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Make your Raspberry Pi Pico Project with 5 Free Pico using Seeed Fusion’s PCB Assembly Service

Posted on 19 February, 202119 February, 2021 by Saumitra Jagdale

Raspberry Pi launched its own MCU RP Pico (Raspberry Pi Pico) featuring the RP2040 SoC back in January. Since then, Pico has become quite popular and a lot of platforms are coming up with their support to Raspberry Pi Pico. Hence, the RP Pico is all about customization of its functionalities and more. The PICO supports complex high-performing components for advanced design applications. Hence, Seeed has launched its PCB Assembly service with its support for RP Pico for using the full potential of the device. It also allows converting the design ideas into products very quickly. Additionally, Seeed is also giving away 5x Raspberry Pi Pico free for those applying for their PCB Assembly service.

Discussing further the RP2040 chip comes with two ARM Cortex-M0+ cores working at 133MHz. It also features 256KB RAM and 6 dedicated IO for SPI Flash. MCU includes a 2MB QSPI Flash memory and allows up to 30 GPIO pins with a flexible range of interfacing options. As discussed earlier, the board comes with a castellated hole/pad design for headers to be soldered onto the pads similar to development boards. Also, the whole board can act as a surface-mountable module. “The modules provide a tape and reel format to further support SMT assembly.”

You can build a cool application with Raspberry Pi Pico. Some ideas are:

Light and temperature sensing and controlling those devices
Fire detection and building safety devices
Remote controls
Toys
Embedded systems and more

Whether you’re looking for a standalone board for deep-embedded development or a companion to your Raspberry Pi computer, or you’re taking your first steps with a microcontroller, this is the board for you.

Grove Starter Kit for Raspberry Pi Pico

To help users get started easier, Seeed has launched the Grove Starter Kit for Raspberry Pi Pico. This is a Grove starter kit designed for Raspberry Pi Pico. It includes 5 sensors/ 5 actuators/ 2LEDs/ 1 LCD display/ 1 Grove shield, it will help you get started with Raspberry Pi Pico quickly and comprehensively. We have selected the most common sensors, actuators, and displays in this kit. With the help of the Grove Pico shield, you can connect all these modules to the Pico simply by plugging and unplugging. The kit is on pre-order for 43 USD. Grove Shield for Pi Pico v1.0 and Raspberry Pi Pico Basic Kit is also on pre-order now！

Make your Raspberry Pi Pico Project with Seeed Fusion

Seeed Fusion features a “streamlined” PCB assembly feature. It is a system for reducing the time to design and assembly of printed circuit boards. It also features error eliminating functionality, low-cost building and comes with:“a wide range of value-added services and capabilities. The signature Design for Assembly service verifies the user’s design to avoid costly design errors and ensure a smooth production run.”

Seeed provides support to the parts that are compatible with the boards. Hence, a user can these parts to customize application-specific designs. Seeed also gives the option of the Fusion Marketplace, which is an international platform for making designs available for customers. For more information visit the Fusion Marketplace. Seeed’s free prototyping sponsorship for business users is also available with Seeed Fusion.

To get the PCB Assembly service with 5 x free Pico boards you have to first fill in this application from Seeed. For more information visit the Seeed Studio’s announcement.

The Tiny Yet Powerful tArmDuino Features an STML071 MCU

Posted on 18 February, 202118 February, 2021 by Abhishek Jadhav

When you think of a tiny Arduino, all you expect is as many Arduino features as possible that can be large flash memory, programming connections, and obviously smaller board size. Developer Doctek designed a similar Arduino powered by ultra-low-power 32-bit MCU ARM Cortex-M0+ STM32L071KBU.

Initially, the project used STM32L031G6 microprocessor but started facing several problems on the software side. By the time STMicroelectronics introduced the STML071 series with more flash memory of 64K, 128K, and even 192K and use a 28-pin version package.

The STML071 series MCU has a RISC-based core operating at 32 MHz frequency featuring a

“memory protection unit (MPU), high-speed embedded memory (up to 192 Kbytes of Flash program memory, 6 Kbytes of data EEPROM and 20 Kbytes of RAM) plus an extensive range of enhanced I/Os and peripherals.”

