#Cortex-M4F processor

[futureelectronic1527]

Panasonic: New Product Introduction: PAN1770 Series Bluetooth Low Energy RF Module

https://www.futureelectronics.com/m/panasonic . Panasonic PAN1770 Series is based on the Nordic nRF52840 single-chip controller that allows you to attach an external antenna via uFL. With the Cortex®-M4F processor, 256 kB RAM, and the built-in 1 MB flash memory, the PAN1770 Series can easily be used in standalone mode, eliminating the need for an external processor saving complexity, space, and cost. https://youtu.be/8Ur-bFMieHw

[forlinx]

Industrial Data Acquisition Solution Based on FET6254-C SoM featuring TI’s AM6254 CPU

#IndustryTechTalk EP 06: Transform your smart factory operations with the Forlinx FET6254-C SoM! 

The FET6254-C SoM, using TI’s AM62x series processor, supports multiple communication interfaces and peripherals, ensuring efficient and reliable industrial data management and control. Benefit from robust connectivity with dual Gigabit Ethernet and a plethora of interfaces. 

Designed with ARM Cortex-A53 and Cortex-M4F cores, this SoM excels in real-time industrial data acquisition and processing. FET6254-C SoM:

https://www.forlinx.net/product/am625x-system-on-module-127.html

The Blog:

https://www.forlinx.net/article_view_550.html

[lanshengic]

TI's innovative wireless MCU solution helps users accelerate the embrace of the Internet of Things

【Lansheng Technology Information 】On July 21, the "2023 Global MCU Ecological Development Conference" hosted by AspenCore was grandly held at the Grand Hyatt Luohu Hotel in Shenzhen. Texas Instruments, one of the leading companies in the MCU field, was invited to participate in the "Wireless MCU Forum", at the forum, Wei Tianhua, TI wireless product engineer, shared a speech on the theme of "Innovative Wireless Solutions, Helping the Continuously Developing Connected World", and brought TI's latest wireless MCU series to the audience, as well as for this market deep thinking.

TI's product structure is very rich, with many system solutions that balance performance and cost, including Transceivers, Network processors, Wireless MCU, Certified modules and many other products, and also has the SimpleLink SDK family in terms of software. At the same time, for the protocol stacks and standards involved in the industry, such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, ZigBee, Thread, Matter, Amazon Sidewalk, Sub-1GHz, etc., TI has also developed corresponding products for different fields and different needs. In terms of smart homes and smart buildings, TI has solutions such as security monitoring, smart door locks, and sensor wireless transmission. GI (Grid Infrastructure, grid infrastructure) TI provides complete wireless monitoring of power generation and transmission, and ECG in medical care. Wireless transparent transmission, digital keys and body positioning in the automotive field, remote controls, handles, microphones, earphones, toys, etc. in the personal consumption field. TI's wireless MCU products can cover various possible industrial application requirements, and users can choose flexibly according to their own needs.

TI's highly flexible radio architecture is also a magic weapon to support user personalization. Its MCU series are based on ARM Cortex M series cores, including M3 and M4F. The new generation of products will be based on the M33 platform. Users can choose RTOS very conveniently and flexibly according to their needs. For example, instead of running the operating system, you can choose to run directly on the bare chip. Of course, you can also choose TI RTOS or FreeRTOS. In terms of software SDK, as long as it is the peripherals (drivers, libraries) that can be provided by the chip, TI provides a complete API, and users can use the API to call without cumbersome operations

In terms of details, TI will allocate peripheral resources, Flash, and RAM resources according to the usage scenarios defined by each product. Currently, the Flash of its MCU products ranges from 32kB to 1MB, and the RAM ranges from 8kB to 256kB. After supporting Matter, Flash may will reach 1.5 MB. TI's strategy in the RF part is relatively conservative, and customers consistently report that the data transmission is stable, even higher than the rated parameters provided, which can be said to be widely acclaimed.

Lansheng Technology Limited, which is a spot stock distributor of many well-known brands, we have price advantage of the first-hand spot channel, and have technical supports. 

Our main brands: STMicroelectronics, Toshiba, Microchip, Vishay, Marvell, ON Semiconductor, AOS, DIODES, Murata, Samsung, Hyundai/Hynix, Xilinx, Micron, Infinone, Texas Instruments, ADI, Maxim Integrated, NXP, etc

To learn more about our products, services, and capabilities, please visit our website at http://www.lanshengic.com

[minew-tech]

Announcing MS88SF2 BLE module for IoT Smart Application

Announcing MS88SF2 BLE module for IoT Smart Application

The BLE module MS88SF2 is designed based on nRF52840 SOC with 23 2*17 mm small size, IMB Flash and 256kB RAM. This Bluetooth 5.0 module supports LISB data interface; with ARM Cortex-M4F processor and metal cover shield, 10-60 meters signal range in open space It has got the CE&FCC certification Bluetooth technology provides secure links between devices. And BLE is a kind of wireless…

[decoderstech]

