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Modular industrial PCs combine edge AI built on AMD Ryzen

Mon, Jul 31, 2023

Israeli company, SolidRun has introduced the Bedrock R7000, a fanless edge AI industrial PC in a compact, rugged housing. It combines eight-core AMD Ryzen 7040 series processors with three Hailo-8 AI accelerators for AI applications. The fanless modular industrial PCs is specifically designed to meet demanding vision-based situational awareness in harsh environments.

The AMD Ryzen 7840HS processor is integrated with a 4nm APU (accelerated processing unit) with 8C/16T Zen4 CPU and integrated RDNA 3 Radeon 780M GPU (graphics processing unit). The 7840HS / 7840U processor features eight cores and 16 threads running at up to 5.1GHz and is based on the AMD Zen4 4nm microarchitecture that also integrates the AMD Radeon 780M GPU with up to 12 CUs at 2700MHz. CPU power can be precisely adjusted in BIOS between 8.0 to 54W. For Edge AI workloads, up to three Hailo-8 AI accelerators can be installed with combined inferencing performance of up to 78 tera operations per second (TOPS).

The 20 native PCIe Gen4 lanes and up to three Hailo-8 AI accelerators, each with 26 TOPS can be used together with NVME Gen4x4 storage, dual 2.5 Gbit Ethernet and 4x4K displays, explained SolidRun. The CPU and all devices are passively cooled by the Bedrock R7000’s fanless cooling system in an industrial temperature range of -40 to +85 degrees C.

Edge AI box PCs are used in multiple segments of the embedded market, including industry 4.0, robotics, autonomous guided vehicles, healthcare, transportation, smart cities, retail, agriculture, defence and utilities.

“Efficiency and scalability are key factors in advanced edge AI,” said Irad Stavi, IPC product line manager at SolidRun. The modular design of the Bedrock R7000 allows for customisation, for example around the Hailo-8 AI accelerators.

“An important feature of Hailo-8 AI accelerator and Hailo AI Software Suite is linear scaling of the inference performance simply by adding modules,” said Dima Caplan, product manager at Hailo.

RAM and storage are modular with two SODIMMs supporting 64Gbyte DDR5 ECC/non-ECC, and three NVME 2280 PCIE Gen4x4 devices, including enterprise-grade NVME with power loss protection (PLP). RAM and storage are conduction-cooled for reliable operation at extreme temperatures.

I/O includes four displays comprising HDMI 2.1 + three DP 2.1, dual 2.5 Gbit Ethernet (Intel I226), optional WiFi 6E + BT 5.3, 5G or LTE modem, four USB 3.2 ports and a console port. All I/O is organised on a single face to simplify integration.

Bedrock R7000 supports all major PC operating systems, including most Linux distributions, Windows Desktop, Server and IoT.

Power input is by a dedicated interchangeable module for supporting various deployment use cases. The default PM 1260 supports a wide voltage range of 12V to 60V

The enclosure is made of heavy-duty machined aluminium with an anodised finish. It is offered in three variants – 1.0 litre enclosure for dissipating up to 30W by convection, 1.6 litre for 60W and an 0.6 litre “Tile” variant for conduction cooling. The enclosure is suitable for DIN-Rail mounting with a specially designed zero-force locking bracket.

Bedrock R7000 fanless design can handle up to 60W, which is over three times the cooling capacity of typical fanless PCs of similar size, said SolidRun. Cooling innovations include liquid metal TIM, 360 degree stacked heat pipes, dual layer chimney effect heat exchanger and thermal coupling of all internal devices. Dimensions are 45 x 160 x 130mm for the 30W, 0.9 litre model, k73 x 160 x 130mm for the 60W, 1.5 litre model and 29 x 160 x 130mm for the Tile (0.6 litre) model.

http://www.solid-run.com

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Industrial air sensor module adds value to edge AI

Thu, Jul 27, 2023

An industrial air sensor module monitors temperature, humidity and six air quality index detection parameters. It has been developed by Innodisk with its subsidiary, Sysinno and is claimed to be easy to implement and requires minimal computing power.

The module offers real-time monitoring of particulate matter (PM2.5, PM10), carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide (CO2), formaldehyde (HCHO), total volatile organic compounds (TVOC) and ozone (O₃) in addition to temperature and humidity.

The air sensor module can integrate with industrial personal computers (IPC), PCs, edge servers, and embedded systems through an I2C interface or USB sensor carrier board. The module’s design guarantees minimal computing power consumption and prevents excessive heating during operation, said Innodisk.

It is manufactured in-house by Innodisk and have passed third-party accuracy tests to surpass other OEM air sensor devices available in the market, claimed the company.

Modules can integrate into smart poles, EV charging stations, and kiosks and can be installed in facilities such as in hospitals and healthcare centres to enhance air and service quality. In a smart factory, businesses can implement the modules to optimise humidity and air quality levels and safeguard workers’ well-being.

Innodisk is a service-driven provider of flash memory, DRAM modules, and embedded peripheral products for industrial and enterprise applications.

https://www.innodisk.com

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Hydrogen sensors detect battery management system thermal runaway

Thu, Jul 27, 2023

To detect thermal runaway in battery management systems, the PGS4100 hydrogen sensors measure the change in thermal conductivity of the gas mixture within the battery management system compartments, said Posifa Technologies.

