • SoC – Airoha AN7581 with a quad-core Arm Cortex-A53 processor
  • Radio – MediaTek MT7996 Wi-Fi 7 chipset connected over PCIe
    • MT7976 RF front end for 2.4 GHz
    • Two MT7977 RF front ends for 5 GHz and 6 GHz
  • Memory – 2GB DRAM, including a 1 GiB DMA ring buffer for captured samples
• SDR reception
  • Bands – 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, and 6 GHz
  • Sample resolution – 14-bit I/Q samples
  • Sample rates – 40, 80, 160, and 320 MSps across all three bands
  • Additional 640/2 sampling mode on band 2, with aliasing limitations
  • Tuning – Continuous LO tuning within supported synthesizer ranges, with retuning during streaming
  • RF controls – Automatic gain control (AGC), manual LNA/baseband gain, and 20–320 MHz analog filtering
• Streaming – Zero-copy UDP streaming over 10 GbE with lossless sample packing at the highest rate

The project uses lossless sample packing and buffering to handle continuous high-speed I/Q streaming. At 320 MSps, the radio produces around 1.28 GB/s of data when each complex sample is stored in 32 bits, which exceeds the usable bandwidth of a single 10 GbE connection.

To solve this, the firmware packs half of the data chunks into a smaller 28-bit-per-complex-sample format without losing information. The samples are transferred to a 1 GiB ring buffer in the router’s memory and then sent to the host using UDP. With this approach, the developer mentions that the connection reaches around 9.75 Gbit/s. Unlike ESP-WebSDR, which captures short I/Q snapshots and can miss signals between capture windows, W1700K-SDR supports continuous I/Q streaming without these capture gaps.

The project uses custom firmware for the MT7996, including a ROM patch and separate WM and WA firmware. The developer reverse-engineered MediaTek’s radio initialization and calibration procedures by tracing register operations, then implemented the required functions without loading MediaTek’s proprietary firmware. The receiver supports changing frequency, gain, filter settings, and switching bands while streaming. Changing the sample rate currently requires stopping and restarting the stream.

The host software also includes a “flatten” option that corrects the frequency-response roll-off introduced by the radio’s decimation filters. This helps maintain a more even spectrum display near the edges of the captured bandwidth. You can control the receiver from the browser or use command-line tools to change settings and record I/Q data for further processing.

To get started, you need a compatible W1700K or W1700K2 router, a 3.3V USB-to-serial adapter, an Ethernet connection to the router’s LAN3 port for installation, and a Linux computer with a 10 GbE NIC connected to the router’s WAN port. The Gemtek W1700K is also known as the Quantum Fiber W1700K Wi-Fi 7 router. If you are unsure whether you own the right version, hungvu.tech has a teardown with board images.

The repository provides build scripts, installation tools, and instructions for backing up the original NAND flash. After installation, the spectrum viewer can be accessed through a browser at port 8073. Most of the code is released under the MIT license, while certain kernel, bootloader, and driver components are under GPL and BSD licenses.

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HPMicro has introduced the HPM5100 series, a family of 32-bit RISC-V mixed-signal MCUs, starting with the HPM5151 parts. It features a 400 MHz RISC-V processor, 416 KB SRAM, 1 MB flash, four 16-bit ADCs, four operational amplifiers, and four analog comparators.

It also includes a high-speed USB 2.0 OTG interface with an integrated PHY, CAN FD, multiple UART/SPI/I2C interfaces, and 32 PWM channels for motor control. The chip supports hardware floating-point operations and DSP instructions, while the integrated analog peripherals reduce the need for external ADCs and signal-conditioning circuits.

