And the Kits Keep Coming

Not long ago I noted the sudden appearance of various reference designs and platforms and kits intended to take some of the friction out of the process of adopting sensors, especially for the non-sensor-savvy.

Well, it wasn’t an isolated phenomenon: they keep coming.

Since then, I’ve noted the following:

• This one isn’t strictly a sensor kit, but it fits into the whole IoT picture: NFC. ST announced a “discovery kit” that “…contains everything engineers need to start adding NFC connectivity to any kind of electrical device…” It contains the tag, microcontroller, antenna, screen, joystick, and connectors. A premium version includes Bluetooth with audio out and a headset.
• InvenSense announced a wearable platform, which contains “…all of the key functions of a health and fitness wearable device…” Those would comprise motion and pressure sensors, microcontroller, Bluetooth Low-Energy, and their Automatic Activity Recognition software, which provides “always on” functionality. To get more fitness tips, learn more here.
• Movea announced a sensor hub kit for mobile devices. It’s a “…complete software and hardware package on a Nexus phone…” running Android 4.4 (KitKat). Quoting from their announcement, it includes the following functions (with power indicated on ST’s STM32F401 microcontroller):
  • Significant motion detection (<40 mW)
  • Step counting (<100 mW)
  • Activity monitoring and context awareness  (<300 mW)
  • Cadency, speed and distance when walking and running
  • Energy expenditure
  • Context detection for walking, running and in transport
  • Extensive library supporting a wide range of sports at >95 percent
• Pedestrian Dead Reckoning  (<1.8 mW)
• Step cadency, distance, heading, floor detection

And I assume these won’t be the last… I’ll update occasionally as these fly over the transom.