IBASE Technology Inc., a world leader in the manufacture of a wide range of digital solutions, has rolled out the SI-642-N 4K digital signage player that leverages the 8th Gen Intel® Core™ U-series processors. The platform can be used in commercial establishments to increase brand awareness and customer engagement or deployed in transportation networks to provide real-time information and advertising relevant to the traveler.
The fanless SI-642-N offers high performance and high reliability for 24/7 operation in an industrial-grade design. It is integrated with the IBASE iSMART and Observer technologies for remote monitoring, power on/off scheduling, power recovery, and low-temperature boot functions. With the Intel HD Graphics 620, the system can simultaneously support two independent displays (1x HDMI 2.0 & 1x Active DisplayPort 1.2) with 4K (4096 x 2160) @60Hz resolution as well as two independent audio outputs.
1x HDMI 2.0 + 1x Active DisplayPort 1.2 with independent audio output
2x DDR4 2400 SO-DIMM, dual channel, Max. 32GB
1x M.2 B-Key (3042) for 4G LTE
1x M.2 M-key (2280) for storage
1x M.2 E-key (2230) for WiFi or capture card option
TPM 2.0, vPro and watchdog timer
Slim & compact fanless design
The SI-642-N houses the MBD642 motherboard populated with dual Gigabit LAN, 4x USB 3.1, dual channel DDR4 with up to 32GB support and expansion slots including M.2 3042 B-key for 4G/LTE, M.2 2280 M-key for storage and M.2 2240 E-key to install optional capture cards. It also has the Intel vPro and TPM 2.0 features to deliver increased productivity, remote manageability and data security. The SI-642-N is currently available in four models that differ in the processor type and operates on both Windows 10 and Linux Ubuntu operating systems. For more information, please visit www.ibase.com.tw
Axiomtek – a world-renowned leader relentlessly devoted in the research, development and manufacture of series of innovative and reliable industrial computer products of high efficiency – is pleased to release theDSP501-527, a digital signage player powered by the 8th generation Intel® Core™ i5/i3 (codename: Whiskey Lake) and Celeron® processor. With the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) facial recognition and real-time promotions, the high-performance DSP501-527 has added support for Intel® Movidius™ Myriad™ X VPU and Intel® OpenVINO™ toolkit. In addition, the DSP501-527 supports dual 4K displays with its DisplayPort++ and HDMI 2.0 ports to cope with the growing demand for context-aware digital signage. Featuring fanless operation and compact-size, this digital signage player is well-suited for digital menu boards, digital directory boards, self-service kiosks, video walls, and more.
“Today, retailers are leveraging in-store media, artificial intelligence and digitalization to create dynamic store experiences and simplified processes. Axtiomtek’s DSP501-527 is designed for advertising and information dissemination in retail areas,” said Yifei Wang, a product manager of Product PM Division at Axiomtek. “The DSP501-527 supports 4K dual displays for captivating visual experiences. This outstanding digital signage player also supports Axiomtek’s Intelligent Remote Device Management (RDM) function to offer integrators and managed service providers a cost-effective and user-friendly device management solution for applications where multiple digital signage devices are desired.”
Axiomtek’s DSP501-527 has rich I/O interfaces and multiple expansions. It’s I/O choices include four USB 3.0 ports, one USB 2.0 ports, one Gigabit Ethernet port, one RS-232, one Mic-in, one Line-out, one SIM card slot and four antenna openings. It has one M.2 Key E 2230 slot and one M.2 Key B 3042 for Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, or 4G LTE. Capturing and processing massive videos, images, or data also needs exceptional storage performance. The DSP501-527 has one M.2 Key M 2280 for SATA and NVMe storage. It is also equipped with two DDR4-2400 SO-DIMM slots for up to 32GB of system memory. Other features include one lockable DC power input, one power button, one HDD LED, and one reset switch. Moreover, the durable system can withstand a wide operating temperature range from 0°C to 50°C and vibration of up to 3G. This compact system runs on Windows® 10 IoT and Linux. It has been certified with CE and FCC Class A.
The DSP501-527 is now available for purchase. For more product information or customization services, please visit our global website at www.axiomtek.com or contact one of our sales representatives at info@axiomtek.com.tw.
Infineon Technologies AG has expanded its product offering for Battery Management System (BMS) with the TLE9012AQUa new sensing and balancing IC that is designed for batteries in hybrid and electric cars and other applications. It can measure the voltage in up to twelve battery cells with an accuracy of ± 5.8 mV over the entire temperature and voltage range as well as the operating life cycle. By supporting up to five external temperature sensors, the device provides an integrated cell balancing function and uses an iso-UART interface for communication.