HPMicro HPM5100 specifications:

• MCU core – Single-core 32-bit RISC-V processor @ 400 MHz (up to 480 MHz in high-performance mode with external power supply)
  • Hardware FPU, SIMD, and DSP instruction support
  • 16 KB L1 instruction cache and 16 KB L1 data cache
  • Up to 3.57 CoreMark/MHz
• Memory
  • 416 KB SRAM
  • 256 KB instruction local memory (ILM)
  • 128 KB data local memory (DLM)
  • 32 KB AHB SRAM
• Storage
  • 1 MB SiP flash
  • 128 KB Boot ROM and 4 Kbit OTP memory
  • XPI interface supporting external serial NOR/NAND flash, HyperFlash, HyperRAM, and PSRAM
• Analog peripherals
  • 4x 16-bit SAR ADCs at up to 2 MSPS, configurable to 12-bit resolution at up to 4 MSPS, with support for differential inputs
  • 4x operational amplifiers configurable as programmable gain amplifiers (PGA)
  • 4x analog comparators with internal 12-bit DAC reference generation
• USB – 1x USB 2.0 high-speed OTG interface with integrated PHY
• CAN Bus – 1x CAN controller supporting CAN FD at up to 8 Mbps
• Other interfaces
  • 5x UART, 4x SPI, 3x I2C
  • 2x I2S interfaces (not available on the QFN32 variant)
  • Up to 79x GPIO
• Security – Secure boot, JTAG protection, 128-bit unique ID, and AES-128 CTR encrypted execution from external NOR flash
• Misc
  • 4x 8-channel PWM modules (32 channels total)
  • 3x general-purpose timer modules, each containing four 32-bit counters
  • 3x watchdog timers
  • Trigger routing and synchronization peripherals
  • 2x 32-channel DMA controllers
• Power
  • 3.0V to 3.6V main supply
  • Selectable 1.8V/3.3V I/O banks
  • Integrated LDO regulators and low-power wait, stop, and shutdown modes
• Package
  • HPM5151IPEX – 14 × 14 mm LQFP100
  • HPM5151IN8X – 8 × 8 mm QFN68
  • HPM5151IN6X – 6 × 6 mm QFN48
  • HPM5151IN5X – 5 × 5 mm QFN32
• Temperature range – −40°C to +105°C ambient temperature, with a maximum junction temperature of +125°C under rated operating conditions

Officially, the HPM5100 is a 400 MHz chip, but it actually features a 480 MHz “extreme” mode. To use it, you need to hook up an external power supply, and you can’t let the room get hotter than 70°C. The company also mentions that you shouldn’t run it that fast 24/7. HPMicro recommends sticking to 400 MHz or less for longer life.

On the software side, the HPM5100 is supported by HPMicro’s open-source HPM SDK, which includes low-level drivers, middleware, and software components such as FreeRTOS and TinyUSB. Support for the HPM5100 and HPM5100EVK was added in SDK version 1.13.0, released in September 2026. Developers can use Segger Embedded Studio for RISC-V, while HPMicro also provides development documentation and example applications through its SDK repository and online documentation.

The company also released the HPM5100EVK evaluation board, which includes an HPM5151 MCU, external QSPI NOR flash, an ES8389 audio codec, a CAN transceiver, and an onboard HPM5301 debugger supporting JTAG and serial communication. The board also features two USB Type-C ports for debugging and USB OTG, a motor control connector, dedicated ADC and OPAMP connectors, and a Raspberry Pi-compatible 40-pin expansion header. For power, an onboard jumper lets you select an internal LDO or an external DC-DC supply. More information about the development board is available in the documentation section.

Previously, we wrote about the HPMicro HPM64G0, a 1 GHz RISC-V microcontroller with a 2D graphics engine and dual Gigabit Ethernet, as well as the HPM6800 series, which offers a 600 MHz RISC-V CPU and optional Vivante 2.5D GPU for HMI and display applications. Compared to the previous MCUs, the HPM5100 series features analog sensing and motor control, with four 16-bit ADCs supporting up to 2 MSPS, up to 48 analog input pins, and four 8-channel PWM controllers.

The HPM5100 series is currently in mass production, with the HPM5151IN61 (QFN48), HPM5151IN81 (QFN68), and HPM5151IPE1 (LQFP100) available from Huaqiu Mall for ¥15.60, ¥16.90, and ¥19.50, respectively ($2.33,$2.52, and $2.91). The HPM5100EVKREVB evaluation board is also available for ¥258 (about $38.50). These prices include domestic Chinese taxes and exclude shipping. Check out the product page for details. [CNXSoft note: the hqchip website blocks some user agents, and doesn’t seem to like Linux hosts. I could enter the website using Chrome on Ubuntu with Surface Pro 10 user agent].

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