RSS Bot

We’ve recently written about the P4 Launcher project that offers a desktop PC-like and/or retro-gaming experience to ESP32-P4 boards with applications stored on a microSD card and loaded into PSRAM when they run. However, I’ve recently been tipped about two new projects that go even further and aim to provide a desktop OS for microcontrollers, both currently focusing on the Olimex ESP32-P4-PC board with HDMI, Ethernet, and USB ports: Sylphide OS and Bare Metal, Do Stuff (BMDS). Sylphide OS – A Macintosh-like desktop for ESP32-P4, RP2350, and ESP32 Thomas Capricelli (Orzelf) has developed Sylphide OS as an operating system for computers based on microcontrollers. It’s designed to run on other targets beyond ESP32-P4 boards, and has currently been tested on the Raspberry Pi Pico 2 with VGA+USB connectors and the FabGL board (Olimex ESP32-SBC-FabGL variant) with PS/2 input and VGA connectors. If you don’t own any compatible hardware, a Sylphide [...] The post Desktop operating systems for ESP32-P4-based “PCs” – Meet Sylphide OS and Bare Metal, Do Stuff (BMDS) appeared first on CNX Software - Embedded Systems News. View the full article

Vantron has introduced the VT-SBC-SMARC-IMX952, an 82 × 50 mm SMARC 2.1 system-on-module (SoM) built around NXP’s i.MX 952 processor with two or four Arm Cortex-A55 cores, a Mali-G310 GPU, and a 2 TOPS eIQ Neutron NPU. The module is designed for industrial HMIs, edge AI vision, factory automation, in-cabin sensing, and other embedded applications. The module comes with 8GB LPDDR4x memory, 64GB eMMC storage, two Ethernet interfaces (GbE + 2.5 GbE) with TSN support, and an optional Wi-Fi 5 and Bluetooth 5.0 wireless module. It exposes all I/Os through a standard 314-pin MXM 3.0 connector VT-SBC-SMARC-IMX952 specifications: SoC – NXP i.MX 952 CPU Dual- or quad-core Arm Cortex-A55 @ up to 1.7 GHz Arm Cortex-M7 real-time core @ 800 MHz Arm Cortex-M33 safety core @ 333 MHz GPU – Arm Mali-G310 with OpenGL ES 3.2, Vulkan 1.2, and OpenCL 3.0 support VPU Video encoding – H.264 up to 4K [...] The post Vantron unveils i.MX 952 SMARC system-on-module for Edge AI Vision and Industrial HMI at Electronica 2026 appeared first on CNX Software - Embedded Systems News. View the full article

Tektronix is better known for its high-end and pricey oscilloscopes, but has now introduced the 1 Series DPO, a line of low-cost digital phosphor oscilloscopes starting at just $450, with optional AI-assisted control through the new Tek Intelligence connector. These oscilloscopes are designed for electronics testing, embedded development, education, and everyday circuit debugging. The 1 Series DPOs feature up to four analog channels, 50 MHz to 200 MHz bandwidth, 12-bit vertical resolution, and up to 1.25 GS/s sampling rate. They also integrate a 7-inch touchscreen and 10 Mpoints of memory per channel, support I2C, SPI, and UART protocol decoding, and implement built-in waveform analysis tools. The higher-priced S models add a 25 MHz arbitrary function generator (AFG) and Bode plot analysis. Tektronix 1 Series DPO key specifications: Models – 16 variants covering four bandwidth options, two channel configurations, and versions with or without AFG Display – 7-inch capacitive multi-touchscreen, 1024 [...] The post Tektronix 1 Series low-cost DPO oscilloscopes support AI-assisted control, start at just $450 appeared first on CNX Software - Embedded Systems News. View the full article

Designed by CoolMaker Lab in China, the ESP32 4-channel PWM fan controller is an open-source, Home Assistant-compatible board for managing cooling in server racks, NAS systems, network cabinets, and other DIY enclosures. It can independently control up to four 4-pin PWM fans, supporting PWM-based speed adjustment, tachometer-based RPM monitoring, and individual fan power switching. The controller supports up to four external DS18B20 temperature sensors for automatic fan speed adjustment, along with a web interface, an HTTP REST API, and Bluetooth proxy functionality. The latest v2.0 hardware and firmware also support optional LD2402G 24GHz mmWave radar for presence-based automation. ESP32 4-channel PWM fan controller specifications: MCU – ESP32-WROOM-32-N4 module with 4MB flash, 2.4GHz Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth LE (BLE proxy) Fan control 4x independent 4-pin PWM fan connectors with 1–100% PWM speed adjustment 4x tachometer inputs for RPM monitoring TPS22810DBVR-based individual fan power switch with load switches for complete shutdown (zero-RPM operation) Automatic [...] The post Home Assistant-compatible ESP32 4-channel PWM fan controller is designed for server racks and NAS systems appeared first on CNX Software - Embedded Systems News. View the full article

