By Steve Bush 17th May 2022
Sfera Labs of Milan has launched an 80 x 80mm multi-sensor edge-computer built around the Raspberry Pi RP2040 microcontroller.
Called Exo Sense RP, module integrates temperature, humidity, VOC (air quality – volatile organic compounds), light and motion sensors, as well as a microphone with audio processing.
RP2040 has two Arm Cortex-M0+ cores, 16Mbyts of flash and 264kbyte of ram. Clocking is at up to 133MHz.
“Having a standard Raspberry Pi RP2040 as its processing unit, the Exo Sense RP can be programmed in C/C++ and MicroPython and is supported by several IDEs, including Visual Studio Code and the Arduino IDE,” said Sfera. “All coding resources, tools, examples and the vast community support available for the RP2040, as well as the open-source libraries and applications developed by Sfera Labs specifically for Exo Sense RP, can be leveraged.”
Additional sensors can be added – the company lists CO2, seismic motion and vibration measurement.
General purpose i-o is available to monitor external signals and control actuators, while an RS-485 and other digital interfaces can be used for system integration and communication with other devices, “such as Wiegand keypads and card readers”, said Sfera. “Alerts and status signals can be implemented via an embedded LED indicator and piezoelectric buzzer.”
Other features include a real-time clock backed by a replaceable CR1025 or manganese dioxide cell, and a Microchip ATECC608 secure element chip.
Only accessible by opening the case, and thus hidden from the casual fiddler, are a micro-USB port for programming and debugging, and a microSD slot for data storage.
Power needs are 10-28Vdc at around 50mA, and the unit has surge and reverse polarity protection, plus a 1.1A resettable fuse.
“As well as operating as a stand-alone edge-computing multi-sensor module, a series of RP modules can be deployed as complementary satellite units for complex networks,” according to the company. “Exo Sense RP can be supplied with custom branding options to support OEM requirements.”
The sensor unit is CE and FCC-compliant, and the company sees it being used in residential and commercial settings such as home automation, building automation, environmental monitoring, people counting, room management, alarm reporting and access control.
The Exo Sense RP product page can be found here
Tagged with: MCU module Raspberry Pi sensor
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