Page 631 – Electronics-Lab.com

P4M-400: Build powerful IoT applications with PHP using PHPoC

Posted on 6 September, 2018 by Ayo Ayibiowu

PHP which stands for Hypertext Preprocessor is one of those server-side programming languages that is widely used across web-related applications. PHP has found applications in countless web development projects and even other cloud-based applications. But PHP applications don’t seem to stop there and this with the advent of PHPoC.

PHPoC is a programming language based on the popular PHP and is designed for building a various Internet of Things applications. PHP on its own is just an Internet-based language that is usually limited to the web, but what if we could bring PHP down to the hardware that wants to connect to the internet? PHPoC comes into play there. PHPoC expands PHP from being only a web development language to also a general-purpose programming language for IoT.

PHPoC, an acronym of PHP on Chip, inherits it’s core functions from PHP. Especially, PHPoC adds new functions, which are used to interact with hardware peripherals such as I/O, UART, I2C, SPI, ADC, TIMER/COUNTER, RTC and so on. Aside from building IoT applications with PHPoC, you can still develop dynamic Web pages too. The Sollae Systems’ P4M-400 is an example of a PHPoC module which was recently released to facilitate the use of PHPoC.

The module comes with a PHPoC interpreter and uses PHPoC language for programming. It works effectively with 10/100M Ethernet as well as IEEE 802.11b or 802.11g Wireless LAN connectivity and it also comes with different interfaces such as ADC, UART, SPI, I2C, hardware timer, and many more, which can be used to connect with sensors.

This board comes with a USB host port for a USB WLAN adapter. It is powered from its DC 5V Input and an also from the USB port (Micro USB). The RENATA CR1225 is an embedded battery for Real Time Clock. The battery socket is compatible with CR1220 too.

Below are some of the device’s specifications:

Power: DC 3.3V
- Consumption – Typical – about 110mA (* without USB WLAN adapter)
  Power Down mode – less than 200uA
Connectivity:
- Network – 10/100Mbps Ethernet
  IEEE802.11b/g Wireless LAN (require Ralink
  RT3070/5370 chipset Wireless LAN Adapter)
- USB – USB Host – for WLAN adapter
  USB Device – for PC
GPIO – 26 Ports for Digital I/O, DC_CH0 ~ 3, AREF, 12-bit resolution
Peripherals: 2x UART, SPI, i2C, Hardware timer
Temperature (Storage/Operating): -40℃ ~ 85℃
Dimension: 50mm x 32mm x 9mm.
Weight: About 4g.

The module will easily find application in areas that require quick prototyping of Internet of things. It can also be used to interact with various hardware peripherals and create a variety of web pages. An evaluation board is available for the module which helps in extending the device interfaces especially those of connectivity. More information about the product is available on the product page and the user manual.

Arrow Board Raffle: Arrow ARIS development board for free!

Posted on 4 September, 201827 November, 2018 by mixos

Arrow’s ARIS Edge S1 and ARIS Edge S3

The ARIS Edge and Edge S3 are intended as Internet of Things (IoT) edge nodes. Based on a Renesas Synergy MCU (S1 for the Edge S1, S3A3 for the Edge S3), the ARIS Edge boards offer many features that make them suitable for smart sensing and IoT applications. A flexible multi-protocol radio module supporting Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), Thread and zigbee stacks is available for communication with other devices and the cloud. Board sensing capabilities include temperature, relative humidity, pressure and ambient light level, and motion detection thanks to a 9-degrees-of-freedom (DOF) inertial measurement unit (IMU) with sensor fusion capabilities.

The members of Arrow’s ARIS IoT board family are among the most popular Arrow ‘dev’ boards. Here we present four of them: the ARIS Edge S1, Edge S3, IOT & Gateway Boards. Even better, we are giving a couple of them away! All you have to do is fill in the form to join the raffle. Five lucky winners will receive the board of their choice free of charge, no strings attached!

[source]

Zero Multi-Power Supply for Bread Board

Posted on 4 September, 20184 June, 2019 by mixos

A powerful power supplier board for your electronics project. Super wide output, 1.25V up to 24V.

Features:

Multi Input
Multi Output
Leave Input at the bottom board to support the board and balance the board
Wide Rage output 1.25V-24V
Use DC-DC switch convert (Buck and Boost) to ensure the powerefficient

Zero Multi-Power Supply for Bread Board – [Link]

Nexperia’s 74AUP1Txx & 74LV1Txxx logic families

Posted on 4 September, 2018 by mixos

Nexperia’s 74AUP1Txx & 74LV1Txxx logic families provide solutions that integrate voltage level translation with a Boolean function.