VZMORE sent us a review sample of the iX9 Max mini PC powered by an Intel Core Ultra 9 185H 16-core/22-thread Meteor Lake processor clocked at up to 5.1 GHz, paired with 24 GB of LPDDR5-5600 memory and a 1 TB NVMe SSD. It supports up to four simultaneous displays via HDMI 2.0 and USB4 ports, offers six USB Type-A ports, two 40 Gbps USB4 ports, and two 2.5 GbE ports, as well as Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4 wireless connectivity. In this article, we will list the specifications, go through an unboxing and a teardown to check out the hardware, and boot the system to the pre-installed Windows 11 Pro operating system. A more detailed review with feature testing and benchmarks on both Windows 11 and Ubuntu 26.04 will be published in a few weeks. VZMORE iX9 Max mini PC specifications SoC – Intel Core Ultra 9 185H CPU [...] The post VZMORE iX9 Max (U9-185H) mini PC review – Part 1: Specs, unboxing, teardown, and first boot appeared first on CNX Software - Embedded Systems News. View the full article

HIYD is a compact and thin (2.7mm) health and fitness tracker that attaches to the back of a regular wristwatch and looks very similar to the Azume One, which we wrote about last month. Developed by San Jose-based HIYD, the device adds heart rate, sleep, recovery, and activity tracking to traditional watches using a removable microsuction mechanism. It features optical sensors for heart rate, heart rate variability (HRV), and blood oxygen (SpO2) monitoring, along with an accelerometer and skin temperature sensor. The device connects to Android and iOS smartphones over Bluetooth and supports sleep tracking, daily readiness scores, and camera-based nutrition logging. Battery life is rated at up to four days and can be extended to 20 days with an optional battery band, with no subscription fees for Kickstarter backers. HIYD features and specifications: MCU / SoC – Not specified Storage – On-device memory for up to 2 days of [...] The post HIYD ultrathin health tracker attaches to the back of regular watches (Crowdfunding) appeared first on CNX Software - Embedded Systems News. View the full article

WeAct Studio Logic Analyzer V2 is a low-cost, small WCH CH32H417 board designed to be used as a 16-channel USB 3.0 logic analyzer with up to 200 MHz bandwidth. The company says the board runs three different “apps”: logic analyzer, USB-serial + DAP, or custom firmware developed by the user, all located at different addresses on the flash and selected by simply pressing the button on the board. WeAct Logic Analyzer V2 board specifications: MCU – WCH CH32H417 CPU cores QingKe RISC-V5F up to 400 MHz QingKe RISC-V3F up to 144 MHz GPU – Graphics Processing Hardware Accelerator GPHA Memory – 896KB SRAM Storage – 960KB flash; 304 KB slot for “user app”/custom firmware (slot 2 @ 0x0809E000 in flash) USB – 1x USB 3.0 Type-C port for power, data, and programming Expansion header – 20-pin GPIO header with 16x GPIO, 4x GND pins Logic analyzer features (slot 0 @ [...] The post WeAct Logic Analyzer V2 – A $10 USB 3.0 logic analyzer board compatible with Sigrok/Pulseview (fork) appeared first on CNX Software - Embedded Systems News. View the full article

Lumissil Microsystems IS31CS9202 and IS32CS9202 are 50 MHz Cortex-M0+ microcontrollers for industrial, consumer, and automotive applications with a serial video bus (SVB), a LumiBus LED controller, and a capacitive touch-key controller. Both chips come with 16KB RAM, 256KB flash, a CAN FD controller, SPI master/slave, I2C master/slave, two enhanced UART interfaces, a quadrature encoder, a 14-bit sigma-delta ADC, a 12-bit SAR ADC, an 8-bit DAC, up to 42 GPIO pins, and more. The only differences are that the IS32CS9202 is designed for automotive applications and benefits from a wider -40°C to 125°C temperature range and AEC-Q100 and ASIL-B qualifications. Lumissil IS31CS9202/IS32CS9202 key features and specifications: CPU – Arm Cortex-M0+ core up to 50MHz Memory – 16KB RAM with ECC 8KB for data memory 8KB for DMA memory Storage 256KB flash with four 1KB IFBs (Information Blocks) with ECC Data flash emulation 1K/ 10K/100K cycles endurance @ 125, 105, 85°C 10 [...] The post Lumissil IS31CS9202/IS32CS9202 Cortex-M0+ MCUs integrate serial video bus (SBV), LumiBus, and capacitive touch-key controller appeared first on CNX Software - Embedded Systems News. View the full article

