This month we want to highlight a large spectrum of products including an infrared array sensor, a flexible IoT prototyping microcontroller, an FPGA development kit, and a home automation relay assembly.
Panasonic AMG88 Series
The first product I want to talk about is part of a larger product series by Panasonic, specifically their AMG88 series. This specialized infrared array sensor is a highly precise infrared tool that is based on MEMS technology. It detects temperature across a two-dimensional area 8 x 8 pixels wide, for a total of 64 pixels. It utilizes digital output, which is even capable of displaying the temperature value of the subject within view. There are a few different configurations of this product, which vary in applied voltage and performance type. One specific product is the AMG8834, using 3 volts and high gain, so it is capable of measuring an object’s temperature anywhere between 0 and 80 degrees Celcius. This tiny sensor is even capable of detecting humans up to 7m away. All of these characteristics make it ideal for several applications, including home appliances like microwaves or clothes dryers, energy-efficient HVAC systems, or even automatic doorways.
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Adafruit Thermal Breakout Board
If you are interested in developing your application to use the Panasonic AMG88 series, a product from Adafruit can certainly help get the job done. Brought to you by Adafruit, this little thermal breakout board features the AMG8833 model of the sensor and is perfect to quickly implement the sensor into your deign. The sensor supports I2C and has a configurable interrupt pin for threshold monitoring. Adafruit designed this breakout board specifically so that you can use it with a 3V or 5V microcontroller of your liking, which makes implementing this sensor extremely easy. They even show you how to use this sensor with Raspberry Pi and a SciPy image processing library.
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Pycom SiPy
Next is the IoT development board called SiPy from Pycom, specifically the SiPy 22DBM. As with almost all of PyCom’s products, this IoT development board is fully intended for designers that require a scalable development platform. SiPy comes packed with Sigfox, WiFi, and Bluetooth Low-Energy connectivity options which make it ideal of IoT application development. This board is MicroPython enabled and boasts ultra-low power usage when compared to other micro controllers. There are loads of features on this awesome development board that are certainly worth a look if you are serious about developing an IoT product for anywhere in the world.
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Arrow Development Tools DECA FPGA Development Board
As a product of Arrow development tools, the DECA FPGA evaluation board is definitely one of the best in class whether you’re an experienced FPGA developer or a novice to the FPGA world. This evaluation board is a full-feature hardware platform that is built around the Altera MAX 10 FPGA and includes many features and interfaces including a BeagleBone compatible header to tap into a large I/O development infrastructure. The evaluation board has multiple sensors, LEDs pushbuttons and an on-board USB blaster, allowing design integration in almost any application.
Digital Loggers Relay Module
Lastly, is the consumer-ready, controllable, four-outlet, power relay module from Digital Loggers. This module is a fairly simple device, but is still really exciting because it makes automating power within your own home safe. With the holidays always approaching, this relay module is the safest way to make a DIY lighting controller for all of those holiday-light needs. The configuration is fairly simple, which is what makes it user friendly. There is one “always-on” outlet, which I would recommend using to power your microcontroller, plus two “normally-off” and one “normally-on” outlets. This means you have the potential to control three separate outlets with one signal from your microcontroller, all under the safety of this module. It makes customizing your holiday lighting or lab space simple.
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