ST reveals industrial-grade accelerometer with edge AI and ultra-low power

ST’ IIS2DULPX industrial MEMS accelerometer combines machine learning, power saving, and capability to operate at high-temperature, facilitating intensive sensorisation for smarter, data-driven operations and decision making in asset tracking, robotics, and factory automation, as well as industrial-safety equipment and healthcare devices.

With in-sensor AI to relieve the host processor and automatic self-configuration to optimise power consumption, the IIS2DULPX lets equipment makers build maintenance-free, battery-powered smart sensor nodes in convenient form factors.

Typical applications for the new accelerometer include event tracking of assets or goods in transit. ST’s machine-learning core (MLC) can host AI algorithms to classify the kind of transportation system the asset is on and the events such as dropping, shaking, tilting, and flipping, enhancing quality assurance and supply-chain process improvement. Performing inference directly in the sensor relieves demands on the host-processor thus helping greatly extend the sensor battery life.

In addition, the IIS2DULPX is used in sensors for smart condition monitoring that are attached to assets such as industrial machinery or robotic arms to detect excessive vibrations, hits, and shocks. Here, small size and ultra-low power consumption let device makers create sensors with a compact outline and extended operation from a small and lightweight battery, that can be easily used to retrofit equipment that is already installed and operational. End users can thus instantly start collecting data from any equipment, including legacy machinery, to accelerate and extend their digital transformation initiatives.

Further applications for the IIS2DULPX include smart protective equipment and portable healthcare devices, including monitoring systems designed into industrial safety helmets to detect proper helmet wearing, impacts and falls for accident prevention or prompt emergency alerts, improving overall workplace safety. The sensor can detect a dangerous fall and immediately generate an alert for prompt assistance, as well as monitoring activity to identify unusual work patterns and ensure safety compliance. With its embedded machine-learning core and finite state machine (MLC/FSM), as well as automatic self-configuration, the IIS2DULPX permits continuous supervision while consuming very little energy, enabling a simple battery-operated accessory to transform a conventional safety helmet into a smart helmet.

The IIS2DULPX has also been integrated in an advanced battery-powered sensor for monitoring wafer-handling robot arms in semiconductor fabrication, to measure vibrations and shocks that could impact yield or reliability of chips. The accelerometer’s embedded MLC and automatic self-configuration let the battery-operated sensor node provide accurate and continuous monitoring, maintenance-free, for more than three years.

https://www.st.com

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Microchip integrates buck converters, LDOs and a controller

The rapid integration of AI into industrial, computing and data centre applications is fuelling a growing demand for more efficient and advanced power management solutions. Microchip has announced the MCP16701, a Power Management Integrated Circuit (PMIC) designed to meet the needs of high-performance MPU and FPGA designers. The MCP16701 integrates eight 1.5A buck converters that can be paralleled, four 300 mA internal Low Dropout Voltage Regulators (LDOs) and a controller to drive external MOSFETs.

This highly integrated device can result in a 48% area reduction with less than 60% of the component count of a discrete solution. The MCP16701 is in a small-form-factor 8 mm × 8 mm VQFN package to offer a compact and flexible power management solution for space-constrained applications. The MCP16701 meets diverse power needs and supports Microchip’s PIC64-GX MPU and PolarFire® FPGAs with a configurable feature set.

The MCP16701 features an I2C communication interface to simply and enhance communication efficiency between the PMIC and other system components. The device operates within a temperature range of TJ −40°C to +105°C for reliable performance in diverse environmental conditions.

A key feature of the MCP16701 is its ability to dynamically change Vout levels for all converters in 12.5 mV/25 mV increments. This maximum flexibility allows designers to fine-tune power delivery to meet specific application requirements, helping enhance overall system efficiency and performance.

The MCP16701 joins a family of Microchip PMIC products, including the MCP16502, MCP16501 and others—that are used to power high-performance MPU applications targeting industrial computing, data centres, IoT and edge AI.

https://www.microchip.com

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Melexis redefines thermographic sensing with new IR array

Melexis has introduced the MLX90642, a thermographic sensor featuring a 32×24 pixel InfraRed (IR) array that redefines market expectations. It offers a drastically improved signal-to-noise ratio, global shutter readout, and onboard temperature calculation. The MLX90642 improves performance in smart cooking, HVAC, fire hazard prevention, power electronics overheating detection, and hotspot localisation.