MikroTik KNOT Gateway HL9 is an IP66-rated outdoor IoT gateway that combines 915 MHz Wi-Fi HaLow (802.11ah), Bluetooth 5.1, Wi-Fi 6, LTE Cat 1 bis, Gigabit Ethernet, and GNSS. The gateway supports asset tracking, remote sensor monitoring, industrial IoT, and agricultural applications. Built around a dual-core Qualcomm IPQ-5010 ARM64 processor, it features 256MB RAM and 128MB NAND flash. It relies on a Morse Micro MM6108 Wi-Fi HaLow SoC for sub-GHz connectivity, with Gigabit Ethernet, 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi 6, and LTE Cat 1 bis cellular for backhaul. MikroTik KNOT Gateway HL9 specifications: SoC – Qualcomm IPQ-5010 dual-core 64-bit Arm processor @ 800 MHz Memory – 256MB RAM Storage – 128MB NAND flash Connectivity Ethernet – Gigabit Ethernet RJ45 port with 802.3af/at PoE-in support Wi-Fi HaLow – 915 MHz IEEE 802.11ah via Morse Micro MM6108 SoC Wi-Fi – 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi 6 (802.11b/g/n/ax), 1×1, up to 287 Mbps, 3.9 dBi integrated antenna [...] The post Mikrotik KNOT Gateway HL9 – An outdoor Wi-Fi HaLow IoT gateway with GbE, WiFi 6, BLE 5.1, 4G LTE Cat 1 bis, and GNSS appeared first on CNX Software - Embedded Systems News. View the full article

Arduino Nano XL Link is an evolution of the popular Arduino Nano board, with the same dimensions, but featuring a more powerful Microchip PIC32CK Arm Cortex-M33 running at 120 MHz with 2 MB of flash and 512 kB of RAM. It also adds CAN FD, RS485, and 10/100 Mbps Ethernet field bus transceivers for industrial, home, and building automation applications such as industrial networks, motor drives, building automation buses, smart sensors, and touch panels. The company also unveiled the Nano XL Link Connector Carrier to go along with the new board. Arduino Nano XL Link Arduino Nano XL Link (ABX00182) specifications: MCU – Microchip PIC32CK2051SG01144 CPU – Arm Cortex-M33 @ 120 MHz Memory – 512 kB RAM Storage – 2 MB flash; 728 kB available for sketches Security – Integrated Hardware Security Module (HSM) + TrustZone USB – USB Type-C port for power, programming, and serial communication Industrial communication interfaces [...] The post Arduino Nano XL board features Microchip PIC32CK Cortex-M33 MCU for industrial, home, and building automation appeared first on CNX Software - Embedded Systems News. View the full article

Renesas RZ/T2N industrial MPU supports up to four-axis motor control and includes PWM timers, encoder interfaces, and trigonometric accelerators. It’s designed for industrial robots, programmable logic controllers (PLCs), motion controllers, and multi-axis servo drives. The MPU features up to two 1.2 GHz Arm Cortex-A55 cores for application processing and two 800 MHz Cortex-R52 cores for real-time control. It also integrates a three-port Gigabit Ethernet switch with TSN support and industrial Ethernet protocols such as EtherCAT, PROFINET RT/IRT, and EtherNet/IP. This feature set allows real-time motor control, industrial networking, and Linux applications to run on a single chip, reducing the need for separate processors. The MPU can also work as an industrial Ethernet network controller or device, depending on the application. Renesas RZ/T2N specifications: CPU Up to 2x Arm Cortex-A55 (64-bit) cores clocked at 1.2 GHz with 32KB L1 instruction/data cache, 128KB L2 cache per core, and 256KB L3 cache 2x [...] The post Renesas RZ/T2N Cortex-A55/R52 industrial MPU supports four-axis motor control, TSN Ethernet, EtherCAT… appeared first on CNX Software - Embedded Systems News. View the full article