With this, the OSH Park produced two boards – tArmDuino and the small (breadboard) version. KiCAD files are in the files section for both boards. Since the STM32duino project even supports STM32L071, the next step was to develop software for the tArmDuino and add these files to the Arduino.

However, there was no entry in the STM32 boards menu that was specific to the STM32L071 so he [Doctek] had to create a board definition and add it to Arduino. More details about this can be found in the project logs. But since the work is done, you can simply duplicate this by downloading the tDuino.zip file and unzipping it into the Arduino hardware folder.

After you restart the Arduino and you will be able to find the entries for “tArmDuinoL031” and “tArmDuinoL071” under the title “tArmDuino Boards”. If you plan to duplicate this task, please be sure to install the STM32duino file first. Also, check if the “debug version and the tArmDuino version of the STM32L071 are identical from the software side”.

You still cannot program or debug it even after adding tArmDuino to the Arduino IDE. For this, you need to configure the programming and debug tools needed based on installing STM32CubeIDE.

The full projects, links to details on specific things, and future build logs can be found on the Hackaday project page.

CM Hunter – Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 board with ISO interfaces

Posted on 18 February, 202122 February, 2021 by Emmanuel Odunlade

Andreas Eberle and his team have created a new Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 board with ISO interfaces: the CM Hunter.

“This is not just another Raspberry PCB,” says Andreas Eberle, as he emphasized that the powerful design tool is not just another IO board that requires you to buy so many different HAT modules. “This Carrier board was created by engineers for engineers, creators, learners, and hobbyists. It is specially designed to integrate the most commonly used interfaces and communication protocols without needing to buy additional expensive HATs.”

“When we started this design (March 2020), Compute Module 4 wasn’t released (October 2020). So, we used Compute Module 3+ for our tests. After the CM4 release, we upgraded our PCB files and Software codes. Now we have the final version of CM Hunter – Compact and Powerful.” Andreas Eberle added.

The CM Hunter carrier board has almost the same functionalities as the official carrier board of the RPi CM4 but within a smaller form factor. It uses a 1.5GHz 64-bit quad-core Cortex-A72 (Arm v8) CPU, with 1GB, 2GB, 4GB or 8GB LPDDR4 (depending on variant) with on-die ECC. It also integrates the most common communication protocols: RS485/Modbus isolated, CAN 2.0B isolated, 1-Wire isolated, HDMI 2.0, GbE, USB 2.0, 2.4 GHz, 5.0 GHz IEEE 802.11 b/g/n/ac wireless, Bluetooth 5.0, and BLE. The carrier board also features an RTC, a relay for switching power circuits, an LCD Display, an SD/MMC card, and a 5V 30mm x 30mm x 6mm Maglev cooling fan that helps to keep the temperature of the CPU below 50°.

Application scenarios for the board include storing data on a USB stick, reading sensors, easy sharing data files between all communication modules, cloud servers, etc. The board can also be a perfect solution for studying Python and Linux. WiFi and Bluetooth also allow more connection possibilities with the board.

The board supports Raspbian GNU/Linux 10 (buster), Python 3.7, and PySide2 5.12. The project team also reaffirmed that they still believe in open source projects and as such, would make all design files completely open source.

“We are happy to submit CM Hunter. All design files are Open Source and in future, we will upgrade them with more interesting features. Source codes will be available at the End of our Campaign in our Github Channel: Eagle Schematic and PCB design files and Custom Raspbian Image with all Python libraries.”

More details on the CM Hunter board can be found on the Kickstarter page where the project is expected to launch soon.

Vishay Intertechnology High Speed PIN Photodiode Enables Improved Bio Sensor Performance

Posted on 18 February, 2021 by mixos

Device Offers Increased Photocurrent of 33 µA in 4.8 mm by 2.5 mm SMD Package With Industry-Low 0.48 mm Profile.

