May 8 2019
STMicroelectronics, an international semiconductor leader catering to customers across the spectrum of electronics applications, is introducing SensorTile.box to assist everyone from young people to skilled designers to enjoy the power of IoT and quickly comprehend how they can easily gather and transmit sensor information to the cloud.
SensorTile.box (Image credit: STMicroelectronics)
The versatile IoT Plug and Play module connects effortlessly with Bluetooth® Low Energy to a smartphone, enabling users to watch the sensors work as a pedometer, environment monitor, asset tracker, or as other instruments. For more skilled designers, SensorTile.box offers developer and expert modes that help shape high-tech applications using a graphical wizard or by writing custom embedded code.
Fascinated by its user-friendliness and applicability to all users across its entire range of customers from consumers and beginners to IoT professionals, SensorTile.box will be presented as a new demonstration platform for Azure IoT Central, which streamlines connecting smart devices to the cloud for data capture and investigation.
SensorTile.box is uniquely flexible. It can be configured for users of any skill level to support learning, prototyping, or even as a module within a commercial end-product. Now IoT Plug and Play certified and compatible with IoT Central, it connects out-of-the-box with Azure IoT to further extend opportunities for learning and new-product development.
Andrea Onetti, General Manager, MEMS Sensor Division, ST
SensorTile.box will be showcased as a demonstration platform for Azure IoT Central, which aims to help everyone understand the benefits of IoT and the cloud and show them how easy it is to connect.
Tony Shakib, Principal Group PM Manager, Microsoft IoT Business Acceleration, Microsoft Corp.
SensorTile.box contains ST MEMS devices for context, motion, and environmental sensing contained in a sturdy 57 mm x 38 mm x 20 mm IP54 plastic container, and is projected to be in the market from the start of June from www.st.com/sensortilebox or from ST's distributors.
The commercial module and related services are offered by FAE Technology, an authorized ST Partner company.
Additional technical information
SensorTile.box serves a wide variety of sensing, tracking, and monitoring use cases and is supplied ready to use with a 500 mAh lithium battery and 8GB microSD card already fitted. The on-board sensors leverage ST's wide portfolio of well-established high-performance MEMS devices and are controlled using an ultra-low-power STM32L4R9 microcontroller. They comprise of:
- STTS751 high-accuracy temperature sensor
- HTS221 humidity sensor
- LSM6DSOX low-power 6-axis inertial measurement unit (IMU) with Machine Learning Core (MLC)
- LIS3DHH and LIS2DW12 3-axis accelerometers
- LPS22HH pressure sensor/altimeter
- LIS2MDL magnetometer
- MP23ABS1 analog microphone
Besides asset-tracking, pedometer, and environmental-monitoring applications, beginners can also explore digital compass, data recording, inclinometer/level-sensing, vibration monitoring, and baby-monitoring applications.
Additional flexibility in developer mode allows users start or shut down individual sensors to enhance power consumption, leverage sensor fusion by integrating data from several sensors to enhance overall accuracy, and separately calibrate sensors after final assembly using dedicated internal routines. Furthermore, the LSM6DSOX machine-learning core and AI extensions to the STM32Cube development ecosystem allow professional users to operate neural networks for advanced pattern recognition such as activity tracking and audio-scene classification.
Expert users can also create robust applications speedily and efficiently within the STM32 Open Development Environment (STM32 ODE), making the most of the STM32CubeMX configurator and code generator, and the STLink-V3 programmer and debugger.