8Power Vibration Energy Harvesting Technology Powers Batteryless LPWAN GPS Trackers, MEMS Sensors

While IoT products usually promises one to 10 years battery life, they will be several billions of them, and ARM’s CEO even forecast one trillion IoT devices in the next 20 years. Recharging batteries at home may be fine, but imagine having to recharge or replace batteries on top of electric poles, inside walls, in remote locations, and other hard to reach places, considerable resources would have to be deployed just to replace or recharge battery every year or whenever the battery is close to being depleted.  That’s why work on energy harvesting technology for batteryless devices may be so important, and 8Power is one of the companies working in the field through their vibration energy harvesting technology that is said to harvest up to 10x the power of competing devices under comparable condition thanks to the use of parametric resonance phenomenon. The company has recently announced their Track 100 family […]

Intrinsyc Introduces Open-Q 2100 SoM and Devkit Powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 2100 SoC for Wearables

Qualcomm unveiled Snapdragon Wear 2100 SoC for wearables early last year, and since then a few smartwatches powered by the processor – such as LG Watch Style and Watch Sport – have been launched, and Intrinsyc has now unveiled one of the first module based on the processor with Open-Q 2100 system-on-module, and a corresponding Nano-ITX baseboard. Open-Q 2100 SoM specifications: SoC – Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 2100 (APQ8009W) quad core ARM Cortex A7 processor @ up to 1.094 GHz with Adreno 304 GPU System Memory – 512 MB LPDDR3 Storage – 4GB eMMC flash Connectivity – 802.11 b/g/n WiFi (WCN2320), Bluetooth 4.1 LE, Gen 8C GNSS (GPS/GLONASS) with on-board u.FL connector (WGR7640) Audio – Integrated Codec/PMIC (PM8916-1) with optional support for Fluence HD, Snapdragon Voice Activation, and Snapdragon Voice+ 2x 100-pin board-to-board connectors with USB 2.0, I2S, GPIO, MIPI DSI up to 720p @ 60 Hz, 2-lane MIPI CSI, SDC2/microSD […]

Wio GPS is a $40 Grove & Arduino Compatible Bluetooth 3.0 + GSM/GPRS + GPS Tracker Board

After Wio Link and Wio Node boards, Seeed Studio has added a new board to their Wio (Wireless Input Output) family with Wio GPS board based on Microchip SAMD21 Cortex M0+ MCU for Arduino compatibility, and Mediatek MT2503 ARM7 processor for GPS, Bluetooth 3.0, and 2G (GPRS) connectivity. Wio GPS board specifications: MCU – Microchip ATSAMD21G18A-MU ARM Cortex M0+ MCU @ 48 MHz with 256KB flash, 32KB SRAM Wireless SoC – Mediatek MT2503 ARM7EJ-S processor @ 260 MHz Storage – micro SD slot (shared with nano SIM slot) Connectivity (built-in MT2503 in Quectel MC20 module) Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR, 3.0 with SPP Profile and HFP-AG Profile; u.FL connector for external antenna Quad band 2G GSM/GPRS  with u.FL connector for external antenna and nano SIM card slot GNSS – GPS + BeiDou + QZSS with u.FL connector for external antenna Audio – Speaker footprint (+/-), 3.5mm AUX jack with mic and stereo audio […]

MatchX LoRaWAN Solution Supports up to 65,535 Sensor Nodes per Gateway

MatchBox-LoRa

MatchX is a startup with offices in Chicago, Shenzhen, and Berlin, that provides a complete LoRaWAN solution with their MatchBox gateway based on SX1301 concentrator and Mediatek MT7628N processor, as well as MatchStick, MatchModule, and MatchCore sensors with up to 65,535 of those connecting to a single  gateway. MatchBox LoRaWAN/WiFi/GPRS/GPS Gateway MatchBox specifications: Processor – Mediatek MT7628AN MIPS WiSoC @ up to 580 MHz System Memory – 128MB DDR2 RAM Storage – 16MB FLASH Connectivity LoRa – Semtech SX1301 + 2x SX1257@+27dbm  Output Power; 470/868/915Mhz frequency range, -146dBm sensitivity 10/100M Ethernet 802.11n 2×2 WiFi @ 300 MHz Optional GPRS via SIM800H, 85.6 kbps (downlink/uplink) + micro SIM card slot GPS via UBlox Max 7C Antennas – 2x u.FL antennas for WiFi, u.FL or chip antenna for LoRa, GPS and GPRS modules USB – 1x USB 2.0 port, 1x USB type C exposing 4 or 6 GPIOs and UART Misc – […]

