NECTO’s latest upgrade The NECTO Studio 5 now features a Visual Studio(VS) Code-powered editor, integrates the tinyUSB library for enhanced USB functionality, and supports the CycloneTCP stack for advanced networking.
Necto Studio is a cross-platform integrated developing environment(IDE) developed and maintained by MikroElektronika. It features integrated C compilers, mikroSDK 2.0, a package manager, and debuggers with USB/WiFi support. The IDE also offers smart code completion, auto-brackets, and visual drag-and-drop elements.
MikroElektronika is best recognized for its signature product, the Click Boards. Now with the new package manager, users can access Click Board libraries and examples. They can also install them effortlessly with a single click and receive updates through this interface. With all these features MikroElektronika offers a generous three-month free trial for newcomers to delve into its features.
The NECTO Studio 5 has recently transitioned to the Monaco Editor. For those who might not know, Monaco is the backbone behind the Visual Studio Code. with these changes, you can get smarter coding suggestions, pinpoint error detection, versatile cursor capabilities, and efficient search tools, making coding easy in NECTO Studio.
NECTO has also added the tinyUSB library, making it easier for developers to work with USB driver development for small devices. This new feature simplifies the USB integration process while offering support for things like audio, Bluetooth, and storage.
NECTO also integrated the CycloneTCPlibrary to enhance networking. CycloneTCP is designed for devices with limited resources and supports both IPv4 and IPv6. With this addition, building IoT solutions in NECTO becomes much simpler.
NECTO has improved how it handles “interrupts” and made it easier to manage with new tools. Also, they’ve added support for more hardware, including new boards like the Clicker 4 for STM32F4 and MCU cards for ATmega2560/ ATmega1280 models.
Supports IPv4, IPv6, TCP, UDP, ICMP, DHCP, DNS, etc.
Expanded Hardware Support:
New boards: Clicker 4 for STM32F4
New MCUs: SiBRAIN for ATmega2560/1280
Improvements:
Advanced “interrupts” control & unified APIs
The new NECTO update has improved the editor and added helpful tools for building IoT projects. There’s also an Ethernet Stack and a USB library in the mikroSDK now. More features, like LVGL support and new compilers, are coming soon. For all the details, you can check out the NECTO Studio page.
In an attempt to unleash the potential of the ESP32 microcontroller developer and tinkerer, Chris Greening has built an ESP32 Mini TV and explained how he did it in a detailed video.
In recent years, ESP32 has become very popular among the maker community simply due to its superior performance, low price, and not to mention its innate ability to support wifi and Bluetooth. So Youtuber Taylor Galbraith AKA atomic14 used that power to build this ESP32 Mini TV and explained how he did it.
In his video, he explains before even building the server, he needs to figure out how fast an ESP32 can display an image onto the display. To do so, he hard-coded an uncompressed image so he could verify the frame rate; in his test, the ESP was able to update the screen every 17ms which translates to 59FPS.
Now all that the ESP needs to do is download the images over Wi-Fi and display them. However, there is an issue with this method an uncompressed image size is 132KB, and if we add in the download time with the display time the frame rate drops to 15FPS. So, to fix this issue he he used the JPEGDEC library to compress the image. Next, he used the DMA to display the image, giving him a decent refresh time of 36ms which translates to around 30FPS.
For sound, he pulled the audio data from the server and used the 8–bit PCM over the I2S bus to get the sound out from the ESP32. The problem with this approach was that the audio could get out of the sink if there was a delay in streaming the audio or the compressed images from the server.
Video
According to Galbraith, the solution to this problem was pretty obvious – he could use the output audio stream to calculate elapsed time. “Every time the I2S peripheral pushes data out we know how much time has passed so we can use this to keep the images in sync”. With this, he developed himself a fully function video streaming system.
Now, one thing every TV should have is a Remote Controller; Greening solves this issue by adding an IR Receiver to the ESP32 with the help of the Arduino-IRremote library.
At the end of the project, everything worked as expected; now you can turn on/off the TV with the remote you can also change the volume, and as a finishing touch, he also added a channel change animation. Overall, it was a great project, and if you want to try out the i project yourself, everything is freely available in his GitHub repo.