The PGS4100 hydrogen sensors detect hydrogen concentration in the air using the company’s MEMS hydrogen sensor technology which is claimed to enable faster reaction times for triggering battery failure alarms in electric vehicles (EVs), ensuring compliance with safety standards.

The PGS4100 series is designed with a relative humidity sensor and a barometric pressure sensor. This enables the sensor to counterbalance thermal conductivity changes influenced by humidity in air and elevation changes, enhancing accuracy, said the company. This level of precision enables the sensor to meet industry standards for flammable gas detection.

The surface mount hydrogen sensor is built around Posifa’s second generation thermal conductivity die and uses a pulsed waveform. It is encased in an IP6K9 compliant enclosure and equipped with a wire harness terminated with an automotive-grade connector.

The PGS4100 series supports analogue voltage and I2C digital outputs. Future models are slated to support MODBUS/UART and CAN bus protocols.

Key features include compensation for humidity and pressure, ensuring accurate functioning in harsh environments. In addition, the sensor remains non-reactive to “poisons” or contaminants, guaranteeing long-term stability and reliable performance, said Posifa.

“Because of the extremely small size of the sensor element and its straightforward principle of operation, Posifa’s hydrogen sensing technology can be offered in many different form factors and adapted to a very wide range of OEM requirements,” said Peng Tu, president and CEO of Posifa Technologies. He explained that the company can integrate hydrogen sensing solutions at various levels of modular integration for integration into any type of battery pack irrespective of ventilation technology or communication protocol, said Tu.

Formerly known as Posifa Microsystems, Posifa Technologies designs and manufactures high performance, low cost sensor and sensing solutions, including gas and liquid flow sensors, air velocity sensors, and vacuum sensors and gauges. The company’s products are designed to meet the needs of demanding applications in consumer electronics, HVAC, medical devices and data centres. Posifa serves its global customer base through direct sales and a network of distributors in the United States, Europe, Korea, and Taiwan. The company is headquartered in San Jose, California, with an office in Shenzhen, China.

https://posifatech.com/

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Low power IR sensor can replace passive IR detectors

Wed, Jul 26, 2023

Designed to enhance security systems, home automation equipment and IoT devices that typically use passive infrared (PIR) sensing, the STHS34PF80 is a novel human presence and motion detector, said STMicroelectronics.

The STHS34PF80 sensor contains thermal transistors that can detect stationary objects, whereas conventional PIR detectors require a detected object to be moving to produce a measurable response from the sensor. Conventional PIRs also need a Fresnel lens to sense moving objects, but the STHS34PF80 detector allows a simpler, lens-free construction.

The STHS34PF80 contains thermal MOSFETs (TMOS) that are sensitive to the heating effects of IR radiation incident on their gates, as well as digital readout circuitry integrated on the same chip using ST’s silicon-on-insulator (SOI) CMOS technology. The SOI’s architecture facilitates micromachining with ST’s MEMS processes to thermally isolate the TMOS for accurate temperature sensing.

The TMOS is powered at a sub-threshold voltage below that needed to turn the transistor fully on. In this mode, the drain-source current is highly temperature dependent and produces an accurately measurable response to minimal IR radiation allowing the sensor to detect human presence whether the person is moving or still.

Sub-threshold operation also means that the transistor consumes very low power, allowing long periods between charging or battery replacement for battery powered sensors fitted with the STHS34PF80.

According to Simone Ferri, general manager, AMS MEMS sub-group, STMicroelectronics, the STHS34PF80 has been creating using a combination of CMOS chip fabrication, silicon micromaching and low voltage circuit design to result in “an economical, ultra-low power sensor that lets building automation operate consistently whether detected occupants are moving or not”.

A smart algorithm for presence and motion detection is embedded in the STHS34PF80 making it suitable for alarms and security systems, home automation, smart lighting, IoT devices, smart lockers and smart wall pads. The lens-free range of four meters and 80 degree field of view cover a large area in front of the sensor.

Operating current is 10microA, for power consumption which is less than a conventional PIR, reported ST. The sensor is supplied in a compact 3.2 x 4.2 x 1.455mm surface mount package which is suited to automated high speed assembly. The sensor has high resistance to unwanted effects of direct lighting and high immunity to EMI, added ST.

According to ST, the standard CMOS fabrication technology ensures cost-effective sensor production with high wafer yield, while also leveraging sub-micron transistor geometry for small sensor dimensions. In comparison, PIR sensors’ sensitivity can depend on pyroelectric-pixel size. The STHS34PF80’s integrated digital interface allows direct connection to the host without analogue front end circuitry.

An evaluation board, the STEVAL-MKI231KA is available for the STHS34PF80. Developers can plug into the X-NUCLEO-IKS01A3 or the STEVAL-MKI109V3 and use ST’s Unico-GUI to configure the IR sensor and take measurements within a simplified workflow. Drivers for the STHS34PF80 are available on GitHub. There is also a library for compensating and detecting presence of people or objects in the X-CUBE-MEMS1 software package.

The STHS34PF80 is in production now and available in a 10-lead land-grid array (LGA) package.

http://www.st.com

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Modular industrial PCs combine edge AI built on AMD Ryzen

Industrial air sensor module adds value to edge AI

Hydrogen sensors detect battery management system thermal runaway

Low power IR sensor can replace passive IR detectors

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