Monthly Archives: August 2015

How to Avoid Cable Damage from Oil

Electrical cables are routinely exposed to several kinds of damaging chemicals in the environments they pass through. However, the most damaging of them all is chemical exposure to oil. Many industries and infrastructure settings use oil as a lubricant or as coolants. Such oils react with the polymers used in the cable insulation and jacketing to inflict molecular damage.

If this is ignored, oil can severely damage cables. This ultimately results in failure of the cable, system downtime and replacement expenses. With advanced production facilities such as in automotive assembly, requirements of better performance characteristics in renewable energy and regulatory changes, more people are now aware of oil damage to cables.

Fortunately, better cable manufacturing technology is now allowing cables to resist the effects of lubricating and cooling oils. However, it is necessary to know how oil degrades cables, how oil exposure problems can be diagnosed and how cables can be selected so that they resist oils over the long haul.

Insulation and jackets of cables are typically made of polymer compounds. Although they may have the same family name, not all these polymers show the same physical properties, including oil resistance. For example, some PVC compounds may show better oil resistance, while others have a higher degree of flame resistance. Manufacturers change the PVC formulation according to the properties and applications desired.

For example, addition of certain flame-retardants, stabilizers and filters allow PVC to exhibit enhanced characteristics of this type. However, improving or enhancing one characteristic usually comes at the cost of other performance traits being affected or being completely lost.

That explains why not all wire and cable insulations show equal performance with oil resistance in particular. The chemical, mechanical, environmental and electrical attributes vary depending on the individual compound formulations. To help promote resistance to fatigue and increased flexibility, most insulating compounds have a specific amount of plasticizers added to their individual formulations. When such compounds are exposed to processing oils for coolant or lubrication, the plasticizer diffuses from the compound or the material absorbs the oil.

With the plasticizer diffusing out of the compound, the oil causes insulation hardening, resulting in loss of flexibility and elongation properties. If oil is absorbed, the insulation swells and softens resulting in degradation of tensile properties.

In short, oil causes the insulating compound to lose its primary role virtually as an effective insulator. This creates a hazardous situation not only to the functioning of the industrial machinery to which it is connected, but possibly also to human life. Ultimately, this can result in expensive downtimes, expensive repairs and in the worst cases, replacement of the entire machinery.

Testing can help determine how a cable will react in environments containing industrial oil. UL has standardized these tests and they are commonly known as Oil Res I and Oil Res II tests. In these tests, cable samples are continuously immersed in IRM 902 Oil at elevated temperatures for specified periods. The mechanical properties of the cable samples are observed for physical damage caused by the exposure to oil. The latest UL standard for these tests is AWM Style 21098.

The Human Brain Project: Is the Electronic Brain Coming?

The human brain has always been a thing of extreme curiosity to the students of anatomy. In fact, Einstein’s brain was preserved for future study immediately after his death. Innumerable studies have been done on this part of the human anatomy, yet, we know very little about how its complete range of functions. In the quest to know more about the human brain, resources are being put together for a simulation to study how the brain functions. The HBP or Human Brain Project of the European Union has a primary directive – an artificial brain by 2023. They recently held their annual HBP Summit in Germany, at the University of Heidelberg.

The European Commission Future and Emerging Technologies fund one of its flagship programs, the Human Brain Project. The 10-year-long project has a funding of nearly US$1.3 billion. Initially, HBP aims to simulate the entire human brain functionality on supercomputers, and then replicate the functionality on a special hardware emulator. They expect to be able to reproduce the functions of the brain so accurately as to allow trying out diseases and their cures on the emulator. The long-term objective of the project is to build an artificial brain inexpensive enough to outperform traditional supercomputers of the von Neumann type at a fraction of the cost.

At the end of the first year, all pieces have been assembled. According to the report, all personnel are hired, laboratories engaged throughout the region, and the ICT or Information and Communication Technology set up in place. This arrangement will allow the researchers with their 100+ corporate and academic partners in 20+ countries to collaborate effectively to share data. The projects already running include reconstructing the functioning of the brain at different biological scales along with development of computing systems to mimic the functioning of the brain.

According to the agenda for the ramp-up phase or the first two and a half years, HBP will gather as much strategic data about brain functioning as is known. The project will also develop theoretical frameworks to fit that data. They will also develop the infrastructure necessary for six ICT platforms during the next operational phase to start from 2017.