Canada based I-SYST inc has designed a tiny nRF52840 module about the size of a fingernail. BLYST840 module fully leverages the capability of Nordic Semi’s wireless microcontroller with Bluetooth 5.2, Thread, and Zigbee connectivity, and exposes 46 I/Os. BLYST840 specifications: Wireless MCU – Nordic Semiconductor nRF52840 Arm Cortex-M4F microcontroller @ 64 MHz with 1 MB flash, 256 KB RAM Connectivity Bluetooth 5.2 up to 2 Mbps, -96 dBm sensitivity for long-range; Up to 111 dB link budget; Bluetooth Mesh IEEE 802.15.4 radio support for Thread & Zigbee NFC-A Built-in ceramic antenna Output power – Adjustable from +8 dBm to -20 dBm 46 I/O pins exposed via pads around the edges of the module including QSPI/SPI/2-wire/I2S/PDM/QDEC Programmable Peripheral Interface (PPI) SPI interface @ 32 MHz Quad SPI interface @ 32 MHz EasyDMA for all digital interfaces USB 2.0 (12 Mbits) 12-bit/200K SPS ADC Security Arm TrustZone Cryptocell 310 128-bit AES/ECB/CCM/AAR co-processor Misc – Built-in 32 MHz & 32.768 MHz crystal Supply Voltage – 1.7 V to 5.5 V via battery or USB power. Dimensions – 14 x 9 x 1.6mm Certifications – FCC, IC & CE The module is programmable with MicroPython, IOsonata open-source multi-architecture multi-platform library for IoT project, as well as Nordic SDKs. You’ll find some documentation and firmware file on SourceForge. - - Source- CNX software - - ➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖ Follow Us On: @decoders8421 Tag Your Friends 👼. Ask any query or doubt in comments. ➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖ - #fpga #atmega #arm #nxp #embedded #iot #developmentboard #rpi #raspberrypi #arduino #arduinouno #raspberrypi3 #tinkercad #tinker #stm32 #esp32 #lorawan #lora #ai #ml #beagleboneai #raspberrypi4 #sbc #cortex #singleboard #singleboardcomputer #iot #zigbee #opencv #raspberrypicamera https://www.instagram.com/p/CBLtnTpHm-Q/?igshid=yket98i0uska

[planetarduino]

The Arduino Nano 33 BLE and BLE Sense are officially available.

Finally the wait is over, the new Arduino Nano 33 BLE and BLE Sense are available. The boards have been manufactured, delivered to our warehouses and will ship from mid august.

These new board are an exciting addition to our product line and they are based on the powerful Nordic nRF52840 Bluetooth SoC, a Cortex M4F arm processor with advanced Bluetooth capabilities.

Together with the Ublox NINA B306 module, the BLE Sense in particular delivers a lot of value through the impressive array of on board sensors: a 9 axis Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU), temperature, pressure, humidity, light, color and even gestures sensors and a microphone that are managed through our specialised libraries.

To coincide with the launch of the new boards we’re making available the official Arduino programming support for this processor, what in Arduino slang we call a “Core”.  The ArduinoCore-nRF528x-mbedos that you will be able to add to your Arduino IDE in a few hours is based on the arm MbedOS Realtime Operating System. This is an amazing addition to the Arduino software stack because now you can transparently take full advantage of a powerful RTOS while using all the existing Arduino programming knowledge you have. This is an significant advancement for the platform because it opens the door to creating more sophisticated and mission critical applications on the Arduino software framework.

For a more in-depth discussion about the new Arduino Core read the blog post written by Martino Facchi,n who is in charge of the firmware development team, who will explain all the details of the implementation and how we came to this choice.

The Arduino Nano 33 BLE is available for $19 while the BLE Sense sells for $29.50.

More details about the products are available on our site.

The Arduino Nano 33 BLE and BLE Sense are officially available. was originally published on PlanetArduino

[markjsaterfiel66]

Friday Product Post: On the Edge of Our Seats

It's an exciting Friday New Product Post – the SparkFun Edge Development Board is officially shipping! We also have a brand new LED Driver board, pre-orders on the new Taz Pro 3D Printer, two brand new and top-of-the-line digital flex sensors, and a few little parts for your next project.

Your Edge is on the way!

added to your cart!

SparkFun Edge Development Board - Apollo3 Blue

Out of stock DEV-15170

The SparkFun Edge Development Board powered by TensorFlow is perfect begin using voice recognition without relying on the ser…

$14.95

Favorited Favorite 11

Wish List

In collaboration with Google and Ambiq, SparkFun's Edge Development Board is based around the newest edge technology, and is perfect for getting your feet wet with voice and gesture recognition, without relying on the distant services of other companies. The magic sauce is in the utilization of Ambiq Micro's latest Apollo3 Blue microcontroller, whose ultra-efficient ARM Cortex-M4F 48MHz (with 96MHz burst mode) processor can run TensorFlow Lite using only 6uA/MHz. Apollo3 Blue sports all the cutting-edge features expected of modern microcontrollers, including six configurable I2C/SPI masters, two UARTs, one I2C/SPI slave, a 15-channel 14-bit ADC and a dedicated Bluetooth processor that supports BLE5. On top of all that, the Apollo3 Blue has 1MB of flash and 384KB of SRAM memory - plenty for the vast majority of applications.