Home Assistant Yellow is a cutting-edge home automation platform that revolutionizes the way smart devices around the home are managed and controlled. If you have been struggling with dealing with complex integrated home automation systems that sometimes leave you feeling exhausted and frustrated, then you probably need a Home Assistant to help you control various aspects of your home — easily and conveniently.
The Home Assistant Yellow is a compact and energy-efficient hardware designed to automate and control a wide range of home devices and services including lights, thermostats, TV, security systems, etc. The all-in-one smart home hub is a ready-to-use device that is fully supported. It is powered by the Raspberry Pi CM4 has well over 2,000 built-in integrations and boasts ample storage as well as smart home wireless connectivity.
Features
With Home Assistant Yellow, everything in the home can easily be automated. You can send a notification to turn on the lights of your home at a particular time, turn it off when you are about to sleep, or even confirm that your garage door which you left open should be closed. However you want to control your home devices, the Home Assistant Yellow will handle it. You can either use the pre-made automation templates that have been provided or you customize your own automations using the advanced automation editor. Also, you are not only able to integrate your devices but can get other useful details such as the air quality in your locality, the latest exchange rates, etc.
Another unique feature aside from allowing you to create powerful automations for nearly all your home devices and services, is that it gives insight into your energy usage. With Home Assistant Yellow, you can track and monitor your energy consumption and trends over time; solar panel, gas usage, or home batteries. It will be done using an interface that is easy to operate and runs 100% locally without anything in the cloud.
The Home Assistant Yellow also supports expandability and Scalability. It comes pre-installed with the 16GB of eMMC flash from the CM4, but as your devices grow and you begin to install more apps and collect more sensor data, you may need to upgrade the CM4 to a higher variant that has a larger storage capacity of 32GB eMMC flash or just install an NVMe SSD in the device’s M.2 extension port. You can also consider installing the CM4 that uses both WiFi and Bluetooth as the Home Assistant Yellow does not integrate any of these. It uses the most recent and greatest ZigBee radio chip for smart home wireless connectivity.
Specifications
Carrier Board
Raspberry Pi CM4 board-to-board connector
Direct boot from NVMe devices
Size: 12cm x 12cm
Compatibility with all CM4 variants with 64-bit Quad-Core Cortex-A72 processor running at 1.5GHz; up to 8GB RAM and up to 32 eMMC
Smart-Home MGM210P Mighty Gecko Wireless Module
Supports Zigbee 3.0 and OpenThread
2.4GHz radio with TX power of +20 dBm
1MB flash memory
96KB RAM memory
Upgradeable Zigbee 3.0 firmware preinstalled
Other Specs:
Gigabit Ethernet
Expansion slot for NVMe SSDs, M.2 socket M-key, PCIe
2x USB 2.0 Type-A host port; 1x USB-C 2.0 device port
Stereo audio DAC
RTC backed by CR2032 battery
2x Push Button
Status LED
Power: 12V / 2A through barrel DC power jack
Enclosure: 123 mm x 123 mm x 36 mm; includes custom heatsink
Applications
The Home Assistant Yellow can be used in different situations including smart home automation, energy management, HVAC automation, environmental monitoring, etc. There is a PoE variant of the Home Assistant Yellow that ensures you communicate and power the device over a single cable.
An analog-to-digital converter (ADC) is an electronic circuit that is used to convert a real-world signal into a digital or binary code. Real-world signals are usually taken from a sensory system which are generally analog in nature and represent instantaneous value of the measured entity. The sensory system may represent any real-world data such as temperature, pressure, light, sound, level, position, etc. In order to process, manipulate, or store these signals, it is feasible to convert them into a binary code or digital signal which is understandable by a microprocessor/ microcontroller unit. This process of conversion from analog (real-world) signals into a digital value is referred to as an Analog to Digital Conversion and the device or electronic circuity performing this action is called an Analog to Digital Converter.
The converted digital signal or binary comprises a number of bits and characterizes the “Resolution” of an analog-to-digital converter (ADC). A larger binary number or a high-resolution ADC can accommodate more converted values compared to a low-resolution ADC. For example, a 4-bit ADC has 16 (24) values from 0 to 15 for representing an analog signal. Whereas, an 8-bit ADC has 256 (28) values from 0 to 255 for representation.
