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RE Family, The World’s Most Energy Efficient MCUs with Arm® Cortex® M Core

Posted on by Micael Coutinho

When designing a low power system, you want to make the most out of your batteries, while keeping them small and cheap and desirably incorporate energy harvesting for full autonomy, but your desired microcontroller should also perform decently at the lowest energy cost. The new family of microcontrollers from Renesas is here to help you!

The new RE family are the world’s most energy efficient MCUs, certified by EEMBC with an incredible score of 705! Based on the Silicon on Thin Buried Oxide (SOTB) process, guarantees both high performance at an extremely current consumption in both active and standby modes. In addition to that, it has a built-in energy harvesting control circuit, enabling you to harness energy from the ambient more easily.

Regarding their base specs:

  • ARM Cortex-M0+ core at 64MHz (25 to 35uA/MHz operating current, 400 to 500nA on standby, 1.62 to 3.6V operating voltage)
  • 256/1536kB Flash (0.6mA rewriting) and 128/256kB RAM memories
  • Built-in energy harvesting control circuit
  • Ultra low power 14-bit ADC (4uA)
  • Security: trusted secure IP, random number generation, secure updating of flash memory, secure boot
Block diagram for the RE01 board
Block diagram for the RE01 board

According to the version of microcontroller in the family, you can still get a MIP-LCD parallel interface (does not require power to display received images), 2D graphics engine, an RTC, a motor driver control for clock, or even a 32-bit wakeup timer. Besides these extra features, you also get almost everything you expect from a microcontroller, such as timers of all sorts, PWM, 2xSPI, 2xI2C, and USB interfaces, DMA with 3 channels, among other interesting peripherals.

Due to its set of features, the RE family is the ideal candidate in multiple IoT applications, including hybrid watches, smart homes, medical, smart agriculture, structure monitoring, tracking, among others.

If you are unsure if you should pick up a RE family board, maybe you should consider the vast amount of resources provided by the Renesas company, ranging from the habitual PDF resources to samples of code, everything to get you started developing is here. As of price, you have to pay around $344 for a RE01 evaluation kit to get your hand on an evaluation kit, coming with a MIP display, a solar panel and other accessories. If you decide to wait a little longer, there are new members going to be added beyond 2020 to the RE family.

What do you think of the new Renesas RE roster, is it worth your time? We think that with its set of specs and what it promises to deliver you, it certainly has the power to take the electronics world by storm and into your new low power projects!

Renesas RE family link: https://www.renesas.com/eu/en/products/microcontrollers-microprocessors/re.html

UGREEN HiTune Earbuds Offers Quality sound for Just $39.99

Posted on by Tope Oluyemi

For a few years now, earbuds have been part of pop culture. It is slowly phasing out the earpiece and headphones. Most people make use of them because of the troubles associated with wired ear accessories, while others use it as a cool fashion accessory. Regardless of the reason you use it, the earbuds have become an integral part of our day to day electronic accessory. However, there are many earbuds in the market right now. We have Apple’s AirPods which is the most popular of all, but not necessarily the best wireless earbuds available, even though they’ve topped the list of real wireless earbuds for the past few years in terms of sales.

Highlights

  • Bluetooth 5.0 Stable Connection
  • Qualcomm aptX Audio Codec
  • Noise Cancellation
  • Ergonomics Design

We have seen many competitors that offer better sound, battery life, and performance than the Apple AirPods, making the market wireless earbuds market quite competitive. We have a host of earbuds to choose from, instead of just limiting Ourselves to brands like Apple, Samsung, etc. What I look for in every earbud I use is optimal performance, which has an ergonomic design, and it feels comfortable in my ears. They need to fit right, with a tight earbud seal. It is always frustrating if you can’t get your earbuds to fit your years properly, and you get a disappointing feeling, and you feel like you have been ripped off.

One earbud that has really caught my attention recently is from a Chinese based company called the UGREEN HiTune Wireless Earbuds. It is a Bluetooth earbud with Microphone HiFi Stereo In-Ear Headphones, cVc 8.0 Noise Cancelling, Touch Control, 27h Playtime, USB-C Quick Charge, Waterproof, aptX TWS, and suitable for Sports. The first thing that attracted me to this earbud is its design. Generally, I prefer earbuds that do not have extensions going down your ear lobes, because most times they can easily fall off your ears if you mistakenly hit it or it gets cut up on something. However, the UGREEN HiTune Wireless Earbuds fits completely into your ears, without any part protruding out, making it sit perfectly in your ears. Its compact size and ergonomic design help the earbuds fit perfectly in your ears. It is also lightweight and offers 3 sizes of tips, which makes it comfortable for users.