The BMS helps optimally utilize the battery capacity so that it operates for the longest possible range in an electric car, it also makes sure that the battery does not age prematurely. It is also used to determine the battery’s state of charge and state of health to estimate the available range and remaining service life. The TLE9012AQU helps in providing necessary measurement data and ensures a balanced state of charge through cell balancing.
Cell balancing is achieved through twelve balancing switches integrated on the chip- one per channel. They are designed for currents up to 150 mA and if there are higher balancing currents, the device can also support external switches. The cell balancing can be programmed to stop without a signal from the microcontroller after a defined time of up to 32 hours or when the cell has reached a defined voltage so that the microcontroller switches to sleep mode for saving energy.
A programmable noise filter is being used in the balancing IC to minimize the influence of interfering signals on the measurement results. To get comparably even results, the measurement is taken in all cells simultaneously. Long-term stability of measurement is maintained with the help of the compensation algorithm with an integrated stress sensor and extended temperature compensation.
The TLE9012AQU is suitable for batteries that are partitioned with twelve cells per module, as it has twelve channels. The iso-UART interface for data exchange between these modules and with the microcontroller allows easy voltage isolation and ensures data integrity. It has 20 serially connected devices and a ring topology for communication so that the communication isn’t broken even if any one of the devices failed.
Availability
In addition to the TLE9012AQU, Infineon is launching a matching iso-UART transceiver component (TLE9015QU). Both devices will be available in July 2020. Further information is available at www.infineon.com/battery-management-ics.
The GLC-9000 Leakage Current Testerprovides comprehensive testing for general purpose electric equipment.
Saelig Company, Inc. has introduced the GWInstekGLC-9000 Leakage Current Tester performs leakage current (also called touch current) tests on general purpose electric (IEC 60990) equipment. This tester uses nine measurement device networks to simulate the human body interacting with equipment under test. Leakage current testing is needed to ensure that products to comply with specific standards and regulations such as IEC, UL, JIS, etc.
The GLC-9000 features a large TFT LCD touch panel for test configuration, displaying measurement setting information and results simultaneously. 50 preset testing conditions are provided, which conform to IEC60990 and other standards, to allow for quick general electric equipment test setups. 30 additional memory locations are available for user-defined tests. A Meter mode is also provided on the GLC-9000, using the measurement terminals T1/T2 to display measured voltage. During voltage measurement, the SELV (safety extra low voltage) function is used to detect whether a voltage value between measuring points exceeds the SELV preset. Measurements are made with up to 0.01uA and 0.1V resolution.
50 Preset Test Conditions Conform to IEC 60990
Up to 30 memorized customer-defined tests
Touch Panel with Color LCD Display
9 measurement network simulate Human Body resistance
Meter Function with SELV/CONV Function
Upper & Lower Limits for PASS/FAIL
Leakage current measuring modes : DC/AC/AC+DC/AC Peak
Housed in an aluminum benchtop case and weighing 11lb, the 13.0” x 13.8” x 5.9”GLC-9000 Leakage Current Tester is made by the Taiwanese test and measurement specialists GW Instek. Helpful in production testing, research & design, quality assurance, and system verification, it is available now from Saelig Company, Inc.
Serial Debug Port: 2.54mm pitch 3 pin-header, 1500000bps
Power: 5V/1A, via Type-C or GPIO
PCB Dimension: 48 x 48mm
Working Temperature: -20℃ to 70℃
Weight: 22g
tomshardware.com writes:
Storage is available via a microSD card slot, sadly there is no space for any SATA or NVME storage options. GPIO access is provided via a 26 pin interface, which features I2C, UART, SPI and I2S. Operating system support is currently an unknown quantity, but it is a good bet that operating systems for other RockChip boards will be compatible.
Eta Compute has launched an integrated, ultra-low-power AI Sensor Board, the ECM3532 AI Sensor Board, which has been designed for machine learning at the edge. [via]
The board was developed to cut the initial phase of smart sensor development through its TENSAI SoC. The low power ECM3532 AI Sensor Board contains almost every function needed for a working prototype. Because of the low power design, the board is able to for months on a single battery cell while performing machine learning algorithms. It integrates two PDM microphones, one pressure and temperature sensor, and one 6-axis MEMS accelerometer and gyroscope. It has a form factor of only 1.4 inch x 1.4 inch. The embedded battery socket and Bluetooth connectivity through ABOV Semiconductor’s A31R118 chip, makes it an ideal asset for IoT deployment and field testing application prototypes. The board’s expansion connector makes it simple to add other RF interfaces.
“Our fully integrated ECM3532 AI Sensor Board reduces risk, complexity, and costs for developers creating low power smart sensors and accelerates their time to proof of concept,” said Ted Tewksbury, CEO of Eta Compute. “For the first time, they can rely on a single, fully integrated board complemented by Edge Impulse’s comprehensive SaaS development platform to drive innovative IoT solutions to market.”