Before proceeding further, it is essential to first understand the major difference of continuity between an analog and digital signal.
Analog and Digital Signals
In the following figure, a potentiometer is used to select different voltage levels from 0 to VMAX depending on the position of the potentiometer’s knob. Whilst, moving through this range there is no obvious step or abrupt change in output voltage and finer values can be selected, carefully. In other words, it can be said that whilst moving from 0 to VMAX or any in-between positions of the potentiometer’s knob, the change in the output signal is continuous. This resembles analog signals generated by real-world sensors such as temperature, pressure, sound, and light intensity levels.
Figure 1: A potentiometer and its analog output
In contrast, the following figure shows different selectable positions of a rotary switch. Here, the range from 0 to VMAX, has been divided into different stages or levels which are selectable by rotary switch. Each stage comprises a resistor which is in series with preceding levels. This arrangement causes a voltage drop of a fixed level due to a fixed resistor at each level and as the resistors are also the same in values, therefore, each stage drops 1V. Hence, this kind of rotary switch has selectable voltage levels of 0V, 1V, 2V, 3V, 4V, and 5V. The output of such a rotary switch is discrete or non-continuous. Similarly, a “LOW” or a “HIGH” value, in the case of binary, is referred to as a digital signal as it represents discrete values.
Figure 2: A rotary switch and its discrete output
Analog to Digital Converter
There are many ways to convert an analog signal into a digital equivalent and, as such, different electronic circuits can be constructed to achieve the conversion process. The easiest and more understandable ADC circuit can be constructed using discrete components such as multiple comparator converters or flash converters. In this, a number of comparator circuits are utilized to detect various voltage levels and are fed into an encoder. A comparison of an input signal is made against a reference voltage level to decide its voltage level or bin.
Comparator Circuit
A single-bit comparator circuit can be constructed using an operational amplifier (op-am), such as LM339. An op-amp has two inputs: positive and negative and are used for comparing signals. An input signal (VIN) is applied on one pin whilst VREF is connected to the other pin. The comparison yields either “+V” or “0V” which can be translated into “HIGH” or “LOW”, respectively.
Figure 3: A comparator circuit
In case, an input (VIN) is less than (VREF) or (VIN < VREF) then the output is “LOW” and if an input (VIN) is greater than (VREF) or (VIN > VREF) then the output is “HIGH”. In the above figure, VREF is the output of a voltage divider circuit. As both resistors have the same value (ideally), therefore, voltage is divided into half (V/2) which is fed into the comparator as a VREF. So, an input signal in the voltage range of 0 to V/2 will yield an “0” output and an input signal’s voltage falling from V/2 to V gives a “1” output. So, a 1-bit is generated from such a comparator indicating the voltage category of an input signal. Generally, a (2n – 1) comparator would be required to generate a binary output comprising n-bits.
2-bit Analog to Digital Converter Circuit
In the following figure, a 2-bit DAC has been shown comprising of 3 comparators and that could be verified also using the formula (2n – 1) which gives a result of 3 for n = 2. In this circuit, four resistors of the same values are used that produce ideally equal voltage drops at the input of comparators. The input signal is compared by all comparators with these respective voltage drops.
Figure 4: A circuit of 2-bit analog-to-digital converter (ADC)
In order to ease the understanding process, VREF is kept at 4V so there is an ideally 1V drop across each of these four (04) resistors. So, when the input voltage is (0 < VIN <1V) then the output of all three comparators is zero i.e. D1 = D2 = D3 = 0, and the priority encoder outputs “00”. A priority encoder such as TTL 74LS148 uses priorities that are allocated to each input. In simple words, a priority encoder here converts or encodes three (03) inputs into a 2-bit digital number.
Likewise, continuing with the comparison process of the input signal, if the input voltage is (1 < VIN < 2V) then comparator (U1) will output a “HIGH” signal as, in this case, input voltage (VIN) is greater than the (VREF1 = 1V). The inputs at the priority encoder will be D1 = D2 = 0 and D3 = 1 which generates an output of “01”.
