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Sub-miniature tact switch targets IoT in the home

Thu, Apr 18, 2019

Electromechanical switch manufacturer, C&K, has introduced a sub-miniature PTS815 tact switch aimed at design engineers developing home automation and IoT electronic devices.

It has a footprint of just 4.2 x 3.2mm and is 2.5mm thick to save space in designs with limited space and frees up board space for other components to be added.

With a large actuation surface for easier integration, the switch is suited to applications such as home automation, IoT devices and e-cigarettes, as well as control systems for items such as drones, e-bikes and robot vacuum cleaners.

The PTS815 is manufactured in surface-mount technology (SMT) format and uses a hard actuator, ensuring that it can be fully integrated into standard processes, with no need for an additional interface button, reducing time and costs for the end equipment manufacturer.

It is available in the versions most commonly used by the market to meet the needs of many commercial applications, while retaining rigid quality control. The PTS815 retains high reliability at over 100,000 cycles, reports C&K.

According to the company, the PTS815 offers easier integration due to its variable range of force before the actuator is tripped, audible click from the hard actuator and large actuation surface.

Three operating-force levels are available: 180gf, 250gf and 400gf. The PTS815 switch is rated at 50mA, has a bounce time of less than 10ms and an operating temperature range of -20 to +70 degrees C.

The PTS815 is now available to OEMs.

Founded in 1928, C&K produces electromechanical switches and has custom design capabilities. C&K offers more than 55,000 standard products and 8.5 million switch combinations to companies that design, manufacture and distribute electronics products. Used in automotive, industrial, IoT, wearables, medical, telecomms, consumer products, aerospace and point of sale terminals, C&K products include tactile, pushbutton, snap-acting, toggle, rocker, detect, DIP, keyswitch, navigation, rotary, slide, switch lock, thumbwheel, smart card readers, high-rel connectors and custom assemblies.

http://www.ckswitches.com

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Operations and visualisation software maximises system investments

Thu, Apr 18, 2019

The latest version of Yokogawa Electric’s real-time operations management and visualisation software, Fast/Tools R10.04 is available from today.

Part of Yokogawa’s OpreX Control and Safety System family, the flexible and scalable supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) software is suitable for use in smart IoT-enabled applications through to enterprise-wide integrated operations spanning multiple sites and subsystems. Yokogawa adds that Fast/Tools R10.04 will help customers derive maximum value from their investments over the entire system lifecycle.

The IoT, big data analytics and the cloud are driving the convergence of information, operational, and engineering technologies (IT, OT, and ET) in unmanned, remote-controlled, and enterprise-wide operations.

Sharing data on operational capacity/conditions and its use in production/maintenance planning and forecasting can shorten production and delivery cycles as well as help with production/maintenance planning and forecasting.

Fast/Tools R10.04 supports third digital industrial ecosystems and has information models that simplify and enhance sub-system integration with the Centum VP integrated production control system.

To integrate with Centum VP, Yokogawa provides an enhanced graphics integration tool, together with support for industry standard interfaces and protocols which has additional support for Mitsubishi MELSEC iQ-R series controllers and the FINS protocol used by Omron programmable controllers.

To make it easier to incorporate Fast/Tools into an existing IT infrastructure, authentication and authorisation services are handled as one centralised process for all system users. This means that logged-on/off activities will be visible in one window, to improve the audit trail. The Fast/Tools encryption process has been improved to provide more secure communication between server and clients.

The Fast/Tools graphics editor is able to generate native displays to the HTML5 standard for PC-based and tablet or smartphone applications. An enhanced graphics editor simplifies the task of creating screens that deliver the data operators require, says Yokogawa.

The IIoT-enabled SCADA software improves visualisation, collaboration, decision support, configuration, communication, security, deployment, connectivity, operational alarm management/analysis, and history data storage/management. It can be set up to run on systems that employ Yokogawa’s advanced dual-redundant technology, enabling automatic switch-over to a back-up system in the event of a hardware failure.

https://www.yokogawa.com.eu

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FPGA claims world-leading CNN performance

Wed, Apr 17, 2019

Optimised for the Intel Arria 10 GX architecture, the Omnitek deep learning processing unit achieves 135Goperations per second per Watt at full 32-bit floating point accuracy when running the VGG-16 convolutional neural network (CNN) in an Arria 10 GX 1150. This, says Omnitek, is a world-leading performance for a mid-range SoC FPGA.