Supercomputers or high-performance computing will serve all platform builders for the six ICT platforms. These will consist of: the Neurorobotics platform for supporting testing of the brain models and simulations in virtual environments; the Neuromorphic computing platform for mimicking the various functions of the brain; the Medical Informatics platform for cataloging the diseases of the brain; the Brain Simulation platform to assemble the simulation algorithms of different brain components; and the main Neuroinformatics data repository for housing the Brain Atlas.

The first year of the project has some progress highlights. These include: a brain simulation technique for the cerebellum, repurposed from the one originally working successfully for the neocortex; a virtual room for the neurorobotics prototype, where researchers can study virtual bodies with brain models for behavior and cognitive abilities; an HPC or high performance computer successfully retrofitted for interactive-supercomputing – essential for testing brain models; and demonstrations of several new neuromorphic chips and testing them to solve modern computing challenges that only humans can perform today.

Pi Lite: Bright White LED Display with the Raspberry Pi

If you did not know, you can run many LEDs with the tiny, credit card sized single board computer popular as the RBPi or Raspberry Pi. Among the many accessories made for the RBPi using LEDs, Ciseco makes one that is very interesting and useful. This is a display panel using bright white LEDs and aptly named the Pi Lite. You can use the series of white LEDs on the Pi Lite as a scrolling marquee for a Twitter feed, for displaying real-time weather information or stock quotes. You can use it to display static information such as time or functional information such as bar graphs, or other dashboard type applications such as VU meters. On the other hand, you could even play such games as Pong. Pi Lite is strong enough to view in direct sunlight.

Pi Lite is completely self-contained and does not require any soldering. You can get Pi Lite in two colors – white and red. For operation, simply connect Pi Lite to the GPIO pins of the RBPi, and you are set. GitHub has several open-source projects that you can download or you could do your own programming using Python code.

If you are just starting out with the RBPi, Pi Lite is an exciting way to let RBPi do some physical work and generate some fun. The large LED matrix display is easy to plug in and add-on. Since no soldering or any other special skills are needed, anyone can simply start using the Pi Lite for their project.

All the 126 LEDs on the Pi Lite are in the form of a 14×9 matrix, with an ATMega328p processor controlling them. This mixes the highly popular LOL or Lots of LEDs shield of Arduino with the world of RBPi. The Pi Lite communicates with the RBPi via the standard serial communication protocol at 9600bps. That makes it a simple affair to send graphics and text to the LED matrix. With the ATMega processor driving the 126 LEDs, the RBPi processor and its GPIOs remain free for other functions.

The Pi Lite offers several advantages. You can read your emails or tweets from a distance in real time. The firmware being open-source, you can add extra functions as you like. You can achieve multiple functions by sending simple text strings – scroll the text, VU meter, bar graph and or graphics. You can use the well tried, tested and supported LOL shield by Jimmy Rogers. The serial interface makes Pi Lite useful for connecting to any TTL micro radio or PC interface – you can use the popular FTDI cable.

The Pi Lite uses a high quality gold plated PCB. No extra power supply is required, as Pi Lite draws only 49mA maximum at 5VDC, so the RBPi supply can power it. With preloaded software, you can use it out of the box and display variable speed scrolling text, 14 vertical bars as a bar graph, two horizontal bars as VU meter, frame buffer for animation and graphics, or turn on or off individual pixels.

To make a bigger display, you can link up additional Pi Lites with the I2C bus. Each Pi Lite measures 85x55x13.7mm.

Power Supply Ignition and other Switches for the Raspberry Pi

There are several occasions where you may require operating your RBPi or Raspberry Pi powered from a vehicle’s electrical system. To keep your single board computer safe and operational, an accessory is needed to sense when the ignition on the vehicle is engaged and when it is turned off. Accordingly, the accessory will respond by powering the RBPi on or off safely. MausBerry Circuits make such safe power supply ignition switches and other shutdown switches for the RBPi to be used in vehicles.

The power supply ignition switch attachment from MausBerry features a built-in step-down converter that produces 5V from the 12 or 14V of the vehicle’s power supply. Once connected with wires behind the vehicle’s radio, the attachment provides the RBPi with instructions based on the vehicle’s ignition status. It communicates with the RBPi using two of its GPIO pins.

An added advantage of the ignition switch attachment is it can retain power for about 20 minutes during its power-down cycle. That means the RBPi will remain powered for 20 minutes after the vehicle’s ignition is switched off, so waiting for the RBPi to boot is not required for those making frequent stops. A selector switch on the device will allow you to reboot the RBPi, if required. Even if the RBPi was left in the vehicle and not shut down, there is no cause to worry. The automatic shutdown feature of the device will kick-in to shut the RBPi down after four hours of non-use, thereby preventing drain on the batteries.