Vishay Intertechnology, Inc. today broadens its optoelectronics portfolio with the introduction of a new high-speed silicon PIN photodiode with enhanced sensitivity to visible and infrared light. Featuring a rectangular 4.8 mm by 2.5 mm top-view, surface-mount package with an industry-low 0.48 mm profile, the Vishay Semiconductors VEMD8081 offers an increased typical reverse light current of 33 µA for improved biosensor performance in wearable devices and medical applications.

The VEMD8081 offers 15 % greater reverse light current than its predecessor, the VEMD8080, while maintaining the same package dimensions. For designers, this provides a drop-in replacement that can improve performance by increasing signal output or extend battery life by reducing LED current.

For heart rate measurement in wearable devices such as fitness trackers and smartwatches, the VEMD8081 is placed between two pulsing green LEDs. The light reflected off the skin is received by the photodiode and converted to an output current, with the device’s increased sensitivity enabling more accurate measurements. The VEMD8081’s rectangular shape maximizes the area of the photodiode receiving reflected light, eliminating the wasted area typically found in square photodiodes. When combined with red and infrared emitters, the device is ideal for SpO2 measurement in medical monitors.

With its high sensitivity and a radiant-sensitive area measuring 5.4 mm², the VEMD8081 utilizes Vishay’s proven wafer technology to detect visible and near infrared radiation over a wide spectral range from 350 nm to 1100 nm. For high sampling rates, the device offers fast switching times and low capacitance of 50 pF.

The VEMD8081 features a ± 65° angle of half-sensitivity, operating temperature range of -40 °C to +85 °C, and 840 nm wavelength of peak sensitivity. RoHS-compliant, halogen-free, and Vishay Green, the photodiode provides a moisture sensitivity level (MSL) of 3 in accordance with J-STD-020 for a floor life of 168 hours.

Samples and production quantities of the VEMD8081 are available now, with lead times of 10 weeks.

BOXER-8521AI: Power AI Edge Computing with Google® Edge™ TPU

Posted on 18 February, 2021 by mixos

AAEON, an industry leader in rugged AI Edge platforms, announces the BOXER-8521AI is now available on a mass-market scale. Winner of the 2021 Taiwan Excellence Award, the BOXER-8521AI combines the flexibility of PoE PD deployment with the Google® Edge™ TPU in a rugged, fanless system designed to bring AI Edge Computing to where it’s needed.

Recently awarded the Taiwan Excellence Award for 2021, the BOXER-8521AI is focused on providing flexibility in deployment and connectivity. The BOXER-8521AI features a PoE PD port, allowing the system to be deployed further away from its power source, as well as enable internet connection and remote monitoring of the system over the same single cable, reducing the complexity of installation. Additionally, by utilizing both the PoE PD port and DC-input, the system can continue operating even if one power supply is cut off.

The BOXER-8521AI powers AI Edge Computing thanks to the Google Edge TPU System-on-Module (SoM) with a rugged chassis and flexible I/O loadout. The Google Edge TPU combines the NXP i.MX 8M SoC (quad Cortex-A53, Cortex-M4F) with the Google Edge TPU coprocessor to deliver speeds up to 4 TOPS at an energy-efficient 2 TOPS per Watt.

Thanks to the Google Edge TPU, developers and users who deploy the BOXER-8521AI have access to Google’s suite of training software, AutoML Vision Edge. This innovative software helps developers quickly develop and train AI models utilizing Google’s vast cloud services, and then export the model to the BOXER-8521AI and Google Edge TPU. The system supports TensorFlow Lite, a framework that allows for more efficient models, better system performance and processing speeds.

The BOXER-8521AI is built rugged, with fanless construction to keep dust and contaminants out, providing longer-lasting, reliable operations. Additionally, the system can operate in temperatures from -5°C to 50°C without loss in performance. The BOXER-8521AI is equipped with a flexible I/O loadout that includes COM, HDMI, two USB3.2 Gen 1 and two USB2.0 ports. It also features a 40-pin multi-I/O port to connect to more sensors and controllers, such as cameras, temperature sensors, and others.