X gon give it to ya!

added to your cart!

SparkFun ESP32 Thing Plus DMX to LED Shield

In stock DEV-15110

The SparkFun ESP32 DMX to LED Shield is the perfect way to send and receive DMX data whether it's coming in or out over the o…

$19.95

Favorited Favorite 1

Wish List

The SparkFun ESP32 DMX to LED Shield is the perfect way to send and receive DMX data. Whether it's coming in via the onboard XLR-3 jack or ArtNet, or outputting over the XLR-3 Jack/ArtNet, this shield has you covered! It's the perfect way to get started developing your own custom DMX fixtures, or even adding ArtNet capabilities to a current fixture. It also holds up to the DMX standard, which requires electrical isolation between the controller and communication side to avoid ground loops.

added to your cart!

Taz Pro 3D Printer

Pre-Order TOL-15319

The TAZ Pro is an industrial desktop 3D printer that provides large, multi-material and soluble support printing with LulzBot…

$4,950.00

Favorited Favorite 0

Wish List

The TAZ Pro is an industrial desktop 3D printer that provides large, multi-material and soluble support printing with LulzBot's award-winning reliability. Create high-quality, large functional prototypes and parts with easy, professional results.

With a taller print area than the TAZ 6 and two extruder heads, the TAZ Pro is a major upgrade. The two extruder heads allow you to use two different colors or materials with similar melting points to create multicolor or multi-material objects. This configuration allows for clean and solid transitions between the two materials or colors. The upgraded electronics allow for more professional prints that run quieter. A 5-inch touchscreen, which replaces the previous monochrome LCD with wheel-selector, makes moving through the menus and adjusting settings incredibly simple.

The Taz Pro 3D Printer is now available for pre-order, and we hope to start shipping from LulzBot by the end of April.

added to your cart!

Bend Labs Digital Flex Sensor - 1-Axis, 4 Inch

In stock SEN-15244

Constructed using durable, medical grade silicone elastomers, this is a single axis bidirectional flex sensor which measures …

$69.95

Favorited Favorite 0

Wish List

added to your cart!

Bend Labs Digital Flex Sensor - 2-Axis, 4 Inch

In stock SEN-15245

Constructed using durable, silicone elastomers, this is a two axis bidirectional sensor which measures two angles in orthogon…

$169.95

Favorited Favorite 0

Wish List

The Bend Labs Digital Flex Sensors are an innovative solution for measuring motion, providing a unique alternative to existing sensor technologies. They are capable of highly accurate, drift-free angular displacement in a soft form factor, while maintaining extremely low power consumption. Constructed using highly durable, medical-grade silicone elastomers, this is a single axis bidirectional flex sensor, which measures one angle for 2D orientation, and a two axis bidirectional sensor, which measures two angles in orthogonal planes for 3D orientation. Its low-power, integrated analog front end, with I2C interface, provides angular displacement data in degrees and includes on-board calibration and bootloader.

added to your cart!

Feather Stackable Header Kit

In stock PRT-15187

These stackable headers are made to work with the [SparkFun ESP32 Thing Plus](https://www.sparkfun.com/products/14689) to con…

$1.50

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These stackable headers connect the SparkFun ESP32 Thing Plus to a shield with a Feather footprint. This set includes one 12-pin and one 16-pin header; the pins are spaced by 0.1".

added to your cart!

Alligator Clip with Female Header (10 Pack)

In stock CAB-15186

This is a 10-pack of wires that are pre-terminated with an alligator clip on one end and a female header on the other.

$6.95

Favorited Favorite 0

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This is a 10-pack of wires that are pre-terminated with an alligator clip on one end and a female header on the other. Alligator clips are a staple item for any workbench or makerspace, and with these cables you will be able to easily incorporate those clips into a breadboard, development platform or anything else to which you would normally be able to attach a hookup wire.

That's it for this week! As always, we can't wait to see what you make! Shoot us a tweet @sparkfun, or let us know on Instagram or Facebook. We’d love to see what projects you’ve made!

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[forlinx]

Industrial Data Acquisition and Control System Solution Based on FET6254-C SoM

Against the backdrop of rapid development in communication and networking technologies, smart factories are gradually achieving data-driven, networked, and intelligent management. In this trend, the utilization of the Industrial IoT has become an indispensable key step in achieving industrial data collection and control.

Traditional industrial data collection and control systems typically require connection to multiple data collection devices, perform high-speed communication, handle complex data processing, and achieve high-definition multimedia display functions. The embedded system based on ARM+FPGA architecture has rich peripheral interfaces, high-definition display high-speed transmission, and other functions, which are more capable of high-speed industrial data acquisition tasks. The flexibility and performance of this embedded system make it an ideal choice to meet the needs of smart factories, which can effectively improve the efficiency and accuracy of industrial data processing.

In the industrial data acquisition and control system, high-speed data acquisition system and embedded human-computer interaction system cooperate closely to build an intelligent industrial management system. The main task of the high-speed data acquisition system is to collect the key data in the industrial production process in real time and ensure the accuracy and timeliness of the data. This involves high-speed communication with multiple data acquisition devices, as well as sophisticated data processing and multimedia display capabilities.