MausBerry makes many other similarly useful attachments for an RBPi to be used with vehicles. One of them is the 3A car supply that can sense the car ignition to shut down the RBPi safely when the car is turned off. The unit has two USB ports and communicates with the RBPi using two GPIO wires. The unit is to be wired to the vehicle’s battery and the 12V ignition source. Ground and power wires, both 18AWG and 18-inches long, are included.

If you are looking for an on-off switch for your RBPi, MausBerry has an illuminated LED type switch. Plug this unit into the RBPi power port and it accepts your existing micro-USB power cable. To turn the RBPi on, simply press the button. To switch off, press the button again briefly – the operating system senses the button and safely shuts itself down. After a safe shutdown, the switch will cut off all power to the RBPi. When illuminated, the LED gives off a bright blue light, and holding the button for five seconds performs a hard-reset for the RBPi.

Although aligned to the layout of the RBPi models A and B primarily, the illuminated LED shutdown switch will work directly with all models A, A+. B, B+, RBPi2 of the RBPi series. For the B+ models, the new power port location may make the switch stick a little out of the side.

Another shutdown circuit from MausBerry allows you to use any custom switch for operating the RBPi. The circuit plugs into RBPi power port and accepts the micro-USB power cable. This circuit is useful when installing the RBPi into a case, as the switch can be installed separately.

How Opto-Couplers Help with Intrinsic Safety

Electrical equipment and wiring are used in different environments, including hazardous locations, where there is always a risk of explosion due to any malfunction in the wiring or equipment. To mitigate this risk, electrical and thermal energy generated must be limited to a level below that required to ignite a specific mixture of the hazardous atmosphere. This technique of designing electrical equipment and wiring to be safe under normal or abnormal conditions is called intrinsic safety. Therefore, intrinsically safe wiring and equipment are incapable of releasing adequate thermal or electrical energy under any operating condition to cause a combustible or flammable atmospheric mixture to ignite.

Independent third party agencies such as the UL or Underwriters Laboratories, CSA or Canadian Standards Association, FM or Factory Mutual Research Corporation and the MSHA or Mine Safety and Health Administration, test and certify equipment for intrinsic safety. For use in explosive atmosphere, the agencies test and verify equipment for compliance to IEC international standards. Within the IEC 60079 series, the standard IEC60079-11 specifies the construction and testing of intrinsically safe apparatus intended for use in an explosive environment.

According to IEC60079-11, the basic principle in achieving intrinsic safety is for limiting the energy in the power circuit, preventing unusually high electric arcs, ignition sparks or high temperatures that could create ignition energy required to cause an explosion. For limiting the power or energy, designers should implement a resistor or fuse in series for limiting the current and a Zener diode in parallel for limiting the voltage.

Additionally, IEC60079-11 also requires that conductive parts of intrinsically safe circuits be separated from the conductive parts of non-intrinsically safe circuits. The separating distances have different requirements through insulation structures, and this includes clearance, separation and creepage distances. For example, casting compounds specified includes epoxy resins, while solid insulation specified include silicone and polyester film.

Apart from providing galvanic isolation, opto-couplers have internal clearances, which include DTI or distance through insulation. This is a part of the insulation and safety related specification of opto-couplers. DTI provides galvanic isolation through optical technology, forming a straight-line thickness distance between the LED emitter and the detector within the opto-coupler. The DTI of the opto-coupler meets the separation distance requirements 0 to 2 of the gas zone classification. This depends on the voltage level of protection required.

Typically, isolators with structural DTI less than 20µm cannot achieve the stringent separation distance requirements of intrinsic safety criteria. Special opto-couplers, such as the ACNV series from Avago, have a 13mm creepage/clearance, with insulation material classified as casting compound. This allows the ACNV opto-couplers to achieve up to the 375V level of protection. Similarly, ACNW/HCNW opto-couplers from Avago, with 10mm and 8mm creepage/clearance, can meet up to 60V level of protection.

Such intrinsically safe opto-couplers are routinely used in applications for measurement of level, pressure and temperature in flow meters and transmitters. Meeting safety requirements, these opto-couplers provide the reinforced insulation required between field sensors and micro-controllers on control boards. Typical examples of such applications are in the explosive atmospheres of petrol stations and sewage, where fluid pumps and flow meters are used.

