This Week's Focus: Embedded Boards
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Mobile Robot Taps Jetson Xavier
Via New Aetina Carrier Board

Aetina has announced a partnership to build an autonomous, solar-powered mobile robot with GPS tracking, sensors and 6x HD cameras, based on its "AX710" carrier for the Linux-driven Jetson AGX Xavier. Taiwan-based Aetina and an undisclosed third party are developing the UGV (Unmanned Ground Vehicle) robot for border and shore patrol and other remote inspection and exploration applications. The robot will be built around Nvidia's powerful, AI-enabled Jetson AGX Xavier module via Aetina's new AX710 carrier board.
Nvidia's 105 mm x 87 mm x 16 mm Jetson AGX Xavier module has greater than 10x the energy efficiency and more than 20x the performance of the Jetson TX2, claims Nvidia. The module is equipped with 8x Arm v8.2 cores and a high-end, 512-core Nvidia Volta GPU with 64 tensor cores with 2x Nvidia Deep Learning Accelerator (DLA) engines. The Xavier is further equipped with a 7-way VLIW vision chip, as well as 16 GB 256-bit LPDDR4 RAM and 32 GB eMMC 5.1.

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COM Express Board Offers 16 GB DRAM
and Extend Temp. Design

Kontron has introduced its new COMe-m4AL10 (E2) module. The COM Express module is available with either Intel Atom, Intel Pentium or Intel Celeron processors of the latest 5th generation. With dimensions of only 84 mm x 55 mm, it is well suited for space-limited applications. The E2 version is designed for use in the industrial temperature range from -40°C to +85°C. Thanks to its large number of interfaces, significantly improved computing power and excellent performance-per-watt ratio, the COMe-m4AL10 (E2) is suited for use in industrial IoT and Industry 4.0 applications.
Medical imaging, autonomous vehicles, surveillance and security devices benefit as well from the powerful, yet extremely small modules. Thanks to the industrial-grade-by-design versions---specified for industrial temperature operation---and the long-term availability, the new COMe-m4AL10 (E2) meets the special requirements of applications in transportation as well as defense.

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Compute Module Offers Three Flavors of i.MX6 UltraLite

Variscite has launched its SODIMM-style "VAR-SOM-6UL" module that runs Linux on NXP's power-efficient i.MX6 UL, ULL, and ULZ SoCs. The Wi-Fi-equipped, -40 to 85°C ready module ships with a new "Concerto" carrier. Prior to Embedded World in late February, Variscite previewed the VAR-SOM-6UL with incomplete details. The SODIMM-200 form-factor module has now launched starting at $24 in volume along with a VAR-SOM-6UL Development Kit and Starter Kit equipped with a Concerto carrier board. New features include memory and storage details and the availability of 0 to 70°C and -40 to 85°C models.

The VAR-SOM-6UL offers a choice of three Cortex-A7-based i.MX6 UltraLite variants at up to 900 MHz: the original i.MX6 UL and almost identical i.MX6 ULL and the newer, stripped down i.MX6 ULZ. The i.MX6 ULZ is also available on Variscite's smaller DART-6UL module along with the UL and ULL. The headless, up to 900 MHz Cortex-A7 ULZ SoC offers most of the I/O of the of the i.MX6 UL and ULL, including their extensive audio interfaces. However, it lacks features such as the 2D Pixel acceleration engine and dual Ethernet controllers.


 
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This week's newsletter raffle is for a 1-year free subscription to Circuit Cellar! Drawing ends at midnight this coming Friday. Circuit Cellar is the premier media resource for professional engineers, academic technologists, and other electronics technology decision-makers worldwide involved in the design and development of embedded processor- and microcontroller-based systems across a broad range of applications.
 
 
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Get Your Technical Article Into Circuit Cellar Magazine

Circuit Cellar magazine is always looking for top-notch technical articles that help readers better understand embedded electronics technology in action. Professional engineers, academics, students and serious electronics enthusiasts are encouraged to submit articles and proposals.

Whether its a project-based article, an article about a technology trend, or an analysis of a technical issue or challenge, Circuit Cellar is looking for insightful, detailed articles that help its readers do their jobs as embedded system designers. If you have an article or an article proposal, let us know! Our article submissions page provides you with our requirements and guidelines.



