This is an 8 channel infra-red remote-control Arduino shield that can drive 8 high current loads such as LEDs, solenoids, multiple toy DC Motors, dual unipolar stepper motor, filament lamps, etc. Each channel consists of two parallel NPN transistors with freewheel diodes which are important to drive inductive loads like motors. The shield consists of 2 x ULN2803 Chips, Infrared receiver TSOP1838, trimmer potentiometer, 4 tactile switches with pull-down resistors. The shield is compatible with Arduino UNO. Arduino code is also provided to test the shield. I have used a cheap IR remote to test this shield, this remote transmit NEC code but any other remote can be used with this shield and it will require to decode the remote switches.
8 Channel Infra-Red Remote-Control Arduino Shield Using ULN2803 – [Link]
The CP series of solid-state micro Peltier modules from CUI Devices has a footprint down to 3.4mm square.
CUI Devices’ Thermal Management Group has launched a sreies of solid state thermoelectric cooling modules with small footprint.
The micro Peltier modules have a package sizes with dimensions from 3.4 x 3.4 mm for the 700mA CP0734-M to 9.5 x 9.5mm for the 3.4A CP3495 and profiles as low as 1.95 mm.
The single-stage thermoelectric coolers feature temperature deltas of 77°C (Th=50°C), Qmax ratings from 0.2 W to 4.7 W (Th=50°C), current ratings from 0.7 A to 3.4 A, and voltage ratings from 0.5 V to 3.9 V. Several models further offer gold plated metallized faces suitable for solder mounting.
The micro Peltier modules are available immediately with prices starting at $23.21 per unit at 50 pieces through distribution.
Turing Machines Inc. has finally opened preorders for the last $1000-unit run of its mini ITX cluster boards after a while of being sold in the market.
The Mini-ITX form factor board simply referred to as “Turing Pi”, is a compact solution that leverages the Raspberry Pi Compute Module. The Turing Pi board clusters 7x GbE-switched Raspberry Pi Compute Module 3 (CM3) modules, each with its own 40-pin GPIO, microSD slot, and empty eMMC slot.
The Turing Pi cluster board has the same specs as the original $128 model except that it doesn’t have the dual MIPI-CSI connectors and MIPI-DSI interface. The Turing Pi comes packed with a Gigabit Ethernet switch to cluster the 7x CM3s, an HDMI port, an audio jack, and 8x USB ports. The board can be powered either through a 4-pin ATX power connector or from a standard 12V-20V DC jack. The built-in Gigabit network backplane saves you the stress of having to use a separate network switch.
The cluster board can handle up to 7 compute modules at a time and work with any number of nodes, meaning you can start with a couple of nodes and scale when needed. Each node is a unique IP address and a limited 100 Mbps USB speed.
The Turing Pi is geared for applications that support the Kubernetes software ecosystem, Docker and machine learning TensorFlow and Caffe. There’s also support for Mxnet, Jupyter Notebook, and OPENFAAS serverless stacks.
Features and Specifications of the Turing Pi include;
Can load OS through SD card, eMMC or netboot.
Has power management for each node.
Supports Raspberry Pi Compute Modules 1, 3 and 3+.
Has up to 7GB of RAM.
Maximum of 224GB Internal eMMC.
Maximum of 28 CPU cores.
7x Micro SD slots (1 per node)
Flash port for Master Node only via micro USB
7x 40-pin GPIO, RPI compatible pinout
7x DDR2 SO-DIMM
I2C Cluster management bus
1x External I2C ports for additional devices like EEPROM or LCD displays
128 Bytes of User space EEPROM
1x HDMI (Master Node)
8x USB 2.0
1x 1Gbps Ethernet port
100Mbps Node network speed
1x Real-time clock
1x 3.5 mm Audio Jack
Up to 40 W power consumption, and,
12V Mini ITX Power socket.