Computers Can Beat Humans in Image Recognition

Every day, computers are getting smarter. So far, it is not clear whether the smartness is moving towards something as depicted in the Terminator movies, but computers are beating humans in chess, poker and Jeopardy. The next hurdle that computers have crossed is image recognition. Microsoft claims to have programmed a computer that can beat humans at recognizing images.

Although the final competition is going to be held on December 17, 2015, already there are claims that computers are better than humans are in visual recognition. The ImageNet Large Scale Visual Recognition Challenge will do judging for the final competition. The first claim about computers beating humans came from Microsoft. They claimed that while humans made 5.1% errors in recognizing images, computers failed only in 4.94% cases. After 5 days of Microsoft announcing their feat, Google announced that they have bettered the Microsoft claim by 0.04%. That means the competition is getting fiercer every day.

Since 2010, more than 50 institutions take part every year in the competition for image recognition. ImageNet runs this competition and they have hundreds of object categories and several millions of example images. So far, humans have scored the most, but this year a computer is expected to take the crown. Typically, contestants use the latest deep learning algorithms. Derived from different types of artificial neural networks, these deep learning algorithms mimic the way the human brain works to a varying degree.

Although no contestant actually offers their exact code, they provide papers that freely describe their algorithm in great detail – similar to the spirit of open source – explaining the advantages of their algorithm and why it is expected to work so well. As Microsoft explains in their paper, they are using deep CNNs or convolutional neural networks that have 30 weight layers. Google have revealed that they are using batch normalization techniques, and these do not allow neurons to saturate during initialization.

Usually, the conventional way of using neural units involves hand designing them and fixing while training. However, Microsoft has deviated from this path and made the neural units smarter. They have done this by making their form more flexible in nature. According to the principal researcher at the Visual Computing Group of Microsoft Research, Asia, each neural unit undergoes a particular form of end-to-end training that imparts the learning. The introduction of smarter units improves the model considerably.

However, the reason for the ability of current neural networks being able to beat human experts lies in the algorithm of Microsoft’s Deep Learning. This algorithm usually initializes and trains on 1.2 million training images and verifies its learning on 50-thousand validation images. For the final application of its learning, Deep Learning uses 100-thousand test images from the main image database. However, Microsoft did not actually follow this standard route.

As training of very deep neural networks is rather difficult, Microsoft used a robust initialization method. As with other contestants, Microsoft did buy Nvidia’s access to their arrays of graphic processing units. However, they also bought and configured their own supercomputer. They simulated parametric rectified linear neural units and that helped them finally to beat the human experts for image classification.

Graspinghand’s SweetBox, ScorPi and Heatsinks for the Raspberry Pi

Those who need a casing for their Raspberry Pi or RBPi are rather spoiled for choice. There are so many types of casings available, and that makes it so difficult to settle on one. Sometimes, you need a casing that does not take up too much space, but is able to protect your RBPi from sundry damage. If you want the smallest case on the market, try the SweetBox from Graspinghand.

Besides being the smallest on the market, SweetBox is injection molded with high-performance nylon, and is compatible with RBPi models B, Rev 1 & 2. It has several features such as it allows the insertion of a Micro-SD card into its adapter and the mounting of the RBPi camera. A rubber cap protects the GPIO pins when not in use, and is easily removable to allow connections.

Slots on the casing allow easy access to the DSI or Digital Serial Interface for attaching an LCD panel to the RBPi and the CSI or Camera Serial Interface for attaching a camera. Other mounting holes are available on the base, while the entire casing allows simple opening and closing without any screws or tools.

SweetBox is made from high-performance nylon, the EMS Grilamid type typically used for glass frames, electrical equipment and tools. This material makes the casing nearly unbreakable. The material is also lightweight, and the casing is only 35gms with dimensions of 95x65x25mm.

However, one of the most remarkable features of the SweetBox is it allows heatsinks to be mounted, so that your RBPi can operate within the casing, but without getting all heated up. Graspinghand offers three CNC machined heatsinks that you could use with or without SweetBox. The three heatsinks come with ready-to-mount thermal pads. With the heatsinks fitted, your RBPi will run at least 4°C cooler at full power.

Placing the heatsinks requires some dexterity. First, you must peel off the protective film off one side of a thermal pad. Then fix the heat sink very carefully in the center of the uncovered surface – this will stick the thermal pad to the heatsink. If there is excess thermal pad protruding out around the heatsink, use scissors to cut it off. Now peel off the remaining protecting film from the other side of the pad and place the heat sink and pad combination very carefully on top of the IC to be cooled. Use the same procedure for mounting all the three heatsinks, taking care to keep the same orientation of the fins for all the three.

