Open Hardware/Modding: PicoEMP, Arduino, and More

posted by Roy Schestowitz on May 14, 2025

• CNX Software ☛ PicoEMP – A Raspberry Pi Pico-based open-source electromagnetic fault injector designed for EMFI testing and research

  The PicoEMP is a compact, low-cost, open-source electromagnetic fault injector (EMFI) tool developed by Colin O’Flynn for researchers, hobbyists, and educators interested in hardware security. Unlike NewAE’s professional-grade ChipSHOUTER, PicoEMP is a bare-bones device designed to be safe, usable, and most importantly, affordable.

• CNX Software ☛ Root Commit releases free training materials on OpenEmbedded and Yocto using the BeaglePlay SBC

  Michael Opdenacker, Founder of Root Commit, has published free and open-source training materials on OpenEmbedded and Yocto using the BeaglePlay SBC powered by a Texas Instruments AM625 processor. If the name rings a bell, it’s because Michael was the founder of Bootlin (previously Free Electrons) before selling the company to employees in 2021. He’s now started a new company called Root Commit, where he continues providing Embedded GNU/Linux training and development services.

• Arduino ☛ Optimize maintenance with the Arduino Rileva ME Opta Bundle

  All components are industrial-grade and come in a preconfigured setup that can be customized as needed. The sensors are wireless and non-invasive – ready to be deployed on motors, pumps, gearboxes, or compressors in minutes. In a compact enclosure, they include an IP67 temperature sensor with extended range, a humidity sensor, and a three-axis accelerometer, which you can expect to work for over one year with a simple, 3V coin battery (replaceable).

• Montana Linux ☛ Video: Non-expert tries MiSTer FPGA via the Multisystem 2

• CNX Software ☛ SiFli SF32LB52J big.LITTLE Arm Cortex-M33 Bluetooth MCU powers the Core Time 2 smartwatch

  SiFli SF23LB52J is a Bluetooth 5.3 microcontroller part of the SF32LB52x family with two Cortex-M33 in big.LITTLE configuration with a 240 MHz high-performance core for user application/GUI and a 24 MHz low-power core to manage the Bluetooth part. A few months ago, Eric Migicovsky, the founder of the smartwatch company Pebble, and now Core Devices, introduced the Core 2 Duo and Core Time 2 smartwatches running PebbleOS open-source firmware that were mostly relaunches of the never-released Pebble 2 and Pebble Time 2 with some tweaks.

• CNX Software ☛ Geniatech AP880 Edge Hey Hi (AI) embedded systems pair NXP i.MX 8M Plus SoC with 40 TOPS Kinara Ara-2 Hey Hi (AI) accelerator

  Geniatech AP880 and AP880 Mini are two Edge Hey Hi (AI) embedded computers powered by an NXP i.MX 8M Plus Hey Hi (AI) SoC and a 40 TOPS Kinara Ara-2 Hey Hi (AI) accelerator for industrial edge applications that may benefit from Hey Hi (AI) acceleration in applications such as optical inspection.

• Bootlin ☛ Safe updates using RAUC on Raspberry Pi 5

  As part of a recent project at Bootlin, we implemented A/B Over-The-Air (OTA) updates on a a system based on the RaspberryPi 5 using RAUC. We ended up not using U-Boot as a bootloader and instead rely solely on the RaspberryPi firmware as a bootloader.