The same comparison procedure is followed for input voltages falling within ranges of 2 to 3V & 3 to 4V. The following table illustrates the input & output conditions of input voltage, comparator outputs, and digital outputs of the priority encoder.
The priority encoders are usually available commercially for 8-to-3-bit devices i.e. TTL 74LS148, whereas, in the above 2-bit ADC, a 4-to-2-bit priority encoder is used. A 4-to-2-bit priority encoder can be constructed using discrete components as shown in the following figure.
Figure 5: A circuit of a 2-bit analog-to-digital converter (ADC) using discrete logic gates
In the above circuit, Exclusive-OR (XOR) gates are used to generate output by comparing the outputs of adjacent comparators. In case, there are differentiating inputs i.e. “HIGH” and “LOW” or vice versa then XOR generates a “HIGH” signal and, a “LOW”, whenever both inputs are the same. The diodes are used to allow uni-directional flow of signal and pull-down resistors ensuring that none of the outputs floats to give erroneous digital outputs.
However, the resolution of this circuit is somewhat low i.e. 1V, and this can be improved by using higher resolution ADC such as a 3-bit ADC.
3-bit Analog to Digital Converter
In a 3-bit ADC, a total of seven (07) comparators are required according to (2n – 1) using n = 3, and the voltage drop circuit will contain eight (08) resistors, accordingly. This means that stages of comparison have been increased from three (03) to seven (07) and the voltage comparison level has reduced from 1V to 0.5V (4V/8). So, this 3-bit ADC will be able to sense a change in voltage of 0.5V compared to 1V of a 2-bit ADC, consequently, yielding a high-resolution performance.
Figure 6: A circuit of 3-bit analog-to-digital converter (ADC)
The following table depicts the comparator and digital outputs compared to input signal ranges for a 3-bit ADC.
Similarly, the construction of a 4-bit ADC requires 15 (24 – 1) comparators, and, likewise, 255 (28 – 1) & 1023 (210 – 1) comparators are required for 8-bit & 10-bit ADCs, respectively. So, with the increase in resolution, the circuitry becomes more and more complex. However, the parallel or flash-type analog to digital converters has the advantage of processing comparisons in parallel yielding a faster conversion result at its outputs.
Conclusion
A digital-to-analog converter is an electronic circuit that interfaces with real-world signals and encodes them into a digital signal that is more suitable for data manipulation, storage, and transmission.
The real-world signals generally represent physical quantities that are measured using different sensory systems such as temperature, pressure, electric & magnetic fields, sound & light intensity levels, etc. These real-world signals are analog signals that are continuous and contain infinite information.
A digital signal is discrete in nature and has fixed steps or levels. Such as a binary signal has only zeros and ones or 0V & 5V in terms of voltage levels. The digital or binary signals are suitable for processing in digital systems with capabilities of manipulating, storing, and transmitting this digital data.
A simple and widely used analog-to-digital converter is a flash or multiple comparators-based circuit that processes signal comparison in parallel using (2n – 1) comparators. Where “n” represents the number of digital output bits.
The number of bits (n) defines the resolution of an ADC and a high-resolution ADC is more accurate in converting analog to digital signals because of the higher sensitivity to the magnitude of analog signal.
The circuity of a flash or parallel comparator type ADC becomes more and more complex with the increase of resolution or number of output bits it produces. However, its conversion process is faster due to the simultaneous comparison of input signals across all comparators.
With impressive graphics, advanced security and safety features, rich connectivity, and AI/ML capabilities
Variscite, a leading worldwide System on Module (SoM) designer, developer and manufacturer, today announced the upcoming release of the new DART-MX95 for high-performance edge applications including industrial, medical, aviation, IoT, robotics, vision-capable and smart edge devices.
Designed for high-end scalable computing, DART-MX95 is based on NXP’s i.MX 95 application processor family. This energy flex architecture includes multiple heterogeneous processing domains with up to 6 cores, 2.0 GHz Arm Cortex®-A55, two independent real-time co-processors for safety/low-power, and real-time use, consisting of 250 MHz Arm Cortex-M7 and 800 MHz Arm Cortex-M33.