Graspinghand also offers ScorPi, a flexible gooseneck arrangement for holding things such as the camera board on the RBPi. A brass fixture allows the ScorPi to be attached to SweetBox, while the brass fixture on the other end of ScorPi attaches to the camera board. You can flex the ScorPi to position the camera at any angle required, and it will remain in position to allow capturing images without any blurring due to shaking.

Cleaning the ScorPi is also very easy, as you can loosen all parts and clean them with a soft wipe using a mixture of white vinegar and salt.

Adding a Reset Switch to your Raspberry Pi

Normally, shutting down the tiny credit card sized single board computer, the RBPi or Raspberry Pi, involves pulling the plug. That means disconnecting the power cable from the RBPi board. However, that is a risky way of shutting down the SBC, since it may be in the process of transferring data to the SD card, and the power interruptions may cause corruption of the memory card. Another problem with frequent removal and re-insertion of the power cable is the damage this may cause the connector port. Program development on the RBPi may cause it to hang occasionally. Therefore, frequent restarting via power cycling with removal/re-insertion of power cable will be a problem. A simple fix is to add a simple reset function to the RBPi. You can do this in one of three ways. The first is to use a USB reset button. The second is to use a motherboard jumper on the GPIO bus. The third option is useful only for RBPi Models B Rev2 and B+, where you solder pins on the P6 header and connect to a momentary button. The third option is the most complicated, requiring soldering on the RBPi.

Although the first option of a USB reset button is the simplest, it also ties up one of the USB ports on the RBPi. With only one or two USB ports available, depending on the RBPi model, this may not be a very viable option for many. However, in case it works for you, get a USB reset button from any specialist online stores. Those who want all their GPIO pins available or those who are averse to soldering may use the USB reset button connected to the RBPi for scenarios when the device needs to be booted.
If you can salvage a jumper from an old motherboard or an HDD, connect it on two pins on the RBPi GPIO. All RBPi models have GPIO pins – models A & B have 26 pins each, while the models A+ & B+ each come with 40 pins. You need to place the jumper on the GPIO3, pins 5 and 6, counting from the left while holding the board the right way around.

However, you will need a script to detect the jumper. Make the script executable before running – use ‘sudo chmod 755’ for this. You will also need to run the script every time you boot up. For this, add the following line to /etc/crontab –

@reboot root /home/user/scripts/gpio_actions.sh

Whenever you place the jumper on the specified pins of the GPIO, RBPi will sense it and will shut itself down.
The third option involves using the P6 header, which is available only on the latest models of the RBPi – models B Rev 2 & B+. On the Model B Rev 2, you can locate P6 next to the HDMI port. On the model B+, you will find P6 next to the label marked as ‘Raspberry Pi 2014’. Normally, the RBPi does not come with pins soldered on to P6, so you will have to do the soldering.

Once you have soldered the pins, install the jumper with the switch to reset the RBPi. However, use this switch with caution, only when the RBPi is not responding.

pluripotent stem cells give this Chip a Living Beating Heart

In 2010, Shinya Yamanaka, the winner of the Kyoto Prize, had discovered pluripotent stem cells. At the University of Berkeley, bioengineers used these stem cells to create living, beating hearts on-a-chip. Their aim is to reproduce organs of the human body on-a-chip and then interconnect them with channels carrying micro-fluidics, ultimately creating a complete human being on-a-wafer.

According to Professor Kevin Healy, bioengineers have mastered the art of deriving almost any type of human tissue for skin stem cells. Yamanaka was the discoverer of this process. Healy wants to use this in drug screening applications, since that can be done without actually testing on animals. Ultimately, by generating organs-on-a-chip using the stem cells of the patient would be beneficial as this could help with study of genetic diseases as well.

At present, the heart on-a-chip beats each time it pumps blood through micro-fluidic veins within its polymer and silicone chamber. By connecting the various organs via micro-fluidic channels that carry natural biological fluids and blood between them, bioengineers plan to study the interaction of drugs among the various organs.

For example, by solving a heart problem with a drug, the liver might start retaining toxins. It would be much better to find this out beforehand prior to administering the drug to the patient.

The UC Berkeley developed heart-on-a-chip uses human heart tissues that have been derived from adult stem cells. Researchers hope someday to replace the animal models currently used for drug safety testing. However, Professor Healy clarified that creating living robots by the process was not their mission. Their funding comes from the Tissue Chip for Drug Screening Initiative of the National Institute of Health. This being an interagency collaboration aimed specifically at developing 3D human tissue chips solely for drug screening.

