The Digital Engine DE5500 is supported by the 7th generation Intel® Core(available in i3, i5 and i7). It consumes little power due to the of this mobile processor. It supports a DDR4 dual channel memory with a maximum capacity of 32GB. The standard Digital Engine small form factor can easily be integrated into a kiosk or behind a screen for a digital signage application. Furthermore, the latest AOPEN intelligent Control Unit (AiCU) is optional. This feature provides an easy management tool that can monitor and control the device.
Small form factor
This form factor ensures an easy integration into kiosks or behind screens. The AOPEN small form factor is a standard that is used for Digital Engine (DE) models. The size of our Digital Engine series is set to maximum 166x48x177 mm. Its width set to 166 mm. Do the math and you will see that a Digital Engine is an investment that will last, even after replacing the item in a kiosk or mount that already exists.
Trusted Platform Module 2.0
The TPM is a dedicated micro controller, designed to secure hardware through integrated cryptographic keys. This means the data on your hard drive will be encrypted to ensure your data is safe, even when your device gets stolen.
Intel Core-i Desktop platform
The DEX5550 and the DE5550 are both based on the Intel Core-I platform. More specifically, on the 6th generation Kaby Lake platform technology. These computing devices are available in i3, i5 and i7, and therefore in different SKU’s.
Integrated HEVC/H.265 10bit codec
These units support native hardware decoding for modern codecs like the HEVC/H265 10 bit. Offloading the CPU, the GPU handles the decoding of the video. This creates a fluent playback up to 60fps.
More information
No pricing or availability information was provided for the Digital Engine DE5500. More information may be found in the DE5500 announcement and product page.
Norman is a climatic simulation library designed to run on an Arduino Uno for indoor and greenhouse automation projects. Arduino Library for mathematical climatic simulation of natural daylight, temperature, and humidity cycles using minimal data sets.
Given a set of parameters for a target locale, the library returns values for temperature, dew point, Relative Humidity, and daylight cycles (using the Dusk2Dawn library by DM Kishi). Because the library operates on mathematical projections instead of live-streamed climate data, this enables botanists and growers to simulate real-time climatic shifts not only for remote locations, but for specific seasonal windows within those locations.
How does it work?
Daylight
Norman makes extensive use of the Dusk2Dawn library, by DM Kishi. It relies on Dusk2Dawn to retrieve daily times for sunrise and sunset based on latitude, longitude, and timezone of the target location. Optionally, it anchors these daily light cycles to solar noon of local daylight schedules. This enables users utilizing a greenhouse to incorporate photoresistors and PWM driver control for the purposes of energy-efficient supplemental lighting if so desired.
Temperature and Humidity
Yearly temperature and dew point trends can be loosely expressed by a sine wave in most climates. This means we can project daily minima and maxima as long as we have minimum and maximum values for the hottest and coldest days of the year, as well as the indexed locations of these days for the target location. Seasonal lag was loosely accounted for by modifying the width of this sine wave based on the number of days between the hottest and coldest days of the year (relative to the current time). Daily patterns for temperature and dew point were more complicated. I used a polynomial function for daytime shifts, an exponential function for nightly decay, and a regressive anchoring system in order to create smooth transitions between day and night cycles while continuing to follow the annual sine wave. Relative humidity is retrieved using these temperature and dew point projections. This enables users to incorporate these projected values into climate control applications using popular temperature and humidity sensors (DHT11, DHT22, BMP280, etc.).
Does it only calculate values for the current day?
No. It can be programmed to mimic conditions for any time of the year, from any time of the year. Optionally, users can designate the length and starting point of a “season,” and repeat the projected conditions of this time period over and over again without having to re-flash the sketch. This method retains the (optional) functionality of anchoring target daylight cycles to local cycles happening in real time.
Norman Arduino Setup
How accurate is it?
That’s a complicated question. You can see for yourself at my plot.ly page. I tested a dozen US cities to see how my projections would stack up, and I think it did alright, considering how crude it is. Seems to do a lot better in coastal and continental climates than mountains and deserts. I’ve got some ideas of how to improve its consistency, but addressing those issues would necessitate the time and labor of people who actually know what they’re doing. As it is, I’m ready to move on to other projects, so we’re calling it as done as done gets.
Norman Parts
Why are you writing all this?
Because I hope that my dumb little project will inflame the curiosity of smart people. I want other people to do this better, because I think a comprehensive mathematical model that can accurately simulate remote climatic conditions might have some exciting implications for agricultural development and botany. If you are interested in taking a swing at it, contact me. I can put you onto some questions and observations that might help you get started. Probably the first order of business would be whipping up some sunrise and sunset functions that build and fade naturally based on solar elevation and azimuth. It would also be rad if someone sent me a picture of them growing passion fruit in Siberia using my garbage code and a $10 microcontroller.
Although testing scripts can be run on an Uno with no additional modules, a working prototype requires a temperature/humidity sensor (such as a DHT22), a real-time clock module with battery backup (I prefer a DS3231), and some means to control the operation of external growing equipment (lights, fans, heaters, AC units, humidifiers, etc). I used Songle 5v SPDT relays in my working prototype (pictured), but a 433mhz RF or WiFi transmitter would be more scalable for larger projects.