“Designing low-power devices with embedded machine learning has been a huge challenge,” said Zach Shelby, CEO of Edge Impulse. “The new Eta Compute AI Sensor Board opens up endless application possibilities for developers without compromising on power consumption, and with full support on Edge Impulse we reduce development time to days instead of months.”
Eta Compute’s ECM3532 AI Sensor Board is optimal for implementing machine learning applications in IoT and low power edge devices including:
Voice activation and voice commands in consumer, home, and building automation products
Asset tracking and monitoring and predictive maintenance in industrial products
Context-awareness in consumer and industrial applications
The board can be purchased through Digikey.
The company also announced it is hosting a free online workshop with Edge Impulse on July 14, 2020. The first 50 qualified developers planning or working on projects will receive a complementary ECM3532 AI Sensor Board.
Lattice Semiconductor has introduced a new general-purpose FPGA family that has been developed to combine high I/O density, low-power, small packages and fast interfaces. [via]
The Lattice Certus-NX series provides up to double the I/O density per mm 2 of similar FPGAs, and provides power savings, a small footprint, reliability, and instant-on performance. Devices in the family support PCI Express (PCIe) and Gigabit Ethernet interfaces to provide faster data co-processing, signal bridging, and system control. General-purpose Certus-NX FPGAs are applicable to a wide range of applications, from data processing in industrial equipment to system management in communications infrastructure. The Certus-NX devices are developed on the Lattice Nexus platform using 28 nm FD-SOI process technology.
Key features of the Lattice Certus-NX FPGA family include:
Up to 3x smaller form factor. As an example, Certus-NX FPGAs can provide a full PCIe solution in a 36 mm 2 footprint. Using the smallest package available in the family can still deliver double the I/O density per mm 2 of competing FPGAs for better design flexibility.
Robust I/O interfacing capability through access to Lattice’s IP library. Notable IP blocks available on Certus-NX include:
1.5 Gbps differential I/O with performance that is up to 70 percent higher than competing FPGAs.
5 Gbps PCIe, 1.5 Gbps SGMII, and 1066 Mbps DDR3. These IP blocks can be tested on Certus-NX development boards for the fast implementation of interfaces.
Strong authentication and encryption – Certus-NX FPGAs support AES-256 encryption with ECDSA authentication for the protection of the devices throughout their whole lifecycles.
Up to 4x lower power consumption – Certus-NX FPGAs feature a programmable back bias to allow user-selectable high-performance or low-power operating modes.
Instant-on performance – The devices have ultra-fast device configuration from SPI memory that can be up to 12x faster than similar competing FPGAs. Individual I/Os can configure in just 3 ms, and the full-device startup can be achieved in only 8-14 ms depending on device capacity.
High reliability – Certus-NX FPGAs feature up to 100 times better soft-error rate (SER) performance than similar FPGAs. The FPGAs have been temperature-rated for use in industrial applications. They also feature support for ECC and SEC in hardware.
Ease of use/design – Certus-NX FPGAs are supported by Lattice Radiant software. Radiant is an easy-to-use, unified FPGA design environment with integrated tools and features.
Arduino boards have been offering “beginner aimed” microcontrollers for a while now. It appeals to hobbyists, engineers, upcoming developers etc. Millions of users and thousands of companies across the world already use Arduino as an innovation platform. In recent times, however, we have seen Arduino products designed majorly for the professional market, like the Arduino’s MKR line of boards aimed at industrial use, and the pro version targeting advanced users. Arduino Portenta is the latest board for heavy duty use. The Arduino Portenta H7 module was announced on CES. It has some similarities to other MKR boards, but the Arduino Portenta H7 board is quite different from other Arduinos.
The new Portenta is based on STMicroelectronics’ STM32H747, featuring two cores a Cortex-M7 running at 480MHz, and a Cortex-M4 running at 240MHz. The two cores can operate independently, and run a different sketch. The Portenta can operate at a temperature of -40° and 85°C. The Portenta enables a graphics engine and enables output either through a DisplayLink (on USB-C) or a Display Serial Interface (DSI). The board features two 80-pin, high-density connectors. This enables the user gain more access to the chip’s functions. The board has a DSI and camera connector, but you will need a carrier board to access it. Additional features include connectivity via Ethernet, WiFi, and Bluetooth, 8MB RAM, 16MB flash, and an NXP SE050C2 crypto chip. The board can be programmed with high-level languages and AI while performing low-latency operations on its customizable hardware.
