IoT

Three-axis accelerometer senses health of structures

Tue, Sep 04, 2018

A three-axis accelerometer, the M-A352, has been developed by Epson to monitor the health of structures. It was developed in response to the need to monitor ageing infrastructure in towns and cities, and reduce the cost of infrastructure maintenance, monitoring, and renewal.

The M-A352 provides the necessary noise performance of one microG/√Hz or better. Epson also says that its durability and manufacturability ensure stable supply and cost competitiveness. The accelerometer can be used for applications where high-accuracy measurements were formerly difficult to take, notes Epson.

Features include high shock resistance of 1,200G which is four times that of Epson’s existing product, the M-A351. The M-A352 also has a dynamic range of 27 bits and uses noise-resistance direct digital conversion technology.

A low-jitter external trigger function enables high-accuracy time synchronisation in multi-node measurement.

The accelerometer can be used in structure health monitoring (e.g. buildings, roadway structures, bridges, tunnels, and steel towers), earthquake detection, environmental vibration measurement, industrial equipment monitoring, unmanned vehicles (e.g. terrestrial vehicles, undersea probes), and the measurement of the vibration and path of industrial equipment and vehicles.

Epson is scheduled to give a technical presentation and demonstration of the M-352 at 2018 DGON Inertial Sensors and Systems (ISS), in Braunschweig, Germany ( 11 to 12 September).

The M-A352 will be in volume production for spring 2019, says Epson. Samples will begin shipping at the end of 2018.

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http://www.epson-electronics.de

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Rapid IoT prototyping kit accelerates edge node development

Mon, Sep 03, 2018

Developers can take internet of things (IoT) projects from initial idea to proof of concept quickly, with the NXP Rapid IoT prototyping kit, now available from Mouser Electronics.

Rapid IoT has hardware, enhanced security and power management within a small form factor and is pre-configured with 11 NXP devices (including microcontrollers, interface, near field communication (NFC), anti-counterfeit security and sensor options. The kit is designed to support engineers in the development of a range of IoT devices, including smart appliances, wearables, home and building automation, and medical devices.

The NXP Rapid IoT prototyping kit combines a high-performance, low power NXP Kinetis K64 microcontroller based on an Arm Cortex-M4 core, and an NXP Kinetis KW41Z wireless microcontroller that enables Bluetooth low energy (BLE), Thread, and Zigbee connectivity. The modular device is versatile, with a capacitive touch sensor, six-axis digital accelerometer and magnetometer, three-axis digital gyroscope, digital pressure barometric and humidity sensor, digital ambient light sensor, and digital air quality sensor.

Pre-programmed applications enable users to quickly get familiar with the kit’s capabilities. The device features a web integrated development environment (IDE) with graphic user interface (GUI)-based programming to help users modify the device’s behaviour without having experience of embedded coding, says Mouser. Engineers can transition ideas from prototype to development with automatic source code generation for NXP’s MCUXpresso, a set of software tools including software development kit (SDK), IDE and configuration tools.

Rapid IoT is compatible with the NXP IoT Modular Gateway development platform that brings together the building blocks for secure, production-ready IoT systems including hardware, software, connectivity, security and cloud services with guidance and support. Rapid IoT is also fully compatible with the MikroElektronika Hexiwear docking station and over 400 MikroElektronika Click boards to enable a wide range of functionality for almost any IoT use case.

Mouser claims to stock the world’s widest selection of the latest semiconductors and electronic components for the newest design projects. Mouser Electronics’ website is continually updated and offers advanced search methods to help customers quickly locate inventory. Mouser.com also houses data sheets, supplier-specific reference designs, application notes, technical design information, and engineering tools.

http://www.mouser.com

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Mouser adds Bosch sensor for environmental data for industry 4.0

Fri, Aug 31, 2018

Distributor, Mouser Electronics, now stocks the Connected Industrial Sensor Solution (CISS) from Bosch. The Bosch CISS is a robust, multi-sensor device designed to enable internet of things (IoT) applications in harsh environments, using MEMS technology to detect vibration and acceleration and other environmental conditions.

The Bosch CISS integrates a gyroscope, accelerometer, magnetometer, temperature/humidity/air pressure sensor, microphone, and light sensor. Engineers can activate or deactivate each sensor individually and configure the sensors’ sampling rates and thresholds to suit different applications. The CISS features a 32-bit Arm Cortex-M3 microcontroller with 1Mbyte of internal flash, as well as a Bluetooth low energy radio and USB connectivity for data transmission.

The CISS provides data to optimise maintenance processes and enhance productivity, and can be integrated to a range of hardware-agnostic gateways and clouds. The device allows for monitoring of multiple conditions simultaneously to provide improved predictive maintenance, while both live and historic data can be supplied over the Virtual CISS app or the cloud.

The compact, IP54-rated device offers an operating temperature range of -20 to +80 degrees C, making it suitable for Industry 4.0 applications, including preventative maintenance, industrial retrofitting, digital twinning, and condition monitoring.

http://www.mouser.com

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Sensor node SoM advances IoT development in cities

Fri, Aug 31, 2018

IoT specialist, SensiEdge now offers the SensiSub system-on-module (SoM) starter kit, describing it as a board-level IoT sensor node. It joins the company’s Bluetooth-enabled SensiBLE IoT SoM, but delivers higher range and more reliable frequency bands to penetrate obstacles and reduce interference. The SoM is suitable for IoT applications in varied locations, including smart factory, smart home, smart grid and smart city deployments.

SensiSub is based on a low power Arm 32-bit Cortex-M4 CPU with FPU, and a range of serial interfaces (including SPI, I2C, UART, ADC, CAN, USB and GPIO). The SoM combines a Spirit1 low-power RF transceiver from ST Microelectronics, offering certified sub-1.0GHz connectivity (in three frequency versions: 433, 868 and 915MHz). A suite of customisable sensors includes a three-axis accelerometer, magnetometer and digital gyroscope, plus pressure, microphone, relative humidity, ambient light, temperature and UV sensors.

SensiSub’s hardware-ready configuration provides a complete, self-contained RF platform in a small form factor (20 x 30mm) that enables wireless connectivity without prior RF expertise. The SoM is therefore suitable for a range of applications that demand rich functionality, including smart metering, industrial lighting, and home and building automation, where it can capitalise on its long range, reduced interference and low power features of the sub-1.0GHz spectrum band.

The SensiSub IoT SoM is an industrial-grade customisable module for engineers looking to design IoT products without getting involved in either hardware development or production logistics. It allows developers to focus on their own applications, domain expertise and core competencies, rather than the underlying hardware platform or production logistics when creating products for the IoT.

SensiSub fits an array of coin battery-powered applications that require integration of multiple sensors with sub-1.0GHz connectivity, without compromising on cost and power consumption, says SensiEdge. It also shares the same small form factor as SensiBle, enabling customers to develop and build prototypes and proof-of-concepts using SensiBle, before transitioning to SensiSub for deployments requiring greater range.

http://www.sensiedge.com/sensisub

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