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Gecko series 2 scales IoT connectivity

Wed, Apr 24, 2019

SoCs and software in Wireless Gecko series 2, from Silicon Labs, are designed to optimise smart home and industrial IoT (IIoT) applications. Initial offerings are small form factor SoCs with a dedicated security core and an on-chip radio. According to Silicon Labs, the radio delivers x2.5 the wireless range of competing solutions.

The Wireless Gecko series 2 simplifies IoT product design with integrated SoC options and reusable software that make RF communication more dependable and energy efficient, claims Silicon Labs.

The first products include EFR32MG21 SoCs supporting multi-protocol, Zigbee, Thread and Bluetooth mesh networking, and EFR32BG21 SoCs dedicated to Bluetooth Low Energy and Bluetooth mesh. These SoCs provide line-powered IoT products including gateways, hubs, lights, voice assistants and smart electric meters.

According to the company, the SoCs provide best-in-class RF performance with +20dBm output power and up to +124.5dB link budget. Improved blocking performance enables a robust radio and processing and security are assured with the 80MHz Arm Cortex-M33 core, which has TrustZone technology.

The 40nm process technology yields a low active current SoC (50.9 microA/MHz). The multi-protocol SoCs are in a 4.0 x 4.0mm QFN package.

The company has released some details of future pin- and software-compatible Wireless Gecko Series 2 SoCs and modules, which will have additional dedicated security technologies for connected products with enhanced security features, which is expected to drive mass adoption of the IoT.

Silicon Labs’ Simplicity Studio suite of tools for development support includes a unified wireless development kit, software development kits, energy profiler, patented network analysis, application demos and mobile apps. The Wireless Gecko starter kit mainboard and EFR32xG21 radio boards are also available now.

The EFR32MG21 and EFR32BG21 are available now in sample and production quantities.

http://www.silabs.com

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Microcontrollers replace sensors in industry and the home

Wed, Apr 24, 2019

Materials or liquids can be detected without sensors using the Renesas Electronics Material Detection Solution. Connecting electrodes via Renesas’ RX130 capacitive touch-key microcontrollers, can lower the bill of materials and enable detection at multiple points, using a single chip, points out Renesas.

It can be used by industrial equipment, office automation equipment and home appliance manufacturers in detection systems.

The touchkey microcontrollers’ capacitive touch sensor is sensitive and has a high resistance to noise, explains Renesas. This enables the Material Detection Solution to detect the presence or absence of a powder such as vacuum cleaner dust, a liquid such as refrigerator and coffee maker, or material such as paper by measuring the capacitance between electrodes to the microcontroller. The increase or decrease of the powder, liquid, or material will change the capacitance value between the electrodes.

The development reflects the increased demand for sensor-based technology in industry, the office and the home. These applications require fine-grained sensing for predictive maintenance capabilities. The Material Detection Solution can be used to detect the remaining amounts of consumable materials in, for example vacuum cleaner filters or printers, and inform users in advance when replacements are required.

Although these applications can be implemented by using a mix of pressure sensors for detecting physical objects, photosensors, IR sensors, and CMOS sensors, the use of multiple sensors creates additional cost and heavy development burdens, points out Renesas.

The sensor-less physical object detection connects two thin-film electrodes and measures the capacitance between them using a touchkey microcontroller. Changes in the measured materials are determined by detecting the change in capacitance between the electrodes.

This method eliminates the need for sensor evaluation and operating condition determination, while the initialisation and sensitivity adjustments can be performed using the development support graphical user interface (GUI) tool available for capacitive touch sensor systems. Renesas add that this enables developers to quickly implement a capacitive touch sensor unit in equipment that require a detection function.

The Material Detection Solution is available now for free download.

http://www.renesas.com

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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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Gecko series 2 scales IoT connectivity

Microcontrollers replace sensors in industry and the home

Sub-miniature tact switch targets IoT in the home

Operations and visualisation software maximises system investments

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