Atmel unveils an ultra-low power Bluetooth Smart solution for the IoT

Evident by the sheer volume of connected objects infiltrating our homes, offices, cars and nearly every facet of our life, the Internet of Things (IoT) market is set for explosive growth. With billions of devices expected to become network-enabled, designers of all levels will require a very low-power platform that allows them to develop these smart gadgets in space-constrained applications. Luckily now, there’s the BTLC1000.

The new ultra-low power Bluetooth Smart solution is capable of achieving sub-1µA in standby mode, while delivering the industry’s best dynamic power consumption and increasing battery life by as much as one year for certain applications. The BTLC1000 pushes the limits of space constrained areas with its unprecedented 2.1mm X 2.1mm Wafer Level Chipscale Package (WLCSP), making it ideal for the rapidly growing IoT and wearables spaces, including portable medical, activity trackers, human Interface devices, gaming controllers, beacons and much more.

Expanding upon the Atmel SmartConnect wireless portfolio, the BTLC1000 is a Bluetooth Smart link controller integrated circuit that connects as a companion to any Atmel AVR or Atmel | SMART MCU through a UART or SPI API requiring minimal resource on the host side. The standalone Atmel | SMART SAMB11 Bluetooth Smart Flash MCU leverages the embedded ARM Cortex-M0 core combined with the integrated analog and communication peripherals to implement application-specific functionalities and is available as a system-in-package or a certified module. Both devices are fully integrated with a self-contained Bluetooth Smart controller and stack enabling wireless connectivity for a variety of applications to be quickly implemented without the wireless expertise typically required.

“One of the primary challenges of the IoT market is system integration—connecting one or multiple devices to the gateway and cloud,” explained Reza Kazerounian, Atmel Senior Vice President and General Manager, MCU Business Unit. “Atmel’s new Bluetooth Smart solutions solve these integration issues by enabling IoT designers of all levels the ability to connect their devices to the gateway and cloud with an easy-to-use, low-power Bluetooth connectivity solution. We are excited to enable more designers to bring their connected devices to the IoT market without comprising design time.”

Bluetooth Smart devices are a new breed of Bluetooth 4.1 peripherals with only a single Bluetooth 4.1 radio connecting only to Bluetooth Smart Ready devices. For those unfamiliar with the technology, Bluetooth Smart is the intelligent, power-friendly version of Bluetooth wireless connectivity that works with an application on the smartphone or tablet you already own. In fact, Bluetooth Smart solutions set new low-power standards with at least 30% power savings compared to existing solutions on the market in dynamic mode.

The cost-effective Bluetooth Smart technology can easily provide developers and OEMs the flexibility to create solutions that will work with the billions of Bluetooth-enabled products already in the market today, not to mention is supported by every major operating system. The technology brings every day devices such as toothbrushes, heart-rate monitors, fitness devices and more to be connected, communicating through applications that reside in Bluetooth Smart compatible smartphones, tablets or other similar devices already owned by consumers.

Interested? General samples will be available in March.

Pantelligent is like an ordinary frying pan but smarter

As we prepare for the holidays, we’re sure many out there would agree: “Cooking takes too much time and energy. And, the result is not always amazing.” Isn’t that the truth?

Thanks to a team of four MIT engineers and chefs, a newly-launched smart pan is hoping to bring consistency in and take the guesswork out of  the kitchen. Imagine if that frying pan of yours suddenly gave you the skills of a master chef, rivaling the likes of Wolfgang Puck or Emeril Lagasse. Bam!

The aptly named Pantelligent features a temperature sensor (in its base) that communicates over Bluetooth (in its handle) with its companion smartphone app, guiding you through the process of cooking just about anything. Think of it as a digital Cooking for Dummies, telling you what, when and how to do it. Without all the reading, of course!

The mobile app is pre-loaded with dozens of recipes, ranging from buttermilk pancakes and crepes to seared scallops and beef stroganoff. In the mood to whip up dinner? Simply choose a recipe, then let the pan and its app take you through the rest. This is done through a “patent-pending design that accurately measures the temperature of the pan’s cooking surface,” a company rep explains.

Sure, experienced chefs can use this connected frying pan as well. Throw out those old-fashioned thermometers because Pantelligent’s sensors will notify you when your food is at the right temperature. In its “freestyle” mode, users can set a target temp for the pan and be alerted if the pan ever gets too hot or cold. This mode works like a “sous chef that never gets distracted.”