As the main control center, the embedded human-computer interaction system coordinates and manages each module and resource, and is responsible for receiving the data from the FPGA terminal. It not only visualizes the data to the user, but also achieves more flexible control through human-computer interaction. The system also realizes the connection with the industrial MES + ERP system through the communication module, and transmits the collected data to the cloud for storage. This design not only improves the efficiency of data processing, but also greatly reduces the risk of manual data entry, and realizes the intelligent management of industrial data.

The whole system architecture provides a more comprehensive and efficient data management solution for enterprises. This not only helps to reduce human errors in the production process, but also makes better use of human resources and improves production efficiency. With the continuous development of communication and network technology, such industrial data acquisition and control system will become an important support for industrial intelligence in the future.

The main control device of the industrial data acquisition control system can adopt Forlinx Embedded FET6254-C SoM, which is based on TI's AM62x series industrial processor design, with the main frequency up to 1.4GHz, is a multi-core heterogeneous processor, adopting the Cortex-A53+Cortex-M4F combination of processing core + control core architecture; the functional safety features can be realised by the M4F core and its dedicated peripherals, and the startup and operation of the M4F core no longer depend on the A53 core. The M4F core and its dedicated peripherals enable functional safety features, and the M4F core is no longer dependent on the A53 core for startup and operation.

It can provide excellent data processing capability and human-computer interaction experience, and can control the motor drive module in real time to meet the requirements of data processing, task scheduling and human-computer interaction of the real-time control system.

It support parallel bus support for ARM high-speed communication with the FPGA to provide access. FET6254-C supports TI processor-specific general-purpose memory controller interface GPMC, high data read and write rate of up to 100MB / s, support for multiple chip selection, the configuration is more flexible, and at the same time can provide a variety of methods to connect with the peripheral devices and a wide range of external devices can be communicated.

The FET6254-C SoM integrates a rich set of functional interfaces. It supports two Gigabit Ethernet with TSN support, which provides fast data transmission and connection capability to meet the demand of industrial data acquisition and control systems for high bandwidth and low latency; it also supports three communication interfaces, such as CAN FD, I2C, I2S, which provide a reliable, high-speed and real-time data transmission method for the normal operation and efficient performance of industrial data acquisition and control system; with rich interface resources such as USB, UART, PWM, SPI, etc., it can be used to connect various sensors, actuators, motor drive modules, and mouse and keyboard devices.

The control system provides support for normal operation and efficient performance; with rich interface resources such as: USB, UART, PWM, SPI, etc., can be used to connect a variety of sensors, actuators, motor drive modules, as well as the mouse, keyboard devices, etc., can be achieved in industrial data acquisition and control of a variety of signals and data, to achieve the monitoring and control of the production process; the SoM adopts an industrial-grade temperature and wide range of design, to ensure that the stability and reliability of the product to meet the requirements of industrial application environment.

Originally published at www.forlinx.net.

[bitstream24]

Compact IoT Development Board With ARM Cortex-M4F Processor Supports Arduino IDE

Seeed Studio introduced the SPRESENSE, a compact development board based on Sony’s power-efficient multicore microcontroller CXD5602. It empowers developers to create IoT (Internet-of-Things) applications in a short time, and it supports the Arduino IDE as well as the more advanced NuttX based SDK.

https://copperhilltech.com/blog/compact-iot-development-board-with-arm-cortexm4f-processor-supports-arduino-ide/

[grassroutes]

Why I’m Never Buying an Arduino Again: The Wio Terminal

Our verdict of the SeeedStudio Wio Terminal: Packed full of sensors, buttons, a color LCD screen, and Wi-Fi connectivity, the Wio Terminal from SeeedStudio is fantastic value and well documented. That makes it easy to get on with what's really important: making cool stuff. 910

Electronics programming can be quite frustrating at times. Sourcing components, finding the right libraries to make use of them, figuring out the right parameters to pass in, then hoping there’s some example code to get started with. It all adds up to a massive time suck that detracts from the fun stuff. That’s largely why I’ve fallen out of love with the Arduino ecosystem. SeeedStudio thinks the Wio Terminal might rekindle my relationship with electronics though, and I think they’re right.

The Wio Terminal is an Arduino-compatible development board, crammed full of features and well documented, available for an entirely reasonable $30. Read on to find out why it’s the coolest thing since an Arduino Uno.

Wio Terminal Features and Specifications

The Wio Terminal is built around an ARM Cortex M4F system-on-a-chip, which is a 32-bit ARM processor running at 120Mhz (200Mhz burst). It features 4MB storage, 192k RAM, and there’s a Realtek RTL8720DN wireless chip providing Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity (though the Bluetooth stack wasn’t implemented at the time of writing).

In terms of built-in features, there’s a lot to shout about:

2.4″ color LCD screen

3 pushbuttons

5-way joystick

Buzzer

Micro SD card slot

Light sensor

IR emitter

Accelerometer

Wi-Fi

Bluetooth

USB-C, for client or host mode

Two Grove system connectors

Having an easy-to-use LCD screen is a useful addition to nearly any type of project.

