IoT gateway with Raspberry Pi accelerates adoption, says Farnell
Distributor, Farnell, is now shipping the Avnet SmartEdge industrial IoT gateway. The low-cost industrial gateway is powered by Raspberry Pi and is designed for a range of applications, including building management, vehicle monitoring, industrial automation and predictive maintenance.
The Avnet SmartEdge industrial IoT gateway’s seamless, secure connectivity is enabled by Avnet’s IoTConnect platform to provide features to gather, analyse and provide actionable, real-time data visualisation. The IoTConnect platform runs on Microsoft Azure edge-to-cloud services to build, deploy, and manage IoT connected assets.
The gateway provides connectivity with data intelligence for a range of industrial 4.0 applications including additional ports to handle industrial protocols, higher power input range, a trusted computing module for comprehensive end-to-end hardware data security, and a robust wall or DIN-rail mountable metal enclosure.
Connectivity options include a full set of industrial peripherals which include CAN-BUS and RS-232/ 485 (Modbus and DeviceNet) interfaces, isolated digital I/O and dual 10/100 Ethernet, with wireless connectivity including WiFi at 2.4GHz and Bluetooth Low Energy 4.2 via an integrated antenna with external connectivity, and an mPCIe interface for cellular modems. Power is via a 12 to 24V DC input and an HDMI display output is also incorporated. It is based on an 8Gbyte EMMC which replaces the standard SD memory card, with security guaranteed by an onboard TPM 2.0.
The device also has the 40-pin expansion header to link with a range of devices from the ecosystem of HATs and other accessories.
Those familiar with prototyping on a Raspberry Pi device will find it straightforward to bring their designs to an industrial environment without having to switch platforms, Farnell reassures developers.
Hari Kalyanaraman, global head of single board computers at Farnell said of the Avnet SmartEdge industrial IoT gateway: “Ease of use and seamless, secure connectivity make it ideal for developing industrial automation applications such as remote monitoring, predictive maintenance, process control and automation. . . we believe this device could be a key driver in the further adoption of Industrial IoT applications.”
Pete Bartolotta, president of business transformation at Avnet, said: “The Avnet SmartEdge industrial IoT gateway will allow developers to design and scale IoT projects leveraging the familiar Raspberry Pi platform that’s now industrialised for scale.” He added that the Avnet and Farnell ecosystem provides the technology, support and tools developers need to bring IoT projects from prototyping to mass m market volumes.
The Avnet SmartEdge industrial IoT gateway is available from Farnell in Europe and Newark in North America. The Avnet SmartEdge Industrial IoT Gateway is also available from Avnet Silica.