Having already achieved its $30,000 crowdfunding goal in a matter of days, it’s safe to say the Pantelligent is cooking up a storm on Kickstarter! With the holidays quickly approaching, head on over to its official page here to learn more. If all goes to plan, the next-gen cooking tool is expected to ship out to backers in August 2015.

From smart appliances to quantified cooking, the Internet of Things will soon revolutionize everything from what we cook to how we consume. Get ready, we’re entering an era of SMARTER eating!

x.pose is a wearable data-driven sculpture

Designers Xuedi Chen and Pedro G. C. Oliveira recently debuted x.pose, a wearable data-driven sculpture that changes opacity to expose a person’s skin as a real-time reflection of outgoing data.

According to Chen, x.pose is both an “exploration and commentary” on the current Internet culture of our generation and the relationship we share with our data.

“We have already ceded control of our digital data emissions, [so] x.pose goes a step further to broadcast the wearer’s data for anyone and everyone to see. A server and mobile app were built to collect Xuedi, the designer’s geolocation data over time to use as the basis for a personalized 3D printed flexible mesh,” Chen explained.

Using an [Atmel based] Arduino and Bluetooth, the app communicates with a layer of reactive displays that reflect the volume of information generated by the wearer.

“These displays are divided up into patches that represent neighborhoods and change in opacity depending on the wearer’s current location. If she is in the NYU neighborhood, that area will be the most active, pulsing, revealing her current location, revealing the fact that her data is being collected and at the same time exposing her skin. As her data emissions are collected, the more transparent and exposed she will become.”

As Chen notes, the foundation behind x.pose is the mobile app and server that automatically collect data from the wearer.

“They are built using Node.js and PhoneGap. The recorded data set is then fed into processing to produce the pattern and exported to Rhino to make the 3D mesh. Lots of experimentation was done at this stage to find the perfect material that would be both flexible and durable,” she added.

“The final step to putting it all together was to provide real-time data transmission through Bluetooth to an Arduino, which controls 20 hand-cut, individually addressable, reactive displays that change in opacity to reveal the wearer’s skin.”

Interested in learning more? You can check out the project’s official page here.

BeON Home smart lights outsmart burglars

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There’s smart bulbs, then there’s out-smart bulbs.

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Did you know that four burglaries occur every minute in the United States alone? That’s a startling one every 15 seconds. The good news is that most convicted burglars (90%) claim they want to avoid homes with alarm systems, saying that if they did encounter an alarm, they would abandon the attack. However, the bad news is that nearly two-thirds of homeowners fail to turn it on at all times.

While there has been an influx of smart bulbs in recent years, none of them may be nearly as intelligent as a new lighting system from one Cambridge, Massachusetts-based startup. The BeON Burglar Deterrent was designed to give off the impression of a lived-in home while you’re away, thereby outsmarting would-be intruders.

For those who recall the 1990s blockbuster film Home Alone, Kevin McCallister — played by Macaulay Culkin — outwits a pair of criminals by creating a DIY home security system. During one scene, Kevin goes to great lengths to set up a fake Christmas party in order to deceive the “Wet Bandits” into thinking that the house is, in fact, occupied.

Well, BeON Home is seeking to bottle some of that Kevin McCallister spirit inside their new system. The BeON Deterrent — which is fresh off a successful Kickstarter campaign — is hidden within several LED bulbs, each of which provide plenty of light throughout a home. As its creators note, you shouldn’t have to compromise on your lighting quality for security and safety. That’s why each bulb in the BeON Burglar Deterrent system emits 800 lumens of soft white LED light, which is equivalent to your typical 60W incandescent bulbs.

While the smart bulbs install just like ordinary lightbulbs, and work with your existing wall switches, an additional ’smart’ module enables a whole new level of intelligence. In particular, the system is equipped to learn your home lighting activity patterns, which are then replayed while away to convey to potential thieves that someone is still home. Upon leaving the house, simply set the system to “protect” mode to activate this automatic lighting sequence.

“No system programming is required. Simply activate and be on your way. Most would-be burglars will continue on their way, but the more bold ones may check if a home is occupied by ringing the doorbell,” a company rep adds.

Embedded with an Atmel | SMART SAM G ARM Cortex-M4 MCU, BeON’s sound processing engine can detect the tone of a doorbell and will immediately trigger the lights on in sequence to simulate your active presence, thereby increasing its level of ‘smartness.’ (Think of it as a professional grade Home Alone contraption.) Aside from the ATSAMG53 based sound algorithm, BeON bulbs boast backup rechargeable batteries, ensuring its burglar prevention powers work even without power.

