Embedded Systems

📟 BYOPM - Open-Source password manager based on Raspberry Pi Zero BYOPM is a portable Password Manager implementation based on BitWarden and a Raspberry PI Zero. It’s a self hosted solution, with full functionality, which is activated by just plugging the device on your computer. Bitwarden’s Official browser addons and extensions are also supported, and the device has been tested both on Windows (10 and 11) and Linux (Debian Based). How does it work? Plug BYOPM to your computer using a micro USB cable, after about a minute a new network device will be automatically created and appear as connected. BYOPM hosts a Bitwarden instance which is required for managing your passwords and also emulates an ethernet network interface card in order to be accessible from your computer without any configuration. More information... #projects #raspberry #security

📟 TinyML-CAM pipeline enables 80 FPS image recognition on ESP32 using just 1 KB RAM The challenge with TinyML is to extract the maximum performance/efficiency at the lowest footprint for AI workloads on microcontroller-class hardware. The TinyML-CAM pipeline, developed by a team of machine learning researchers in Europe, demonstrates what’s possible to achieve on relatively low-end hardware with a camera. Most specifically, they managed to reach over 80 FPS image recognition on the sub-$10 ESP32-CAM board with the open-source TinyML-CAM pipeline taking just about 1KB of RAM. It should work on other MCU boards with a camera, and training does not seem complex since we are told it takes around 30 minutes to implement a customized task. More information: The main article The GitHub repository #projects #machine_learning #esp32

📰 Tentacle robot can gently grasp fragile objects Most of today’s robotic grippers rely on embedded sensors, complex feedback loops, or advanced machine learning algorithms, combined with the skill of the operator, to grasp fragile or irregularly shaped objects. But researchers from the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) have demonstrated an easier way. The researchers used simulations and experiments to test the efficacy of the gripper, picking up a range of objects, including various houseplants and toys. The gripper could be used in real-world applications to grasp soft fruits and vegetables for agricultural production and distribution, delicate tissue in medical settings, even irregularly shaped objects in warehouses, such as glassware. #news #robots

📟 hgDeck - a wrist-word desk with a hybrid interface The design for this project is based on earlier hgTerm Raspberry Pi mini-laptop, which honestly would have made a great entry all by itself. But while the two version shares some similarities, the hgDeck puts a serious twist on the form factor. Device is based on the Raspberry Pi Zero W Soc. It contains one main 3.5" SPI TFT screen and additional 1" OLED screen. Additionally, it has BT keyboard, pi camera and MLX90640 thermal camera. The casing is 3D printed on Prusa Mini. It has a motor and a linkage system which enables it to (semi) automatically switch between just the display mode and full terminal (display+keyboard) mode. More information: The main page The repository #projects #raspberry

🎬 What Are The Essential Tools You Need For Embedded Firmware Development? In this video, embedded systems consultant Martin Schroder talks about the software and hardware you would need to start developing embedded firmware. https://youtu.be/d7Ow0lo1a8c #video

🤖 Mini Pupper – Open-source Raspberry Pi 4-based robot dog teaches ROS, SLAM, navigation and computer vision Mini Pupper is open-source, based on Ubuntu and ROS (Robot Operating System), and designed for robotics education in schools, homeschool families, enthusiasts and others, with notably students being able to learn out to use ROS, SLAM, navigation, and OpenCV computer vision through online courses that will come with the robot. One fully assembled and configured, the dog-shaped quadruped robot that can hop, trot, and run around, finding its way around using SLAM, Navigation, and OpenCV AI functions. Mini Pupper’s software relies on a fork of ROS based Champ Quadrupedal Framework led by Juan Miguel Jimeno, which you can also find on Github. ROS2 support is also in the works. More information: The main article The GitHub repository #projects #robots

📚 Frank Bruno - FPGA Programming for Beginners (2021) The book will introduce you to the FPGA and Xilinx architectures and show you how to work on your first project, which includes toggling an LED. You'll then cover SystemVerilog RTL designs and their implementations. Next, you'll get to grips with using the combinational Boolean logic design and work on several projects, such as creating a calculator and updating it using FPGA resources. Later, the book will take you through the advanced concepts of AXI and show you how to create a keyboard using PS/2. Finally, you'll be able to consolidate all the projects in the book to create a unified output using a VGA controller that you'll design. What you will learn: ▫️ Understand the FPGA architecture and its implementation ▫️ Get to grips with writing SystemVerilog RTL ▫️ Work with computer math basics, parallelism, and pipelining ▫️ Discover how you can implement a VGA interface in your projects Download the book (.pdf, 16 MB) #books #fpga