The USB-C connector is how you’ll power the device for now, though a battery kit is expected to be available at a later date. The Wio Terminal can act as both a USB client, to emulate a keyboard, mouse or MIDI device to the host PC; or a host, so it can, for instance, read signals from a wired game controller (though it’s not yet clear how to power it in this mode).

For more complex projects, or those who just prefer Python, the Wio Terminal is able to combine the best of both worlds with ArduPy. You’ll be able to program in Python using the MS Visual Code editor, yet still import your favorite Arduino libraries (or make use of existing ArduPy ones). Personally, I can’t stand Python, but you can learn more about using the Wio Terminal in this way on the SeeedStudio blog.

Getting Started with Wio Terminal

Power on the device with the switch to the left of the screen–and you’ll be immediately greeted by a small Flappy-bird stype retro game (the code for which is available here in case you ever want it back).

You’ll need the Arduino IDE installed to begin programming the Wio Terminal, and to install support for the Wio boards. Enter the URL provided in your preferences, then use the Boards Manager screen and search for Wio.

You’ll find countless code examples for all the various onboard components on the Wio wiki. Many require you to install an additional library into your Arduino Libraries folder, but that’s a simple process (Sketch -> Include Library -> Add Zip).

My first foray involved the sample code for reading accelerometer values and plotting the results on the screen. Very cool, and it really shows off the device’s capability for data logging projects. You’ll also find code for writing values to an SD card.

From there, it was trivial to modify that to read values from the included light sensor instead.

Another ten minutes later, I’d combined the joystick code sample with the LCD fonts demo, to make a simple joystick test program with visual output.

At that point, I wanted to connect another sensor from my bits box, and it was then that I realized there’s a small trade-off to be made in such a polished device. Compared to the barebones board and pin access of the Arduino Uno, it’s a little more difficult to get to the pins on the Wio Terminal. The pinouts for the 40-pin connector can be found in the online documentation, but they aren’t labeled on the device itself and there’s always a risk of plugging in the wrong things.

Which brings us neatly on to the topic of: what options are there for adding components and sensors?

Grove Connectors

On the front of the device are two Grove connectors. Grove is a mature hardware ecosystem that covers every kind of sensor you could possibly want, and more besides.

This is by far the easiest way to add something to the Wio Terminal, and of course, all the Grove components are also well documented with libraries provided. For beginners, it’s a fantastic place to expand from. There’s a small premium on sensors and components within the Grove system, but not a huge amount–and the time you’ll save not having to mess around means it’s absolutely worth it.

For pro users, you can still make use of existing components either through direct pin access on the underside or through the use of Grove system breakout cables. You won’t have as many digital or analog pins as an Arduino, simply because many of them are already in use by on-board components.

Realistically though, how many times have you needed all those IO pins?

Connectivity Options

The model we were sent for review is an engineering prototype, so getting Wi-Fi to work requires a firmware upgrade. It’s a fiddly process and only needs to be done once, but I expect later models to have this ready to go out of the box.

Unfortunately, the Bluetooth hardware is not yet functional. It’s all there on the board, but the libraries needed to use it are not developed yet. Again, this is an early prototype, so I expect a couple of things to unpolished. The Wio Terminal is the latest in a long line of Wio branded devices, and SeeedStudio is an established company, so I’m confident this will be added in time. Still, if you were hoping to use the Bluetooth features straight away in your project, hold off on purchasing for now.

On the underside of the Wio Terminal, you’ll find a 40-pin Raspberry Pi compatible connector, which enables you to use the Wio Terminal as a Raspberry Pi Hat. This functions via a serial device, so you could send messages from Python running on the Pi to display on the Wio Terminal, for instance. You could feasibly offload some processing work to the Wio Terminal (it can run Tensorflow Lite), use it for the buttons etc, but this seems a waste. Unless you really, really want to program in Python, you’d probably be better off doing everything natively on the Wio Terminal itself. Still, it’s nice to have options.

Is the Wio Terminal Right for You?

Given the choice between the Wio Terminal, which is stuffed to the brim with hardware features like a color screen and joystick–for an entirely reasonable $30–or a $20 official Arduino Uno which has literally nothing else… I know which one I’d choose.

Re-live 1999 with this movie reference, and you too can feel old.

Of course, you could opt for unofficial clones and then source only the additional features and components you needed for a somewhat cheaper price. But you should also factor in your time. Part of what’s so attractive about the Wio Terminal package is that everything is so well documented, and I don’t need to track down compatible libraries or code snippets. That means you can concentrate on the things that matter: building awesome stuff.

That’s why I’m calling it now. The Wio Terminal is the new standard for IoT and data logging development boards. And for beginners looking to get started with electronics programming, the Grove sensor system will save you time and frustration in those crucial early learning stages. At $30, the Wio Terminal is a bargain.

Enter the Competition!