Boards Provide COM Express Type 2 Drop-In Replacement Solutions

ADLINK Technology has announced two new COM Express Type 2 module, based on 6th and 7th Gen Intel Core Processors (formerly "Skylake" and "Kaby Lake"). The new Express-SL2 and Express-KL2 (shown) modules support all Type 2 related legacy I/Os and thereby allow embedded systems developers to to extend the production life of existing Type 2 based systems for at least another 10 years.

With the recent discontinuation of the hugely popular 3rd Gen Intel Core Processor (formerly "Ivy Bridge"), many system developers are in need of a new Type 2 module to keep existing systems up and running. They are in need of a drop-in solution at both hardware and software levels (Intel-to-Intel) with equivalent or improved performance and a better thermal envelope to simplify their transition. The new Express-SL2 and Express-KL2 Type 2 modules solve this problem.
             

Enter to Win VersaLogic's New Android Demo/Eval Kit!

VersaLogic's new Android Eval Kit provides an easy way to evaluate Arm/Android performance for rapid design and application development. It includes everything needed to run the Android OS on a high-reliability embedded system, including an Arm-based embedded computer board and a touch-screen display. No additional carrier cards, companion boards or other add-ons are needed. The Android Eval Kit is designed to save start-up time and allow the user to focus on their product development.



Linux-Driven Modules to Showcase New MediaTek AIoT SoCs

Innocomm, which has produced NXP-based compute modules such as the i.MX8M Mini driven WB15 and i.MX8M powered WB10, will soon try on some MediaTek SoCs for size. First up is an SB30 SoM due to launch in October that will run Linux or Android on MediaTek's 1.5 GHz, quad-core, Cortex-A35 based MediaTek i300 (MT8362) SoC. In November, the company plans to introduce an SB50 SoM based on the MediaTek i500 (MT8385).

Innocomm has provided us with specs for the SB30. As for the SB50 SoM, we know it has the same form-factor and edge connector as the WB15 and new SB30 SoM and similarly connects to its carrier board via a pair of M.2 E-Key expansion slots. Like the SB30, the SB50 will offer Linux and Android support. The SB50 SoM (AKA SB50 MTK i500 SoM) is designed for AI/AR/VR applications. Its MediaTek i500 SoC was announced (translated) with the MediaTek i300 in April. In July, MediaTek followed up with its high-end MediaTek i700 (AI IoT platform i700). All three of these "AIoT" platforms are designed for media-enhanced edge computing, with the i500 and i700 also targeting AI on the edge.



SlingShot is Offering Free Labor for 1st Time Customers!
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Industry News & Recent Posts

08-26-2019 13:16:50 PM
SEGGER Microcontroller has added support for the latest Hilscher multiprotocol SoC, netX90, to its J-Trace and J-Link trace probes. Software engineers working with Hilscher's netX90 can now enjoy the high download speeds of the J-Link and advanced features, such as breakpoints in flash memory, but also the additional features brought to the table by J-Trace-PRO, such as live code profiling and coverage. ... Continue reading →...»
 
08-26-2019 12:30:03 PM
Infineon Technologies has introduced an LED driver IC, the ILD8150/E, that features an innovative hybrid dimming mode technology for achieving 0.5% of the target current. With its supply voltage range from 8 V DC up to 80 V DC, the driver IC provides a high safety voltage margin for applications operating close to safe extra-low voltage (SELV) limits.  ... 
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08-26-2019 11:36:31 AM
Nissan Motor has adopted Renesas' chips for the ProPILOT 2.0 system featured in the new Nissan Skyline unveiled on July 16. The driver assistance system combines navigated highway driving with hands-off, single-lane driving capabilities, employing Renesas' R-Car automotive SoC and RH850 automotive control MCU to implement core functionality in the electronic control units (ECUs) that handle driving judgment and control. ... 
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08-26-2019 10:57:33 AM
Texas Instruments has introduced an ultra-low-power switching regulator with what TI claims is the industry's lowest operating quiescent current (IQ) at 60 nA, a third that of the nearest competitive device. The TPS62840 synchronous step-down converter delivers very high light-load efficiency of 80% at 1-µA load, which can enable designers to extend the battery life of their systems, or use fewer or smaller batteries to shrink their overall power supply solution size and reduce cost. ... 
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08-22-2019 15:41:54 PM
Even simple MCU-based projects often require some sort of front panel interface. Traditionally such systems had to rely on LEDs and switches for such simple interfaces. These days however, you can buy small, inexpensive computing devices such as mini PCs and tablet computers and adapt them to fill those interfacing roles. ... 
 Continue reading →...»
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