AAElectronics’ LocalDot is an open-source replacement mainboard that converts a 3rd-generation Amazon Echo Dot into a local voice assistant compatible with Home Assistant. The board replaces one of the two original PCBs while reusing the existing microphones, speaker, buttons, LEDs, and enclosure, so the device works without relying on Amazon’s cloud services. The board combines an ESP32-S3 for WiFi connectivity and device control with an ESP32-P4 for audio processing. It supports the original four-microphone array with beamforming, on-device wake-word detection, and local voice commands through Home Assistant. Installation requires no soldering or enclosure modifications, and the device still uses the original Echo Dot power adapter. LocalDot specifications: Compatibility – 3rd-generation Amazon Echo Dot (Donut and Crumpet variants; Clock version not tested) SoC ESP32-S3 – Wi-Fi connectivity and device control ESP32-P4 – Dedicated audio processing Audio TAS5805 audio amplifier for the original speaker On-device wake-word detection Beamforming support Reuses the original [...] The post LocalDot – Open-source PCB for 3rd-gen Amazon Echo Dot enables Home Assistant support (Crowdfunding) appeared first on CNX Software - Embedded Systems News. View the full article

Andrii Shylenko’s LabWired is an MIT-licensed MCU firmware simulation core that runs compiled firmware against modeled CPUs and peripherals, captures UART and bus output, register state, and supports repeatable checks in CI. The simulator works on Arm Cortex-M0+, Cortex-M3, Cortex-M4, Cortex-M7, Cortex-M33 cores, RISC-V architecutre, and Xtensa LX6 and LX7 (some ESP32 parts). The main benefit of the project is speeding up firmware testing since doing some on real boards is slow. The hardware must be ready, then the firmware must be flashed to the board each time you want to test it, and if something breaks, developers get a dark LED and no trace. If a firmware project needs to support multiple boards, this quickly adds up. The project is different from a CPU/MCU emulator for two main reasons: The full board is modeled, not only the chip. Sensors, displays, and bus devices are also simulated. So you can [...] The post LabWired allows engineers to test compiled firmware on simulated MCU boards (CPU and peripherals) appeared first on CNX Software - Embedded Systems News. View the full article

It’s now possible to run KiCad 10 directly in a web browser or as an Android app thanks to two separate open-source projects, unaffiliated with the official KiCad project. Let’s have a look at both. Ziro Designer/ZiroEDA – KiCad 10 in your web browser Akshay Rukade (ZiroEDA), an engineering student in India, ported KiCad 10.0.6 to the browser through the Ziro Designer/ZiroEDA Designer project. It’s a TypeScript translation of KiCad’s C++, kept file-for-file against the KiCad implementation, so the real schematic editor, PCB editor, interactive router, and ERC/DRC run in a browser tab and read and write normal KiCad projects. That means you can open local KiCad projects or designs hosted on GitHub directly in a web browser without having to install KiCad 10 itself on your computer, and it should also enable machines that do not natively support KiCad (e.g., RISC-V, Android tablet, iPad…) to run it. Akshay highlights [...] The post KiCad 10 now (unofficially) runs in a web browser or Android appeared first on CNX Software - Embedded Systems News. View the full article

The STM32G5 series is a family of 280 MHz Arm Cortex-M33 mixed-signal MCUs designed for industrial power supplies, photovoltaic inverters, EV chargers, robotics, and motor control systems. It doubles the performance of the older STM32G4 series unveiled in 2021. The new MCU family features up to 512KB flash, 112KB SRAM with ECC, a 111 ps high-resolution timer (HRTIM) with up to 12 PWM outputs on some variants, and 12-bit ADCs supporting up to 5 MSPS. Other features include position encoder interfaces, a 16-element programmable logic array, CORDIC and FMAC mathematical accelerators, and security features such as Arm TrustZone, secure boot, and post-quantum cryptography support. STM32G5 series specifications: MCU Core 32-bit Arm Cortex-M33 CPU @ up to 280 MHz with TrustZone, single-precision FPU, DSP instructions, and MPU 8 KB instruction cache and 4 KB data cache (data cache on STM32G55x/56x only) 20 KB or 32 KB CCM-SRAM routine booster (20 KB [...] The post 280 MHz STMicro STM32G5 Cortex-M33 mixed-signal MCU targets digital power and motor control applications appeared first on CNX Software - Embedded Systems News. View the full article