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Arduino IoT Cloud; Fully Released For Professional Developers and Makers

Posted on by Emmanuel Odunlade

Arduino has announced the full release of the Arduino IoT Cloud platform for Makers and Professional

The Arduino IoT Cloud platform is a cloud computing solution by Arduino to help makers and enthusiasts easily develop, monitor, or control their IoT projects from anywhere.

The Arduino IoT Cloud platform has all you need as a user to deliver an end-to-end IoT solution – hardware, firmware, cloud services, and knowledge support.

So regardless of the place or time, the Arduino IoT Cloud platform makes it easy to collect and analyze sensor data, trigger events and maintain full control of your devices.

The Arduino cloud platform has a low-code approach that helps to improve workflows for users and simplify device registration for convenience and flexibility. It also supports other methods of interaction like HTTP REST API, MQTT, Websockets, Command-Line Tools, and Javascript. 

Key Features of the Arduino IoT Cloud Platform includes:

  • Automatically-Generated Code: To empower makers of all ages and experience, the platform automatically generates code that one can easily adapt with little or no effort. This way, there is no barrier or set back for you if you are not familiar with any level of coding.
  • Plug & Play Onboarding: It automatically generates a sketch layout when you are setting up a new device so you can edit it right away and move quickly from unboxing to the building.
  • ‘On-the-go’ Mobile Dashboard: Through the companion app, which is now available on all platforms, you can access dashboards, Monitor sensor data, and control actuators remotely from anywhere in the world using accessible widgets.

What’s more? The Arduino IoT Cloud platform integrates with Amazon Alexa, IFTTT, ZAPIER, and Google Sheets to help users program and manage their devices using voice, spreadsheets, databases, and automated alerts. The platform also offers developers the opportunity to create custom apps using the Arduino IoT API, with custom endpoint webhooks to be added later for more flexibility.

At the heart of the platform is the ease of remote management. The platform uses an API to automatically control, manage, configure, and connect not only Arduino hardware but a majority of Linux-based devices easily and securely through a simple Internet connection.

There are also opportunities to power up tools and access additional features. With a $6.99 per month subscription, you can connect more things, save more sketches, increase data storage on the cloud, and access unlimited compilation times, and much more.

Android and iOS versions of the Cloud platform are available and can be downloaded for free from Google Play and App Store respectively.

Meet the New USB Type-C based, PIC32 Development Board from Lophtware

Posted on by Emmanuel Odunlade

The USB Type-C / PIC32 development board from Lophtware is a low-cost Microchip PIC32-based development board, compatible with HID (Human Interface Device) endpoint standard. It is a USB 2.0 Type-C / PIC32 breakout board that offers full-speed USB 2.0 development for breadboarding and prototyping.

The 24MHz PIC32-based development board aims at making USB Type-C work as easy as possible. The major goal behind its design is “plug-n-play for rapid prototyping without the need for in-depth knowledge of USB or having to install custom drivers.” says the company.

“The chosen USB protocol for the stock firmware is HID (Human Interface Device) because it is ubiquitous and does not require drivers or (significant) configuration of the Host to be up and running fast. It should just work.”

The USB Type-C / PIC32 development board (Lite) provides common functionalities for a number of general-purpose use-cases. It incorporates a 32-bit PIC microcontroller which makes it a more flexible option compared with FT232-type of breakout boards.

Some technical features and specifications include:

  • 32-bit PIC32MM0256GPM028 MIPS microcontroller running @ 24MHz
  • 32kB of RAM
  • 256kB of flash storage
  • 15 GPIO broken out to 0.1-inch headers
  • SPI / I2S controller (operates only as Master for the default firmware)
  • I2C bus controller (operating as both Master and Slave)
  • UART controller
  • 12-bit Analogue-to-Digital Converter (ADC)
  • Analog comparators
  • PWM controllers
  • Capture / Compare / PWM modules
  • 4x Configurable Logic Cells
  • Timers
  • USB 2.0 full-speed compatible HID endpoints that operate without custom drivers, and,
  • +3.3V LDO Linear Regulator supplying a minimum current of 1A (derated to 150mA at 50 Celsius ambient, without a heatsink)

Lophtware’s USB Type-C / PIC32 breakout board is available in two forms: the “Lite” and the “Full Fat“. The “Lite” is a stripped-down and lower-cost variant of the USB Type-C / PIC32 breakout board. It uses the same microcontroller and has the same firmware as the “full fat”, but lacks a USB connector, mounting holes, debug accessory mode programming, and over-voltage protection.