“The BOXER-8521AI brings the innovative Google Edge TPU to a rugged edge platform, unlocking the Google and Coral ecosystem for embedded AI Edge developers,” said Ken Pan, Product Manager with AAEON’s System Platform Division. “The Google Edge TPU offers an alternative platform at a comparable cost to other popular accelerators while giving developers, system integrators and users access to the services Google provides,” Ken said.

AAEON also offers a range of manufacturer and OEM/ODM services to deliver end-to-end AI Edge solutions, from custom I/O layouts to full embedded system design. AAEON also brings industry-leading service and support to ensure long and reliable service life across all platforms.

Pimoroni PIM534 Inky Impression (7 colour ePaper/eInk/EPD)

Posted on 17 February, 2021 by mixos

Pimoroni PIM534 Inky Impression (7 color ePaper/eInk/EPD) display is a big, beautiful, 5.7″, and 600 x 448 pixel 7 color electronic paper display for Raspberry Pi. The low power consumption e-paper display is crisp and readable in bright sunlight and the image will persist when unpowered. This display comes with four tactile buttons that control what is on the screen without the need for extra hardware. The tactile buttons are side-press, so they are accessible even if the display is mounted on a wall. This inky impression display features seven whole

The inky impression is ideal for displaying detailed graphs and charts from weather stations and sensors. This display can be set it up as a digital dashboard for the kitchen with calendar info and a rotating display for showing off children’s art. The inky impression takes around 15 seconds to refresh the screen, so it is best suited to projects that do not rely on constant screen updates. This display works with any version of the Pi with a 40 pin header, including Pi Zero and Pi Zero W.

Features

5.7″ EPD display (600 x 448 pixels):
- E Ink Gallery Palette™ 4000 ePaper
- Advanced Color ePaper (ACeP) 7-color:
  - Black, white, red, green, blue, yellow, and orange
- >170° ultra-wide viewing angle
- 0.1915mm x 0.1915mm dot pitch
40-pin female header included boosting height for full-size Pi’s
Standoffs included to securely attach to Pi
Additional pins, including I²C and SPI, broken out
Compatible with all 40-pin header Raspberry Pi models

more information: https://shop.pimoroni.com/products/inky-impression

ams AS5116-HSOT On-Axis Magnetic Position Sensor

Posted on 17 February, 2021 by mixos

ams AS5116-HSOT On-Axis Magnetic Position Sensor is a contactless sensor for accurate angular measurement over a full mechanical turn of 360°. This sensor features a robust architecture based on Hall sensor technology that measures the orthogonal component of the flux density (Bz) over a full-turn rotation. The AS5116-HSOT magnetic position sensor uses a simple two-pole magnet rotating over the center of the package to measure the angle. This magnet can be placed above or below the device and the absolute angle measurement provides an instant indication of the magnet’s angular position. The angle information is provided by means of buffered differential sine and cosine voltages. This sensor offers the highest reliability, durability, low output noise, and high precision analog output. The AS5116-HSOT magnetic position sensor operates at the -40°C to 150°C temperature range and requires a supply voltage of 3.3V or 5V. Typical applications include rotor angle sensing of electric commutated motors, electric power steering systems, electric pumps, actuators in transmission systems, and starter/generator systems.

Features

Highest reliability and durability
Accurate angle measurement
Contactless angle management
Low output noise
High precision analog output
Fully differential buffered sine and cosine output signals
Enabler for safety-critical applications
Fully automotive qualified
Low system costs:
- No shielding required
Low inherent INL

Block Diagram

Specifications

-40°C to 150°C operating temperature range
-55°C to 150°C junction temperature range
150mW P_T (Total Power Dissipation)
17mA supply current
3.3V or 5V supply voltage

more information: https://ams.com/as5115

MaaXBoard Nano is a i.MX8M SBC in Raspberry Pi-like style

Posted on 17 February, 2021 by mixos

The MaaXBoard Nano is a low-cost, NXP i.MX 8M Nano processor-based, single-board computer ideal for embedded computing and smart edge IoT applications. The i.MX 8M Nano family of application processors is based on the Arm® Cortex®-A53 and Cortex-M7 cores which provide industry-leading audio, voice, and video processing for applications that scale from consumer home audio to industrial building automation and embedded computers. The MaaXBoard Nano is production-ready, FCC, CE, and RoHS certified. It is available in quantities of five hundred or greater.