Nonetheless, this technology of creating organs-on-a-chip and interconnecting them via micro-fluidic channels, might someday lay the foundation for making robot-like creatures. For example, a single 4-inch wafer can house about 24 artificial heart chips.

However, making robot-like creatures requires sensors and actuators. Although sensors are easier, actuators pose more problems. According to Professor Healy, MIT is working on developing artificial muscles to serve as actuators.

Professor Healy along with his colleagues has created an inch-long artificial heart, which is housed in silicone, and contains real cardiac muscle cells. Once the heart cells are inserted within the device, it takes about 24 hours for the cells to begin spontaneously beating at the normal rate of 55-80 times per minute. Simultaneously, the heart cells pump blood through the micro-fluidics channels. Administering drugs known to slowdown or speed up the heart’s frequency, causes the artificial heart to respond normally.

Currently, the micro-fluidics channels carry only nutrients. However, the same channels might someday be used to carry away waste products as well. Professor Healy’s lab has managed to keep the cells viable over several weeks. They plan to put hundreds of organs-on-a-chip and spread them across a wafer, interconnecting them all with micro-fluidics channels carrying blood and other essential bodily fluids. Very soon, using animals for drug screening would end.

Raspberry Pi Alternatives

f you have been using single board computers such as the RBPi or Raspberry Pi and Arduino, you would have certainly found them great as do-it-yourself boards for hacking and for setting up your own design. However, using these boards can bring up a natural curiosity to look at other alternate hacker boards similar in size and functionality to the RBPi.

Listed here are some boards comparable in prices to that of the RBPi, and with community support. They are good for transitioning to low-cost commercial volume manufacturing, while being compatible and easy-to-use.

According to the director of ecosystem and marketing program of Freescale, Steve Nelson, one should look for five important features while selecting an SBC: Simplicity in installation and during operation; Staying power or popularity with users; Stability against regular rebooting or updating; Security of design; and Standards of compatibility irrespective of the manufacturer.

Udoo: Although more expensive compared to RBPi, Udoo offers a unique experience of Linux and Arduino SBC. It runs on an ARM i .MX6 processor from Freescale, has 1GB DDR3 RAM and offers 76 fully available GPIO. Apart from this, it has a Wi-Fi module, one Ethernet RJ45, 3D GPUs for graphics, HDMI and LVDS. Other features include a pair of mini USB and mini OTG, one analog audio and microphone socket and a camera connection. Udoo works on 12V from an external power supply and the board has an external battery connector.

Wandboard: With 0.5GB to 2GB DDR3 RAM, Wandboard is more expensive compared to RBPi and is a unique Arduino and Linux SBC. It sports an HDMI interface, a camera interface, a micro-SD slot, an expansion header, serial port, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, 802.11n, SATA and Gigabit LAN. This board is used in small autonomous Sumo-robots and a cluster with a custom PCI-Express carrier board adapter.

WaRP: Targeted at wearable designs, this not-yet-released Freescale supported board runs on an i.MX 6SoloLite processor based on the Cortex-A9 architecture and Android 4.3 OS. With an E-ink display and wireless charging option, this tiny board has MCU for sensor aggregation, orientation and pedometric functions. Communication interfaces include a Bluetooth wireless module, 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi and sports multi-chip packaging with LP-DDR2 and eMMC memories.

RIoTboard: This board also runs on the Freescale I.MX 6Solo processor based on the ARM Cortex A9 architecture. It offers very high performance video processing with HD- and SD-level video decoders and SD-level encoders. The 2D and 3D graphics accelerator are based on OpenGL ES 2.0 with shader. The Freescale Kinetics MCU is an integrated power management chip with 1GByte of 32-bit wide DDR3 running at 800MHz. The board uses 4GB of EMMC Flash and offers support for GNU/Linux and Android along with enhanced expansion capabilities.

Freedom: With ARM Cortex Core and a full tool suite, the Freedom board has up to 256KB of Flash, USB, an LCD Controller, a capacitive touch sensor, a magnetometer, a 3-axis accelerometer, a visible light sensor and a 4-digit 4×8 segment LCD.

Teensy 3.1: This is an extremely tiny board of 1.4×0.7 inches, weighing 3 grams. The ARM Cortex M4 MCU runs at 72 MHz with 256K Flash memory and 64K RAM. It is cheaper than the RBPi.