Dimensions: 170 x 170 mm (6.7 x 6.7 inches)
The Turing Pi cluster boards are available for preorder at $189, with delivery expected to start in November or December. You might also want to consider signing up for a Turing Pi rewards program here to get a 5% discount off the price and a chance at greater rewards.
More details may be found on the company’s website.
Radxa has launched its open-spec Rock Pi X Model B single-board computer, based on an Intel Atom processor, that can run Ubuntu 20.04 or Win 10. We were introduced to the Rock Pi X in September 2019, alongside some beta samples in July of 2020. However, Seeed and AllNetChina have begun taking pre-orders for the Model B.
The Rock Pi X Model B shares some similarities with the Rock Pi X. They run Ubuntu 20.04 or Windows 10 on a quad-core, 1.44GHz/1.84GHz Atom x5-Z8300 from Intel’s aging, but 14nm fabricated, Cherry Trail generation. However, the Rock Pi X Model B includes two features not present on the Model A, which is a wireless module with 802.11ac, Bluetooth 4.2, and also an antenna, as well as a Power-over-Ethernet capability on the GbE port. The Rock Pi X Model B 1GB model features 8GB of eMMC storage in addition to a micro-SD slot for expansion and is priced at $49, which is quite a low price for a 64-bit x86 system. The model that follows offers 2GB of RAM and 16GB of eMMC storage for $59, then the 4GB model is priced at $75 with 32GB eMMC storage, $85 with 64GB of eMMC storage, and $99 with 128GB of eMMC storage.
The Rock Pi X Model B features HDMI 2.0 with 4k30 support and USB Power Delivery (PD) support with Qualcomm Quick Charge compatibility. The Model B’s gigabit Ethernet port offers Power over Ethernet support. You still need to buy a PoE HAT, because it enables HAT add-on. The Rock Pi X enables a 40-pin GPIO connector that supports the official Raspberry Pi PoE HAT, and Radxa’s Rock Pi PoE HAT for its RK3399-based Rock Pi 4. Its 802.11ac Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.2 radios include support for an external antenna. Also, Radxa has redesigned the Rock Pi X specs. They have removed the MIPI-DSI/eDP and MIPI-CSI interfaces and replaced it with an LCD connector, and the eMMC is now soldered. Also, the dimensions have been increased to 85 x 54mm. They also changed the ports, one of the dual USB 3.0 OTG ports has been downgraded to USB 2.0 Type-C with 9-20V input. They also omitted the mic interface.
Memory/storage:
-1GB, 2GB, or 4GB LPDDR3-1866 RAM
-SPI flash
-eMMC socket for 8GB to 128GB (bootable); optional industrial eMMC available
-microSD slot for up to 128GB (bootable)
Networking:
-Gigabit Ethernet port; PoE support on Model B only (requires RPi PoE HAT)
-802.11b/g/n/ac (2.4GHz/5GHz) with Bluetooth 4.2 and internal antenna (Model B only)
Media I/O:
-HDMI 2.0 port (with audio) for up to 4K at 30fps with EDID
-LCD display connector
-3.5mm audio I/O jack with HD codec with 24-bit/96KHz
Other I/O:
-USB 3.0 OTG port with HW switch for host/device
-3x USB 2.0 host ports
-USB Type-C port for power input
-40-pin GPIO header
Other features — RTC with optional battery connector for timed backup; optional recommended heatsink; 2x LEDs; schematics and other open source files
Power:
-9-20V input via USB Type-C
-QC 3.0 powering
-Power/reset button
*Dimensions — 85 x 54mm
Operating system — Ubuntu 20.04, Windows 10
The company says they are making plans to release a cost-friendly range of Rock Pi Model A, of which they are dumping the on-board Bluetooth and Wi-Fi radios. However, they have not decided on a launch date. You can pre-order the Rock Pi X Model B on Seeed for $75 with 4GB LPDDR3-1866 RAM and 32GB eMMC, and on AllNetChina. AllNetChina offers other options, ranging from a $49 model with 1GB RAM and 8GB eMMC to a $99 model with 4GB/128GB. More details on the released Rock Pi X Model B, and the as-yet-unreleased Rock Pi X Model A, can be found on the Radxa wiki
This is an 8 channel infra-red remote-control Arduino shield that can drive 8 high current loads such as LEDs, solenoids, multiple toy DC Motors, dual unipolar stepper motor, filament lamps, etc. Each channel consists of two parallel NPN transistors with freewheel diodes which are important to drive inductive loads like motors. The shield consists of 2 x ULN2803 Chips, Infrared receiver TSOP1838, trimmer potentiometer, 4 tactile switches with pull-down resistors. The shield is compatible with Arduino UNO. Arduino code is also provided to test the shield. I have used a cheap IR remote to test this shield, this remote transmit NEC code but any other remote can be used with this shield and it will require to decode the remote switches.