DART-MX95 key features:
Up to 6 cores 2.0 GHz Arm Cortex®-A55
Real-time co-processors 250 MHz Arm Cortex-M7 and 800 MHz Arm Cortex-M33
High-performance NPU for AI/ML operations
Up to 16 GB LPDDR5 and 128 eMMC
Wireless: Certified dual-band 802.11ax/ac/a/b/g/n with optional 802.15.4 + BT/BLE5.3
Connectivity: 2x GbE + 10GbE, 2x PCIe Gen 3.0, 2x USB 3.0/2.0, CAN FD, UART/USART, I2C/I3C, SPI/QSPI and ADC
2D/3D GPU with support for OpenGL®ES 3.2, Vulkan®2, OpenCL™ 3.0
The platform presents an impressive 2D/3D graphics accelerator powered by Arm Mali™, advanced multimedia, integrated NPU accelerator and ISP, high safety and security capabilities that meet the ASIL-B and SIL2 compliances, and a rich high-speed connectivity set.
“As a Platinum partner with early access to NXP’s technology, Variscite has an enormous advantage in developing the next-gen System on Modules that give our customers the ability to create embedded devices of the future today,” said Ofer Austerlitz, VP Business Development and Sales of Variscite. “The DART-MX95 is a powerful addition to Variscite’s DART Pin2Pin family. It expands the scalability options this product family offers and future-proof customer’s applications.”
DART-MX95 is part of Variscite’s DART Pin2Pin family which enables compatibility with modules based on the i.MX 8M/ 8M Plus/ 8M Mini. The Pin2Pin family provides an extended lifespan, reduced development time, costs, and risks as well as scalability to additional modules.
The MIX-ALPSD1 provides the foundation for flexible, discreet integration.
AAEON, a leading producer of industrial motherboards, has announced the release of the MIX-ALPSD1, a Mini-ITX that supports up to 45W CPUs from the 12th Generation Intel® Core™ Processors for IoT Edge platform (formerly Alder Lake PS).
In choosing this CPU range, the MIX-ALPSD1 benefits from the strong processing power and efficient performance hybrid architecture that characterizes the 12th generation’s mobile processor line, while retaining the flexibility of its LGA1700 socket-type desktop CPU range.
Targeting the smart kiosk market, the MIX-ALPSD1 is available with a fanless thermal dissipation options when paired with a 15W CPU (UL SKU) from the platform’s lineup. This has the benefit of providing quieter operation and lower power consumption, while also maintaining substantial processing power of up to 10 cores (2 P-cores, 8 E-cores) and 12 threads.
The MIX-ALPSD1 offers three simultaneous 4K displays at 60Hz, courtesy of two HDMI 2.0 ports and eDP pin header. LVDS is also available via internal connector, colayed with the aforementioned eDP. The board’s support for Intel® Iris® Xe Graphics with up to 96 graphics execution units and CPU-derived AI acceleration features via Intel® Deep Learning Boost mean it can provide sophisticated display outputs across multiple screens, again conducive to powering applications within its target market.
For data acquisition and security, the MIX-ALPSD1 contains an external I/O made up of three USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports and two RJ-45 ports for Realtek® RTL8111H-CG gigabit ethernet. It also hosts multiple internal connectors, including an AAFP header for HD audio, a digital I/O header, and four COM box headers providing one RS-232/422/485 and three RS-232 interfaces.
To expedite data transmission while utilizing these communication protocols, the board has two SODIMM slots for 4800MHz DDR5, while it also boosts data security with onboard TPM 2.0.
For storage, the MIX-ALPSD1 can accommodate a 6Gb/s SATA SSD, as well as possessing an M.2 2280 M-Key slot for NVMe. Further expansion is available in the form of an M.2 3042 B-Key and M.2 2230 E-Key slot, which opens the door to 5G and Wi-Fi module installation.
The MIX-ALPSD1 is now in mass production and available on the eShop as a barebone kit, while further pricing information and components are available through AAEON’s contact form.
For more information about the MIX-ALPSD1, please visit its product page.