74AUP1Txx & 74LV1Txxx types are single supply general-purpose voltage-translating devices, respectively operating in the 2.3 V to 3.6 V and 1.6 V to 5.5 V supply range. This wide Vcc range allows the interconnection between most logic level signals. Both logic families are composed of ten logic functions including buffers, inverters and gates (AND, OR, NAND, NOR, EXCLUSIVE-OR, EXCLUSIVE-NOR).

Key Features

Up and down translation possible
Overvoltage tolerant inputs
Up to 50 MHz operation at 3.3 V

Applications

Portable devices
Industrial controllers
Servers, PC & Notebooks
Automotive

more information: www.avnet.com

Forlinx OK5718-C comes with PRU Technology

Posted on 4 September, 2018 by Ayo Ayibiowu

Ever since its foundation in 2007, Forlinx Embedded Tech. Co., Ltd. has been a major manufacturer and distributor of ARM technology-based embedded products such as Single Board Computers (SBCs), development boards, and many more to major companies all over the world such as Samsung, TI, Freescale, etc. Some of their SBCs are TI (Texas Instruments) Sitara AM3354 based on OK335xS-II and the Forlinx i.MX6 SBC which are all Linux-Friendly, so there is no surprise about the release of a new board which runs Linux.

The new board is called OK5718-C and is based on the FET5718-C module which comes with a Cortex-A15 based TI AM5718 System on Chip (SoC). The Sitara based board comes in a sandwiched style and is 190mm by 130mm until the FET5718-C module is added, and then it becomes irregular due to external features sticking out awkwardly. This implies that the FET5718-C module is an add-on.

The FET5718-C module comes with a 750MHz TI DSP-C66X digital signal processor and video accelerator, and a 200MHz Programmable Real-time Unit Subsystem (PRUSS) which is impressive for systems that have real-time constraints. The presence of the module is the reason why the OK5718-C has specific features, and they include 1GB DDR3L, a power management unit, a 3-port Gigabit Ethernet switch subsystem, and 8GB eMMC.

The temperature range for the board is -40 to 85 degrees Celsius, it has two GbE ports, two micro USD ports, an SD slot, USB 2.0 host ports, a USB 3.0 host port and even a mini-PCIe slot with optional 3G/4G. Coupled with the FET5718-C module, the single board computer supports machine vision, medical imaging, Industrial automation, Building automation, and facial recognition applications. Even Robotics applications are enabled.

Other features are an HDMI port, a CAN port, dual audio jacks, SATA 2.0 with power, DVP and 2x MIPI-CSI camera interfaces, onboard Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. Operating systems which are supported: Linux 4.9.41 plus QT5.6 and TI-RTOS, it also has a 12-layer EINT PCB designing.

Specifications of the board are given below:

Processor (via FET5718-C module) — TI Sitara AM5718 (1x Cortex-A15 core @ up to 1.5GHz; PowerVR SGX544 3D GPU; Vivante GC320 2D GPU; 750MHz TI DSP-C66X; IVA-HD image/video accelerator; 200MHz PRU-ICSS; 2x 213MHz Cortex-M4
Memory/storage:
- 1GB DDR3L (via FET5718-C)
- 8GB eMMC (via FET5718-C)
- QSPI flash (via FET5718-C)
- SD slot (SD, SDHC, SDXC support)
- SDIO interface
- SATA 2.0 interface with SATA power
Wireless — 802.11b/g/n with Bluetooth
Networking — 2x GbE ports
Media I/O:
- HDMI 1.4a port for up to 1080P@60Hz
- RGB 888 LCD interface
- Dual display support
- 2x MIPI-CSI
- DVP 8-bit 5MP camera interface
- Mic and headphone jacks; speaker headers
Other I/O:
- USB 3.0 host port
- 2x USB 2.0 host ports
- Micro-USB 2.0 device port
- 3x UART
- 2x I2C
- Serial debug port
- CAN 2.0, SPI, GPMC, HDQ, JTAG
Expansion — Mini-PCIe slot with optional Huawei 3G/4G card
Other features — 2x LED; 3x user keys; RTC with coin-cell battery; boot config switch
Power — 12V DC input; power and reset switches
Operating temperature — -40 to 85°C
Dimensions — 190 x 130mm
Operating system — Custom Linux with Kernel 4.9.41, Qt 5.6, and Wayland

The board was announced in May in China; however, no prices or availability information has been provided for the OK5718-C development board or FET5718-C module. More information may be found on the Forlinx OK5718-C product page.

RAK8213 – The New Mini-PCIe Card For NB-IoT and LTE Cat M1

Posted on 4 September, 2018 by Rik

A China-based manufacturer called RAK Wireless has released the RAK833 LoRaWAN gateway module a couple months back. This has already been used hugely to create a gateway for ‘The Things Network’. Now they’re back with the new RAK8213, an NB-IoT and LTE Cat M1 module in the same mini-PCIe form factor as the RAK833. The RAK mini-PCIe card is constructed around the Quectel BG96 module, which provides both NB-IoT and LTE Cat M1 along with GNSS (GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, or BeiDou) support.