Note: Operating voltage of this circuit is 12V DC hence it can drive load up to 12V, for higher voltage 12V to 50V operation remove jumper J1, change capacitor C2, and C4 to higher voltage and use CN2 to power the load, in this case, Arduino will require 5V USB power or DC jack power.
Features
Load Supply 12V DC (For Supply 12 to 50V Read Note)
8 X 1Amps Load (1Amp Peak)
TSOP1838 Infra-Red Receiver
4 Tactile Switches with pull-down resistors
On-Board Trimmer Pot
PCB Dimensions 51.38MM x 36.26MM
Connections
Connector CN1: Load 1, Load2, Load3, Load 4
Connector CN3: Load5, Load6, Load7, Load 8
Connector CN1: DC power 12V for Arduino and Load.
Connector CN2: Load Supply 12V-50V (Remove J1 Jumper If 12-50V Load Power Supply is used)
Jumper J1: Close this Jumper for 12V Supply from Arduino DC Jack or CN2
e-peas AEM10941 Solar Energy Harvesting IC is an integrated Ambient Energy Manager (AEM) that can extract DC power from up to 7-cell solar panels, simultaneously storing energy in a rechargeable element and supplying the system with two independent regulated voltages. The AEM10941 is designed to extend battery lifetime and ultimately eliminate the primary energy storage element in a large range of wireless applications, such as industrial monitoring, geolocation, home automation, health monitoring, and wireless sensor nodes.
The AEM10941 harvests the available input current up to 110mA. It integrates an ultra-low power boost converter to charge a storage element, such as a Li-ion battery, a thin film battery, a supercapacitor, or a conventional capacitor. The boost converter operates with input voltage in a range from 50mV to 5V. With its unique cold-start circuit, the AEM10941 can start operating with empty storage elements at an input voltage as low as 380mV and input power as low as 3µW.
The low-voltage supply of the AEM10941 can be used to drive a microcontroller at 1.2V or 1.8V. The high-voltage supply may typically drive a radio transceiver at a configurable voltage between 1.8V and 4.1V. Both are driven by highly-efficient LDO (Low Dropout) regulators for low noise and high stability.
Features
Ultra-low-power start-up
Cold start from 380mV input voltage and 3µW input power (typical)
Ultra-low-power boost regulator
Open-circuit voltage sensing for MPPT every 5s
Configurable MPPT with 2-pin programming
Selectable Voc ratios of 70, 75, 85, or 90%
Input voltage operation range from 50mV to 5V
MPPT voltage operation range from 50mV to 5V
Integrated 1.2V/1.8V LDO regulator
Up to 20mA load current
Power gated dynamically by an external control
Selectable output voltage
Integrated 8V to 4.1V LDO regulator
Up to 80mA load current with 300mV drop-out
Power gated dynamically by an external control
Selectable output voltage
Flexible energy storage management
Selectable overcharge and over-discharge protection for any type of rechargeable battery or capacitor
Fast supercapacitor charging
Warns the load when the battery is running low
Warns when output voltage regulators are available
Optional primary battery
Automatically switches to the primary battery when the secondary battery is exhausted
Integrated balun for dual-cell supercapacitor
Small footprint, small BOM
Compact 5mm x 5mm QFN28 package
Only seven passive external components required
The AEM10941 integrates all the active elements for powering a typical wireless sensor. Only five capacitors and two inductors are required, available in the small 0402 and 0603 sizes, respectively. With only seven external components, integration is maximum, footprint and BOM are minimum, optimizing the time-to-market and the costs of wireless sensor node designs.