Unboxing the HiTune Wireless Earbuds pack, you find  1 x HiTune True Wireless Earbuds, 6 x Silicone Ear-Tips (3Pair S/M/L), 1 x USB-C Charging Case, 1 x USB-C Charging Cable, 1 x User Manual, and 1 x Packing Box. When it comes to features, the HiTune enables Twin and Mono modes, and you can switch freely between the two modes. It has crystal clear sound a superb noise cancellation, thanks to its Qualcomm Cvc 8.0 noise cancellation tech, and MEMS microphones. Its 5.8mm dynamic driver gives you immersive stereo sound. It has a 33ft strong Bluetooth connection thanks to the Bluetooth 5.0 features, and its Qualcomm chip enables low power consumption, high fidelity sound with imperceptible low latency.

Package Contents

  • 1 x HiTune True Wireless Earbuds
  • 6 x Silicone Ear-Tips (3Pair S/M/L)
  • 1 x USB-C Charging Case
  • 1 x USB-C Charging Cable
  • 1 x User Manual
  • 1 x Packing Box

The UGREEN HiTune supports USB-C quick charge and offers up to 9H playtime, and it can be extended to 27H with the charging case. For ease of use, the earbuds offer “tap” features. You tap once to play/pause music, and also to answer and end calls. You can double-tap to next a track, triple tap to move to the previous track, and tap for 2 seconds to end a call and launch voice assistants. The earbuds enable a One-step setting to pair the earbuds with your phone, which will connect with your smartphone automatically once you take the earbuds out of the charging case. For just $39.99 you can get the UGREEN HiTune, which is on the affordable side for a quality earbud.

The UGREEN HiTune is compatible with the following devices:

Laptop: MacBook Pro 13″ 15″ 16″, MacBook Air 13″, MacBook 12″, Huawei MateBook X Pro 2019, MateBook 14 2019, etc

Tablet: iPad Pro 12.9″ / 11″ / 10.5″ / 9.7″, iPad Air 2 9.7″ /3 10.5″, iPad 9.7″, iPad Mini 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 7.9″, etc
Huawei MediaPad M6 / M5, Microsoft Surface Book 2 / Pro 6 / Go, Xiaomi Mi Pad 2 / 3 / 4 / 4 Plus, etc

Smartphones: Apple: iPhone 11 / 11 Pro / 11 Pro Max / SE (2020) / X / XR / XS / XS Max / 8 / 8 Plus / 7 / 7 Plus / 6 / 6s / 5 / 5c, etc
Samsung: Samsung Galaxy S20 / S20+ / S10 / S10e / S10+ / S9 / S8 / S7 / Note 10 / Note 9 / A20 / A20e / A10 / A10s / A80 / A70 / A60, etc
Huawei: Huawei P40 Pro / P30 Pro / P30 / P30 Lite / P20 Pro / P20 / Mate 20 / Mate 20 Pro / Mate 30 / Mate 30 Pro / Y6 / P9 / P Smart, etc
Xiaomi: Redmi Note 8 / 8 Pro, Redmi Note 9 / 9 Pro, Redmi 9 / 9A /, Poco M2 Pro, Mi Note 10 / 10 Pro / 10 Lite, etc
Sony: Sony Xperia 1 II / Xperia 10 II / Xperia 5 / Xperia XZ / Xperia XZ1 / Xperia L3 / Xperia L1 / Xperia L4, etc. It also supports any other Bluetooth-enabled devices.

Specifications:

  • SKU- 80606
  • Bluetooth Version- Bluetooth 5.0
  • Bluetooth Protocol- HSP, HFP, AVRCP, A2DP
  • Bluetooth Frequency- 2400MHz-2483.5MHz
  • Bluetooth Range- 10M / 33ft
  • Audio Codec- Qualcomm aptX, AAC, SBC
  • Frequency Response- 20Hz-20,000 Hz
  • Speaker Impedance- 32Ω ± 15%
  • Speaker Sensitivity- 105 ± 3dB at 1KHz
  • Microphone Sensitivity- 8dB
  • Earbuds Capacity- 2*60mAh
  • Charging Case Capacity- 300mAh 3.7V (1.11Wh)
  • Charging Limited Voltage- 5.25V
  • Charging Case Input- 5V=250mA
  • Charging Case Output- 5V=150mA

When purchasing any pair of wireless earbuds, it is advisable you purchase from a vendor with a decent return policy, like Amazon, so if the earbuds don’t meet some basic expectation, like ambient sound-canceling to touch control, to how long they last on a single charge, you can return them. The UGREEN HiTune is available on Amazon for $39.99. You can also visit their website for more information. The UGREEN HiTune earbuds can be placed in the category of real earbuds, and I recommend it for any lover of earbuds.