The mini-PCIe form factor is often associated with laptop computers, but recently we’ve started seeing that some single-board computers targeted at the maker market are also featuring this form. The Pine H64 single board computer is an example of it. Besides that, we’ve also noticed the rise of other mini-PCIe modules, such as the UP AI Core, or the PicoEVB, also aimed for makers.

This card can be added to netbooks/notebooks or routers in the mini-PCIe socket. It can be used for remote monitoring, smart meter reading, and so on. The user manual for this card basically explains how the user can send AT commands over USB or UART to the card in Windows, and how to set up the board with Hologram IoT SIM card.

RAK8213 is not the first NB-IoT/eMTC mPCIe card on the market. There are also some SIMCom SIM7000 based modules for about $30. However, it should be noted that the new RAK8213 works globally but SIM7000A / SIM7000C / SIM7000E work in specific regions, namely America, China and Europe.

RAK8213 mini PCIe card key specifications:

Wireless Connectivity Module: Quectel BG96 with LTE Cat. M1 (eMTC), LTE Cat. NB1 (NB-IoT), EGPRS, and GNSS
Global bands support :
- FDD-LTE – B1/ B2/ B3/ B4/ B5/ B8/ B12/ B13/ B18/ B19/ B20/ B26/ B28
- TDD-LTE – B39 (for Cat M1 only)
- EGPRS – 850/900/1800/1900Mhz
Max Data Rate: Cat M1: 375 kbps (UL/DL); Cat NB1: 32 kbps DK, 70 kbps (UL)
Other I/O:
- Micro SIM slot
- u.FL connectors for cellular and GNSS
- mPCIe connector with USB 2.0, I2C, UART, and PCM
Misc: LEDs for network and power status
Dimensions: 51 x 30.1 mm

RAK8213 mPCIe card is sold for $39.99 plus shipping on Aliexpress, and optional accessories are also offered for $10, and a Hologram SIM card for $7. More information about the RAK 8213, the data sheet and schematics for the board are available at RAK Wireless site, along with a user manual for the evaluation board and the card.

Single Atom Transistor With Ultra-low Power Consumption

Posted on 3 September, 2018 by Rik

Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) researchers in Germany have developed a single-atom transistor that can reduce the power consumption of electronic systems significantly. The device is being developed by Professor Thomas Schimmel and his team at the Institute of Applied Physics (APH). The single-atom transistor switches electrical current by controlled repositioning of a single atom in a gel electrolyte. The device works at room temperature and consumes a very small amount of energy. It also has the potential of opening up an entirely new perspective for information technology.

Prof Schimmel, who conducts research at the APH, the Institute of Nanotechnology (INT), and the Material Research Center for Energy Systems (MZE) of KIT said,

This quantum electronics element enables switching energies smaller than those of conventional silicon technologies by a factor of 10,000,

Earlier this year, Professor Schimmel, who is recognized as the pioneer of single-atom electronics, was appointed Co-Director of the Center for Single-Atom Electronics and Photonics established jointly by KIT and ETH Zurich.

The experts produced two-minute metallic contacts with a gap as wide as a single metal atom. The gap was tested with a source-drain current ranging from 1 to 8 µA. With the help of an electrically controlled pulse, they positioned a single silver atom into this gap and closed the circuit. Just when the silver atom is removed from the gap, the circuit is interrupted and the flow of current is stopped. Thus it acts just like a switch and can be used for high-speed electronic switching circuits.

The world’s smallest transistor switches current through the controlled reversible movement of a single atom. It’s also a contrary to conventional quantum electronics components. The single-atom transistor has a broad range of working temperature from near absolute zero to the room temperature. This can be a breakthrough for future electronics.

The single-atom transistor is made of metal only without any semiconductors. This results in extremely low electric voltages and, hence, an extremely low energy consumption. Previous devices of this category developed at KIT have used a liquid electrolyte, but this latest version uses a solid electrolyte.

The gel electrolyte was produced by gelling an aqueous silver electrolyte with pyrogenic silicon dioxide combines the advantages of a solid with the electrochemical properties of a liquid. In this way, both safety and handling of the single-atom transistor are improved.

Make 10x Printed Circuit Boards For $5 On PCBWay

Posted on 3 September, 201819 April, 2023 by Ayo Ayibiowu

The quest for making low cost printed circuit boards is one that will always keep on going and it is not going to stop here. Customers, engineers, makers, are looking for low cost printed circuit board manufacturers for their PCB needs but also a reliable one as well.