Mouser Electronics has become the first authorized distributor of e-peas energy-harvesting PMICs and processing and sensing solutions.
The products are available for immediate shipment around the world.
With products that help design engineers enable their hardware to be powered indefinitely, e-peas provide IC solutions for applications such as industrial, home and building automation, agriculture, health monitoring, smart metering and other sectors.
The e-peas Ambient Energy Manager (AEM) product line, available from Mouser, includes solar, thermal, vibration and RF methods for extracting energy to supply Internet of Things (IoT) devices.
The company’s energy-harvesting ICs are integrated energy management circuits that extract power from a harvester to simultaneously store energy in a rechargeable element and to supply the system with two independent regulated voltages.
The ICs harvest the available input current up to 110 mA, and integrate an ultra-low-power boost converter that operates with input voltages in a range from 50 mV to 5 V. With their unique cold-start circuit, they can start operating with empty storage elements at an input voltage as low as 380 mV (50 mV for thermal applications) and an input power of just 3 µW.
The AEM10941 solar energy-harvesting IC extracts DC power from up to seven-cell solar panels, while the AEM20940 thermal energy-harvesting IC extracts DC power from a thermoelectric generator (TEG).
The AEM30940 RF energy-harvesting IC can extract DC power from a piezo generator, a micro turbine generator, or any other high-frequency RF waves at 868 MHz or 915 MHz with a minimum input power of ‑19 dBm and at 2.4 GHz with a minimum input power of ‑14 dBm.
The AEM40940 RF energy-harvesting IC extracts AC power from ambient RF waves, harvesting the available input power from ‑20 dBm up to 10 dBm.
The cordless electric screwdriver set has become a compulsory tool in every developer or hobbyist’s work toolset. You really need them for electronics like smartphones, cameras, computers, drones, etc, which have tiny screws with different shapes, So you need to be equipped with the right tools. One toolset I have come across is Wowstick 1F+ 64 In 1 from XIAOMI. The Wowstick 1F+ is a pen-shaped aluminum screwdriver that comes with a lot of different bits for a versatile application. In this article, we look into the pros and cons of this tool and we will give an insight into the unsefulnes of it. First of all the unboxing.
Multiple items come with the box.
The Wowstick 1F+ screwdriver comes in a well-packaged box, with every component arranged in smaller packages. The box includes many accessories and 56x bits to get you started right away. All you have to do is to unbox the individual small boxes to reveal their content.
When you open the box, you find the following items:
1x Wowstick Electric Screwdriver
1x Wowpad (magnetic mat)
56x Screw Bits
1x Dock/Base
1x USB Cable (charger not included)
1x Magnetize and Demagnetize Tool
1x Sturdy Triangle Opening Tool
1x Suction Cup
1x Bottle of Screws
Testing the screwdriver with a mobile phone case.
The 56 different screws are arranged in 3 sets of screw bits, which are placed in three plastic cases with labels of the bit’s shape and size. This makes it is easy to find and place all bits in the right place. The package also comes with a magnetic pad to keep all your screws together, because it is easy to lose any screw that is accidentally knocked off. Additionally, there is a magnetic portable hard-case for storing the screwdriver, with additional space for storing a set of screw bits. Another usefull item is the magnetizer/demagnetizer that help you magentize your screwdriver as per need. You will also find a nice machined dock to store your screwdriver when not in use or charging. The overall quality of the materials is very good and seems durable, with only exception the screw bits that seem a little fragile.
