Farnell element14, the Development Distributor and an Avnet company, will be presenting its range of Smart IoT technology at Embedded World 2019 in Nuremberg, Germany from 26-28 February. Farnell element14 will be co-located with sister company Avnet Silica at Booth 370, Hall 1.

Visitors to the stand can identify building blocks for their IoT device, and view the latest technologies in four easy to navigate zones that enable them to collect, connect and control with intelligence built-in. Farnell element14 will display its extensive range of new and popular solutions from industry-leading manufacturers and the most innovative businesses in IoT and Artificial Intelligence (AI). Demonstrations of exclusive products include:

• Avnet SmartEdge Agile: Learn how AI at the edge can help you to deploy predictive maintenance in an industrial environment, with real-time monitoring and analysis to predict useful run-time and prevent failures and downtime
• Avnet Ultra 96: Learn how this machine learning platform, based on Xilinx Zynq UltaScale+ programmable logic device and accelerated engine, significantly accelerates Road Sign Recognition through Accelerated Image Classification via a Binary Neural Network for autonomous transport applications.
• HanHaa Symbisa: Learn how the Symbisa sensing kit combined with a GSM modem and secure global communication network allows development of a truly plug-and-play global mobile sensing solution that displays data directly into an Excel worksheet.
• The Things Network Gateway: Learn how you can start prototyping your ideas in less than 60 minutes, without any kind of hardware development. Suitable for applications such as smart parking, agriculture, building automation and smart supply chain.

Visitors can also get a first look at two new products:

• the new Arduino LoRa Gateway Pro and Arduino MKR range for Industrial IoT applications such as smart cities, transportation, environmental andagriculture
• the Avnet SmartEdge Industrial IoT Gateway powered by Raspberry Pi and designed for Industrial IoT and automation applications that require strong end-to-end security.

Technical experts will be on stand to advise customers how they can accelerate their time to market by utilising the latest technologies, insights and support from Farnell element14. Visitors will also be able to discuss the benefits of accessing the unique ecosystem of support provided by Farnell element14 as part of the Avnet organisation – from its maker to market service and full design and manufacturing support, to scaling for volume production.

Ralf Buehler, SVP Sales and Marketing for Premier Farnell and Farnell element14 said: “At Embedded World 2019, Farnell element14 will be displaying new, exclusive and market leading technologies that will make it easier than ever for customers to bring their IoT projects to market. We have invested significantly in inventory and Farnell element14 customers can now access our largest range of technologies for IoT, all ready to ship same day from our warehouses in the UK and mainland Europe. We look forward to meeting with customers on stand to discuss how working with Farnell element14 could help them achieve their goals.”

Customers can register for free exhibitions passes for Embedded World through Farnell element14, helping them start their journey. Learn more about Farnell element14 at Embedded World 2019 here.

Premier Farnell, the Development Distributor, is now shipping the new Raspberry Pi Compute Module 3+ for same day despatch. Raspberry Pi Compute Module 3+ delivers the enhanced thermal performance and ease of use of Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+ in a smaller form factor, with a choice of memory variants suitable for a broad range of embedded applications including IoT devices and industrial automation, monitoring and control systems.

Raspberry Pi Compute Module 3+ is based on the Broadcom BCM2837B0 64-bit application processor running at 1.2GHz, with 1GB LPDDR2 SDRAM. Developers can now choose between 8GB, 16GB & 32GB eMMC flash variants and a ‘Lite’ variant, with no eMMC flash, to match their storage requirements.

“Customers continue to tell us* that it is the ease of use of the Raspberry Pi that makes it so attractive to them when choosing a development board. Over a third* of our Raspberry Pi customers are using the board for professional use.” says Hari Kalyanaraman, Global Head of SBC and Emerging Business at Premier Farnell. “This new version of the popular Raspberry Pi Compute Module delivers on ease of use, as well as providing enhanced thermal performance and increased flexibility through multiple memory variants. Developers no longer need to customise their board if they need additional memory, and can get their products to market faster than ever before.”

Eben Upton, CEO of Raspberry Pi Trading said “With today’s launch of Raspberry Pi Compute Module 3+, we are able to offer a full range of single-board-computer and system-on-module products based on the latest high-performance Broadcom BCM2837B0 device. Suitable for both makers and professional engineers, Compute Module 3+ offers improved thermal performance, a wider supported ambient temperature range, more storage options, and access to Raspberry Pi’s world-leading community and software ecosystem.”

