Connecting with You to Solve System Design Puzzles – ESC Silicon Valley 2017 Recap
Last week we headed out to San Jose to attend the Embedded Systems Conference (ESC) Silicon Valley. We met a lot of innovative startups and had very productive conversations, as well as engaged with more familiar industry names that were all looking to take advantage of System-In-Package technology. Hopefully, if you were in the area, you were able to stop by and talk to the team. If you weren’t, here’s a few highlights from the show, as well as some exciting things to come.
Industrial Problem-Solving Robots!
By far our most crowd-pleasing demo was a robot that was able to solve a Rubik’s Cube. It is powered by the OSD3358-512M-BAS SiP which is featured on the BeagleBone Blue. A standard USB Web Cam is used to analyze the cube and determine the starting position. The OSD3358-512M-BAS then runs a solving algorithm that determines the moves that are required to solve the cube. Finally, the cube is manipulated and solved with robotic arms driven by servo motors that are controlled by the OSD3358-512M-BAS PWMs.
We will be posting a blog soon that goes into the details of the Robot including explanations of the software and hardware. After reading it you should be able to build your own! So, check back soon or follow us on Facebook, Twitter, or Linked In to stay up to date.
SiP Technology Helping to Create Smaller, Quicker, Lower Cost Embedded Linux Systems, a Tech Talk.
Another big highlight of the show was a technical seminar given by our Applications Engineering Manager, Erik Welsh. He spoke to a large audience of design engineers that were excited to see how System-In-Package technology could help them in their design.
He walked through a case study comparing 2 robotics platforms. The first was designed with discrete components and the second was designed with a SiP. He showed how SiP simplified the schematics and layout of the system. He also showed how SiP allowed for a lower cost total solution.
If you couldn’t attend the talk or just want to hear it again you are in luck. We will be hosting a webcast where Erik will give the same presentation sometime in January. Again, please check back for updates or Facebook, Twitter, or Linked for the details.
Games and Robots
We also brought back some of our more popular demos from ESC Boston that we attended earlier this year. This included our self-balancing inverted pendulum robot, which got named 8-V-O, and our Whac-A-Mole game.
The Whac-A-Mole Game was updated to run off the PocketBeagle, the newest $25 board from BeagleBoard.org®. The PocketBeagle utilizes the OSD3358-512M-BSM to achieve its small size. This demo highlights the ability to simply prototype with the different development boards available for the OSD335x family.
8-V-O utilizes the OSD3358-512M-BAS device on the BeagleBone® Blue to keep the robot balanced on two wheels, much like a Segway. This demonstrates the sensor capabilities of the BeagleBone® Blue as well as the control capabilities of the OSD335x devices. A balancing algorithm takes inputs from the IMU on the Blue and drives the wheels to keep it upright.
RED Board and Sensors
The final demo we had on display was built around our OSD3358-SM-RED platform. This is the official Reference, Evaluation, and Development platform for the OSD335x-SM family of devices. The demo took data from the on-board 9-axis IMU and Barometer sensors and displayed it on a 1080P screen through the micro-HDMI connector.
What’s Next
We really enjoy getting out on the road and meeting up with customers. Our experiences at ESC this year have been great. Next, we are off to Embedded World in Nuremburg, Germany From Feb 27th to March 1st, 2018. Keep an eye out for more information coming up after the New Year.
Thanks again to everyone that came out to visit us this year and we are looking forward to seeing even more of you next year!