Screwdriver Dock
The Wowstick 1F+ Electric Screwdriver features a Lithium-ion battery, which is a 3.7V 280mAh NSC1040 built-in battery. This is a special shaped Li-Ion battery in a cylidrical form that fits the driver perfectly. Capacity is not that much and should drain quickly but this is not a big issue as it recharges fast from the provided USB port.
3.7V 280mAh NSC1040 Li-Ion battery
The screwdriver altough it features a micro USB charging port it doesn’t come with a battery charger. However, you can use any standard 5V micor-USB battery charger. It only takes 40 minutes to be fully charged and can work for up to 8 hours continuously (but this sure depends on the load). Another important feature of the Wowstick Electric Screwdriver is its 3 white LED lights that help you to remove the shadow that is cast by the screwdriver while in use. You can also magnetize or demagnetize the bits with a tool made available. This helps keep the screw in place while unscrewing, and you can hold the screws and move them around.
Magnetic Screwpad
The Wowstick electric screwdriver is easy to use. It has a two-way push-switch. You just press one side of the switch to loosen the screws, and the other side to tighten the screw. The screwdriver has a rated speed of 200 RPM and rated torque of 0.15/3N.M. While these specs seems powerfull enough, real life use will prove that it cannot drive all of the screws you wanted too. This is due to limited power of this tool that makes it useful only for the small screws of mobiles phones, cameras, etc, and not the bigger ones as we will see on the video below.
The hard case hosts the screwdriver and a set of bits
Specifications for the Wowstick 1F+ 64 includes:
Brand: Wowstick (from XIAOMI)
Model: 1F+
Material: S2 Aluminum Alloy
Lithium-ion Battery: 3.7V 280mAh NSC1040
USB Charge Type: Micro USB (charger not included)
Speed: 200r/min
Charge Time: 40min
Working Mode: Dual Torque 0.15/3N.m
Bits Size: 4x28mm / 4x45mm
Weight: Approximately 280g (9.8oz)
Video
Screw bits (4x28mm, 4x45mm):
PH0000, PH000, PH00, PH0, PH1, PH2
SL1.0, SL1.5, SL2.0, SL2.5, SL3.0, SL3.5, SL4.0
H0.7, H0.9, H1.3, H1.5, H2.0, H2.5, H3.0, H4.0
T2, T3, T4, T5, T6, T7, T8, T9, T10, T15, T20
P2, P5, P6
Y0.6, Y1.0, Y2.0, Y2.5, Y3.0
SQ0, SQ1.0, SQ2.0
Triangle: 2.0, 2.3, 2.5, 3.0
U2.0, U2.6, U3.0
BisonFone: 0.8
W1.5
PH0, PH2, SL2.0, H2.0
The WowStick in its aluminum base.
Conclusion
The Wowstick electric screw is a very important tool every developer and hobbyist must have to make their work easier but keep in mind it wont work with all the screws you may comes across, so its use is limited to the most small of them. In general is a nice buy at fair price and it also makes a good present for your beloyed ones. The Wowstick 1F+ 64 is available on Banggood for $35.99.
The “Société Nationale des Objets Connectés” (SNOC) has begun commercializing a « breakout » prototype board, based on the brand-new MCO iMCP HT32SX from Brazilian manufacturer HT Micron®.
Thanks to its small size, high performance and low power consumption, the BRKHTS32SX board allows you to start a connected device project, compatible with Sigfox’s Monarch global mobile asset tracking service.
The Sigfox Monarch feature makes IoT devices aware of the local radio configuration (RC) to use. A single device can thus lawfully communicate on the Sigfox network even when moving between countries with different radio regulations. The device automatically chooses the appropriate radio configuration without human intervention.
Wishing to provide a simple and very accessible development solution for professional, educational and “Makers” market, SNOC has created the BRKHT32SX board that can be programmed directly via the integrated USB link.