Furthermore, just as the bulbs can listen to your doorbell, the BeON system can hear other in-home events like smoke and carbon monoxide alarms. As a result, if BeON lights detect an alarm, they will immediately turn on at full brightness to assist home dwellers escape safely.

Following its successful crowdfunding campaign, the team hopes to add other audible functionalities to the bulbs, too. Imagine if when a burglar rings the doorbell, just before the first light comes on, a dog barks? Then, if the aspiring intruder continues, another light is triggered and immediately followed by the sound of a shotgun cocking? As with any Atmel | SMART MCU-driven innovation, the possibilities are endless!

Not only is the system easy to use, but it’s simple to set up as well! So much so that the smart burglar deterrent can literally be configured and operated with a single finger. Each module is outfitted with a BLE module, which allows the system’s mesh network to extend the range of the bulb network throughout a house.

Looking to channel your inner Kevin McCallister and defend your home while away? Learn more about this bright idea by visiting their official page here. Full production is expected to get underway next spring, while shipping should begin this summer.

https://vimeo.com/112955000

Video: Check out the world’s thinnest keyboard

Last year, the team over at CSR unveiled what they dubbed the world’s thinnest wireless keyboard to demonstrate the future of computing. Measuring at less than a half of a millimeter thick and equipped with Bluetooth Smart technology, the pad was able to transform essentially any area into a touch surface. Combining the company’s low-power wireless technology with the latest in flexible electronics and touchscreen sensing, the keyboard connected to and extended the touch interfaces of devices, such as tablets and smartphones.

In order to bring this idea to life, CSR — now part of Qualcomm — utilized Atmel’s touch silicon to sense multiple contact points on a surface, offer a full touch interface and power optimized key detection.

See it in action below!

Click your heels three times and call an Uber ride

“There’s no place like home… There’s no place like home… There’s no place like home.” In the American fantasy film Wizard of Oz, Dorothy transports herself back to Kansas by clicking the heels of her ruby slippers three times. Those same three clicks can now transport you home, by way of Uber.

Designed by Maker DJ Saul, Managing Director of Washington-based iStrategyLabs and innovator of the S.E.L.F.I.E. mirror, Dorothy is a physical trigger that can turn a dumb ol’ shoe smart. Adhering to the “if this, then that” principle, the Ruby is an Arduino-based device equipped with a Bluetooth chip, accelerometer and coin cell battery, while its housing is 3D-printed.

The small gadget can be either slipped into or clipped onto any piece of footwear and connected to a smartphone app that will automatically call a cab or send a message.

“Have you ever been stuck in an awkward situation, praying your phone would ring so you could politely extract yourself?  Of course you have,” DJ Saul writes.

That is why the Maker has designed customizable triggers that are activated using three distinct clicks of the heel, which allows a user to escape those seemingly inescapable scenarios. For instance, a user can trigger a call to their phone from a fake boss to escape a bad date, send text messages to a friend with a personalized message and whereabouts, or alert their emergency contact when in danger.

The wearable can also summon an Uber ride. When the onboard accelerometer detects the three clicks, it sends a signal to the connected smartphone via Bluetooth and the action is instantly carried out. Uber then uses the phone’s GPS to know exactly where to send the car.

Though the Ruby currently seems a bit too big to fit comfortably and discreetly in most shoes, iStrategyLabs says the model is only a prototype. The team is currently working on reducing the size significantly as well as exploring the option of building it right into an insole.

Interested in learning more? Click over to iStrategy’s official project page here. Want to see other DJ Saul creations? Click once more here.

Maker magic with 3D-printed wands and software spells

SpellTag — which recently made its debut on Kickstarter — is described by its creators as “laser tag LARPing with 3D-printed wands and software spells.” What an experience that sounds like! And to think, we thought Dungeons and Dragons was ahead of its time in the ‘80s.

With the addition of 3D printing to the LARPing (Live Action Roleplaying for the uninitiated) realm, personal character customization is now at an unprecedented level. Any Maker can channel their inner mage or rogue and produce a staff or amulet that perfectly represents them. Now, toss an Atmel based Arduino inside these devices and real-life roleplaying is possible!

“Think of laser tag, but for mages, sorcerors, witches, and wizards… Think of being able to combine your magical weapon (wand, sword +1, sceptre, staff, you name it) and your health meter (amulet) into your own unique character, and gain experience, new magical skills, and exciting new additions to your gameplay each and every time you play,” a company rep explains.

Using internal sensors and data points, spells can be fired across battlefields and “hit points” (aka health) can be tracked. The more a LARPer uses their device, the more experience and levels their fantasy persona acquires. According to the team behind SpellTag, “Light effects signal the firing of spells, and as you take more hits, your Amulet and Wand will grow dimmer and dimmer. Eventually, upon defeat your wand goes dark from lack of mana or your Amulet goes dark from lack of health and you are knocked unconscious.”

