Sector News

Arrow Electronics signs agreement with Sensera for IoT location sensors

Wed, Jul 24, 2019

Real-time location and location-aware smart wireless sensor modules from Sensera are now available from Arrow Electronics, following a global agreement signing.

Sensera designs and manufactures end-to-end sensors and services for the IoT, which combines precise proximity detection and tracking in real time with smart IoT sensors.

The agreement ensures that Arrow’s IoT group will provide consultancy and assist with design and delivering sensing systems based on Sensera products, including system integration and deployment. The agreement covers Sensera’s IoT Solutions division and its MicroDevices division.

The distributor was already distributing Nanotron Technologies, Sensera’s IoT division, in some regions. Now, Arrow will provide Sensera’s entire product portfolio to its worldwide customer base for mission-critical applications. Arrow’s technical sales teams and field application engineers will provide customers with design-in and product support, adds the company.

Sensera is an IoT provider that delivers sensor-based products that transform real-time data into meaningful information, action and value. The company designs and manufactures hardware and software across the vertical technology spectrum from MEMS and sensors as well as wireless networked systems and software for the IoT.

Sensera’s MicroDevices division designs and manufactures specialised, high performance sensors, and modules.

Nanotron provides electronic location awareness products, to deliver precise position data augmented by context information in real-time.

https://www.arrow.com

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AI vision sensor encourages creativity

Wed, Jul 24, 2019

Robotics and open source hardware provider, DFRobot, describes its artificial intelligence (AI) vision sensor as user-friendly, with powerful algorithms and designed for click, learn and play to encourage creative projects.

The HuskyLens has several types of built-in image processing algorithms, allowing creators to start experimenting without requiring a deep understanding algorithms. DFRobot says that it is a time-saving device for experienced makers and an easy-to-use powerful tool for enthusiastic future makers.

The pre-installed algorithms in HuskyLen are designed for facial recognition, object recognition, object tracking, line following, colour detection, and tag detection. Users can also switch between algorithms with a single click. Algorithms like line-following and tag recognition can be activated simultaneously. The company gives the example that once applied to a small robot, it can not only follow a line but can also determine in which direction to turn.

HuskyLens can improve its abilities through learning. With a single click, the device can learn new objects, faces, and colours. By holding down the button, HuskyLens can continually learn the target, from different perspectives and at various ranges. The AI camera carries a 2.0-inch display, which means users do not have to connect to a PC for monitoring performance.

CEO, Ricky Ye, said: “HuskyLens has been designed with creators and makers in mind and has infused the latest AI technology with compact design and exceptionally fast processors to ensure that users are only limited by their imagination”.

HuskyLens is compatible with a range of microcontrollers including Arduino, Raspberry Pi, LattePanda, and micro:bit.

The company has introduced a KickStarter project.

DFRobot is a robotics and open source hardware provider that is dedicated to creating innovative, user-friendly products for the maker community and for innovation. DFRobot collaborates with multiple tech giants, including Intel and Microsoft, and has a product catalogue of over 1,000 components and widgets including sensors, robotic platforms, and communication modules.

http://www.dfrobot.com

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ANPC inverter design secures ‘sweet spot’ for PV

Mon, Jul 22, 2019

According to Infineon Technologies, the use of an advanced neutral-point-clamped (ANPC) inverter design supports an even loss distribution between semiconductor devices, compared with traditional three-level neutral-point-clamped topologies. The company has used the ANPC topology for its hybrid SiC and IGBT power module EasyPack 2B in the 1,200V family. It is claimed to optimise ‘sweet spot’ losses of Infineon’s CoolSiC MOSFET and TrenchStop IGBT4 chipsets respectively, with increased power density and a switching frequency of up to 48kHz. The inverters are suitable for the needs of new generation 1,500V photovoltaic and energy storage applications, adds Infineon.

The ANPC topology supports a system efficiency of more than 99 per cent. Implementing the hybrid Easy 2B power module in, for example, the DC/AC stage of a 1,500V solar string inverter allows for coils to be smaller than with devices with a lower switching frequency. This reduces the weight “significantly” compared with a corresponding inverter with purely silicon components, says the company. Additionally, the losses with silicon carbide are smaller than with silicon. For this reason, less heat must be dissipated so that the heat sink can also shrink. This results in smaller inverter housings and costs savings at system level. The design also reduces inverter design complexity, compared to five-level topologies.

The Easy 2B standard package for power modules is characterised by an industry-leading low stray inductance. The integrated body diode of the CoolSiC MOSFET chip ensures low-loss without the need for another SiC diode chip. There is also an NTC temperature sensor for monitoring and PressFit technology to reduce assembly time for mounting the device.

The hybrid EasyPack 2B can be ordered now.

http://www.infineon.com

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Embedded edge computing modules exploit Intel processor technology

Thu, Jul 18, 2019

10 new COM Express Type 6 modules have been announced by congatec. They feature the latest Intel embedded processor technology, with four Intel Xeon, three Intel Core, two Intel Celeron and one Intel Pentium processors based on the same Intel microarchitecture (codenamed Coffee Lake H). This enables congatec to provide all 10 new processors on one COM Express module design – the conga-TS370.

This brings the total of processor module variants now available on this single microarchitecture to 14, offering wide scalability, points out the company.

The 45W six-core module with 2.8GHz Intel Xeon E-2276ME processor provides the highest embedded computing performance with integrated high-performance processor graphics currently available, claims congatec. The 2.4GHz Intel Celeron G4930E processor module with 35 watts sets a new price-performance benchmark, adds the company.

The two six-core congatec modules with a TDP of 25W offered on Intel Xeon E-2276ML and Intel Core i7-9850HL processors enable developers to create passively cooled embedded edge computing systems that can run up to 12 standalone virtual machines in parallel, via hyperthreading. This allows operation even in fully sealed systems, under the harshest environmental conditions and with the highest IP protection, asserts congatec. The same applies to the two quad-core modules with Intel Xeon E-2254ML or Intel Core i3-9100HL processor as well as the Intel Celeron G4932E processor-based module, all featuring a – partly configurable – TDP of 25W.

The company has released these modules in response to OEM customers using multi-core platforms to consolidate separate systems on a single embedded edge computer. Hypervisor technology allows customers to operate up to 12 virtual machines in parallel on one system, including real-time controllers (soft PLCs), industry 4.0 gateways for tactile internet via time synchronised networking, IoT gateways for sending big data towards the cloud and central management systems, as well as vision systems, artificial intelligence (AI) and deep learning applications. Software-defined networking functions such as intrusion prevention and detection systems that analyse data traffic parallel to the applications can avoid latencies that would arise with serial operation of analytics and applications, advises congatec.

In addition to embedded edge computing, they can be used in medical imaging systems and human machine interfaces (HMIs) as well as gaming, infotainment and digital signage systems.

http://www.congatec.de

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