Скачать или смотреть Dev Kit Weekly: Sfera Labs Exo Sense Pi

This is the second Sfera Labs kit we’ve reviewed on Dev Kit Weekly, and its name gives a lot away.

The Exo Sense Pi is designed around a Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4, which features a 64-bit, quad-core Arm Cortex-A72-based BCM2711 applications processor from Broadcom, a choice of DDR4 SDRAM and eMMC flash capacities, and an optional 2.4/5 GHz wireless antenna. The Exo Sense Pi limits those options somewhat as all versions of the platform are equipped with wireless and 1 GB or 2 GB of RAM, and SKUs with 8 GB or 16 GB of eMMC or a “Lite” version with none.

But what makes the Exo Sense Pi different is that, unlike any Raspberry Pi, its ready for deployment in indoor residential and commercial applications like asset tracking, environmental monitoring, access and voice control, and more. That’s made possible by a cornucopia of sensors, including integrated Sensirion temperature, humidity, and air quality sensors, T.I. ambient light sensor, Panasonic PIR motion sensor, and a TDK microphone. A piezo electric buzzer and LED are also present, and an earthquake sensor module can be included as well.

These sensors channel data to the Raspberry Pi 4 over two digital single-wire I2C inputs accessible via a fast snap-in terminal block. Wired serial communication is also available over an ESD-protected RS-485 bus that interfaces with the Raspberry Pi UARTs, while an over-current and short-circuit-protected open collector output carries a maximum current of 100 mA. There’s also a microSD card slot and hidden micro USB socket for flashing the Raspberry Pi’s eMMC. And speaking of options, there’s another one on the connectivity front in the form of an external 10/100 Mbps Ethernet interface with PoE support.

As we hinted at previously, the onboard RF antenna enables Bluetooth 5.0 and 802.11 b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi so you can send captured data somewhere you can do something with it. It’s also compliant with the CE EMC standard, passing emissions testing for use in residential environments and standing up to the immunity requirements of industrial settings.

But that’s just part of what you’ll find underneath the Exo Sense Pi’s 80 mm x 80 mm wall-mount ABS housing. Users who pop open the enclosure will also find some additional components that help make the Exo Sense deployable in IoT use cases beyond the lab, including a Microchip ATECC608A secure element that functions as a cryptographic co-processor with hardware-based key storage.

It also contains a real-time clock chip from Microchip that is natively supported by the Raspberry Pi OS and connects to a replaceable Lithium battery.

The Exo Sense Pi accepts 9 to 28 V DC power supplies with surge and reverse polarity protection, but consumes as little as 210 mA at 100 percent CPU load with Wi-Fi active.

On the tools front, you of course have access to all the Raspberry Pi ecosystem has to offer.

So, it’s pretty impressive you can get all that from a Raspberry Pi. And, thanks to the robustness, you even get a year warranty from Sfera Labs.

But it’s not free. An Exo Sense Pi will set you back 245 euros, or around $290 US, plus tax. Well there is one free one. It’s this one. Enter this week’s raffle, linked to on the screen and in the description below, for a chance to win it.

https://opensysmedia.formstack.com/fo...

Well, that’s it for this week’s Dev Kit Weekly, and we hope whether or not you win the Exo Sense Pi that you’re able to put low-cost kits to great use in IoT apps, whether that’s prototyping or actual deployment! Thanks for watching, good luck in the raffle, and we’ll see you next week.

Originally published to iTunes, Soundcloud, iheartradio, and more on 8/27/21.