The accurate detection of temperature through non-contacting sensors is a crucial safety requirement in a wide range of industries, spanning from consumer goods to industrial designs. Nevertheless, designers of such systems encounter a multitude of challenges that necessitate resolution. Within these challenges, cost and accuracy are often the key bottlenecks, as is the need to incorporate an additional microcontroller unit (MCU) alongside existing thermography sensors to compute and enable precise temperature matrix output, further increasing costs and component count.

Enclosed within a compact four-lead TO39 package, the MLX90642 is enhanced by its factory calibration, allowing for direct temperature reporting without a dedicated MCU. This functionality helps to drive smaller, more efficient, and lower-cost designs. Performance is also redefined with the MLX90642. It features accurate low-noise operation with a Noise Equivalent Temperature Difference (NETD) of 65mK at a 2Hz refresh rate. The refresh rate can be configured up to 16Hz as required. The MLX90642 features a robust design with improved immunity to external thermal gradients and a wide working temperature of -40°C to 85°C.

The MLX90642’s functionality plays a pivotal role in enhancing the quality and precision of thermal images, surpassing that of existing solutions. For consumer applications such as cooking or HVAC control, the sensor can help to enable closer monitoring, increased efficiency, better user satisfaction, and safety, and pave the way for smart applications that mandate greater feedback to automate usually manual tasks.

This technology will serve as a platform for the creation of new smart designs that can enhance the sustainability and functionality of operations. Examples of these applications encompass AI-enhanced machine vision, such as smart building occupancy monitoring or gesture recognition services. These applications necessitate heightened accuracy and reduced noise, thus enabling extended detection distances with high refresh rates.

To cater to a wide array of operations, the sensor is available in two field of view (FOV) options: 45°x35° and 110°x75° , both featuring 768 highly accurate IR pixels. The MLX90642 demonstrates a current consumption of 28mA, a 3.3V supply voltage, and an I2C compatible digital interface to further ease integration considerations.

https://www.melexis.com

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u-blox introduces ANNA-B5 a compact, powerful and secure Bluetooth LE module

u-blox has announced the launch of the ANNA-B5 Bluetooth LE module. Built on Nordic Semiconductor’s next-generation wireless SoC, the nRF54L15 chipset is an ultra-compact module (6.5 × 6.5 mm) featuring a fully integrated antenna on the module, high security, a powerful MCU as well as distance measurements capabilities.

Designed with a new antenna solution for size-constrained, battery-powered applications, the ANNA-B5 delivers robust performance across industrial automation, smart home/smart building, healthcare, asset tracking and a broad range of other segments. Supporting Bluetooth LE, 802.15.4 with Thread, Zigbee, and Matter, ANNA-B5 ensures seamless connectivity. Qualified against Bluetooth® Core 6.0, the System in Package (SiP) module includes Bluetooth® Channel Sounding, providing more accurate range measurements.

With its next-generation security features, including physical tamper detection, secure boot, secure storage, and a crypto accelerator, it is designed to meet PSA Certified Level 3. This makes it an ideal choice for applications that require advanced security and compliance with the latest regulatory requirements, ensuring long-term viability in the evolving IoT landscape.

The ANNA-B5 module is powered by the Nordic Semiconductor nRF54L15 ultra-low power wireless SoC, featuring an Arm Cortex-M33 MCU running at 128 MHz, 256 kB of RAM, and 1.5 MB of non-volatile memory. Optimised for ultra-low power consumption, it is ideal for applications demanding extended battery life.

The module’s compact size (6.5 × 6.5 × 1.2 mm) with a fully integrated antenna makes it suitable for a wide range of IoT devices. Its compatibility with other u-blox ANNA modules is key to effortless technology migration, such as transitioning to the latest generation of Bluetooth LE modules.

With its professional-grade u-connectXpress software, ANNA-B5 ensures reduced compliance costs, faster time to market, and seamless international deployment.

https://www.u-blox.com

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