Lite and Full-Fat Placed Side-by-Side

So if you care more about smaller form-factor, more GPIO, and your intended USB Host is robust enough, you can go for the Lite but if USB Host protection, robustness, and USB mechanical compatibility are more important to you than a few extra GPIO and a lower sticker price, then the Full fat version would be a better choice.

Both variants are currently available on Tindle; Lite sells for $17.99 while Full Fat goes for $24.99. Codes, schematics, firmware, and software examples are also available on the company’s GitHub repository.

Sipeed Maix Amigo Development Board Based on RV64GC (RISC-V)

Posted on by Tope Oluyemi

Seeed Studio has announced the Sipeed Maix Amigo, which is a portable 64-bit RISC-V development kit powered by Kendryte K210 RISC-V AI processor. The release of the Sipeed Maix Amigo rivals the Wio terminal, Wio terminal is a simple and tiny device to build I/O with the physical world, equipped with a 2.4 inch LCD and a compact enclosure earlier released by Seed Studio. Sipeed Maix amigo has similar characteristics to the Wio terminal.

Sipeed Maix Amigo is also a portable Arduino development kit with expansion connectors and headers. It is built around a Kendryte K210 RISC-V AI Processor with 8MB of static RAM (SRAM) and 16MB of flash memory, with a microSD slot for up to 128GB of additional storage. The front of the system is powered by a 3.5 “320×480 capacitive touchscreen display and a GC0328 VGA-resolution proficient camera of 30 frames per second; the rear, therefore, uses the same-resolution OV7740 camera sensor which supports 60 frames per second.

The internal hardware of the Sipeed Maix Amigo shares similarities to Sipeed Maixduino board. The internal hardware board includes a 520mAh lithium battery which charges via a USB Type-C interface. There’s a user-controllable RGB LED, and Maix Amigo provides support for a custom MicroPython port dubbed MaixPy, PlatformIO, and the Arduino IDE. It also supports offline speech recognition, and MobileNetV1/V2, TinyYOLOv2, face recognition, ASR, and deep learning frameworks such as TensorFlow lite, ONNX, Baidu PaddlePaddle model conversion.

It is also equipped with 2 cameras, TF card slot, user buttons, TFT capacitive touch screen, lithium battery, speaker, microphone, 2 USB ports, and an expansion interface. It has a variety of hardware acceleration units such as KPU, FPU, FFT, etc. and the total computing power can be up to 1TOPS, which can conveniently realize machine vision/hearing algorithms of various application scenarios, and can also perform pre-processing work of voice scanning and voice data output. Users can use Maix Amigo to easily build a face recognition access control system. The hardware integrates front and rear 0.3-megapixel cameras and a 3.5-inch capacitive touch screen.

Below are the full specifications of the Sipeed Max Amigo :

  • SoC – Kendryte K210 Dual-core 64-bit RISC-V (RV64GC) processor with FPU @ 400 MHz (overclockable to 500MHz), 8MB SRAM, built-in AI accelerators for video and audio
  • Storage – 16MB Flash, MicroSD card slot up
  • Display – 3.5-inch TFT capacitive touch screen display with 480×320 resolution
  • Camera
  • VGA front-facing camera up to 30 fps (GC0328 sensor)
  • VGA rear camera up to 60 fps (OV7740 sensor)
  • Audio – 6+1 microphone array
  • USB – 1x USB Type-C port for power and programming
  • Expansion
  • 3x Grove ports with I2C, GPIO, etc…
  • 3x 8-pin SP-MOD headers with GPIOs, 3.3V, and GND signals; compatible with ESP-01 ESP8266 WiFi module, PSRAM modules, etc…
  • Sensor – Accelerometer
  • Misc – Reset button, 3x function buttons, 3x LEDs
  • Battery – 520 mAh Lithium battery
  • Power Supply – Via USB-C port
  • Dimensions – 104.3 x 63.3 x 16.5mm

For now, there are no many details about the Maix Amigo, and if you need more information the company redirects you to the MaixPy documentation and Sipeed forums.