This new MCO (Multicomponent Integrated Circuit) chip supports the Sigfox Monarch communication protocol with an STM S2-LP low-consumption transceiver and has an STM32L052 programmable processor (ARM Cortex M0 + 32 bits) on board.
Ideal for creating a smart sensor, this card allows you to integrate and use the Sigfox low-power wide-area network (LPWAN), compatible for all geographical areas of the globe.
The BRKHT32SX board allows very versatile uses: from prototype development to small series production of connected solutions.
A real alternative to mobile networks or Wi-Fi, the Sigfox OG network, deployed in more than 70 countries, makes it possible to economically convey data from connected objects in real time.
The card is bundled in a kit comprised of an adapted antenna and a one-year subscription to the Sigfox service.
It is designed and made in France on-site, and is available for 39.90€, excluding tax, on our e-shop dedicated to IoT “Makers”: https://yadom.eu/
The iMCP HT32SX component alone is also available and distributed by SNOC.
The first development kit developed by Rutronik, the RUTDevKit-STM32L5, is a complete solution for AI-based applications running on an MCU platform. It enables hardware and firmware developers to deliver proof-of-concepts within a short space of time. The focus here is firmly on security and data protection, short latency periods, low energy consumption and adequate storage resources.
Data generated by (I)IoT ((Industrial) Internet of Things) devices are increasingly evaluated on MCU platforms within the application or close to the MCU-based embedded system. This is particularly the case in industrial environments, whether for security reasons or because of the required latency periods. When it comes to implementing this Edge AI or Edge Intelligence (EI), Rutronik now offers a unique development kit that contains all the necessary components.
The RUTDevKit-STM32L5 is based on the ultra-low-power high-performance microcontroller STM32L562ZET6Q, which operates at 110MHz. Its 32bit RISC-Core Arm Cortex-M33 with Arm TrustZone offers hardware-based security features that ensure data security of the EI application during the inference phase. Thanks to Arm TrustZone, one core provides two independent processing environments: A protected one for cyber protection and sensitive code, and an unprotected one for the execution of untrusted code. Further, Arm TrustZone also supports Secure Boot, thereby enabling secure read and write protection for the integrated memory (64Mbit PSRAM and 128Mbit NOR flash) and cryptography acceleration. Arm TrustZone can also include I/O ports, a peripheral function and flash or SRAM regions. The Octo SPI interface to PSRAM and the Quad SPI interface to the NOR flash memory along with the fast A/D converter of the microcontroller support short latency periods.
Overview of the RUTDevKit-STM32L5 components:
Hardware:
STM32L562ZET6Q Cortex®-M33 512KB Flash
APS6408L 64Mbit Octo-SPI PSRAM
EN25QH128A 128Mbit Quad-SPI NOR Flash
CAN FD with TLE9251VLE driver
USB-C Power Supply with TCPP01-M12 Protection IC
RS485 Interface with ST3485EDBR driver
Slot for Micro-SD card
On-Board ST-LINK V2 debugger / programmer
Arduino extension connector
4-layer design
Software / Firmware:
CAN-FD test mode demo
RS485 Modbus demo
USB power supply demo
Dual bank flash bootloader demo
TrustZone® demo
Tamper detection demo
In addition to the microcontroller memory, the RUTDevKit-STM32L5 facilitates use of an SD card with several GB as well as a protected area to securely store both raw data and inference data of the AI model.
Equipped with CAN FD and RS485 interface, the kit enables fast transmission of large amounts of data.
The USB-C power supply features Protection IC, and low power functions can be tested with a battery. Additionally, there is the on-board ST-LINK V2 debugger / programmer as well as Arduino interfaces for supplementary boards, such as an Anybus communication module that enables products to communicate via all common field buses and on Industrial Ethernet networks, e.g. EtherCat.
The kit also includes software and sample firmware, including a TrustZone demo, a test mode demo for CAN FD, an RS485 Modbus demo, a USB power supply and tamper detection demo, and a dual bank flash bootloader demo.
login