Top 10 Single Board Computers of 2020

Posted on by mixos

1.Raspberry Pi 4 Model B – 4 GB RAM

Raspberry Pi 4 Model B is upgraded with Latest High-Performance Quad-Core 64-bit Broadcom 2711, Cortex A72  processor clocked at 1.5GHz speed. The board is designed to use 20% less power and offer 90% greater performance than its old version. Hardware upgrade on Pi4 developed for faster performance not only in loading time with all-new 1GB/2GB and 4GB LPDDR4 SDRAM variants but also in connectivity with Dual-band 2.4GHz and 5GHz, 802.11 b/g/n/ac wireless LAN and PoE capability via a separate PoE HAT. In addition to its USB 3.0, they improved the transfer speed by 10x than USB 2.0 to provide you significantly faster true Gigabit internet experience. This version comes with 4GB of RAM, but there are also versions with 1 and 2 GB.

 

2. Odroid-XU4

Odroid-XU4 is a cost-effective, high power option with one gigabit Ethernet port for a fast connection, HDMI 1.4a for display, and the board even comes with an active cooler and a power adapter. It features the mighty Samsung Exynos 5422 Cortex-A15 octa-core GPU clocked at 2 GHz and the Mali-T628 MP6 GPU with support for OpenGL ES 3.1 and OpenCL 1.2. ODROID-XU4 also has 2 GB of memory, two USB 3.0 ports, but there is no Bluetooth for wireless connectivity. The board can run the latest version of Ubuntu, Android 4.4 KitKat, 5.0 Lollipop, and 7.1 Nougat, giving you plenty of options on how to turn it into a full-fledged computer or a handy backup device. When placed inside a nice case, ODROID-XU4 can also be a fantastic first computer for a young child, especially with the Android operating system. DROID-XU4 is powered by ARM big.LITTLE technology and the Heterogeneous Multi-Processing (HMP) solution. By implementing the eMMC 5.0, USB 3.0 and Gigabit Ethernet interfaces, the ODROID-XU4 boasts amazing data transfer speeds, a feature that is increasingly required to support advanced processing power on ARM devices. This allows users to truly experience an upgrade in computing, especially with faster booting, web browsing, networking, and 3D games.

A MicroSD card or an eMMC module is required to boot the OS. We strongly recommend an eMMC module for faster OS booting, quicker application launching, seamless multi-tasking, and efficient access to the cloud.

 

3. ASUS Tinker Board RK3288

Just like ODROID-XU4, ASUS Tinker Board can be used as a daily computer with more than enough power for basic image editing, Full HD video streaming, web browsing, music listening, and even some casual gaming. The board features the Rockchip RK3288, which is a modern quad-core ARM-based processor that you can find inside many tablets and multimedia players. With 2 GB of memory and the Mali-T764 GPU, the board can play HD and UHD video at 30 fps with the included media player with support for hardware acceleration. To further establish the ASUS Tinker Board as an excellent home multimedia center, it comes with one key feature that you won’t find on nearly any other SBC: an HD codec that supports up to 24-bit/192kHz audio. But the Tinker Board isn’t all about fun and games, well, depending on your idea of fun. The board also includes a 40-pin GPIO interface, a gigabit LAN connection, a DSI MIPI connection for displays and touchscreens, and a CSI MIPI connection for connection to compatible cameras, making it great for the Internet of Things.

 

4.  Libre Renegade Computer Board

If you’re looking for a fairly priced single-board computer to set up a Network Area Storage, a file server, or something else, the Libre Renegade Computer Board will be right up your alley. This one actually has some powerful hardware inside. It’s got a quad 64-bit 1.4GHz ARM Cortex-A53 Processor, a 4K Ultra HD ARM Mali-450 GPU, and 2GB of DDR4 RAM. This one is actually 40% faster than the Raspberry Pi. Libre’s Renegade computer even comes equipped with quick Gigabit Ethernet, which you won’t find on many boards. You can easily turn this into a NAS, Kubernetes cluster, file server, wire-speed encrypted router/VPN, and many more.

