Smart Cities

Guidance and navigation can be provided for autonomous vehicles using the Intel RealSense Tracking Camera T265. The standlone inside-out tracking device uses proprietary visual inertial odometry simultaneous localisation and mapping (V-SLAM) technology with computing at the edge, making it particularly suitable for applications that require a highly accurate and low-latency tracking solution, for example, robotics, drones, augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR).

The RealSense Tracking Camera T265 was designed to complement Intel’s existing RealSense Depth Cameras and provide a quick path to product development with its next-generation integrated V-SLAM technology.

The camera is powered by the Intel Movidius Myriad 2 vision processing unit (VPU), which directly handles all the data processing necessary for tracking on the machine, providing a small footprint and low-power consumption camera that can be implemented into existing designs or for building IP that requires rich visual intelligence.

Potential applications are where tracking the location of a device is important, especially in locations without GPS service, such as warehouses or remote outdoor areas. In these cases, the camera uses a combination of known and unknown data to navigate to its destination. For example, integrating the T265 into a robot designed for agriculture allows the device to navigate fields in a precise pattern and intelligently adapt to avoid obstacles in its environment, including structures or people. Another example is bringing medical supplies to remote, off-the-grid areas or to a lab inside a hospital ward. Here, the T265 can be used in drone or robotic deliveries due to its wider field of view and optimisation for tracking use cases.

The T265 uses inside-out tracking which means the device does not rely on any external sensors to understand the environment. Intel adds that unlike other inside-out tracking solutions, the T265 delivers six-degrees-of-freedom (6DoF) inside-out tracking by gathering inputs from two onboard fish-eye cameras, each with an approximate 170 degree range of view. The V-SLAM systems construct and continually update maps of unknown environments and the location of a device within that environment. Since all position calculations are performed directly on the device, tracking with the T265 is platform independent and allows the T265 to run on very low-compute devices.

The only hardware requirements are sufficient non-volatile memory to boot the device and a USB 2.0 or 3.0 connection that provides 1.5W of power.

http://www.intel.com

Distributor Mouser Electronics stocks the G.hn Wave-2 networking chipset from MaxLinear, featuring the G.hn digital baseband and G.hn analogue front ends. Offering physical data rates up to 2Gbits per second across a variety of physical media, the Wave-2 networking G.hn processors deliver reliable connectivity and reduced congestion in smart grid, security, broadband, industrial, smart home, and automotive applications.

MaxLinear’s G.hn Wave-2 networking platform offers designers the flexibility to combine footprint-compatible components to address multiple G.hn applications. The MaxLinear G.hn digital broadband (DBB) processors provide high-speed networking with 1 Gbits per second maximum throughput over power lines and 1.7Gbits per second maximum throughput over coaxial cables and phone lines. The DBB processors feature a G.hn physical layer (PHY), G.hn datalink layer (DLL), and an embedded CPU for management and control functions. The G.hn analogue front ends provide up to 2Gbits per second physical data rates over any wired medium.

The processors are housed in a small 4 × 4 mm QFN package, the devices deliver programmable transmission and reception gains for each wired medium.

A set of software development kits (SDKs) enable designers to create custom solutions that meet requirements such as IPv4/IPv6 support, quality of service (QoS), and TR-069 management. Engineers can also use the SDKs to develop customised applications that run on a DBB processor’s embedded CPU.

Mouser also stocks three G.hn Wave-2 networking evaluation kits, for a power line, coaxial, or phone line medium. Each kit includes a DBB processor, analogue front end and two evaluation boards that allow designers to evaluate the performance of G.hn networking technology.

MaxLinear was founded in 2003. The company delivers broadband and networking semiconductors based on its integrated radio frequency analogue technology, high-performance optical networking technology. It pioneered MoCA (Multimedia over Coax) and direct broadcast satellite ODU single-wire technology.

Mouser claims to stock the world’s widest selection of the latest semiconductors and electronic components for the newest design projects. Its’ 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