The nanoSplatch™ nSP250 is a surface-mount antenna for embedded WiFi/WLAN and other 2.4 GHz or 5.8 GHz ISM or U-NII frequency band applications.
It uses a grounded-line technique to achieve outstanding performance in a tiny surface-mount package. The nSP250 exhibits low proximity effect with a very hemispherical radiation pattern, making it ideal for handheld devices and applications typically subject to interference.
Linx Technologies – a Merlin, OR based developer and manufacturer of IoT Products and Solutions – is pleased to announce that its popular, low cost MicroSplatch™Â Series antenna is now available on tape and reel. Designed for high volume production, this new packaging feature helps to further lower the total cost of purchase and assembly.
Over the past few years, the MicoSplatch™ Series antennas by the Antenna Factor part of Linx has become extremely popular. Now on tape and reel, customers can appreciate the added savings of this product in their production lines as well as reduce impact on the environment with improved packaging options. – Kris Lafko, VP of Marketing and Sales
About the MicroSplatch™ Antenna
The MicroSplatch™ is the first true alternative for those wishing to avoid the high cost, long lead times or limited frequency choices of chip antennas. The MicroSplatch™ antenna from Linx Technologies represents a groundbreaking advance in our reflow-compatible planar antennas. Using advanced simulation tools, Linx designed the MicroSplatch™ with performance similar to our standard Splatch antenna, but only uses one third of the critical board space. The small size and low cost makes the MicroSplatch™ an excellent choice for handheld devices such as remote controls and small data transmission systems.
Features
Ultra-compact package (9.6 mm x 8.4 mm x 1.1 mm)
Excellent performance with smallest ground plane (40 mm x 20 mm)
Resistant to proximity effect
Omnidirectional radiation pattern
Direct surface-mount PCB attachment
Reflow- or hand-solder assembly
High gain (2.7 dBi at 2.4 GHz, 3.7 dBi at 5.8 GHz)
High efficiency (66% at 2.4 GHz, 69% at 5.8 GHz)
Applications
Single- and dual-band WiFi/WLAN/802.11
Bluetooth® and ZigBee®
Smart Home networking
Sensing and remote monitoring
Hand-held devices
Internet of Things (IoT) devices
U-NII and ISM applications
Adding the MicroSplatch™ to your design is simple—the only things needed are a footprint for the antenna and associated proximity ground plane. The MicroSplatch™ is available in the 403MHz, 418MHz, 433MHz, 868MHz, 916MHz and 2.4GHz bands. Custom designs within the 400MHz–3GHz range are available.
“We designed the MicroSplatch™ specifically as a chip buster aimed at high volume customer applications, where lowest cost is a leading consideration”, explains Tolga Latif, CEO of Linx. “In most cases, we can beat a chip antenna on price and performance.”
For more information about the MicroSplatch™ antenna on tape and reel, call Linx at +1 800 736 6677 (+1 541 471 6256 outside the United States) or visit www.linxtechnologies.com.
In the spirit of cluster computing, the Turing Pi Clusterboard brings another dimension in the world of cluster computing for makers and hackers. The Pimoroni’s Cluster HAT gave us the power to connect up to 4 Raspberry Pi Zeros to create a cluster computer, the MiniNodes’ 5 Node Raspberry Pi 3 CoM Carrier Board provide support for connecting up to 5 Raspberry Pi compute modules for cluster computing, and we also see some other similar boards.
The Turing Pi Clusterboard takes a step further for those wanting more performance by stepping the cluster computing game to provide support for up 7 Raspberry Pi compute modules. Based on the Mini ITX-sized boards, the Turing Pi Clusterboard allows a user to connect up to seven Raspberry Pi Compute Modules and is being advertised for applications that support Docker, Machine Learning, Kubernetes, Apache Spark, and similar applications, also including serverless stacks.
Turing Pi Cluster Board
The 7x Raspberry Pi Computer Modules are connected via a 1Gbps Ethernet network, making it possible to run cloud-based applications on edge. A good thought will be to try the Jetson Nano’s on the Turing Pi Clusterboard, but sadly, that doesn’t seem possible since the Jetson nano is a DDR3 form factor, and the Computer module are DDR2.
Measuring around 170 by 170mm, the Turing Pi features DDR2 style sockets, seven MicroSD card slots which is meant for each compute module, an HDMI port, Gigabit Ethernet port, MIPI DSI connector, 8x USB ports. You also have a 3.5mm audio jack, provision for a dual MIPI-CSI connector if you are interested in adding some cameras. Each cluster slot has its 40-pin GPIO port for extending the compute module functionality. The board provides a power supply jack through a 12V-20V DC jack or an ATX power supply.
Turing Pi Cluster Breakout
The Turing Pi Cluster is available for pre-order for $128 with shipments due in autumn. More information may be found on Turing Pi’s Turing Pi Cluster product page. Although the price of the Turing Pi Cluster is $128, when loaded with the seven Raspberry Pi Computer module 3, with each costing $28, then the total price would reach around $325.
Controlling LED brightness through digital potentiometer and a LED driver from ON Semiconductor.