Wio Terminal Giveaway

Read the full article: Why I’m Never Buying an Arduino Again: The Wio Terminal

Why I’m Never Buying an Arduino Again: The Wio Terminal posted first on grassroutespage.blogspot.com

[droneseco]

Why I’m Never Buying an Arduino Again: The Wio Terminal

Our verdict of the SeeedStudio Wio Terminal: Packed full of sensors, buttons, a color LCD screen, and Wi-Fi connectivity, the Wio Terminal from SeeedStudio is fantastic value and well documented. That makes it easy to get on with what's really important: making cool stuff. 910

Electronics programming can be quite frustrating at times. Sourcing components, finding the right libraries to make use of them, figuring out the right parameters to pass in, then hoping there’s some example code to get started with. It all adds up to a massive time suck that detracts from the fun stuff. That’s largely why I’ve fallen out of love with the Arduino ecosystem. SeeedStudio thinks the Wio Terminal might rekindle my relationship with electronics though, and I think they’re right.

The Wio Terminal is an Arduino-compatible development board, crammed full of features and well documented, available for an entirely reasonable $30. Read on to find out why it’s the coolest thing since an Arduino Uno.

Wio Terminal Features and Specifications

The Wio Terminal is built around an ARM Cortex M4F system-on-a-chip, which is a 32-bit ARM processor running at 120Mhz (200Mhz burst). It features 4MB storage, 192k RAM, and there’s a Realtek RTL8720DN wireless chip providing Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity (though the Bluetooth stack wasn’t implemented at the time of writing).

In terms of built-in features, there’s a lot to shout about:

2.4″ color LCD screen

3 pushbuttons

5-way joystick

Buzzer

Micro SD card slot

Light sensor

IR emitter

Accelerometer

Wi-Fi

Bluetooth

USB-C, for client or host mode

Two Grove system connectors

Having an easy-to-use LCD screen is a useful addition to nearly any type of project.

The USB-C connector is how you’ll power the device for now, though a battery kit is expected to be available at a later date. The Wio Terminal can act as both a USB client, to emulate a keyboard, mouse or MIDI device to the host PC; or a host, so it can, for instance, read signals from a wired game controller (though it’s not yet clear how to power it in this mode).

For more complex projects, or those who just prefer Python, the Wio Terminal is able to combine the best of both worlds with ArduPy. You’ll be able to program in Python using the MS Visual Code editor, yet still import your favorite Arduino libraries (or make use of existing ArduPy ones). Personally, I can’t stand Python, but you can learn more about using the Wio Terminal in this way on the SeeedStudio blog.

Getting Started with Wio Terminal

Power on the device with the switch to the left of the screen–and you’ll be immediately greeted by a small Flappy-bird stype retro game (the code for which is available here in case you ever want it back).

You’ll need the Arduino IDE installed to begin programming the Wio Terminal, and to install support for the Wio boards. Enter the URL provided in your preferences, then use the Boards Manager screen and search for Wio.

You’ll find countless code examples for all the various onboard components on the Wio wiki. Many require you to install an additional library into your Arduino Libraries folder, but that’s a simple process (Sketch -> Include Library -> Add Zip).

My first foray involved the sample code for reading accelerometer values and plotting the results on the screen. Very cool, and it really shows off the device’s capability for data logging projects. You’ll also find code for writing values to an SD card.

From there, it was trivial to modify that to read values from the included light sensor instead.

Another ten minutes later, I’d combined the joystick code sample with the LCD fonts demo, to make a simple joystick test program with visual output.

At that point, I wanted to connect another sensor from my bits box, and it was then that I realized there’s a small trade-off to be made in such a polished device. Compared to the barebones board and pin access of the Arduino Uno, it’s a little more difficult to get to the pins on the Wio Terminal. The pinouts for the 40-pin connector can be found in the online documentation, but they aren’t labeled on the device itself and there’s always a risk of plugging in the wrong things.

Which brings us neatly on to the topic of: what options are there for adding components and sensors?

Grove Connectors

On the front of the device are two Grove connectors. Grove is a mature hardware ecosystem that covers every kind of sensor you could possibly want, and more besides.

This is by far the easiest way to add something to the Wio Terminal, and of course, all the Grove components are also well documented with libraries provided. For beginners, it’s a fantastic place to expand from. There’s a small premium on sensors and components within the Grove system, but not a huge amount–and the time you’ll save not having to mess around means it’s absolutely worth it.

For pro users, you can still make use of existing components either through direct pin access on the underside or through the use of Grove system breakout cables. You won’t have as many digital or analog pins as an Arduino, simply because many of them are already in use by on-board components.

Realistically though, how many times have you needed all those IO pins?

Connectivity Options

The model we were sent for review is an engineering prototype, so getting Wi-Fi to work requires a firmware upgrade. It’s a fiddly process and only needs to be done once, but I expect later models to have this ready to go out of the box.

Unfortunately, the Bluetooth hardware is not yet functional. It’s all there on the board, but the libraries needed to use it are not developed yet. Again, this is an early prototype, so I expect a couple of things to unpolished. The Wio Terminal is the latest in a long line of Wio branded devices, and SeeedStudio is an established company, so I’m confident this will be added in time. Still, if you were hoping to use the Bluetooth features straight away in your project, hold off on purchasing for now.