It is a task to find a low-cost service or better still a cheap service and a different thing to find a reliable service. Most of the time, those two services don’t go hand in hand, they are usually mutually exclusive. What if you could find the best of two worlds? Yes, you can get a cheap PCB service and also a very reliable one from PCBWay, an industry leader in the manufacturing of Printed Circuit Boards.

PCBWay is a Shenzhen-based manufacturer specializing in PCB prototyping, low-volume production, and PCB Assembly services under one roof. PCBWay has been one of the go-to destinations for boards fabrication and assembly, and they have over 71K active customers worldwide. PCBWay offers PCB and PCBA services that specialize in the prototyping and small batch printed circuit board assembly at a relatively low cost as compared to others.

Printed Circuit Board fabrication doesn’t necessarily have to be that expensive because the industry has gone through decades of innovation and more business are already providing similar services, nevertheless has the reduced cost considering the fact that the maker’s community has been seeing a sporadic growth lately. However, business-like PCBWay is making significant steps towards making this a possibility with their PCB services and other arrays of PCB add-on services.

PCBWay offer makers and designers the chance of making their printed circuit board for just $5 for 10x printed circuit boards, and this service is targeted to the prototyping stage due to the importance of this stage. Prototyping stage is the most crucial period for engineers, hobbyists, and students. PCBWay not only makes your boards quick but also makes the job right as well as cost-effective which will significantly reduce cost and shorten the time for development

Aside from getting a cheap PCB service, PCBWay is offering for new members a $5 bonus on every new signup that can be used for discount purposes. PCBWay currently supports 4 PCB files formats for PCB fabrication:

gerber file
.pcb
.pcbdoc
.cam

Getting started with PCBWay is pretty straightforward, signup to their website, use the instant quote, add order to cart, create a new account, upload your PCB files, and make your payment. To get started with the PCBWay you can visit their website here.

TopJoy Falcon Mini 8″ Laptop Features an Intel Pentium N5000 Processor

Posted on 31 August, 2018 by mixos

TopJoy Falcon is another upcoming mini laptop that should deliver performance right between the Atom x5-Z8350 processor found in One Mix Yoga and the more powerful Core m3-7y30 powering the GPD device with an Intel Pentium Silver N5000 Gemini Lake processor. The device looks similar to its competitor, except it also comes with a larger 8″ display, and as a consequence a slightly larger keyboard.

TopJoy Falcon specifications:

SoC – Intel Pentium Silver N5000 quad core “Gemini Lake” processor @ 1.10 / 2.7 GHz (Turbo) with Intel UHD graphics 605; 6W TDP
System Memory – 8GB RAM
Storage – 256GB SSD
Display – 8″ IPS touchscreen display with 1920 x 1200 resolution, a 360-degree hinge
Video Output – micro HDMI output
Audio – 3.5mm headphone jack, built-in speaker and microphone
USB – USB Type-A port, USB Type-C port
QWERTY keyboard + optical touch sensor placed in the middle of a split space bar, and left and right mouse buttons underneath.
Battery – 6,000 mAh battery that is said to offer up to 8 hours of battery life Power Supply – 12V/3A
Dimensions & Weight – TBD

The Windows 10 mini laptop will be launched in October (in about 56 days at the time of writing) via a crowdfunding campaign. The retail price is said to be $699, but the first 100 backers will have the opportunity to pledge $399, or a discount of $300, once the campaign launches. Since the number of rewards are limited, the company offers interested backers to pay $10 to reserve their $300 discount on the product page. At first, I found this to be a bit dodgy, but it’s optional, and if interested you could register your interest, and wait until the campaign starts to make your pledge.

[via]

StereoPi – Clever stereoscopic camera with Raspberry Pi

Posted on 31 August, 201831 August, 2018 by mixos

StereoPi is a clever stereoscopic camera with Raspberry Pi inside for computer vision learners, drone and robot builders. It is an Open source hardware and will launch on CrowsSupply soon.

To say briefly

This is a stereoscopic camera based on Raspberry Pi. It can capture stereoscopic image or video, save or livestream it, and process on-the-go for Computer Vision.
Friendly – works with a stock Raspbian, no need to be a Linux guru, all your existing Pi software/hardware projects just work.
Easy to start – lot of ready-to-use tools in Python, C, OpenCV.
Compact and comfortable for all stages of experiments starting from “on the table” tests and up to integration to the drone or robot.

Specifications

Dimensions: 90×40 mm
Supported Pi: CM3, CM3 Lite, CM1
Camera: 2 x CSI 15 lanes cable
GPIO: 40 classic raspberry PI GPIO
USB: 2 x USB type A, 1 USB on a pins
Ethernet: RJ45
Storage: Micro SD (for CM3 Lite)
Monitor: HDMI out
Power: 5V DC