The product is available for pre-order at seed studio’s store, currently priced at $39, with delivery scheduled to start on August 27th.

NODE Mini Server V3 Features Raspberry Pi 4 For Server or Mini PC

Posted on by Tope Oluyemi

NODE has been in the market of Mini Server designs for a while now, and now they have launched the NODE Mini Server Version 3, which exploits the power and performance of the new Raspberry Pi 4 Model B. About the NODE Version 3, the company says:

“Like the previous versions, one of the main goals here is to package the Raspberry Pi in a form factor that makes it a little bit more useful as a regular mini server or computer. That means putting it all in a neat box, with all the ports on one side. Compared to the previous version, we have decided to simplify the concept further, so everything is encased in a 92x92mm enclosure, with a thickness not much larger than the Pi itself at 26mm or about 1 inch.”

The Raspberry Pi 4 Model B is the newest model in the line of Raspberry Pi single-board computer, and it shares a similar layout and form factor as the Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+. However, it features a more powerful Broadcom BCM2711 SoC with a quad-core Arm Cortex-A72 processor clocking at 1.5 GHz. It offers either 2GB, 4GB, or 8GB of RAM, and support for dual monitors via a pair of micro-HDMI ports. The Mini Server Version 3 is designed to run headless, so the monitors are not needed, but it utilizes the added power available. The NODE Mini Server Version 3 still retains the compact size of the other Mini Server Versions, but still incorporates additional hardware that is needed. Speaking about the modularity of the board, they say :

“Something we tried really hard on this time around is to add as much modularity as possible. Some of you’ll be happy to hear that this version requires no modifications to the actual Pi itself, and this is achieved with a range of custom pluggable adapter boards we made.”

The modularity moves the USB power port and HDMI port to the back of the device moves the micro SD card slot to the bottom where it is accessible and adds support for an mSATA SSD hard drive. The enclosure is constructed from a combination of a PCB and 3D-printed part. Finally, a pair of fans keep everything running nice and cool while your server toils away at whatever task you’ve assigned to it.

Regarding the application of the NODE, they say:

“Something like this would be ideal for the nascent decentralized web, where the users own and run these systems themselves. These devices allow the users to run inexpensive nodes that create the P2P infrastructure to store and distribute data through these networks. Crypto nodes, other blockchain based systems, seed servers, data distribution like IPFS and Dat, and decentralized social network servers for protocols such as Scuttlebutt, for example, are all good use cases. Other always-on stuff like setting up your own VPN, or a general Linux VPS work really well too. Media servers and network attached storage are another good candidate, as well as self-hosting applications like running websites, email servers, chat servers, and general data storage. And like I mentioned a few times, the increased CPU speed and RAM options mean now we truly have a candidate for a mini Linux desktop system too, and all at a pretty low price.”

The NODE Mini Server Version 3 is open source like the previous versions, and all the files and a list of the components are available on the project page if you want to build your own. About sales, the company says :

“we are going to probably sell some dev kits with all the parts unsoldered and unassembled, so if you’ve got the skills to put one together, print your own case and test everything out, that could be helpful. It might not be available for a few weeks, but keep an eye on the shop. This will be a small run, aimed at the early adopters and tinkerers. I’m also fully open to other people selling kits or premade servers on their own sites. We think it will be a great way to build this up as an open standard that others can develop and iterate on.”

You can visit the NODE Mini Server Version 3 project page for more information.