Back View of the Portenta H7
About the board, Arduino CEO Fabio Violante says “By combining the power and flexibility of our production-ready IoT hardware with our secure, scalable and easy to integrate cloud services, we are putting in the hands of our customers something really disruptive.” He continues “Among the millions of Arduino customers, we’ve even seen numerous businesses transform from traditional ‘one-off’ selling to subscription-based service models, creating new IoT-based revenue streams with Arduino as the enabler. The availability of a huge community of developers with Arduino skills is also an important plus and gives them the confidence to invest in our technology.”
The Portenta H7 module primarily runs Arduino code, but it also supports Python and JavaScript, “making it accessible to an even broader audience of developers.” Visit Arduino online store for more information and for pre order. The estimated delivery date is in late February 2020. The board is priced at 89.90 euros, inclusive of tax. Arduino has released details for the carrier board, but no price has been announced yet.
BLDC motors help power our day to day equipment, like computer hard drives, fans, CD/DVD players etc. One of this BLDC is Tinymovr.Tinymovr is an affordable BLDC motor controller for precise control of 3-phase brushless motors. Tinymovr is highly integrated incorporating an advanced MCU (Qorvo PAC5527), compact power stage, integrated absolute angle encoder (MPS MA702) and CAN and UART connectivity. Tinymovr can operate in Torque, Velocity or Position modes, using Field Oriented Control (FOC). It can be integrated at the back of the brushless motor for a compact setup. Tinymovr measures at 40x40mm (1.57×1.57 inches). For us to understand BLDC motors, we have to explain how a brushless and brushed motors work.
Brushed motor consists of a set of coils, wound around a rotating armature, which sits inside a magnetic casing. Brushed motors functions through a rotary switch on the motor’s shaft called a commutator. It is made up of a rotating cylinder divided into multiple metal contact segments on the rotor. The segments are connected to conductor winding on the rotor. Two or more stationary contacts called “brushes”, made of a soft conductor like graphite, press against the commutator, making sliding electrical contact with successive segments as the rotor turns, providing electric current to the winding. Each time the rotor rotates by 180° the commutator reverses the direction of the electric current applied to a given winding, so the magnetic field creates a torque in one direction. However due to friction of the brushes sliding along the rotating commutator segments there are usually power losses that can be significant in a low power motor. Also, as a result of friction, the soft brush material wears down, creating dust, and eventually the brushes will have to be replaced. Due to resistance of the sliding brush contact, there will be a voltage drop in the motor circuit. There could also be a case of fire hazard due to repeated abrupt switching of the current through the inductance of the windings, causing sparks at the commutator contacts.
quadruped robot
Brushless motors however, have permanent magnets that rotate around a fixed armature, eliminating problems associated with connecting current to the moving armature. An electronic controller swaps out the brush/commutator assembly of the brushed DC motor, which continually switches the phase to the winding to keep the motor turning. The controller performs similar timed power distribution by using a solid-state circuit rather than the brush/commutator system. Brushless motors offer several advantages over brushed DC motors, including high torque to weight ratio, more torque per watt (increased efficiency), increased reliability, reduced noise, longer lifetime (no brush and commutator erosion), elimination of ionizing sparks from the commutator, and overall reduction of electromagnetic interference (EMI). With no windings on the rotor, they are not subjected to centrifugal forces, and because the windings are supported by the housing, they can be cooled by conduction, requiring no airflow inside the motor for cooling. This in turn means that the motor’s internals can be entirely enclosed and protected from dirt or other foreign matter.
Yannis Chatzikonstantinou has posted on Hackday, information about Firmware improvements, CAN Protocol, and Improving Position Tracking regarding the Tinymovr. He has completed a quadruped robot construction using the Tinymovr board. He says
“The robot is 8DOF (so no holonomic motion yet), and carries 8x Tinymovr boards embedded in the legs. In it’s current state it has off-board power supply and control and no IMU. I’ll be gradually integrating those on-board over the next iterations. The robot weights just 1.8 kilograms (around 4 pounds), which is expected to rise to 1.9-2.0 kg together with a Raspberry pi and small battery.”
The third revision of Tinymovr (R3) is currently in testing phase and will be soon in production. Tinymovr is very affordable, with a BOM that is less than $50. More information about brushless motors can be found here. Visit Yannis Chatzikonstantinouproject page for more information about the Tinymovr.
Diodes Incorporated announced the availability of the versatile dimming input controller for offline LED lamps. AL8116 works with three types of dimmer signal formats:
0 to 10 V dimming voltage
PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) signal
Simple potentiometer
It converts these to a PWM output signal which can easily be used to provide an isolated dimming control via an optocoupler to the primary side LED driver.
The AL8116 has a wide supply voltage range from 10 V to 56 V. The AL8116 Output Duty Cycle accuracy is typically ±2.5% and its minimum Output Duty cycle can be set through a CLAMP pin resistor.
The AL8116 has internal overtemperature protection (OTP) and it is available in the SOT26 package.
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