Renesas GR Peach

GR-PEACH is the GR reference board for RZ family RZ/A1H group products. It is fully pin-compatible with Arduino UNO, GR-PEACH is an ARM® mbed™ enabled development platform. GR-PEACH takes advantage of Web browser-based program development and a robust library selection. With the added appeal of 10MB of built-in RAM and the processing power of ARM Cortex™-A, GR-PEACH was created for the developer interested high-speed prototyping of IoT devices with loads of HMI -- graphics, touch panel, camera input, audio, network and more!

specifications:

Item	Description
Microcontroller	RZ/A1H (R7S721001VCBG　324-pin BGA)
ROM/RAM	External FLASH 8MB/internal 10MB
Operating Frequency	400MHz
Operating Voltage	3.3V/1.18V
Board Function	USB host/peripheral (exclusive selection), Ethernet, XBee interface, micro SD socket, JTAG interface, user switch, reset switch, Arduino shield interface, user LEDs, USB mass storage class-like programming.

References


Event and Activities
a) GR Peach contest ASEAN

AX88179 USB 3.0 to gigabit ethernet

I have some USB3.0 to gigabit ethernet adapter but was told AX88179 chipset based is more stable than realtek. Hence i tried buy Fosmon USB 3.0 to RJ45 10/100/1000Mbps Gigabit Ethernet LAN Network Adapter AX88179 QF QFN68 Chipset (Black) from Amazon to give it a try. It ships with a CD and because nowadays my laptop contains no DVD drive i have to either wait or finding the driver online. i did manage to find AX88179 driver on its manufacturer website, install but it doesn't work. Look like i have to try it elsewhere.

to be continued....

Weather Station part 1

We are suppose to build a weather station for IoT showcase during the MATLAB and Simulink Day 2017 at Singapore. We have created a completely working weather station simulation that update via Thingspeak in Simulink

now we want to build the real device

here are the list of components we use

raspberry pi 3
sense HAT for raspberry pi
anemometer  or weather station kit with anemometer and rain bucket
arduino nano - for doing i2c with raspberry pi and anemometer as raspberry pi doesn't do analog
or RPI B&A
logic converter (3.3V-5V)
8GB micro SD with NOOBS
PC104 header pin - for accessing GPIO with sense HAT installed
female to male jumper wires

reference
accessing GPIO with sense HAT installed - youtube video

Echo Show makes science fiction home video conference nearer to reality

I have just decided to get my hand onto the new Amazon Alexa Echo Show
It is equivalent to an Echo Dot with a touch screen. What i like to explore is I can call another echo show owner by voice. What i watch as a child in science fiction show is now becoming a home consumer product. I have being using video conference products in my work since 2007, like webex, lifesize, skype for business, but none of them is voice activated. People will argue that Siri can do it but so far it is not of my liking. Not to mention, the iphone is much costlier than a device like echo show. I have actually also combine laptop, webcam and skype to video conference with my family member as early as 2009 but the usage is not very friendly from senior citizen. The Echo Show comes with 2 colours. For me, i prefer black :)

Age of embedded GPU Processing

As deep neural network (DNN) is becoming more popular in cognitive applications as such object detection, so is the embedded device meant to power it. For the past one month, i am trying out vision application for some demos to customers as well as self hobbyist project. I have run the Renesas GR Peach camera module and its video is noticeable not fast (although considering that it is an ARM MCU, it is still very impressive). I then try to do video processing with Zedboard, a Zynq powered FPGA board, but the workflow is rather tedious and requires lots of work. A latest device that i am looking at is the NVidia Jetson TX2.

It is a credit card size embedded board powered by dual core NVIDIA Denver2 and quad-core ARM Cortex-A57. It boasts a 8GB 128-bit LPDDR4 and integrated 256-core Pascal GPU. NVidia has a developer zone that provide resource for developer to play with the kit. So far i am still at the stage of literature review. The embedded board is meant for doing robotic and drone application.

I am planning to perform DNN with it. To ease learning curve in CUDA, i am going be using MATLAB to develop it. The parallel computing toolbox currently enable us to write algorithmn that can make use of GPU with simple syntax. In addition, the forthcoming the CPU Coder enable user to convert it into CUDA code, subsequently deploy it onto an embedded board like Jetson TX2.

The developer kit is launched somewhere in March 17 and now can be purchased online at Amazon. It can be shipped to south east asia free of charge.

Alexa remote for echo dot (2nd generation)

I have decided to give this remote control a try. it allows me to give commands beyond standard listening range of the echo dot. One still need to push the button on the remote to talk.

IoT Training

I have first conducted my IoT talk 2 years ago at Singapore. Subsequently on and off i have talked and engaged with IoT related presentation and deployment with various people. Yesterday encountered an impromptu request to showcase Thingspeak at customer. Then only i have to summarized that it would be great if i can just permanently create a small IoT deployment example with the small microcontroller like ESP8266. I have used Arduino Mega with WiFI shield but it is slighlty bulky.