Self-charging ‘thousand-year’ battery completes lab tests

Posted on by mixos

Green energy startup NDB, which is developing a high-power self-charging diamond-based alpha, beta, and neutron voltaic battery that it claims provides up to thousands of years of charge, has announced the completion of two successful Proofs of Concept tests of its nano diamond battery (NDB). by Rich Pell @ smart2zero.com

In the tests, which were conducted at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and the Cavendish Laboratory at Cambridge University, the battery, says the company, achieved a breakthrough 40% charge – a significant improvement over commercial diamonds, which have only 15% charge collection efficiency. The company also announced its first two beta customers, including a leader in nuclear fuel cycle products and services and a leading global aerospace, defense, and security manufacturing company.

The company’s proprietary, universal, self-charging battery creates energy from recycled radioactive waste and is claimed to be able to provide a charge for the entire lifetime of a device or machine, with up to 28,000 years of battery life depending on the radioisotope being used. Its technology, says the company, is poised to completely transform the concept of energy, and can power devices and machines of any size, from aircraft and rockets to electric vehicles, hearing aids, smartphones, sensors and more, all with no carbon emissions.

“Our team is bringing together leaders in the nanotechnology, nuclear science, and diamond fields with military, academic and research backgrounds, and combining our unique mix of expertise has made it possible for us to crack the code in developing this groundbreaking, life-changing solution,” says Nima Golsharifi, CEO and co-founder of NDB. “Moreover, as members of society, we are extremely concerned about the welfare of the planet and are focused on lowering climate change to protect our planet for future generations. With the NDB battery, we have achieved a massive, groundbreaking, proprietary technological breakthrough of a battery that is emission-free, lasts thousands of years, and only requires access to natural air in order to power devices.”

The Proof of Concepts test results, says the company, were a result of its proprietary nanodiamond surface treatment that actively extracts the electric charge from the diamond, allowing the battery to make use of significantly more power than any other battery before it. The battery’s power source is

Taken from intermediate-level and high-level radioisotopes, which are shielded by multiple layers of synthetic diamond, one of the hardest materials to damage or break.

The energy is absorbed in the diamond through inelastic scattering, which is used to generate electricity. Since the universal battery is self-charging, any excess charge will be stored in secondary charge storage such as capacitors, supercapacitors, and secondary cells. The generated, optimized, and stored charge can be used to power devices of any size that require an energy source to run.

Radiation levels from a cell, says the company, will be less than the radiation levels produced by the human body itself, making it totally safe for use in a variety of applications. According to the company, the technology will be cost-competitive with current lithium-ion batteries.

Development of the first NDB commercial prototype battery is currently underway, and though delayed by the pandemic, is expected to be available later this year.

NDB

Article PC Watchdog – Automatic reset for remote PCs gone haywire

Posted on by mixos

Today’s PCs are quite reliable, but occasionally they hang and stop functioning. Only a ‘hard reset’ will then be able to bring them back to (useful) life. This project takes care of that automatically. Especially handy with remotely located hardware!While many PCs, including servers, operate unattended and/or at a remote location, it would be very useful to have a function available for sensing a malfunction of the processor and recover the system from such a situation.

Article PC Watchdog – Automatic reset for remote PCs gone haywire – [Link]

Maxim Integrated launches smartphone app for fast Access to its essential analog IC resources

Posted on by mixos

Maxim Integrated announced the launch of the Essential Analog mobile application for iOS and Android, which allows designers to quickly and easily access Maxim essential analog IC resources directly on their mobile phones.

Designers can learn about the latest technologies, ICs, and design tools, and get alerts on upcoming events and transactions from the Essential Analog app. With this app, designers can:

  • Learn from experts: Read application notes and blogs, watch training videos, explore evaluation kits, get events details, and more
  • Explore: Check out the Essential Analog Toolkit, a free box of ICs from 20 different categories
  • Search and select: Use the Smart Selector’s sliders and dropdowns to find the right parts for your system—even when you are offline
  • Tag: Favorite parts and bookmark technical content, or save filtered sets of parts for later review
  • Order: Get the Essential Analog Toolkit, samples, ICs, and evaluation kits
  • Stay informed: Access your newsfeed and be notified about the latest happenings
  • Engage daily: Aim to reach the top of the leaderboard
  • Check out datasheets, cross-reference searches, Maxim’s website, and more

For more information on this app, please download from Apple’s App Store or the Google Play Store. English, Chinese, and Japanese are supported.

