Maxim Integrated has recently announced two wearable development kits for fitness / health tracking: MAX-HEALTH-BAND watch for vital signs MAX-ECG-MONITOR with a chest strap for clinical-grade electrocardiograph (ECG) and heart rate. MAX-HEALTH-BAND Development Kit The MAX-HEALTH-BAND wrist-worn heart-rate and activity monitor features the company’s MAX86140 optical pulse-oximeter/heart-rate sensor, MAX20303 wearable power-management solution, and Maxim’s motion-compensated algorithms. The watch sends raw PPG and accelerometer data via Bluetooth to a smartphone app, and also monitors steps, activity, heart rate and interbeat intervals for heart-rate variability measurements. Battery life is around 7 days on a single charge. The kit also includes a USB charging cable, and instructions to download the Android-based application. The evaluation platform can be used for the development of fitness and wellness trackers, health monitoring trackers, or as a experimentation platform for new use cases and algorithms. In addition to raw PPG and accelerometer data, the MAX-HEALTH-BAND monitors steps, activity, […]
RoKi Sensor Node Bluetooth 5 Devkit is Equipped with Multiple Sensors
ROHM and Kionix have just introduced the RoKi Sensor Node, part of the new RoKi IoT Platform. The sensor node is based on Nordic Semiconductor’s nRF52840 Bluetooth 5 LE System-on-Chip (SoC), and integrates multiple sensors from Kionix and ROHM. RoKi Sensor Node specifications: MCU – Nordic Semi nRF52840 Bluetooth 5 Arm Cortex M4F processor @ 64 Mhz with 1 MB flash, 256kB RAM Sensors Built-in 3-axis accelerometer Combination 3-axis accelerometer + 3-axis magnetometer Combination 3-axis accelerometer + 3-axis gyroscope 3-axis magnetometer Barometer Available with expansion connectors Optical heart rate sensor Ambient light sensor RGB color sensor Magnetic hall effect sensor etc Misc – Programmable RGB LED Power Supply – Rechargeable Li-Polymer battery, replaceable coin cell batteries, or via Micro USB. Battery life – Active time is about 8 hours of typical usage, and an estimated standby time of 200 hours. Dimensions – 42x67x22mm The sensor node comes with a mounting […]
Sens’it Discovery is a Sigfox IoT Solution with 6 Sensors
Sigfox has just launched Sens’it Discovery, which they describe as a “end-to-end IoT solution, which aims to accelerate the adoption of the IoT (Internet of things) among business and technical professionals”. The solution is comprised for Sens’it 3 device with 6 sensors, sensit.io application, and Sigfox connectivity. Sens’it 3 hardware specifications: MCU – STM32 micro‑controller Connectivity TI CC1125 radio transceiver Sigfox Ready class 0U Frequencies – 868 to 869.7 MHz, 902 to 908 MHz, or 923.2 MHz (TX) / 922.2 MHz (RX), or 920 to 925 MHz depending on region Transmit Power emission – 14 dBm ERP (RC1), 22 dBm ERP (RC2), 10 dBm ERP (RC3), 22 dBm ERP (RC4) Sensors Thermometer (HTS221) – -40 to 120°C / Accuracy ± 0.5°C Humidity (HTS221) – 0 to 100 / Accuracy ± 3.5% rH (20 to +80% rH) Accelerometer (FXOS8700) – ±2, 4, 8 g / Accuracy 0.244, 0.488, 0.976 mg Magnetometer (FXOS8700) […]
Microsoft Introduces Project Kinect for Azure
Kinect started as as motion sensing input device for Xbox 360 & One game consoles with an integrated webcam, infrared projector, and a microphone array, which enabled it to detect depth, motion, and voice from gamers. But it also become popular with maker projects due to price and capabilities, and was even found to be a worthy microphone array for voice commands. The third generation of Kinect went into Hololense mixed reality headset, and Microsoft has just unveiled the fourth generation Kinect with Project Kinect for Azure. AFAIK, the company did not provide the full technical details about the new Kinect, but we know it comes with an RGB camera, a 360-degree mic array, an accelerometer, and a time-of-flight (ToF) depth-sensor, and the company did offer some details about the latter : Number of pixels: 1024×1024 resolution Highest Figure of Merit (highest modulation frequency and modulation contrast resulting in low […]