Omnitek has designed the deep learning processing unit around a mathematical framework combining low-precision fixed point maths with floating point maths to achieve the high compute density with zero loss of accuracy.

Scalable across a wide range of Arria 10 GX and Stratix 10 GX devices, the processing unit can be tuned for low cost or high performance in either embedded or data centre applications.

It is software programmable in C/C++ or Python using standard frameworks such as TensorFlow, enabling it to be configured for a range of standard CNN models including GoogLeNet, ResNet-50 and VGG-16 and also for custom models. No FPGA design expertise is required to do this, adds Omnitek.

Omnitek’s deep learning processing unit can be configured to provide optimal compute performance for CNNs, RNNs, MLPs and other neural network topologies and for as-yet unknown algorithms and optimisation techniques.

Omnitek was formed in 1998 to design intelligent video and vision systems based on programmable FPGAs and SoCs. Its technology enables customsed vision and artificial intelligence (AI) inferencing capabilities on FPGAs for customers across a range of end markets. Omnitek’s IP addresses demanding application requirements in areas such as video conferencing, projection and display and medical vision systems.

Today, it was announced that Intel had acquired Omnitek. “Omnitek’s technology is a great complement to our FPGA business,” said Dan McNamara, Intel senior vice president and general manager of the Programmable Solutions Group. “Their deep, system-level FPGA expertise and high performance video and vision related technology have made them a trusted partner for many of our most important customers. Together, we will deliver leading FPGA solutions for video, vision and AI inferencing applications on Intel FPGAs and speed time-to-market for our existing customers while winning new ones.”

http://www.omnitek.tv

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Multi-sensor platform progresses towards battery-less IoT

Thu, Apr 11, 2019

Believed to be the industry’s lowest power Bluetooth radio, the RSL10 multi-sensor platform from ON Semiconductor is powered solely with a solar cell. It is another step to enable battery-less and maintenance-free IoT, says ON Semiconductor.

The platform supports the development of IoT sensors using continuous solar energy harvesting to gather and communicate data through Bluetooth Low Energy, without the need for batteries or other forms of non-renewable energy.

The combination of low-power wireless communications, small form factor solar cell and low duty cycle sensing applications makes it possible to develop and deploy maintenance-free IoT sensor nodes. The RSL10 solar cell multi-sensor platform is enabled by the RSL10 SIP, a system-in-package (SiP) featuring the RSL10 radio, integrated antenna and all passive components.

The RSL10 SiP is combined with a solar cell and low power sensors from Bosch Sensortec, including the BME280 all-in-one environmental sensor (pressure, temperature, humidity) and the BMA400 low power, three-axis accelerometer. ON Semiconductor predicts that together, they will allow developers and manufacturers to create complete IoT nodes that are entirely powered through renewable energy or energy harvested from the sensor’s surroundings.

“After the success of the RSL10 Sensor Development Kit, we are thrilled to work with ON Semiconductor on a new cutting-edge sensor development platform that is entirely solar powered,” said Dr. Peter Weigand, vice president of marketing, Bosch Sensortec.

Commenting on the release of the RSL10 solar cell multi-sensor platform, Wiren Perera, who heads IoT at ON Semiconductor, said: “To support the growth of IoT, manufacturers are actively investigating alternative sources of energy to power their designs, helping to reduce environmental impact and lower manufacturing and maintenance costs. With this solution, established on the RSL10 Bluetooth Low Energy radio, we are proving that a battery-free and maintenance-free approach to smart sensor development is not only possible but can help manufacturers improve their designs.”

There are a growing number of IoT sensor applications where the duty cycle is low enough to support intermittent communications, allowing the energy needed to support operation to be harvested using renewable sources. The energy efficiency of the RSL10 is augmented by the highly efficient power management system and the low power sensors implemented in the platform.

Potential applications include smart home and building automation such as HVAC control, window/door sensors and air quality monitoring. Asset tracking including package open/close detection, shock monitoring, and temperature and humidity data logging are also possible applications.

The platform is supplied with all design files (Gerber, schematic and BoM) and customisable source code as part of a CMSIS software package.

http://www.onsemi.com

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Sub-miniature tact switch targets IoT in the home

Operations and visualisation software maximises system investments

FPGA claims world-leading CNN performance

Multi-sensor platform progresses towards battery-less IoT

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