Check also the review from Elektor Electronics.

High-Performance Silicon Carbide (SiC) Schottky Diodes

Posted on by mixos

MCC’s SiC diodes are well-suited for inverters for solar and motion control, UPS, Telekom base stations, PFC, and lighting

Micro Commercial Components’ high-performance SiC Schottky diodes provide a high-efficiency, high-temperature performance of up to +175°C. These diodes, together with the 650 V super-junction MOSFETs, create a complete cost-efficient discrete solution. These SiC diodes are available in 650 V (2 A/4 A) and 1200 V (2 A/5 A/10 A/20 A) versions. Available packages (TO-220, TO-247, and DPAK), other current levels, and housings are under qualification. Typical applications for these SiC diodes are inverters for solar and motion control, UPS, Telekom base stations, power factor correction (PFC), and lighting applications.

Features

  • Extreme low switching loss
  • Higher switching frequency
  • Positive temperature coefficient for parallel application
  • Higher efficiency to standard Schottky diodes
  • Higher working temperature up to +175°C
  • Higher voltage up to 1200 V

Applications

  • Inverters for solar and motion controls
  • UPS
  • Telekom base stations
  • PFC and lighting applications

more information: mccsemi.com

XLamp® XM-L3 LEDs

Posted on by mixos

Cree’s single-die LED point source provides precise optical control in torch, outdoor, and vehicle lighting

Cree’s XLamp XM-L3 LED delivers a massive 55% upgrade in maximum light output over the XM-L2 LED, providing a single-die LED point source for precise optical control. The XM-L3 LED shares the same mechanical and optical footprint as the original XM-L® and XM-L2 LEDs, providing a seamless upgrade path and shortened design cycle.

XLamp XM-L3 LEDs are the ideal choice for lighting applications requiring maximum light output from an easily controlled source, including torch, aftermarket automotive, and outdoor spotlight applications.

Features

  • ANSI-compatible chromaticity bins
  • Binned at +85°C
  • 5000 mA maximum drive current
  • 2.2°C/W low thermal resistance
  • 125° wide viewing angle
  • ≤30°C/85% RH of unlimited floor life
  • Reflow solderable: JEDEC J STD 020C
  • Electrically neutral thermal path
  • RoHS compliant

Applications

  • Torch/portable lighting
  • Aftermarket automotive
  • Outdoor spotlight
  • Exterior area

more information: www.cree.com

Latest Electrolytic Capacitors from Vishay Come in Cylindrical Aluminum Case

Posted on by mixos

Low Profile Devices Offer Operating Temperature Up to +125 °C and Useful Life Up to 10,000 h in 10 Compact Case Sizes

Vishay Intertechnology, Inc. today introduced two new series of miniature axial aluminum electrolytic capacitors. Offered in 10 compact case sizes ranging from 6.5 mm by 18 mm to 21 mm by 38 mm, the Vishay BCcomponents 125 ALS and 126 ALX series combine operating temperatures up to +125 °C with useful life up to 10,000 hours.

The axial leads and low profile of the devices released today provide designers with greater design flexibility, while their high temperature capabilities and long useful life increase reliability for demanding applications in harsh environments. As polarized aluminum electrolytic capacitors with a non-solid electrolyte, the devices are suited for smoothing, filtering, and buffering in power supplies for automotive, industrial, and telecommunications applications.

Featuring a cylindrical aluminum case, insulated with a blue sleeve, the 125 ALS and 126 ALX series provide capacitance values from 33 µF to 18,000 µF, rated voltages from 10 V to 63 V, and high ripple current to 1860 mA. The RoHS-compliant capacitors offer charge- and discharge-proof performance and are vibration- and shock-resistant. For automatic insertion, the devices are available in taped versions for select case sizes.

http://www.vishay.com/ppg?28464 (125 ALS)
http://www.vishay.com/ppg?28570 (126 ALX)

Samples and production quantities of the 125 ALS and 126 ALX series are available now, with lead times of six weeks. Pricing for U.S. delivery only starts at $0.65 per piece.

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