Electrical engineer and self-described hacker Renze Nicolai is making ready to launch an all-in-one palmtop-style gadget designed for every part from penetration testing to LoRa-enabled wi-fi communication: the Tanmatsu, powered by Espressif’s ESP32-P4 chip.
“Tanmatsu is the dream terminal machine for hackers, makers, and tech lovers,” Nicolai claims. “Primarily based across the highly effective [Espressif] ESP32-P4 microcontroller, this machine offers an accessible option to make, hack, and tinker on the go. Tanmatsu helps you to program on the go and talk over lengthy distances utilizing LoRa while additionally offering superior connectivity and extendability choices for {hardware} hacking and improvement.”
If you happen to’re trying to do some radio work on-the-go, the Tanmatsu goes to tick lots of your bins. (📷: Nicolai Electronics)
The guts of the Tanmatsu is, as Nicolai says, Espressif’s ESP32-P4 — a robust entry within the ESP32 microcontroller household, which packs two 32-bit RISC-V cores working at as much as 400MHz and, within the model used within the Tanmatsu, 32MB of pseudo-static RAM (PSRAM) on high of the microcontroller’s 768kB of on-chip static RAM (SRAM). The machine additionally consists of an Espressif ESP32-C6 single-core 160MHz RISC-V coprocessor, which handles Wi-Fi, Bluetooth Low Vitality (BLE), and Thread- and Zigbee-compatible IEEE 802.15.4 connectivity — with both an Ai-Thinker Ra-01S or Ra-01SH including LoRa connectivity on the 433MHz or 868MHz bands respectively.
These elements, plus 16MB of on-board flash, are housed in a 3D-printed casing that locations an 800×480 MIPI Show Serial Interface (DSI) coloration show panel above a compact however purposeful metal-dome bodily keyboard. There is a lithium-polymer battery of unspecified capability, chargeable by way of USB Kind-C, and growth capabilities together with Qwiic/STEMMA QT suitable I2C and I3C headers, a microSD Card slot, Easy Add-On (SAO) and PMOD headers, and a rear-facing growth port designed for elective “persona modules.”
The machine consists of loads of scope for growth, together with a customized header on the rear for future “persona modules.” (📷: Nicolai Electronics)
The machine itself is designed as a extra highly effective, although admittedly bulkier, various to the favored Flipper Zero: a pocket-friendly instrument aimed toward tinkerers and hackers alike. A inventory firmware offers a primary “working system” beneath which customized purposes can run — with Nicolai promising a “market” for builders to share their creations for direct set up on-device. The software program will, the maker claims, be launched beneath the permissive MIT license, with the {hardware} design recordsdata to be printed as a KiCad challenge beneath the permissive variant of the CERN Open {Hardware} License 2.
Extra data on the machine, the worth for which has but to be introduced, is out there on the Nicolai Electronics web site; events can signal as much as be notified when the Tanmatsu is out there to order and its design recordsdata and supply code are publicly launched.