Zeppelin Design Labs of Chicago has released the Noisette, a build-it-yourself Optical Theremin that generates crazy sounds – from spooky and creepy to atmospheric and spacy. The pitch and volume of the Noisette are controlled by two light sensors, while the master volume and wave shape are controlled by two potentiometers.
The Noisette kit has only 18 parts that need to be assembled to the circuit board and was designed with STEM students in mind to be a stepping stone into the world of DIY audio electronics. The 30-page manual has over 100 assembly photographs and comes complete with schematics, circuit descriptions, and a brief history of how the original Theremin was developed.
Video
The Noisette features:
2 Optical sensors to control pitch and volume
Master volume control knob
Wave Shape Select: Square, sine, or anything in between
On-board speaker
Audio output jack for either headphones or auxiliary line out
Can be powered with either a 9-volt battery or an external 9-volt power adapter
Only 18 parts that need to be assembled to the circuit board; only takes a few hours to complete
Suitable for kids as young as 8 years old, with adult supervision
The Noisette kit is available for $39 direct from Zeppelindesignlabs.com
The Noisette is part of the expanding catalog of do-it-yourself audio electronics kits offered by Zeppelin Design Labs. The Noisette was designed by electrical engineer and product designer Brach Siemens, who started the company in 2014 as an outlet to offer a wide-ranging product line of DIY kits and freelance audio electronic design services.
As someone who is deeply passionate about designing and building audio gear, Brach has a particular enthusiasm for the audio do-it-yourself community. His design ethos has been formed around his passion for making gear that is used in the creation of music and art.
“There is something magical about the process of creation…and there is something especially fulfilling about making the gear we use to express our creativity. We develop a completely different relationship with our art when we’ve had a hand in creating the tools used in the process.” As Brach says, the goal of Zeppelin Design Labs is “to give our customers the opportunity to build their own gear…giving them the confidence and experience to…eventually use their creativity to design their own gear from the ground up.”
The dire need to always find a suitable case to match your design needs especially as it is almost becoming difficult to rely on SBC vendors to provide you with one, has in recent times brought about the invention of some laser cut enclosures with Inkscape and likewise the development of SBC Case Builder tool.
Going further from the SBC case builder tool which was released earlier this year, a second edition of the SBC Case Builder has been released but this time with some creative features such as a customizer GUI and support for variable height standoffs, etc. With the SBC Case Builder 2.0, you can automatically generate various types of 3D printable enclosures using OpenSCAD.
“It utilizes the SBC Model Framework project to automatically generate cases based on the data for any of the 58 current SBC contained within the framework,” the developer’s GitHub page explains. “This allows legacy, current and future SBC to have multiple cases available on day one of their inclusion in the framework. There are multiple base case designs (shell, panel, stacked, tray, tray-sides, round, hex, snap, fitted) available and each allows for different styles within the design. All case openings are created automatically based on SBC data and the dimensions of any case design can be expanded in any axis allowing for the creation of larger cases. If you reposition the SBC in a case, you will see i/o openings created or removed appropriately based on its proximity to the case geometry. These cases might be useful for prototypes or other in house uses to quickly and easily create standard, specialized and custom SBC cases through different case designs, styles and accessories.”
This framework however was focused on ODROID boards and you have to type the parameters in a configuration file. However, the newly released model of the software changes this, offering an easy-to-use graphical interface that allows for the dynamic adjustment of any of the case attributes. The new SBC Case Builder 2.0 features accessory multi-associative parametric positioning, accessory customization framework, variable height standoffs, and extended standoff SBC collision detection capabilities.
SBC examples that are currently supported with verified case designs include the NVIDIA Jetson Nano developer kit and Hardkernel ODROID C1+, C2, C4, XU4, XU4Q, MC1, HC1, HC4, M1, N1, N2 and N2+. Other SBCs such as the Orange Pi Zero/Pi Zero2, the Asus Tinker board, Tinker board S, Tinker board 2 and Tinker board R2, the VIM1 to VIM4 boards, the Rock Pi 4C/4C+, etc, are also supported but have unverified designs created from public mechanical drawings.
The developer has made a short demo showing how new cases can be created and saved and existing ones easily modified. He also gave some direction on how to use the graphical user interface. Source codes as well as other useful details are also available on GitHub.