The MaaXBoard Nano contains everything necessary to support and create Linux, Android or other OS-based systems. The platform offers several onboard peripherals including 1 GB of DDR4 memory, a Gigabit Ethernet port, quad USB 2.0 host ports, MIPI-DSI, MIPI-CSI, WiFi, Bluetooth, MicroSD card slot, four onboard microphones and an audio jack. A Raspberry Pi hat-compatible expansion connector also provides interfaces for UART, SPI, I2C and GPIO. These combined capabilities make it an ideal platform for investigating AI, IOT and multimedia applications.

Feature list

Processor

NXP i.MX 8M Nano Processor
Quad Arm CortexA53 @1.5GHz
Single CortexM7F @750MHz

Memory

1GB DDR4 SDRAM
256mB QSPI Flash
MicroSD Slot
Supports 16GB eMMC

Communications and User Interface

Gigabit Ethernet
Quad USB2.0 Host
MIPIDSI Display Interface
MIPICSI Camera Interface
WiFi 802.11 b/g/n/ac
Bluetooth 4.2 and 5
External Antenna Connector
Four onboard Microphones
Audio Jack

User I/O

40 Pin Low Speed Expansion Interface
- Raspberry Pi Hat Compatible
- Digital I/O voltage: 3.3V
3 X User Buttons
2 X User Leds

Other

PMIC
Type C 5V/3A Power input
Operating Temperature: 0~70°C

Mechanical

85mm x 56mm form factor

Each MaaXBoard Nano is shipped with a quick start guide to assist developers with their hardware or software development project. A user-supplied 5V/3A USB Type C power supply is required to power the board. A 16 GB microSD card and a UART USB Serial translator are recommended for booting the MaaXBoard Nano out-of-box experience. To jump-start your development, Avnet offers supported Android 9.0 and Linux images available for download. For software debugging, an optional Microchip USB-to-UART evaluation board is recommended, allowing USB terminal access through a UART port on the 40-pin expansion connector.

Block Diagram

To purchase this kit, visit Avnet.me/MaaXBoard-Na

TechNexion’s PICO-PI-IMX7 SBC Now Sells Below $20

Posted on 17 February, 202117 February, 2021 by Emmanuel Odunlade

A few years ago, one of Google’s hardware partners, TechNexion, launched a 2 board development kit that consists of a System-on-Module and a carrier baseboard – the PICO-PI-IMX7.

PICO-PI-IMX7 is a highly-integrated single board computer with enhanced features designed to enable secure and portable IoT applications. It is aimed at facilitating fast prototyping and product development at predictable scaling costs.

Designed around the popular Pi (85 x 56 mm) form factor, the PICO-PI-IMX7 is equipped with an NXP i.MX 7Dual dual-core Cortex-A7 processor @ 1 GHz with Cortex-M4 real-time core, 512MB DDR3L, 4GB Wi-Fi, 802.11 ac & Bluetooth 4.1.

PICO-PI-IMX7 is lauded for its exceptional processing and low-power performance, thus suitable for a wide range of applications ranging from simple IoT devices to high-level complexity applications. It has been tested and proven to run Android Things, Linux, Yocto, Ubuntu, and Android at optimal performance.

FEATURES AND SPECIFICATIONS INCLUDE:

PICO-iMX7 System-on-Module

NXP i.MX 7Dual dual-core Cortex-A7 processor @ 1GHz plus Cortex-M4 real-time core @ 200 MHz
NEON MPE Coprocessor
512MB DDR3L onboard storage
Up to 4GB eMMC flash storage
Atheros AR8035 Gigabit Ethernet transceiver
Broadcom BCM4339 wireless module for 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac WiFi 5 and Bluetooth 4.1 BR+EDR+BLE connectivity
u.FL antenna connector
NXP PF3000 Power Management Integrated Circuit (PMIC)

