Sector News

New Reality AI Explorer Tier from Renesas

Wed, Jul 17, 2024

Renesas Electronics Corporation has introduced Reality AI Explorer Tier, a free version of the Reality AI Tools software for developing AI and TinyML solutions in industrial, automotive and commercial applications.

The new Reality AI Explorer Tier provides users with free access to a comprehensive, self-guided evaluation sandbox. Qualified customers can now access the complete range of features in Reality AI Tools, including automated AI model construction, validation and deployment modules. Reality AI Explorer Tier includes a rich library of tutorials, application examples, and FAQs, access to the community forum and email support. Users can quickly get started with a simplified click-through end user agreement.

Reality AI Explorer Tier is designed to simplify the customer experience for evaluating the development environment for embedded real-time analytics. Users can explore a variety of pre-built AI applications, offering a practical way to experience the capabilities of Reality AI Tools without the need for extensive setup or support. Examples allow the user to leverage Renesas Kits such as AI Kits with sample datasets that span use cases across accelerometry/vibration analysis, audio classification, and motor control.

“As AIoT becomes increasingly important, many customers are showing keen interest and developing expertise in building AI applications at the edge and endpoint,” said Mohammed Dogar, Vice President and Head of Business Development and Ecosystem for Renesas. “Reality AI Explorer offers the opportunity to experience the full potential of a market-leading AI development environment without any up-front cost. We are confident that many customers will use this platform as a first step to creating production AIoT implementations.”

Reality AI Tools is now tightly integrated with Renesas compute products and supports all Renesas MCUs and MPUs natively with a built-in parts picker engine. Support for automatic context switching between Reality AI Tools and e2 studio is also in place.

https://www.renesas.com

 

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ST reveals new single-zone direct-ToF sensor with extended operating temperature

Tue, Jul 16, 2024

ST has introduced the VL53L4ED single-zone Time-of-Flight (ToF) sensor, which has an extended operating temperature range from -40°C to 105°C. Ready for harsh environments, the VL53L4ED enhances proximity detection and ranging under high ambient light conditions in applications such as industrial tools, smart-factory equipment, robot guidance systems, outdoor lighting controls, and security systems.

The VL53L4ED integrates a laser emitter and a single-photon avalanche-diode (SPAD) detector array in a convenient all-in-one module which ensures reliable measurement even in extreme temperature conditions. The next-generation laser provides enhanced performance in high ambient light environments and excellent short-distance ranging accuracy. In addition, the sensors embed a processor that allows power-saving autonomous operation and lowers demand for host-system resources.

ST’s new ToF sensor provides high-accuracy distance measurement to objects up to 1150mm away, throughout the entire field of view and over the full extended temperature range. Special settings allow accurate distance measurement up to 800mm under strong ambient light conditions. The VL53L4ED sensor maintains distance-measurement linearity down to 1mm and supports ranging frequency up to 100Hz.

Developers can take advantage of the X-CUBE-TOF1 expansion software package for the STM32Cube ecosystem to accelerate projects using the VL53L4 sensor family. Ready-to-use software includes as well the STSW-IMG034 driver that lets an interrupt command turn the VL53L4ED or VL53L4CD into an ultra-low-power proximity detector for user detection, system activation, and touchless control. In addition, the STSW-IMG039 software pack contains code examples for liquid-level monitoring. Hardware includes the X-NUCLEO-53L4A3 expansion board for the NUCLEO-F401RE microcontroller board, which eases running code examples and building applications, as well as the SATEL-VL53L4ED breakout board for prototyping.

https://www.st.com

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PAN-MaX from Panasonic simplifies Matter enablement for smart home devices

Tue, Jul 16, 2024

Panasonic is now offering PAN-MaX, a multi-tier Matter Certificate Service designed for device manufacturers selling in the smart home market, to simplify Matter enablement for smart home devices.
The Matter standard from the Connectivity Standards Alliance (CSA) is a major industry-led effort to address the highly fragmented market of connected smart homes. It aims to solve the challenge of interoperability, which is considered the biggest impediment for device manufacturers selling to a multi-vendor smart home customer. Matter establishes interoperability on top of familiar standard wireless communication technologies like Wi-Fi, Bluetooth Low Energy, and Thread, allowing devices from different vendors to interact and understand each other using a common language. Additionally, the notion of IoT device security comes pre-baked into the standard itself, fundamentally addressing the problem of unauthentic fake product copies that currently plagues the industry. This is why big and small players alike in the smart home industry see the Matter technology as the bedrock for the consolidation of the smart home market.
In the above context, Panasonic Industry offers Matter enablement through its portfolio of wireless modules to provide the necessary wireless interfaces (BLE, Thread, and Wi-Fi) mandated by the Matter standard on PCB, as well as PAN-MaX, a digital trust solution for Matter products aimed at simplifying the production-related challenges faced by smart home device manufacturers.
PAN-MaX closes the loop for device manufacturers by providing all the necessary capabilities required for making a Matter product. Device manufacturers can achieve hassle-free Matter deployment with manufacturer-specific versions of Panasonic wireless modules. In doing so, Panasonic takes charge of implementing the digital trust solution, injecting Device Attestation Certificates (DACs) issued from a Panasonic managed PKI infrastructure into compatible Panasonic wireless modules, which are signed against a root certificate issued to a CSA-approved Product Attestation Authority. Device manufacturers can further leverage Panasonic’s European production facilities by pre-programming business logic and other customer/product-specific information during wireless module production in Panasonic’s factory.
Acknowledging that one size doesn’t fit all, the PAN-MaX service can be tailored to suit individual customer and project requirements. Available with different service level tiers: Silver, Gold, or Diamond, device manufacturers can choose from multiple price points, underlining Panasonic’s effort to promote Matter and make it accessible to customers of all project types and volumes. Panasonic simplifies an otherwise complicated multi-vendor setup, such that device manufacturers or their EMS partners don’t have to plan for additional production-related investments for a Matter project, and avoid all risks of escalating hidden costs.

https://industry.panasonic.eu/pan-max

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Mouser now stocking ST biosensor for smart devices and wearables

Fri, Jul 12, 2024

The ST1VAFE6AX provides design engineers with next generation biopotential signal detection and motion tracking for a variety of applications, including heart rate, pulse monitoring, electrocardiogram (ECG) and activity tracking for wearables and portable medical devices.

The ST1VAFE6AX features a vertical analogue front end (vAFE) channel to detect biopotential signals and includes a 6-axis inertial measurement unit (IMU) for motion tracking. This biosensor embeds advanced dedicated features and data processing for motion processing like the finite state machine (FSM), sensor fusion low power (SFLP), adaptive self-configuration (ASC), and machine learning core (MLC) with exportable artificial intelligence (AI) features and filters. The device fully synchronises biopotential and motion sensing for context-aware analysis. The ST1VAFE6AX biosensor’s compact 2.5 × 3.0 × 0.71 mm footprint makes it ideal for space-constrained applications. Application development with ST1VAFE6AX biosensor is supported by the STEVAL-MKI242A adapter board.

The STEVAL-MKI242A adapter can also be used with the STMicroelectronics STEVAL-MKI109V3 motherboard, the STEVAL-MKBOXPRO programmable wireless box kit, or the X-NUCLEO-IKS4A1 motion MEMS and environmental sensor expansion board.

https://eu.mouser.com

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