 

5. Arduino Mega 2560

First, we’re looking at the Arduino Mega 2560. This one is similar to a lot of different Arduino boards out there, but the Mega 2560 is designed to handle some of the more ambitious projects. It features more memory and pins to give you better performance. This one, in particular, is based on an 8-bit AVR microcontroller ATmega2560 — there are 54 digital I/O pins, 16 analog inputs, and a larger space for your sketches.

 

6. Raspberry Pi Zero W

The Raspberry Pi Zero W board extends the functionality of the Pi Zero board with wireless LAN and Bluetooth connectivity. In many ways, it’s the ideal single-board computer for the Internet of Things era. Considering its tiny size, you might be surprised to find out that it comes with the Broadcom BCM2835 CPU clocked at 1 GHz and 512 MB LPDDR2 SDRAM That’s right, for a super low cost, you can have an incredibly versatile, Wi-Fi-enabled single-board computer that stands on the shoulders of the most active and helpful community of single-board computer enthusiasts in existence. The Raspberry Pi Zero W measures only 6.5 cm × 3cm × 0.5cm, and it consumes so little energy that even a moderately large battery pack can keep it running for a very long time.

 

7. LattePanda

LattePanda is a little different, it actually operating on a Windows 10 development platform. It comes with a Windows 10 OEM activation key, so that’s something you don’t have to buy in addition to the board. The LattePanda is also more expensive, coming with a USB 3.0 port, and two USB 2.0 ports. There is onboard Wi-Fi 802.11n (2.4GHz), and actually supports Bluetooth 4. The Windows 10 Development Platform can be a little difficult to start out on, but this affordable single-board PC is a great way to get you started. Since this one comes with Windows 10 already installed, you’re able to run powerful tools right out of the box, including Visual Studio, NodeJS, Java, Processing, etc.

 

8. Rock PI Rockchip RK3399

Rock Pi-4 is in an ultra-little structured factor board that offers class-driving execution while utilizing remarkable mechanical similarity. The Rock Pi-4 offers producers, IoT. devotees, specialists, PC-DIY lovers, and others a dependable and very able stage for the building and tinkering their thought(s) into the real world. Rock Pi 4 has a cutting edge and incredible Hexa-center ARM-based processor(s), RK3399 inside, and it offers fundamentally improved execution vs other well-known SBC sheets. All models are outfitted with LPDDR4 3200Mb/s RAM and optional superior eMMC modules, support all applications. It has an Onboard antenna and it is compatible with the Raspberry Pi camera.

9. Banana Pi BPI-M4

Banana-Pi is also another single-board computer with promises. It is a credit card-sized computer with great features. It produced by the Chinese company name Shenzhen co, Ltd. The Raspberry Pi influenced the design of banana-Pi computer hardware. Banana-Pi can run on many operating systems like Linux, Android, Debian, and Ubuntu. Banana-Pi BPI-M4 uses Realtek RTD1395 chip structure, it is a 64-piece quad-center A53 scaled-down single-board PC. It highlights 1 GB/2GB of RAM and 8 GB eMMC. It likewise has locally available WiFi for b/g/n/air conditioning and BT 4.2. On the ports side; the BPI-M4 has 4 USB 2.0 ports, 1 USB TYPE C port, 1 HDMI port, f1 sound jack. Support M.2 Key E PCI-E 2.0 interface(s).

 

10. LattePanda Alpha 864s

Latte Panda Alpha uses the Intel Core m3 processor; which is equivalent to the most recent MacBook. The Core m3 processor is the ideal decision for unrivaled execution and low force utilization. With its 8GB RAM and 64GB eMMC, M.2 interface SSD backing, and abundant GPIO expansion ports; Alpha can meet the majority of the application needs. This single-board computer is known as the leader of the pandas. The main features of this single board computer support both operating systems; Windows and Linux have the ultimate ability of cloud networking, extendable interfaces. This computer takes less space due to its ultra-thin design. 8 GB RAM which increases the speed of the computer performance.