Researchers at the University of Washington have introduced the Microflyer, an environmental monitoring robot inspired by Japanese origami. These flyers Operate without a battery and can alter their movement in mid-air by swiftly transitioning into a folded state during descent.
The microfliers weigh around 400 milligrams and – that is half as heavy as your fingernail – or think about a 400mg pill – That’s Light! Researchers tested the microfliers by dropping them with a drone from 40 meters in a light breeze, and it could travel 98 meters without any issues. The team published these results on Sept. 13 in Science Robotics.
The microflier design is inspired by a Miura-ori origami fold, which involves folding a flat surface like a sheet of paper into a smaller area. So, researchers used this design concept while designing the microfliers with two distinct states. Researchers discovered that in the unfolded state, the microfliers fall rapidly like a rock. Still, in the folded form, they descend gracefully like a maple leaf.
The fold-and-unfold action is achieved with an electromagnetic actuator that produces peak forces of up to 200 millinewtons within 25 milliseconds. In mid-flight, this action can be controlled in three ways. The first uses the onboard pressure sensor to gauge altitude and set the threshold. It can also use a timer on board to change the state, or it can be activated through a Bluetooth signal. Other than that, it can monitor temperature, humidity, and pressure with onboard sensors, and it also has Bluetooth Radio to transmit the data wirelessly. But the most astounding part about this is the whole circuit is powered by a solar harvestingcircuit that powers every sensor and the onboard microcontroller.
“Using origami opens up a new design space for microfliers,”
said Vikram Iyer, UW assistant professor in the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering.
At the time of writing this article, the existing microfliers can transition only in one direction: from the tumbling state to the falling state. This way, the researchers can control the descent of multiple microfliers. This approach introduces new design possibilities. For instance, can we gain more control by switching between states? Could we find ways to guide their direction and make them land precisely where we want? We aim to pave the way for a new type of flyer and flight techniques.
The data and code for the microflier project are openly accessible for review. For additional details, you can reach out to origamifliers (at) cs.washington.edu.
iLABs has introduced a revolutionary concept that is about to reshape the narrative of interfacing — BConnect, a groundbreaking update from the renowned Bi2C interface.
Describing this new concept as an “electrifying journey into the future,
” iLABS explained that the concept of BConnect (Bus Connect) is aimed at closing the gap between various electrical interfaces including I2C, Serial and SPI. “The shift towards BConnect signifies a broader vision for the future of interfacing. It’s not just about expanding horizons but integrating them. BConnect isn’t just a name; it’s the embodiment of a vision where all interfaces speak a universal language, ensuring seamless communication and interoperability. The concept is a spin off from the existing Groove, Stemma and Qwiic where instead of using a bulky connector and cables, we use an FFC (Flexible Flat Cable) and a tiny flexible flat cable connector to do the job. This means that we can get away with connectors that have 0.5mm pitch which makes them super small,” they said.
iLABS also explained that 3 main buses in the BConnect concept have been implemented already including the Bi2C which has proven to work greatly with different available accessories, the BSerial interface, and the BSpi interface. The era of compartmentalizing interfacing is over as they further explained,
“With BConnect leading the charge, users now have an encompassing platform to cater to their diverse needs. The team has astutely retained the well-acclaimed categories: Bi2C (I2C), BSerial (UART), and BSpi (SPI), ensuring familiarity while embracing versatility. The Bi2C bus has been implemented and supported for some time. It is well proven and works great with the different accessories that are available. The BSerial interface has just recently been introduced with the BSerial WiFi/BLE product. At the time of this writing, there are no current products available with the BPi interface.”
For power, it is important to note that the BConnect system is not designed to carry more than 260mA and may actually fail if you connect units that consume more than this specification. The power line must always be +3.3V (+5%). Bi2C modules that require other voltages should have points to which this supply voltage can be connected.
Some other useful details on BConnect concept can be found on iLABs official website where they showed it in an example using one of their own boards (the Challenger NB RP2040 WiFi board) to implement the BConnect-4 interface. They used flexible flat cables of 0.5mm pitch that fit the PCB FFC connector well but added that these cables are available in different lengths of 10cm, 20cm, and 30cm.
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