The team has created rich and flexible hardware by utilizing the highly-popular Arduino platform, which provides a varying level of activity, ranging from spell casting capabilities to gesture controls. This was achieved by incorporating a customized Arduino-compatible shield, a super tiny Atmel based MCU, a Bluetooth radio, accelerometer and an RGB LED display — each of which successfully fit into the 3D-printed wand and amulet prototypes for the game.

The roleplaying scenario is driven by Decorum Decks which communicate with the SpellTag smartphone app. “Decorum Decks are cards with printed patterns that are recognized by the SpellTag App and display secret enchantments, settings features like health fountains, vaults to search, and spells that trigger gameplay for every magic user,” the team writes.

The ability for players to device their own experiences and inputs allows for truly unique LARPing adventure. And to think, we were wowed by the opportunities 20-sided dice provided back in the day! Each wand equipped with a LoL module can be customized to cast specific spells and be vulnerable to others. In reality, roleplaying has never been so connected. Harry Potter would be jealous of this magical rig!

Interested in this Atmel powered, mythical project? Explore some Maker magic on SpellTag’s official Kickstarter page.

The CANBus Triple is like an Arduino for your car

According to Maker Derek Kuschel, there is a massive pool of hidden data flowing around within a car’s computer units. In an effort to display this data, Derek recently launched a successful Kickstarter campaign for a device that taps into these binary riches. If you’re someone who enjoys tinkering with their vehicle, you’ll certainly be interested in his new car hacking platform, the CANBus Triple.

CANBus Triple has been developed in hopes of providing an Arduino-style device for cars that can be used to bus data and add awesome functionality to your vehicle.

The Controller Area Network (CAN) is a message-based protocol found in modern automobiles, which carries significant amounts of data all around your vehicle while you drive, with much of it being unavailable to the average driver. In fcat, . Atmel offers a wide range of solutions for CAN networking, including AVR 8-bit RISC microcontrollers and transceivers.

However, it didn’t sit well with Derek that this much data was going to waste; therefore, through a series of three prototypes, he finally developed a system to display this sought after automobile information.

“The CAN Bus Triple gives you an easy way to read and write raw CAN data packets, and perform operations with that data easily,” the Maker elaborates. Using an Atmel ATmega32u4 MCU, the device can read and analyze numerous data sets that are traditionally hidden within the vehicle’s inner workings.

You can use the CANBus Triple to simply watch all the data on your CAN Bus, or send your own packets out to the network. “Simply attaching the two CAN High and Low lines it’s all you need to send and receive raw CAN data packets,” its Kickstarter page explains. “The real fun comes in when you physically cut the CAN Bus and use the CANBus Triple to read and augment the packets. Each packet is read and processed, then optionally sent back out and your car doesn’t know the difference.”

As Derek points out, using this method, one can listen for all of the hidden data on the bus and send it over Bluteooth LE, or even send out your own packets to an in-dash OEM display as shown below on a Mazdaspeed3.

Given the open-source nature of his project, Derek has provided fellow Makers with the coding and schematics needed to produce their own software for the CAN Bus Triple platform as he envisions his project as “a toolkit for adding to and augmenting your vehicle.”

Both the ATmega program and Bluetooth firmware are flashable without any additional hardware, the Maker explains. “You can add functionality to the Bluetooth module and upload the firmware over USB!” Now, add in the fact that the Triple is compatible with the Arduino IDE and can run on multiple mobile platforms, and any mechanic Maker should be ready to rev their engines!

Derek is currently beta testing his machine in a variety of cars. He has used the device in his Mazdaspeed 3 for over two years without a single issue. Next up will be large-scale production, and shortly thereafter hopefully customer distribution by the end of the year.

The open-source car hacking platform garnered just shy of $68,000 in pledges, tripling its original goal of $18,000. For more information about Derek’s project or how you could obtain your own unit, head over to his Kickstarter page.

runScribe separates itself from the wearable pack

Though there may be plenty of wearables on the market that can log the steps you’ve taken or track the distance you’ve jogged, the runScribe can do those things and a whole lot more. In fact, the latest device from ScribeLabs provides 3D insight into the mechanics of how you run, thus enabling data to drive you toward smarter training decisions.