BIQU Announces the Launch of BIQU BX – World’s Lightest Direct Extruder FDM 3D Printer

Posted on by mixos

BIQU, a well-respected maker of high-end 3D printer components, has announced the launch of their first self-branded printer. The BIQU BX Direct Extruder FDM 3D printer is an out-of-box-all-level-user-friendly DIY creative task achiever that is perfect for hobbyists, makers, and professionals alike. It combines powerful features, ease of use and affordability so that anyone can get started with 3D printing. BIQU BX is available now. Learn more here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1440007055/biqu-bx-worlds-lightest-direct-extruder-fdm-3d-printer

Highlights

  • Powerful BigTreeTech Motherboard:BX’s new 32bit, 400Mhz chip, is capable of complex printing and offers features like drive reverse plug protection, heating overload protection, and real-time monitoring of power supply voltage.
  • Lightest Direct Extruder:​219g all-metal direct extruder is the lightest ever, even with parts cooling fan and homing stop sensors included, which is built to reduce inertia to the minimum for accuracy improvement. Its 7:1 torque transmission ratio ensures excellent printing performance.
  • Easy 3 Modes Control: Besides built-in Marlin and BTT’s touch-screen control modes, BIQU BX allows plug & print Raspberry Pi firmware expansion, which make it the world’s first laptop-free Octoprint integrated 3D printer.

The BX Direct Extruder FDM 3D printer is built around BIQU’s latest proprietary technologies and most powerful BTT (BigTreeTech) motherboard. At only 219g it is the world’s lightest all-metal direct extruder. It features a powerful 32bit, 400Mhz smart control chip for faster computational processing that enables smart assistant features like auto-leveling to help amateurs achieve more successful prints and gives pro-users the power necessary for more complex prints. From kids’ toys, skin-friendly medical items to other practical appliances, BX serves virtually any application.

The printer has 3 easy control modes including Marlin and BTT touch-screen control modes. Notably, the BigTreeTech Motherboard design supports plug & print Raspberry Pi firmware expansion making it the world’s first laptop-free Octoprint integrated 3D Printer. The system also reserves driver slots for more functional expansion, such as filament breaking and blocking detection modules, Wi-Fi interface printing module, and CAN bus interface.

 “Our team has a passion for 3D printing and a mission to make it accessible to anyone. We spent years creating high quality components for other printer companies worldwide, while also developing improved technologies for our own design. When it was perfected, we knew it was time to step out of the background and share the BIQU BX with the world. BX is the world’s lightest direct extruder FDM 3D printer which makes it perfect for makers and home users. Its powerful features ensure high print quality but its ease of use means that anyone with an interest in 3D printing can get started fast and produce incredible results consistently. With the BIQU BX, anyone can unleash their creativity at the touch of a button.” Eric Zhang CEO & Founder, BIQU

One of the typical barriers to entry into complex 3D printing is the learning curve. BIQU BX solves this problem with built-in features that take the guesswork out of setup and bed leveling. BX makes it easy with an innovative true Approximate Sensor Leveling-Free Technology, an intuitive interactive multi-language touchscreen control UI and safety protections that result in fast, accurate and safe printing for beginners and complex print capabilities for advanced users.

BIQU BX is available now with special deals and discounts for early adopters. Learn more here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1440007055/biqu-bx-worlds-lightest-direct-extruder-fdm-3d-printer

IBASE Rolls Out Slim-Type Fanless System with 8th Gen Intel® Core™ Processors

Posted on by mixos

IBASE Technology Inc., a leading provider of industrial motherboards and computing solutions, is pleased to announce its slim-type ASB200-919 fanless system based on the IB919 3.5” disk-size SBC. The system is designed for both industrial and commercial applications, including factory automation, production line equipment, POS computers and gaming applications.

The compact ASB200-919 is equipped with the 8th Gen Intel® Core™ i7/i5/i3 / Pentium® / Celeron® processors and two DDR4 SO-DIMM slots with 8GB as default and 32GB maximum capacity. Measuring 180 x 150 x 66mm, the system provides multiple I/O ports (with 4x USB 3.1, 2x DP, 1x COM, and 2x GbE on the front panel) and two M.2 expansion sockets (E-Key & M-Key) to integrate various peripheral devices or meet specific application requirements.

The ASB200-919 is designed for reliable 24/7 operation, with a wide power input range from 12V(-10%) to 24V(+10%) and 3Grms vibration resistance. Other features include TPM (2.0) for enhanced security and data protection, external GPIO, easy SSD replacement, and optional 90W power adaptor and WiFi antenna kit. Operating systems supported are Win10 IoT Enterprise, WES8 and Linux Ubuntu.