Next trip to Saigon

Next month early March i will be on my first business trip to Ho Chi Minh city, or previously known as Saigon. In fact its airport still carries SGN as name. It will be my 3rd trip to the city, the first more than at 2008, the second just last year. I have observed huge change to the city. Many new buildings but lesser motorcycles. Perhaps the population is getting richer and can afford car.

In my last trip 9 years ago i stay at New World Hotel, one of the best hotel back then. Last year i stayed at a budget hotel nearby the walking street. For next month, i will attempt my favourite hotel chain Accor. It is fascinating to find that there is a Pullman as well as Novotel at Ho Chi Minh and the Pullman seems cheaper. As a former French colony i would have wondered Vietnam is filled with Novotel, but it is not.

Right now, work aside, i am planning what to buy. Coffee bean, anyone?

The Amazon Fire tablet is on sale during this valentine season, discounted by $10
that makes the 8GB version around US$39.9 RM178 and the 16 GB around RM267
It is really a bargain, considering that other than having some amazon contents BUT also ads, it can interface with Alexa. considering that Echo dot cost $49.9, this is a cheaper version that can also act like tablet and as Kindle ebook reader.

I am really seriously considering getting it but haven't make up my mind whether i should go for 8GB or 16GB. Take note that it does support microSD card but some apps needs to be installed on built in storage. Now get by clicking the link below

Transferring Photo from iphone to windows 10 with SHARE it

my iphone 6p has being complaining about lack of disk space for months. Today i have finally transferred out many GB of photo to my windows 10 laptop. How to do it? After some searching, i settle down to an app that i have previously used for transferring files between android and ios, SHARE it. surprising it works like a charm and it is free (unlike some tools like wireless transfer app that has in app purchase)

first download SHARE it from windows store and install it on laptop. Likewise install SHARE it on iphone.

after that, connect both the phone and laptop to the same router. start the app on iphone, choose transfer. Start the app on windows 10, choose receive. Then we choose a folder to transfer, in my case my entire camera roll, and just sit back and relax. Due to its huge size it does take long time.
 

Day 2 Las Vegas to Williams for Grand Canyon

With the long journey ahead, we want to leave Las Vegas early for Grand Canyon. Along the way, we have decided to stay at a small town named Williams.




We reach Williams around 9pm. It is basically a city with two main roads, with shops and motels lining the streets. We stopped by a first one it cost around USD54 per night, and good for up to 4 pax. The strange thing we discover this trip is that most US motel has 2 double beds and can sleep up to 4. We eventually settled at the second motel we asked and it is a chain by Wyndham group, the Travelodge Williams Grand Canyon. Over the next few days, we continuously stay at Wyndham group franchise hotels. They are basic but provide free basic breakfast and the price and quality seems ok to us.


click here to find all the hotels at Williams.

Almond 3 in Malaysia

i bump into Almond 3 while shopping for Amazon Echo Dot. It is a smart router with a touch screen that can support Alexa. Price at below US$140 per unit (cheaper if you buy those 3 in 1 package), it can double up as a DIY home security system. With its ZigBee support, one can try out various home automation project with it.  i actually bought what it terms as Used-slight imperfection on box

I have set my unit up today, connecting it to a LAN cable. the setup is very intuitive and browsing is really a breeze. When it is idle, it will become a clock.

 

it comes with a stylus at the upper right inside corner of the unit. with touch screen it is so easy to find out the settings

next step:
link with Alex
do some DIY hardware that connect to Almond 3.

Setting up Amazon Echo Dot and Using Alexa in Malaysia

I have purchased my very first Amazon Echo Dot last week at USA. Here are my small findings about how to set it up for usage in Malaysia.

Firstly, use your pc browser to go http://alexa.amazon.com . Now, i find that i cannot do the installation from phone based app as it requires a USA based account. on my iphone i tried change my region to USA but it still doesn't work. So, do go straight to pc based to set it up.
Follow the screen instruction to setup. I choose English (USA) instead of UK. Upon successful setup, i discover only USA region is supported. this makes my calendar query (yes, it works out of the box and can detect my not so US-English slang)

I will spend some time playing with it and post more findings in coming days. If you do want to buy echo dot, it doesn't ship to Malaysia. But while if you are at US, remember to signup for prime (free trial 1 month) and ship for free. The only thing is the 2 days free shipment sometimes is not 2 days (one have to take into account weekend)

Long time no write

it has been almost 2 years since my last blog. Ever since then i have picked up trail running, take up more engineering work. But the excitement has caused me not writing any post. I have also lost interest to write on stock and believing more on passive but positive earning investment. It works, by the way. I concentrate my energy exploring other matters, mostly still engineering and outdoor related. This week i am at Boston, just a river across the famous MIT. Perhaps the location has triggered me to think again my engineering life. I have got to do a cool engineering feast. Well, the past few years i have engulfed myself with work, work, work. I might have lost my inventorism, makerism, hobbyistism. Somehow a purchase of Amazon Alexa Dot , and the subsequent related products have helped reignite my makerism. Now my mind is toying with some small projects with it. It is late night now i got to sleep, but next morning the first thing to do is to buy more Alexa Dot Echo Dot (2nd Generation) and a cool wifi router known as Almond 3Securifi Almond 3 (Pack of 3)
I will write more about them later.