📟 ESP-NOW: Auto-pairing for ESP32/ESP8266 with Bidirectional Communication and Web Server This guide shows how to build an ESP32 web server and use ESP-NOW communication protocol simultaneously. We’ll show you how to establish a two-way communication between the master (web server) and slaves, and how to automatically add boards to the network (auto-pairing). More information... #projects #esp32 #IoT

📃 Embedded IoT Without Hardware: The Must Know Resources The list of resources allowing to prototyping IoT projects without hardware ▫️ Wokwi is an online Electronics simulator that currently supports several popular platforms including several Arduinos, ESP32, and Rasberry Pi Pico among others. There is a wide variety of popular components to also select from. Wokwi also supports debugging and network connections. You can actually connect to Wi-Fi and establish an MQTT or HTTP connection. Supports languages like MicroPython, CircuitPython and Rust! ▫️ Planet Debug by MikroElektronika. With it the user gets to interact with real hardware through a live stream. This allows users to view a hardware development working in real-time. ▫️ Allhardware provides remote access to real embedded platform hardware to program and debug. ▫️ Arm Mbed Simulator provides access to a good amount of electronic components to connect and wire to the simulated hardware platform. #aritcles #IoT

💻 Consistent Error Handling in C++ Error handling in firmware is a difficult task. If you decide to ignore errors, the best you can expect is a deadlock, but you could also damage the hardware. When reviewing existing code, you can often find boolean return values or a system of error codes. The problem with these systems is the lack of readability. It is hard to say whether true is the result of a successful call or means an error. In the article, author explains different methods to handle errors in your firmware. Although the provided examples are for the Arduino Uno, the concepts will work with any platform and with all modern C++ compilers. More information... #articles #programming #cpp

🤖 3 trending robot startups from Kickstarter Worth looking into startups to keep up with the latest trends 🐶 Loona is a four-wheeled robot standing in (172 mm) high, with a 2.4-in LCD screen for a face. The robot can perform face recognition, body detection, gesture recognition, 3D motion capture, object recognition, emotion perception, label recognition, and more. 💡 Werobot Pino Lamp is designed with an Artificial Intelligence algorithm that supports automatic object tracking, recognizing and following selected objects, including the user's face, in the most targeted and optimized illumination experience that thus far was not available to users. 🎾 Rollbot is 100% Automatic and is designed with interactive moving feature that will stimulate the pet’s nature of hunting, and help fully mobilize their enthusiasm and curiosity. This intelligent ball toy is going to give your pet the interaction and exercise they crave even when you are not around. #robots

📰 Multiple Industries Are Reaping Big Rewards from Robots According to a report by the International Federation of Robotics, the number of robots in factories has almost doubled in recent years. ▫️ Manufacturing and Warehousing: The nature of manufacturing has changed significantly in recent years, largely due to COVID-19. North American companies purchased 11,595 robots in the first quarter of 2022. This record high amounted to a staggering $646 million. ▫️ Healthcare and Medical: Innovations in robotics have many uses within healthcare, ultimately improving the service that patients receive. Supplementary robots can transport goods, such as life-changing medication, around the hospital when nurses are understaffed or preoccupied. ▫️ Schools and Education: Robotics is also highly beneficial within the education system. Teachers and learning professionals can use robotics to help students within the classroom, all the way from primary school to higher education. #articles #robots

📟 Labfab's Open-Source CO2 Sensor This sensor help you to determine the periods of ventilation in closed spaces, in particular in the school context. Indeed, a high concentration of CO2 in a classroom has the possible consequence of a drop in concentration and even a state of drowsiness. This issue was raised during the COVID-19 health crisis when a correlation was established between the concentration of CO2 in a room and the transmission of the virus. The link between the CO2 concentration and the air quality in a room makes it possible to establish reference thresholds, in our case we use the CO2 recommendation of the French authorities: ▫️ at 800 ppm and below : Recommended for interior spaces in society. ▫️ from 800ppm : Space must be ventilated! ▫️ Above 1000 ppm : It is necessary to ventilate the space and it is not advisable to stay in the room. The CO2 sensor is designed to interpret these different CO2 alert levels by simple color code. More information... #projects #sensors

🔐 5 Elements to a Secure Embedded System (series of articles) Nearly every embedded system requires some level of security, whether its just the basics to lock down the programming port or something more complex to protect a connected device from hackers. For many developers, securing their device can be intimidating especially given that many embedded developers don’t come from a security background and have to learn security concepts on the fly. When it comes to establishing the primary elements that form the foundation for a secure system, the five elements every developer should be looking to implement are: ▫️ Hardware based isolation ▫️ A Root-of-Trust (RoT) ▫️ A secure boot solution ▫️ A secure bootloader ▫️ Secure storage The author dives into each of these topics in greater detail in order to understand how to create a solid security foundation from which a system can be built. More information... #articles #security