ASB200-919 FEATURES:

  • Fanless system with IBASE IB919 3.5’’ Disk-Size SBC
  • Onboard 8th Gen Intel® Core™ U-Series Processor
  • Supports 2x M.2 sockets (E-Key, CNVi / M-Key, NVMe)
  • 12V(-10%) ~ 24V(+10%) DC-in Power Input
  • 2x DDR4 SO-DIMM, Max.32GB
  • 4x USB 3.1, 2x Intel® Gigabit LAN
  • 1x COM ports, External GPIO
  • 2x DP (1 by Type-C), TPM (2.0)
  • Optional VESA mount bracket

For more information, please visit www.ibase.com.tw.

VIAVI Releases World’s First 16-lane Protocol Analysis System for PCIe 5.0

Posted on by mixos

Viavi Solutions Inc. (VIAVI) (NASDAQ: VIAV) today introduced the first 16-lane protocol analysis system for PCI Express® 5.0, operating at 32Gbps per lane. The VIAVI Xgig 5P16 Protocol Analyzer delivers detailed traffic analysis and jamming capabilities, enabling test and validation to meet the most demanding performance needs of emerging compute-intensive applications such as 400 Gigabit Ethernet, artificial intelligence (AI), IoT and hyperscale computing.

The Xgig 5P16 includes a system chassis platform, an interposer for device under test (DUT) connectivity, and the analyzer license key. With a tightly coupled, yet modular architecture, component manufacturers can perform the tests they need today in accordance with the PCIe 5.0 standard, as well as all previous revisions of PCI Express, while allowing for upgrades to enhanced capabilities in the future.

The Xgig 5P16 chassis has 256GB of memory and flexible allocation to capture and save multiple data traces at all layers of the stack. A familiar Xgig management interface helps minimize training needs and startup costs. The sophisticated auto-tuning of signal integrity with the DUT makes for quick test bench setup and ensures a quality, repeatable capture to reduce issue resolution time.

“In today’s demanding, multiprotocol environments, component manufacturers need trusted technology and familiar user interfaces to streamline data traffic analysis and validation as they develop tomorrow’s high-performance networking equipment,” said Tom Fawcett, Vice President and General Manager, Lab and Production Business Unit, VIAVI. “VIAVI has delivered the first 16-lane protocol analysis system with native support for PCIe 5.0 to enable equipment manufacturers to keep pace with the ever-increasing demands of bandwidth-intensive computing.”

more information: www.viavisolutions.com

Metabolizer: A open-source waste-processing system generating electricity from trash

Posted on by R-B

Harvesting useful energy from municipal waste or our daily garbage is common around the world. In some developed countries, only 1 percent of household waste is dumped to landfills, while the remaining garbage is either recycled or incinerated in power plants to generate electricity. Junk removal services play a crucial role in managing household waste effectively, especially in areas where recycling and energy recovery programs are not as prevalent. Companies like Junk Removal Phoenix offer convenient solutions for homeowners and businesses to dispose of their unwanted items responsibly. By employing eco-friendly practices such as sorting materials for recycling and donating usable goods, these services minimize the amount of waste that ends up in landfills, contributing to a more sustainable environment.

In the pursuit of sustainable waste management, it’s crucial to extend our focus beyond household waste to include the realm of commercial waste disposal. Addressing this aspect is paramount for fostering environmental sustainability. One effective solution for businesses is leveraging services such as biffa bin hire, which offer tailored approaches to managing commercial waste streams efficiently. These services provide the resources necessary for implementing structured waste disposal strategies, ensuring that recyclable materials are diverted away from landfills and directed towards appropriate recycling facilities. As sustainability becomes increasingly integral to corporate agendas, initiatives like bin hire play a pivotal role in driving positive environmental outcomes and fostering a greener future for communities worldwide.

Similarly, in the domestic sector, skip hire initiatives play a crucial role in promoting sustainability practices. Homeowners can benefit from services like Skip Hire Rochdale, which streamline the process of waste disposal while minimizing environmental impact. By encouraging responsible waste management habits at the household level, skip bin hire services contribute to broader efforts aimed at reducing landfill waste and preserving natural resources for future generations.

In the context of domestic waste management, skip bin hire services in Brisbane Northside provide a vital solution for homeowners striving to adopt more sustainable waste disposal practices. These services, such as those offered by https://bbins.com.au/, simplify the process of managing large volumes of waste generated from home renovations, garden clean-ups, and other household projects. The accessibility and tailored options available through these services empower individuals to take an active role in sustainable waste management, fostering a culture of environmental responsibility at the community level.