Highlights of Raspberry Pi Compute Module 3+ include:

• Processor: Broadcom BCM2837B0 SoC, with quad-core Cortex-A53 64-bit @ 1.2GHz.
• Multimedia: H.264 and MPEG-4 decode (1080p30); H.264 encode (1080p30); OpenGL ES 2.0 graphics.
• SD card support: CM3+/Lite brings the SD card interface to the module pins allowing the user to connect either an external eMMC device or SD card.
• Environment: Ambient temperature of -20 to +70 degrees C.

Raspberry Pi Compute Module 3+ will remain in production until at least January 2024.

Raspberry Pi Compute Module 3+ is available to buy as a standalone board or as a development kit including a Raspberry Pi Compute Module I/O board, Raspberry Pi CM3+/32GB module, Raspberry Pi CM3+/Lite module, and display and camera adapters. Visit Farnell element14 in Europe, element14 in APAC and Newark element14 in North America.

* Based on research undertaken by Premier Farnell

Premier Farnell is now shipping SmartEdge Agile, a low power, IoT ready-to-use device developed through a partnership between Avnet (Nasdaq: AVT), Octonion and ST Microelectronics. The first in a new category called “Meta-Sensing”, SmartEdge Agile includes nine sensors, and provides design engineers with the ability to implement artificial intelligence (AI) at the edge through an easy-to-use, zero-code interface.

Success in today’s IoT market requires a unique combination of hardware, software and security solutions — all working together. Adding AI to IoT solutions by traditional means often creates even more challenges, including increased costs and greater complexity, and longer time to market. Tools that can alleviate these challenges become invaluable.

By utilizing SmartEdge Agile with Octonion’s new Brainium portal and AI Studio powered by Microsoft Azure, users will have access to a “zero-coding” revolutionary machine learning tool that enables developers and manufacturers to easily bring intelligence to their devices. Brainium Portal can be used to easily initiate a proof of concept (POC) by leveraging more than 20 predefined AI algorithms that can be re-used through to product launch. A Brainium software agent is embedded into SmartEdge Agile allowing seamless interface with AI Studio and facilitating the end-to end IoT solution which enables customers to focus on their use cases.

Ralf Buehler, SVP Product, Marketing and eCommerce for Premier Farnell added: “As the Development Distributor, Premier Farnell is focused on helping customers at the early stage of design, bring greater capabilities to their designs through intelligent technology. SmartEdge Agile is a revolutionary product in its field, bringing artificial intelligence to the edge for IoT solutions. With easy to use, drag and drop programming, this intelligence is now available to deploy, even to users with no coding experience.”

"With SmartEdge Agile and Brainium Portal, we are building core software on top of hardware to create even more value for our customers," explained Lou Lutostanski, VP, Internet of Things, Avnet. “AI and security at the edge are continually requested by our customers when building their IoT projects. This dynamic solution and portal duo not only meets those needs, it also brings us closer to our customers, and is shaping the future of how IoT projects will be developed and executed.”

“Up until now, engineers have been creative in building IoT solutions with technologies such as Arduino or Raspberry Pi, but with AI Studio, they will now be able to add AI capabilities to their products,” said Cédric Mangaud, CEO, Octonion. “We have been working on our AI technology for four years, and I’m confident that this machine learning tool in conjunction with SmartEdge Agile, will help users to build AI models in a quick and easy way, making the process more efficient and value-driven than ever before.”

SmartEdge Agile is CE and FCC Certified with Bluetooth Low Energy 5.0. Its internal battery can be charged by the USB type C connection. The device is based on a 80-MHz, 32-bit Brainium STm32 chip with an ARM Cortex-M4. The sensors board suite includes two 3D accelerometers, a 3D gyroscope, a 3D magnetometer, a pressure sensor, a humidity and temperature sensor, a microphone, an ambient light sensor and proximity sensor, all from STMicroelectronics. SmartEdge Agile also embeds a Secure Element to insure authentication, encryption and integrity of the exchanged data. The device is built in a modular approach at different levels: the sensor board, the connectivity board and the USB Type C connector allows adapting the device to the exact customer requirement.

The Brainium portal provides developers, entrepreneurs and makers with:

• An easy and intuitive drag-and-drop widget-based interface (features include: device monitoring, device provisioning, device management) with a real-time insights on your SmartEdge Agile devices
• Export of the data coming from their devices
• AI Studio for motion and vibration analysis
• End to end security model from the SmartEdge Agile up to the Cloud

SmartEdge Agile is available from Newark element14 in North America, Farnell element14 in EMEA and element14 in Asia Pacific.

To Sign in to Brainium portal visit www.brainium.com/portal

Join Avnet at CES in Las Vegas, USA, January 8-11 in Tech East Westgate, Booth #2609, where SmartEdge Agile and Brainium AI solution demos and use cases will be on display.

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