🎚 Unexpected Maker TinyS3, FeatherS3 and ProS3 boards feature ESP32-S3 dual-core wireless MCU Seon Rozenblum, better known as Unexpected Maker, has launched upgrades to its ESP32-S2 boards such as the TinyS2 with ESP32-S3 variants, namely TinyS3, FeatherS3, and ProS3 boards. The new boards share the same form factors as the TinyS2, FeatherS2, and ProS2, but they get a more powerful dual-core microcontroller with AI instructions and 512kB SRAM. The microcontroller also adds Bluetooth 5.0 Low Energy (BLE) connectivity with Bluetooth Mesh support, instead of just WiFi 4 connectivity found in the earlier boards. The boards are compatible with CircuitPython, MicroPython, the ESP-IDF, the Arduino IDE, and other coding platforms, but the getting started guide focuses on the CircuitPython firmware which comes pre-installed in the ESP32-S3 boards. The PDF schematics, KiCad 6 footprints and symbols, and 3D models can be found on GitHub. More information... #boards

🤖 What Robotics Experts Think of Tesla’s Optimus Robot? Roboticists from industry and academia share their perspectives on Tesla’s new humanoid Last Friday, 30 September, Tesla introduced several prototypes of its new humanoid robot, Optimus. Reactions across the robotics community were diverse. Because robotics requires expertise in many different aspects of both software and hardware, getting a good sense of the present context of Tesla’s robot as well as its future potential means finding perspectives from a multitude of robotics experts, including people working in industry and academia and everywhere in between. And by scouring the Internet over the weekend, we found as many expert commenters as we could. Together, they offer the most detailed and nuanced understanding of Optimus we’re likely to get outside of Tesla itself. More information... #articles #robots

📚 Subrata Banik, Vincent Zimmer - System Firmware An Essential Guide to Open Source and Embedded Solutions (2022) Find the right bootloader solution or combination of firmware required to boot a platform considering its security, product features, and optimized boot solutions. This book covers system boot firmware, focusing on real-world firmware migration from closed source to open source adaptation. The book provides an architectural overview of popular boot firmware. Who This Book Is For? Embedded firmware and software engineers migrating the product development from closed source firmware to open source firmware for product adaptation needs as well as engineers working for open source firmware development. A secondary audience includes engineers working on various bootloaders such as open source firmware, UEFI, and Slim Bootloader development, as well as undergraduate and graduate students working on developing firmware skill sets. Download the book (.pdf, 22 MB) #books

📃 Raspberry Pi Pico Variants – A Detailed Comparison Raspberry Pi Pico is a low-cost, versatile microcontroller development board from the Raspberry pi foundation. Let’s look at all these variants and their differences. ▫️ Raspberry Pi Pico is the first low-cost Microcontroller development board from the infamous Raspberry Pi Foundation. ▫️ Pico H is the same as the original Raspberry Pi Pico. There are no functional differences between them. The main difference is that the old gold-plated castellated holes are removed, and the header pins are pre-soldered. Another major difference is the new debug connector. The original Pico has a 2.54mm standard header pi for the debug. ▫️ Even though the Raspberry Pi Pico is a very powerful board, its main disadvantage over its competitors like ESP8266 or ESP32 is the lack of wireless connectivity. The new Pico W and WH have the solution for that. The new Pico W comes with a new chip supports both 2.4 GHz WiFi 4 and Bluetooth LE 5.2. #articles #boards

📚 Foundations of Robotics: A Multidisciplinary Approach with Python and ROS (2022) This open access book introduces key concepts in robotics in an easy to understand language using an engaging project-based approach. It covers contemporary topics in robotics, providing an accessible entry point to fundamentals in all the major domains. A section is dedicated to introducing programming concepts using Python, which has become a language of choice in robotics and AI. The book provides an inspired, up-to-date and multidisciplinary introduction to robotics in its many forms, including emerging topics related to robotics on Machine Learning, ethics, Human-Robot Interaction, and Design Thinking. The book is suitable as an undergraduate textbook in a relevant engineering course. It is also suitable for students in art and design, high school students, and self-learners who would like to explore foundational concepts in robotics. Download the book (.pdf, 23 MB) #books #robots

🎬 Learning About FPGAs In the first installment of this two-part YouTube video, Shawn Hymel discusses the basics and advantages of field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs). Field programmable gate arrays are integrated circuits that provide the foundation to implement custom digital circuits. These highly customizable ICs make it possible to design complex circuits for applications such as digital signal processing, machine learning, and cryptocurrency mining. The flexibility of FPGAs makes it possible to implement entire processors. More information: Part 1: What is an FPGA? Part 2: Getting Started with Yosys, IceStorm, and Apio #video