Congatec expands portfolio with TI’s Arm processors for SMARC modules
Congatec has announced the first conga-STDA4, SMARC computer on module which features the industrial-grade Arm Cortex-based TDA4VM processor.
The embedded and edge computing technology company has expanded its Arm processor portfolio with the inclusion of TI processors. The processor incorporates accelerated vision and AI processing, real-time control and functional safety capabilities.
The dual Arm Cortex-A72-based module is designed for industrial mobile machinery requiring near-field analytics, such as automated guided vehicles and autonomous mobile robots, construction and agricultural machinery. It is also suitable for any vision-focused industrial or medical solution requiring powerful but energy-efficient artificial intelligence (AI) processors at the edge, said congatec. Integrating the powerful TI TDA4VM processor on a standardised computer on module simplifies the design-in process of this processor technology, allowing designers in various embedded industries to focus on their core competencies, said congatec. This can support companies and save up-front costs and shorten the time to market in comparison to fully customised designs, especially in lower quantity production volumes.
“Industrial OEMs, especially those who don’t have the resources to invest in full custom designs, can benefit from innovative SMARC COMs that help streamline design while enabling high design security and low NRE costs,” said Srik Gurrapu, industrial business lead, processors, Texas Instruments.
“We see that autonomous driving based on AI and computer vision is one of the most important markets for embedded and edge computing technologies beside the second major growth accelerator digitisation,” added Martin Danzer, director product management at congatec.
“TI offers highly-integrated processors for such applications, and we are confident that our value adding Computer-on-Module approach will open new markets for such edge-server-grade, AI-driven, high-throughput technology. We will make TI processors available on our credit-card-sized SMARC Computer-on-Module ecosystem with all the added values. These include fast prototyping and application development, cost-effective carrier board designs, and ultra-reliable, responsive and performant resources from design-in to series production of OEM systems,” he added.
First booting samples are expected to be available in mid-2023. Series production is scheduled for 2024.