Sam Smith is working on developing a prototype open-source multifunctional waste processing system, named Metabolizer, that mimics the metabolism of a living organism. It is capable of decomposing household wastes in order to power itself as well as provide resources and tools to fabricate its own parts, enabling self-grow, evolve, adapt, and eventually self-replicate. The machine is going to be equipped with a bunch of sensors to monitor its own performance, as well as record and stream the performance data in real-time over the internet.

As per Sam’s design, this system uses heat to decompose shredded waste into a combustible clean gas that can be stored and later be used to feed a lawnmower engine producing shaft power and electricity using a dynamo. The torque from the shaft power can then be used to run a waste shredder, while the so-generated electricity can power the control unit, sensor systems, and a 3D printer that will print out most of its parts from the plastic waste fed to the system. This is an open-source project and Sam aims to provide full documentation and designs for easy replication of this garbage eating self-powered robot by others.

Quantum Dots in Medical Science as Cancer Tracer

Posted on by Rik

A huge leap in personalized medicine may come from the use of Quantum dots (QDs) to combat and identify several hard to cure diseases, such as cancer, immunodeficiencies, and neurological disorders. Quantum dots (QDs) are semiconductor nanocrystals with unique photophysical properties. Their excellent optical properties are a promising alternative to organic dyes for fluorescence biomedical applications.

In the biomedical sciences, fluorescence is used as a powerful tool for labeling, imaging, and tracking certain molecules or cells. QDs are a new class of fluorophores that offer several improvements over conventional fluorophores. These particles have large absorption and narrow emission spectra, high quantum yield (efficiency of photon emission), long life-time, and high brightness.

Quantum dots for biomedical applications (bioimaging)

When ultraviolet rays hit these dots, they can emit light of different colors based on their size. QDs have useful as fluorescent properties suitable for dyes in the field of deep-tissue imaging. These techniques are typically used in animal models since most organic dyes are not capable of operating in near-infrared (NIR) emissions. The visible wavelength range of about 400-700nm is not suitable for the transmission through biological tissues.

The color of the light depends on the size quantum dot

Specific targeted therapy is delivered to a patient based on particular targeted diagnostic images and tests. Here comes the perfect use for QDs as they can behave as nano-carriers for drug delivery or fluorescent labels. Fluorescent labeling can be explained as the detection involve binding fluorescent dyes to biomolecules to visualize them through fluorescence imaging, such as lymph nodes. This technique makes a great deal in detecting target biomolecules like tumor cells for early diagnosis of cancer, tracking the progress of tumor elimination.

As with every new experimental stage of developing something out of the box, here several challenges stand in the way remain to be solved first it becomes mainstream. There are unknown environmental impact, toxicity, manufacturing costs of these nanomaterials. More research is needed to be done to understand the proper mechanisms and protocols for the scalability of high-quality, non-toxic QD production.

SparkFun Artemis Development Kits

Posted on by Micael Coutinho

At this point, you may have heard from the Artemis module from Sparkfun, which revolved around the idea of bridging the gap between hobbyists and consumer products, packing all the power that is expected from a modern microcontroller into a small module but keeping in mind the easiness to use and the capability of being ready to the mass-market. Now, with the Artemis Development Kit, you can expect a fully-fledged kit that goes even further than the ones available for this module, allowing access to more software development features than its predecessors. Pretty cool, right?

As a refresher, the Artemis module that brings these kits to life is the world’s first open-source, US manufactured BLE module with FCC, IC, and CE certifications. It runs an Apollo3 ARM Cortex-M4F MCU, supports BLE 5.0, with power as low as 6uA per MHz. This new addition to the Artemis family also includes 24 Breakout I/O pins for your peripherals, a 3-axis accelerometer, a PDM microphone, and optionally a camera, so that you can develop your own computer vision applications on it. It even comes with a useful cheat sheet on the back, detailing all the pin functionalities, so you will not need to go back and forth between your datasheet and your IDE, nice touch!