On the underside of the Wio Terminal, you’ll find a 40-pin Raspberry Pi compatible connector, which enables you to use the Wio Terminal as a Raspberry Pi Hat. This functions via a serial device, so you could send messages from Python running on the Pi to display on the Wio Terminal, for instance. You could feasibly offload some processing work to the Wio Terminal (it can run Tensorflow Lite), use it for the buttons etc, but this seems a waste. Unless you really, really want to program in Python, you’d probably be better off doing everything natively on the Wio Terminal itself. Still, it’s nice to have options.

Is the Wio Terminal Right for You?

Given the choice between the Wio Terminal, which is stuffed to the brim with hardware features like a color screen and joystick–for an entirely reasonable $30–or a $20 official Arduino Uno which has literally nothing else… I know which one I’d choose.

Re-live 1999 with this movie reference, and you too can feel old.

Of course, you could opt for unofficial clones and then source only the additional features and components you needed for a somewhat cheaper price. But you should also factor in your time. Part of what’s so attractive about the Wio Terminal package is that everything is so well documented, and I don’t need to track down compatible libraries or code snippets. That means you can concentrate on the things that matter: building awesome stuff.

That’s why I’m calling it now. The Wio Terminal is the new standard for IoT and data logging development boards. And for beginners looking to get started with electronics programming, the Grove sensor system will save you time and frustration in those crucial early learning stages. At $30, the Wio Terminal is a bargain.

Enter the Competition!

Wio Terminal Giveaway

Read the full article: Why I’m Never Buying an Arduino Again: The Wio Terminal

Why I’m Never Buying an Arduino Again: The Wio Terminal published first on http://droneseco.tumblr.com/

[toradex]

Toradex opens Early Access for the Apalis iMX8 with the NXP i.MX 8QuadMax SoC

Toradex announced that it has opened early access for selected customers to its new Apalis iMX8 System on Module (SoM) based on the NXP® i.MX 8QuadMax SoC.

Companies interested in working with this cutting-edge Hardware and Software are invited to sign up for the Toradex early access program to receive more information about the requirements to join the program.

The Apalis iMX8 is the latest member of the Apalis family, a high-performance Arm®-based pin-compatible SoM. The NXP i.MX 8QM SoC is the highest performance variation of the i.MX 8 family, featuring 6x Armv8-A 64-bit processor cores – 2x Arm Cortex-A72 & 4x Cortex-A53 – as well as 2x additional Cortex-M4F microcontrollers. The integrated HIFI4 DSP, a high-performance dual GPU, 28 nm FD-SOI technology, and extra safety features are other differentiators to the lower performance i.MX 8M SoC.

The release version of the Apalis iMX8 will come with all the standard Toradex advantages including Toradex Easy Installer, Free Professional Support, Production-quality Yocto Project Based Linux BSP, Active Community, Daily updated Developer Page, Pin-out Designer tools, Fully open Carrier Board Designs, World Wide Network with local support offices and much more.

Toradex Partners are already working for solutions on top of Toradex SoM offerings; this includes Graphical User Experience, Deep Learning Inference Optimization, Machine Vision Tools, and additional Operating Systems.

At Embedded World 2018, Toradex showcased the Apalis iMX8 in two interesting demos: demonstrating the Toradex MIPI CSI-2 Camera Module and showing Qt 3D Studio taking advantage of the dual 3D GPU.

For a brief overview of the demos at Embedded World 2018, please see:

Apart from its high performance and rich interfaces, the i.MX 8QuadMax stands out with long availability of over 10 years. The SoC is built with 28 nm FD-SOI technology to reduce soft errors and increase MTBF. High shock and vibration resilience and a temperature range from -40° to 85°C, makes the Apalis iMX8 a great choice for edge computing applications in the most demanding environments.

                                        Block Diagram: NXP i.MX 8QM

Critical real-time and safety processes can be off-loaded to the dual Cortex-M4F coprocessors. The latest iteration of the NXP Asynchronous Hybrid System with Cortex-A and Cortex-M class processors isolates the M4 cores to provide the highest safety. OpenCL 2.0 allows the GPUs on the i.MX 8QM to be used not just for graphics, but also for Computer Vision, Machine Learning and Signal Processing.

The samples available for the early access feature 4GB RAM and up to 16GB Flash Memory. Toradex has also opened the forum to the public to provide input for the final modules configurations: https://www.toradex.com/computer-on-modules/apalis-arm-family/nxp-imx-8#features

About Toradex:

Toradex is a Swiss-based company with offices around the world, offering Arm®-based System on Modules (SoMs) and Customizable Single Board Computers (SBCs). Powered by NXP® and NVIDIA® SoCs, the pin-compatible SoMs are ideal for demanding edge computing applications. Toradex SoMs offer scalability in terms of price, performance, power consumption and I/Os. Complemented with direct online sales and long-term product availability, Toradex offers direct premium support and ex-stock availability with local warehouses. Toradex SoMs come with a free production-quality Linux BSP based on the Yocto Project.

