After facing and fixing unexpected issues with larger screens, the FRAM-based E-Paper Screen Controller now drives the iTC 7.4" BWR and iTC 12.2" BWR screens successfully.

The connection between the main MCU and the screen controller only requires 4 cables for SPI, and optionally 3 for additional features.

Discover the updated project.

Although not a new board, the BBC micro:bit caught my attention when an interface to control the models built with fischertechnik was released at the Nuremberg Toy Fair 2019.

​Packed with sensors and even a hardware debugger, the board is built around a NRF51822 Cortex-M0+ with BLE radio. 

A wide range of tools and languages, and extensive training, are available.

Read the full review.

I really like the e-paper screens, especially those from Pervasive Displays, ideal for low-power IoT applications.
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However, they raise two challenges:

• Almost all the pins of a standard LaunchPad are used,
• A large memory is required as frame-buffer.​

Why not using a low-power MCU as a screen controller, and leveraging advanced FRAM for persistent frame-buffer?

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All the iTC BWR provide resolution superior to 110dpi.

​The smallest iTC 1.54 BWR tops with 140dpi, perfect for QR-code.

Read the full review.

Haptic feedback is everywhere now, made popular by smartphones. So I decided to include a haptic controller to improve the user experience on the capacitive touch screen.

​I tested three haptic motors on the DRV2605L controller: one ERM and two LRA, one of which branded as a genuine replacement Taptic Engine for iPhone 6s.

Read the full story at I²C Haptic Controller.

The previous years saw a wave of mergers and acquisitions on the silicon industry. Microchip acquired Atmel, NXP and Freescale merged, Qualcomm failed to buy NXP, among others M&A projects.  
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Now, boards manufacturers are consolidating and reshuffling their offers too.

​Intel discontinued all its boards (Galileo, Edison, Joule, Curie), Particle bought RedBear, Punch Through Design stopped selling the Bean boards. Those join the list of former historical providers like Wiring and LeafLabs. The alternative object-based Cosa framework hasn't released any new version since January 2016.

​In the meantime, Arduino is slowly transitioning from 8-bit to 32-bit, and exploring other technologies like FGPA. Teensy goes upscale with more powerful MCUs. Texas Instruments continues to enrich its wide range of LaunchPad and BoosterPack boards, especially with IoT capabilities. 
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​What will the future hold?

I updated the screen of my Low Power Home Network Weather Monitoring project and changed it for the iTC  4.2" BWR from Pervasive Displays, adding red to the previous black and white colours.

​When the evolution of a measure exceeds a threshold, the new value is displayed in red.

In the picture on the right, light has changed for the Base sensor, and Node 1 has just joined the network.

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With the use of Energia MT and the Galaxia library, I rewrote the whole project around a clock, an event and a task. The node performs the measures every ten minutes, and enters low power mode between two measures. 

EnergyTrace shows the following results:

• When idle, the node only requires 0.0505 mW / 0.0141 mA. 
• This combination allows a single CR2032 coin cell battery to last for more than one year.
  

Read the updated story.

After the Bluetooth Low Energy SensorTags, the CC1350 SensorTag runs on a Cortex-M3 MCU with a dual-band radio, 2.4 GHz and sub-1 GHZ, with support for Bluetooth Low Energy and ZigBee.

The CC1350 SensorTag provides the same rich assortment of sensors grouped around inputs, climate and inertial measurement unit, into a compact red box.

The CC1350 SensorTag can be programmed using an RTOS with Energia MT and the Galaxia library.

Read the full review.

Despite the I in IoT, not all the IoT projects require a connection to internet and the use of cloud services. 

In this project, I'm exploring a low power local network, based on the CC1350 MCUs, a Cortex-M3 with sub-1 GHz radio, for home weather monitoring.

The Pervasive Displays e-ink 400x300 4.2" screen displays the measures from up to 4 nodes.

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