Light-emitting diodes (LEDs) require a regulated current, and their brightness is proportional to the current that flows through them. Some LED drivers use an external resistor to set the LED current. A digital POT can replace a discrete resistor with the advantage of providing an adjustable value allowing the LED brightness to dynamically change. Most digital POT circuits have the ability to store permanently the resistor value in non-volatile memory.
APP NOTE: Digital potentiometer to control LED brightness – [PDF]
I’ve always wanted to know what the “tube magic” was all about. There is much opinion in the science of music production, probably because music and its perception is highly personal and subjective. Ive always imagined that since transistor amplifiers were “perfect” with their large amounts of negative feedback, great linearity, and low THD that tube amplifiers must add something to sound that generates their appeal. From the reading I’ve done it has to do with harmonics.
I’ve seen a few other people experimenting with making custom LED displays using discrete LEDs so I thought I’d like to take my own stab at it. by sjm4306 @ hackaday.io
Cluster Computing brings the power of multiple computing units to serve one single purpose. If you are looking for some performance boost and you got yourself some freely available computing units, cluster computing might be what you need. Unfortunately, building yourself one is not that a smooth ride and might be overwhelming for the average newbie.
Cluster Computing using the Cluster HATs with 4 Pi Zero.
Raspberry Pi is one of those single-board computers you can easily find around, and most importantly, they are quite affordable and they do it great in the performance department as well. At $5, the Raspberry Pi Zero is even an unimaginable margin with the 1GHz processor, there so much more you can do with it. Imagine packing multiples of the Pi Zero to build a single unit computer, not only will you have a way powerful computing unit (power is relative though 🙂 ), but also at ultra-low-cost. Thanks to Cluster Hat, you can quickly build a cluster computing infrastructure leveraging on the Raspberry Pi Zeros and any of the major Raspberry Pi as the host or controller.
Raspberry Pi Zero
Cluster HAT leverages the flexibility of Raspberry Pi and the ever-growing maker movement by allowing hackers, engineers, students, makers, and enthusiasts to experiment with cluster computing. Building your cluster computer enables you to explore things like big data computing and others.
The Cluster HAT acts as an interface between a (Controller) Raspberry Pi A+/B+/2/3 with 4 Raspberry Pi Zeros. It leverages the USB Gadget mode as the form of interface. The HAT is compatible with any of the major Raspberry Pis, but nothing sure about the newly released Raspberry Pi 4.
The Cluster HAT acts as an interface between a (Controller) Raspberry Pi A+/B+/2/3 with 4 Raspberry Pi Zeros.
It comes with four onboard USB 2.0 hub which is used for connecting to the Pi Zeros. It’s compatible with both the ordinary Pi Zero and the Pi Zero W. The USB Gadget Mode is supported in Ethernet and serial console. Each Pi Zero power can be controlled and powered via the Controller Pi GPIO, which provides support for a connector for the controller serial console. It is possible to reboot the controller Pi without interrupting power to the Pi Zeros.
Although the Cluster HAT is expected to work with most Raspberry Pi stated, consideration has to be taken when using it with the Raspberry Pi 3 because Pi 3 may reduce the CPU speed when hot.
The HAT is available for purchase from Pimoroni for about $35 or ÂŁ28, and it comes with the following:
1x Cluster HAT
HAT standoffs and screws
Short USB rope
Cluster Computing using the Cluster HATs with 4 Pi Zero.
Using the Cluster HAT with the Pi Zeros requires a micro SD memory card for each Pi Zeros plus an additional memory card for the controller. Fortunately, it seems there is a way around using the whole setup with just one SD card according to a reviewer.
Thin Mini-ITX Mainboard for compact display systems
With the Thin Mini-ITX Board PH12FEI, ICP Deutschland offers system integrators a motherboard to produce particularly flat displays or embedded systems. The PH12FEI is equipped with an IO Shield at half height and horizontal memory slots, which bring it to a height of only 20 mm.
The LGA1151 socket installed on the PH12FEI supports the entire Intel® Coffee Lake processor series from CoreTM i7/i5/i3 through Celeron® to Pentium®. ICP offers a functionally fully equipped Q370 chipset variant as well as a reduced and less expensive H310 variant. The two SO-DIMM slots allow up to 32Gb DDR4 memory to be operated in dual channel mode. A DisplayPort 1.2 with 4K, an HDMI 1.4 with 4K and an LVDS port with Full HD resolution are available for the connection of displays. The LVDS can be replaced by an optional eDP with 4K resolution.
The PH12FEI offers a PCIe x4 slot as well as a M.2 2280 and a M.2 2230 slot. Two GbE, four USB3.1 with 10Gb/s, six USB2.0 for the Q370 version and five for the H310 version, RS-232 and RS-232/422/485, 8 programmable GPIO and audio are also available. The PH12FEI-H310 is designed for a voltage input of 19VDC. The variant with Q370 chipset is available with both 12VDC and 19VDC voltage input. All variants operate reliably in a temperature range from 0 °C to 60 °C.
Upon customer request, ICP can also supply the PH12FEI as a bundle with processor, industrial RAM and storage medium.