Regarding the specs in further detail:

  • Apollo3 ARM Cortex-M4F MCU
  • 1MB Flash + 384KB RAM memories
  • Built in BLE radio and antenna (48MHz, with 96MHz turbo available)
  • 6uA/MHz, operating at less than 5mW in full operation
  • 24x breakout I/O pins (8x 14-bit ADC + 18x 16-bit PWM + 2x UART ports + 3x I2C/SPI buses)
  • Sensors: 3-Axis accelerometer (LIS2DH12) + PDM microphone (SPH0641LM4H-1) + camera connector (for the Himax HM01B0 camera)
  • Power: 5V provided via USB-C connector, with 1.8, 3.3 and 5V available via the power header

You have flexibility when it comes to programming the kit: as it targets both hobbyists and experienced users who want to take the leap and create a professional product, it allows for the Arduino, but also reccomends some more advanced IDE’s, such as the MBED OS and the AmbiqSDK. The board also counts with an updated USB interface from NXP, providing three different modes: Mass Storage Device (MSD), for drag and drop programming, Human Interface Device (HID), used as the debugging interface to the Artemis module and communication port (COM), providing serial UART communication between the module and the computer connected via USB.

As mentioned by the Sparkfun developers and throughout this article, this board is geared towards the advanced developer, who wants to take a concept all the way into final production. Do you think it can be useful for your ideas? What projects do you see it shining on?

Lantronix Announces Ultra-Compact Open-Q 865XR System on Module (SOM) to Power IoT

Posted on by mixos

Lantronix Inc. (NASDAQ: LTRX) a global provider of Software as a Service (SaaS), engineering services and hardware for Edge Computing, the Internet of Things (IoT) and Remote Environment Management (REM), today announced its new Open-Q™ 865XR System on Module (SOM) solution for IoT applications. With the Open-Q 865XR SOM, Lantronix is leading the way to next-gen intelligent Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality (AR/VR) applications in AI machine learning, medical, gaming, logistics and retail sectors.

“Our new Open-Q 865XR SOM gives product developers AR/VR capability at the edge, powerful general processing capability and professional-quality imaging needed to kickstart IoT application development,” said Jonathan Shipman, VP of Strategy at Lantronix Inc.

Lantronix’s Open-Q 865XR SOM is an ultra-compact (50mm x 29mm) production-ready SOM powered by the Qualcomm® SXR2130P that utilizes Qualcomm® Technologies’ heterogeneous compute expertise to deliver a System-on-Chip with multiple specialized processing cores, in addition to the Kryo™ 585 Octa-core CPU, including:

  • 5th generation AI engine — twice the performance of the previous generation with up to 15 TOPS
  • Dual Qualcomm® Spectra 480 ISP — supporting up to 64MP cameras
  • Qualcomm® Adreno 650 GPU — high performance graphics with power efficiency
  • Qualcomm® Hexagon 698 DSP — vision processing and machine learning
  • Adreno 665 VPU — high-quality, ultra HD video encode and decode

In addition, the Open-Q 865XR SOM delivers next-generation wireless and wired connectivity with more reliable performance and higher bandwidth, including:

  • Wi-Fi 6 — 802.11ax 2×2 MU-MIMO
  • Two-lane Gen3 PCIe
  • Two USB3.1 interfaces

Lantronix’s ultra-compact Open-Q 865XR SOM enables product designers to quickly kickstart development for IoT solutions needing advanced technologies at the edge. The Open-Q 865XR delivers on exceptional functionality across many applications, including edge computing, augmented reality, virtual reality, artificial intelligence, machine learning, computer vision and high-resolution input/output. Customer interest is high with initial engagements commencing over gaming, education, medical, logistics and retail applications.

Supported by the fully featured Android™ 10 operating system, the Open-Q 865XR SOM provides the ideal starting point for applications designed to take advantage of the smooth Android UI as well as the advanced camera software stack.

Designed to accelerate time to market for new product innovation, the Open-Q 865XR SOM Development Kit will enable quick, easy evaluation and initial product development. The development kit, along with the available documentation, also provides a functional reference design for custom carrier board development.

“Lantronix’s proven track record of successes with Qualcomm Technologies, including the Open-Q 820 and 845 µSOM products, coupled with Lantronix’s extensive engineering capabilities and services, make us excited to deliver the Open-Q 865XR SOM to new and existing clients,” said Paul Pickle, president and CEO of Lantronix.

In addition to production-ready SOMs, development platforms and tools, Lantronix offers turnkey product development services, driver and application software development and expert technical support.

The Open-Q 865XR SOM Development Kit is available to order today.

To learn more about the Open-Q 865XR and download the product brief and datasheet as well as explore all the hardware, software and services Lantronix has to offer, visit www.lantronix.com .

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