[evgenychernyavskiy]

Samsung to ramp 10nm AP in H2 - Samsung

Samsung to ramp 10nm AP in H2 – Samsung

Samsung to ramp 10nm AP in H2 – Samsung says it will begin volume production of a 10nm Exynos AP in H2. The chip has four Cortex-A73 cores clocked at 2.3GHz and four ARM Cortex-A53 cores running at 1.6GHz, and a second-generation Bifrost-based ARM Mali-G72 GPzu. An embedded Cortex-M4F-based low-power sensor hub manages the sensors in real-time without waking the main processor. The … This story…

[christopherross7601]

Samsung to ramp 10nm AP in H2

Samsung to ramp 10nm AP in H2

Samsung says it will begin volume production of a 10nm Exynos AP in H2. The chip has four Cortex-A73 cores clocked at 2.3GHz and four ARM Cortex-A53 cores running at 1.6GHz, and a second-generation Bifrost-based ARM Mali-G72 GPzu. An embedded Cortex-M4F-based low-power sensor hub manages the sensors in real-time without waking the main processor. The …

This story continues at Samsung to ramp 10nm…

[lynleyblake]

MSP432â"¢ Microcontrollers feature 120-MHz Arm® ...

SimpleLink MSP432™ Microcontrollers provide connectivity options such as Ethernet MAC with MII and RMII, PHY with IEEE 1588 PTP hardware support and USB with ULPI Interface Option. Units are available with 1024KB of flash memory, 256KB of SRAM and 6KB of EEPROM memory options and offer multiple wireless connectivity support. These MCUs come with integrated communication peripherals and are suitable for applications ranging from human-machine interface (HMI) to networked system... This story is related to the following: Computer Hardware & Peripherals Search for suppliers of: Microcontrollers (MCU's) from Air Conditioning /fullstory/msp432-microcontrollers-feature-120-mhz-arm-cortex-m4f-processor-core-40010034 via http://www.rssmix.com/

[forlinx]

Solution | Hypothermia Therapy Apparatus Solution based on AM62x

Europe hits record-high temperatures this summer. Heat wave makes some people suffer from heat stroke. It is a disease caused by body overheating, prolonged exposure to high temperature or physical exertion in high temperature. Heat stroke may occur when your body temperature rises to 104°F (40℃) or higher, which happens most often in summer.

Heatstroke requires emergency treatment. Untreated heatstroke can quickly damage your brain, heart, kidneys and muscles. The longer treatment is delayed, the more severe the damage, increasing the risk of serious complications or death. If someone may have heat stroke, get medical help right away. Dial 911 or your local emergency services number.

In the news about heatstroke patients being hospitalized, doctors treat patients with a medical device called hypothermia therapy apparatus.

Hypothermia therapy apparatus provides cold source by compressor and uses a special cold water circulation refrigeration system to conduct heat dissipation to achieve a cooling effect.

It uses a blanket to contact patient's body, controls patient's body temperature by temperature difference, creates a sub-low temperature environment, and reduces patient’s body temperature through "heat transfer".

ARM architecture processor as device master control has been the choice of many medical equipment manufacturers. The following will take hypothermia therapy apparatus as an example to introduce ARM solution.

Application Solution Introduction

FET6254-C SoM by Forlinx Embedded is designed and developed based on TI Sitara™ AM62x series industrial-grade processors. It’s multi-core heterogeneous combination of Cortex-A53 processing core and Cortex-M4F control core. And the startup and operation of M4F is not depended on A53, which is safer and more efficient; it integrates rich interfaces for various functions and has wider applicability.

Hypothermia Therapy Apparatus Solution Topology Diagram

FET6254-C SoM supports up to 9*UART, compatible with 16C750. It supports RS485 external transceiver automatic flow control, which can meet the operation requirements of electronic drive system and refrigeration system on hypothermia therapy apparatus, which is the most critical step to achieve therapeutic effect by cooling body.

M4F control core can operate independently without A53 core, making cooling work more efficient.

Hypothermia therapy apparatus is not a simple refrigeration.For safety of patients, it needs to strictly control the speed of cooling and rewarming. It can not be too fast. The cooling speed is 1.0~1.5℃/h. A temperature sensor is required to monitor patient's body temperature and temperature of circulating cold water in real time. FET6254-C SoM supports ≤6* I2C.

The access of temperature and water pressure sensors can meet the perception and monitoring of multiple indicators such as body temperature, water temperature and water volume, and ensure optimal treatment effect.

All data indicators mentioned above need to be monitored by doctors in real time and adjusted in time according to actual situation. FET6254-C SoM supports 2 display controllers, which can output 2 different images at the same time. It support LVDS and RGB Parallel display, providing more choices for medical equipment manufacturers.

USB port of FET6254-C SoM can be configured as USB host, USB slave device, or USB dual-role device, which can support mouse, keyboard, and other peripherals, making it easier for doctors to perform settings and operations.

The above is hypothermia therapy apparatus solution based on FET6254-C SoM by Forlinx Embedded. Hope it is helpful to your product development selection and design.

You can also consult "suggestions of embedded SoM for your project" online. Just send us your requirements, and Forlinx will recommend products that are cost-effective and functionally suitable for you.

Originally published at www.forlinx.net.