Baseboard

1x 24-bit TTL RGB signals (expansion header)
MIPI CSI+DSI signals on 33-pin FPC connector
3.5mm audio jack
NXP SGTL5000 stereo audio codec
Gigabit Ethernet RJ45 port
1x USB 2.0 host port
1x USB 2.0 OTG Type-C port
MikroBUS header with ADC, GPIO, I2C, PWM, SPI, UART
40-pin GPIO header with GPIO, I2C, I2S, PWM, RS232, SPI, USB
1x Micro USB debug port
1x Reset Button
5V DC via USB Type-C port
Dimensions: 85.6 mm x 56.5 mm x 17.5 mm
Weight: 43 g
Temperature Range: 0°C to +60 °C
OS Support: Android Things, Linux, Yocto, Ubuntu, and Android

PICO-PI-IMX7 is currently available in case you’re interested in buying one for yourself. Arrow Electronics used to sell the board for $120, but judging from what we saw recently on their official product page, it looks like the company is trying to get rid of some stock. They are now selling the Amazon version of the PICO-PI-IMX7 board for a promo price of $19.58 with free shipping promised only to ArrowPerks members.

You may want to check the Digikey Wiki website for some further information about the PICO-PI-IMX7 board, including details on how to build the code from source and how to set up a Debian 10 or Ubuntu 20.04 root file system. There’s also a tutorial on Hackster.io that gives a detailed explanation on how to set up the Yocto environment, build a basic image and install it on your baseboard.

tCam-Mini Radiometric Thermal Imaging Camera with Desktop App

Posted on 17 February, 2021 by Saumitra Jagdale

We saw thermal imaging cameras for the evaluation of the hardware temperature of various devices. Open thermal camera is compatible with mobile phone applications for thermal imaging and FLIR ETS320 a non-contact thermal imaging camera solution for electronic testing are some of the examples. Talking more about thermal imaging, Dan Julio’s tCam-Mini is a radiometric camera for thermal imaging using a windows application.

The wireless streaming camera features a compact size dedicated to measuring temperature for thermal imaging. The radiometric data collection becomes easier by using the Flir Lepton 3.5 sensor. The acquisition of radiometric data contains the temperature information of every pixel. Hence, it opens up many options for performing thermographic analysis, along with using the different colors to show the thermal images.

The tCam-Mini camera can function both in radiometric as well as in AGC modes. The radiometric mode provides the temperature info for each pixel whereas the AGC mode focuses to provide better quality images. The camera supports JSON-based commands for interfacing using TCP/IP socket making it compatible with custom applications. The tCam-Mini thermal imaging camera also supports AP and STA Wifi modes for dynamic connectivity.

Desktop Application for tCam-Mini Camera

The camera supports single image capturing as well as it can operate on data streaming mode. This includes display images and streaming with multiple palettes. The tCam-Mini thermal imaging camera also provides the feature of saving and loading images or streams in the files storing the radiometric data for later use. The files can be video as well as image files. Additionally, it also provides the option of exporting the images in jpg, png, or tiff format and copying the current image to the clipboard of the device.

The desktop application which is compatible with the camera allows histogram display and analysis of pixel populations. The application also includes a spotmeter and up to four additional markers for displaying the temperature at various points of an instance. The graphing function plots the spotmeter and marker data with respect to time. The text file exports the graph data for analysis by different tools and programs. Print graph function allows creating a PDF on computers for printing purposes.

Building tCam-Mini Thermal Imaging Camera

The tCam-Mini thermal imaging camera uses the ESP32 WROVER module as it comes with a PSRAM chip. This chip allows the camera to use a sufficient size of buffers. “The most common ESP32 dev boards are based on the WROOM module. These will not work because they lack the PSRAM expansion memory.” Hence it is recommended to use a development board that is based on WROVER.

Dan Julio says “ It is a simple-to-build streaming radiometric thermal imaging camera with powerful desktop software.”

For information about setting up the camera and getting started with the desktop application visit Dan Julio’s post on Hackster. To access the dependencies and necessary files visit Dan Julio’s Github repository.

Images and technical specifications have also been taken from Hackster’s post.