Particle Asset Tracker Kit v2 2G/3G GPS Location Tracker Supports Grove Modules

Particle, the maker of IoT boards such as Electron 2G/3G module, has launched it second Asset Tracker Kit – based on Electron – with a smaller case, improved GPS performance, satellite support for GPS, GLONASS, Galileo & BeiDou, and compatibility with Seeed Studio Grove modules. Asset Tracker Kit v2 hardware specifications: MCU – STMciro STM32F205 ARM Cortex M3 micro-controller @ @ 120 MHz with  1MB Flash, 128K RAM Cellular Connectivity – U-Blox SARA U-series (3G) or G-series (2G) modem + NanoSIM card slot + u.FL connector for Antenna Location 72-channel u-bloxM8 engine with support for GPS/QZSS L1 C/A, GLONASS L10F, BeiDou B1I, Galileo E1B/C, SBAS L1 C/A: WAAS, EGNOS, MSAS, GAGAN Update rates: Single GNSS: up to 18 Hz, 2 Concurrent GNSS: up to 10 Hz Position accuracy of 2.5 m, sensitivity of -167 dBm Acquisition times: Cold starts: 26s, Aided starts: 2s, Reacquisition: 1s On board ceramic GPS antenna […]

Linux based iWave Systems OBD-II Dongle Comes with 4G LTE and GPS

ODB-II-4G-GPS-Linux

OBD-II dongles that you connect to your car’s OBD-II port have been around for several years, but they were initially simple devices with USB or Bluetooth connectivity that you control with your smartphone or computer. More recently we’ve seen more complex OBD-II head-up-diplays, and boards such as Macchina M2 open-source hardware OBD-II board that takes various XBee modules for 4G, Ethernet, WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, and so on. iWave Systems, a company better known for their system-on-modules, has now unveiled their own OBD-II dongle with NXP i.MX 6UL processor running Linux, and integrating 4G LTE and GPS by default. iWave Systems OBD-II dongle specifications: Processor – NXP i.MX 6UL ARM Cortex-A7 processor @ 528/696MHz Memory –  256 MB DDR3 (Optionally upgradeable to higher capacity) Storage – 256 MB NAND Flash (optionally upgradeable to higher capacity). Connectivity – Built-in 4G Modem with antenna, optional WiFi & Bluetooth 4.0 LE module Positioning – […]

Goblin 2 Arduino Compatible IoT Board Includes SIM5320A 3G & GPS Module

Veracruz, Mexico based Verse Technology has recently launched Goblin 2, an Arduino compatible IoT development, based on Atmel/Microchip ATmega328P MCU, featuring a built-in SIM5320A 3G and GPS module, supporting RS-485 communication, and providing 3.3/5 and 24V power output. Goblin 2 board specifications: MCU – Microchip Atmel ATMega328P AVR MCU @ 16 MHz with 1KB EEPROM, 32kB Flash, 2kB SRAM Wireless connectivity via Simcom SIM5320A  USB 2.0 module: Dual-Band UMTS/HSDPA 900/2100MHz Quad-Band GSM/GPRS/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900MHz 1x SIM card slot High accuracy 16 channel GPS Expansion I/Os 6x ADC input with 10 bits resolution 10x digital in/out including 5 PWM RS-485 protocol @ 10Mbps for up to 256 nodes on the bus Header to Keypad, microphone and speaker for SIM I/O Misc – 8 LEDs for power, battery, networking, RS485, UART, plus one user LED; Power switch, RS-485 /GPIO switch, program / SIM AT+ switch Power Supply – 5V via micro USB port, […]

SigFox Launches Spot’it Low Cost GPS-Free IoT Geolocation Service

Asset tracking was traditionally done using a combination of cellular and GPS technology, and LPWAN standards like LoRa & Sigfox promised to lower the cost of communication and hardware while still relying on GPS technology, but Sigfox has just announced Spot’it geolocation service, which will get rid of GPS all together, and instead use radio signal strength analysis and deep learning techniques in order to provide location information both outdoors and indoors. Key benefits listed by the company include: Lowest-cost IoT location service – Spot’it does not require any additional hardware or software upgrades, and the device does not have to transmit more messages, meaning there is no impact on the solution operating cost for customers. Low energy – Spot’it does not rely on energy intensive GPS technology, nor require additional processing or any more energy than what Sigfox-enabled devices already consume. Enabled through a planetary network – Spot’it is embedded […]

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