Recently launched on Kickstarter, the runScribe is described as a lightweight running wearable that mounts onto the back of your shoe and uses a 9-axis sensor to precisely capture the movements of your foot during the gait cycle. The unit itself makes thousands of calculations every step you take and creates reports on 13 separate kinematic metrics that can better help an athlete understand factors ranging from shoe selection to fatigue impact.

While some run analyzers come embedded within a shoe itself, the runScribe is interchangeable and can provide the user with a comparative report as to which shoe allows them to perform best. To make the use of the runScribe even simpler, the device can communicate via Bluetooth with a smartphone application that is available on both iOS and Android.

“The response from runners, both casual and professional, has been rewarding because they understand that running is a sport with an incredibly high injury rate. The metrics that we use today to assess our performance only tell part of the story,” Scribe Labs CEO and Co-Founder Tim Clark shares. 

One of the most helpful aspects of the runScribe is the active community that it creates. With the assembly and analysis of a massive amount of data from runners across the globe, the runScribe team can help predict and prevent injuries by tracking specific patterns that lead to physical breakdowns.

“As a community, we need to be smarter about how we run, and with runScribe, runners can have a deeper understanding about how the decisions they make impact their running mechanics,” explains Clark. 

To sweeten the pot, the runScribe is ideal for any level of runner, whether you’re just trying to get into better shape or are a competitive track athlete. There are a series of different levels of technology available. The starter pack gives you access to six kinematic metrics for $99, while the complete 13 are available in the pro unit which runs around $140. The technology onboard can improve the workout of nearly anyone that straps on the wearable strap.

The campaign exceeded its initial funding goal of $50,000 in just over two days, and currently sits just shy of $170,000. At the moment, runScribe is in its final design phase with a pilot build to be slated later this year. For those interested in learning more about or funding the runScribe, feel free to head on over to its official Kickstarter page.

Report: 40.9 billion wireless connected devices expected by 2020

According to an updated market forecast from ABI Research, the installed base of active wireless connected devices will exceed 16 billion in 2014, an increase of nearly 20% from 2013. The number of devices will more than double from the current level, with 40.9 billion projected for 2020.

“The driving force behind the surge in connections is that usual buzzword suspect, the Internet of Things (IoT). If we look at this year’s installed base, smartphones, PCs and other ‘hub’ devices represent still 44% of the active total, but by end-2020 their share is set to drop to 32%. In other words, 75% of the growth between today and the end of the decade will come from non-hub devices: sensor nodes and accessories,” revealed Aapo Markkanen, Principal Analyst.

From a tech supplier’s strategic point of view, the critical question that lies ahead is how the plethora IoT devices will ultimately be connected. Until recently, the choices that product OEMs have faced have been fairly straightforward — with cellular, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and others all generally addressing their relative comfort zones. Going forward, they will be in an increasing competition with each other, so for the suppliers the strategic stakes are getting much higher.

“The recently introduced Thread protocol, spearheaded by Nest Labs, is not only setting the bar higher for ZigBee in the 802.15.4 space, but also piling up pressure on Bluetooth suppliers to enable mesh networking. In the meantime, the LTE-MTC and LTE-M initiatives may well expand the market for cellular M2M, while startups like Electric Imp and Spark could do the same for Wi-Fi. And finally, we also shouldn’t ignore what’s going on with passive, proximity-based connectivity offered by RFID and NFC,” added ABI Research Practice Director Dan Shey.

Another prime example of this convergence is the newly-unveiled Open Interconnect Consortium (OIC), formed by tech leaders Atmel, Broadcom, Dell, Intel, Samsung and Wind River. The aim of this new project is to establish a common communication framework based on industry standard technologies to wirelessly connect and intelligently manage the flow of information among devices, regardless of form factor, operating system or service provider. The OIC also intends to deliver open source implementations for a variety of IoT market opportunities and vertical segments from smart home solutions to automotive and more, utilizing both existing and emerging standards like Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi Direct, Zigbee, Zwave and Ant+.

The new Atmel | SMART product line includes the SmartConnect wireless IC family, which combines ultra-low power Atmel MCUs with wireless solutions and complementary software. The SmartConnect wireless portfolio is a family of self-contained, low-power, and certified modules bringing wireless Internet connectivity to any embedded design, without compromising on cost and power consumption. Adding to the already broad family are recently-acquired NMI’s 802.11n Wi-Fi and Bluetooth certified products. These innovative, highly-integrated solutions will accelerate seamless communication and connectivity for the IoT.

“Combined with our existing Wi-Fi and Zigbee solutions and industry leading microcontroller portfolio, Atmel is positioned for substantial growth in the Internet of Things marketplace,” explained Atmel CEO Steve Laub.