XH-M452 Board Helps Controlling a Cabinet or Room’s Temperature & Humidity
XH-M452 is a board designed to control the temperature and humidity in a room or cabinet. It comes with two relays to control appliances like fans, air conditioners, (de-)humidifiers, or heaters, and ships with a temperature and humidity probe attached to a one meter cable. XH-M452 board specifications: “ST Controller” Relays – 2x SONGLE 10A/250VAC 125VAC relays for temperature control (left) and humidity control (right). Display – 2x LED display for temperature & humidity Sensor 1 meter probe for temperature & humidity Temperature range – -20 to 60°C +/- 0.1°C Humidity range – 0% to 100% RH +/- 0.1% RH Misc – +/- buttons to adjust temperature and humidity; 2x relay status LEDs. Power Supply – 12V via terminal Dimensions – 65 x 55 x 28mm You’ll need to provide a 12V power source for the board, connect an appliance to control the temperature on the left terminals, and an […]
Chrome 67 to Support the Generic Sensor API for Accelerometers, Gyroscopes, and Fusion Sensors
Once upon a time, web browsers were used to… well, browse the web, but overtime, features and API have been added to run apps with the ability to control hardware like webcams using the Media Capture API, GPIOs using JavaScript (e.g. node.js), or handle Bluetooth connectivity though the Web Bluetooth API. The W3C Generic Sensor API is one of the latest proposed API, and defines a framework for exposing sensor data to the Open Web Platform in a consistent way. Google has just announced Chrome 67 beta supports the new API. Four types of sensors are supported for now: accelerometer, gyroscope, orientation sensor combining accelerometer and gyroscope data, and motion sensor, another fusion sensor leveraging data from a magnetometer as well as the accelerometer and the gyroscope for example to act as a virtual compass. You can test the Sensor API on your phone or other device with sensors running […]
Broadcom AFBR-S50 Industrial ToF Sensor Works up to 10 Meters
Time-of-Flight (ToF) ranging sensors can measure distance accurately using laser light and are sold in a really tiny package. STMicro VL53L0X ToF sensor may be the most popular with a 2 meter range, and its ultra low cost. The sensor got an extended range up to 4 meter with the recent launch of VL53L1X, but STMicro is not the only company providing such solution, and Broadcom has just introduced their AFBR-S50 ToF sensors for industrial applications and a range of up to 10 meters. Two versions are offered with different laser light sources, field of view, and number of pixels: AFBR-S50MV680B 680nm laser light source One illuminated pixel FOV 1.55° x 1.55° Single voltage – 5V supply AFBR-S50MV85G 850nm laser light source 9-16 illuminated pixels FOV 6.2° x 6.2° Single voltage – 5V supply The multipixel version of AFBR-S50 supports up to 3,000 frames per second with up to 16 […]
RushUp KITRA Board Family is based on Samsung Artik 020, Artik 520/530, or Artik 710 Modules
Samsung first announced their Artik IoT modules almost three years ago, and until recently most Artik related products or development kits came from Samsung themselves, with no third party involved. But this has started to change recently with announcements such a Seeed Studio Eagleye 530s low cost development board based on Artik 530 module, and Resin.io Project Fin combining RPI CM3L module with an Artik 020 module for low power Bluetooth connectivity. But as I flicked through Resin.io supported hardware, I discovered they also supported Linux powered Artik 520 and Artik1020 module, as well as some new “KITRA” boards I had never heard of, and if we visit RushUp company website, we can see they have a bunch of Kutra boards and one IoT gateway based on Artik modules: KITRA 520 – Samsung ARTIK 520 product accelerator for advanced IoT KITRA 710 – Samsung ARTIK 710 product accelerator for advanced multimedia […]