IoT systems comprise many types of devices, ranging from battery powered mobile devices to large data acquisition and communication systems. The newly found drive in many parts of the world to reshore manufacturing has brought industrial IoT back into focus for many applications, ranging from production monitoring to preventative maintenance. More advanced production monitoring and control solutions are needed, and industrial IoT systems promise greater production, monitoring, and maintenance efficiencies.
To help PCB designers build this new class of products, CELUS has teamed up with Renesas to bring a range of new components into the CELUS design platform. The CELUS Design Platform packages these components and all required circuitry into design objects known as CUBOs. These complete, ready-to-use circuits allow designers to quickly integrate circuitry into their design projects.
The Renesas components and CUBOs presented here are ideal for industrial IoT designs, as well as areas like automotive and consumer electronics. Keep reading to see our industrial IoT solutions, powered by Renesas.
Why Renesas for Industrial IoT?
Renesas devices are ideal for industrial IoT because they offer a combination of high performance, reliability, and industrial-grade durability. Renesas MCUs and MPUs are designed to handle harsh environments like extreme temperatures, electrical noise, and vibrations commonly encountered in industrial settings. Renesas also excels in providing integrated connectivity and real-time control features by supporting protocols such as EtherCAT and Modbus, making it easier to new and legacy production assets.
Security is another key advantage, with features like secure boot and encryption built into Renesas devices to protect sensitive data and prevent unauthorized access. Renesas also provides a comprehensive development ecosystem beyond circuit design and PCB design, including SDKs and development tools that help engineers quickly bring IoT products to market. Renesas devices and the CUBOs shown below provide the performance, security, and support needed to build robust, reliable industrial IoT solutions.
Microcontroller + Wi-Fi/BLE Modules
IoT products need some level of processing power in order to capture data, run time-critical algorithms, and interface with external sensors and equipment. As one of the world’s largest MCU manufacturers, Renesas provides a broad range of MCUs suitable for industrial systems, robotics, sensor platforms, and much more.
Industrial IoT products also need to connect to each other, a local network in a production facility, and/or the internet, so MCUs for industrial IoT will typically need at least one wireless capability or a built-in Ethernet MAC.
The R5F523W8CDLN#U0 MCU is one option available in CELUS with integrated Bluetooth connectivity that offers a powerful IoT-ready processor in a compact footprint. Users of other popular MCU modules, such as ESP32, will be familiar with the module format and PCB layout practices for this type of component. The CUBO shown below contains all the required circuitry to run this MCU and it can be instantly integrated with other ready-to-use circuitry inside the CELUS Design Platform.
R5F523W8CDLN#U0 circuit with external crystal and programming header available in CELUS.
The CELUS Design Platform contains other CUBOs built around Renesas MCUs that do not contain integrated Bluetooth or Wi-Fi connectivity. Examples include:
- R7FS124773A01CFM - 32-bit ARM Cortex M0+ RISC with 128KB Flash
- R7FA4M1AB3CFM#AA0 - 32-bit ARM Cortex M4 RISC with 256KB Flash
- R5F117GCGFB#30 - 16-bit, 8- to 32-KB Flash, 24 MHz with external crystal
Although these CUBOs don’t have a built-in Ethernet PHY interface, the PHY layer can be implemented by connecting to an external Ethernet transceiver. In many facilities, this is preferred over forming a BLE mesh network or Wi-Fi network as a hardwired solution is generally more reliable. When Wi-Fi is needed as an add-on to these components, the DA16600MOD-AAC4WA32 offers these wireless capabilities in a familiar module format.
Industrial Sensors
In industrial settings, IoT products tend to capture data from a diverse range of sensors beyond the simple environmental sensors you see in many IoT projects. Industrial IoT sensor systems often need to measure things like gas concentration, rotational motion, or reflectance/transmittance. Some Renesas sensors available for industrial IoT systems include:
- HS3101 humidity and temperature sensors
- FS3000-1005 and FS3000-1015 air velocity sensor modules
- ZMOD4450AI1V refrigeration air quality monitoring sensors
These sensors provide a more comprehensive environmental monitoring capabilities than designers will find from other semiconductor vendors. These sensors are also easily added to a new or existing PCB project, and they provide simple connectivity with any MCU by connecting over a 2-wire I2C interface. Compact packaging for these components also helps ensure a small system footprint, which is essential for mass deployments of industrial IoT devices.
Motion Control
One of the common applications of industrial IoT systems is in motion control, often being used in industrial robotics. Motor driving, motion tracking, control, and sensing are all part of motion control and can be accomplished with Renesas components. Inside CELUS, users can access motor driver ICs and power regulator circuits that can provide precision motor driving capabilities in industrial systems.
For motor driving, CELUS currently offers a CUBO with the ISL89410 FET driver, which accepts a wide input voltage range (4.5 to 18 V) and is capable of driving highly capacitive loads with fast edge rate and high current. The 2A output current is capable of driving small motors with high torque. Some additional applications of this component include ultrasonic transducers, high-power SMPS, Class D amplifiers, and pulse drivers.
ISL89410 FET driver circuit available in CELUS.
CELUS also features a set of CUBOs with Renesas power regulators in buck, boost, and buck-boost topologies. CELUS users can use these CUBOs to build industrial IoT products accommodating wide input voltage ranges and moderate power levels in a compact footprint. These parts are not just necessary for motion control, they are also ideal options for the digital processors and sensors we show above.
If you want to prioritize Renesas components in your designs inside the CELUS platform, navigate to the Project Specification area of the Project Settings. Select your preferred manufacturers from the dropdown menu, and the CELUS platform will attempt to prioritize components from these manufacturers when generating your design.
Selecting a preferred manufacturer does not guarantee that the generated design will contain your preferred components. However, if the preferred components will be compatible with your design specifications, these components will appear at the top of the Matching CUBOs list when you are selecting CUBOs.
To learn more about leveraging these features and CUBOs in your design process, watch this video.
Why Component Manufacturers Love CELUS
By working with CELUS, Renesas has made it easier for engineers to find, understand, and implement their components in new designs. This helps engineers to complete product development cycles faster and with fewer errors. Users who leverage CELUS will experience a simplified design process that eases integration of Renesas products into a new design.
Other component manufacturers can also make their products more accessible by collaborating with CELUS. By transforming their components and reference circuit designs into CUBOs, they can make their products more accessible and appealing to a wider audience of engineers, ultimately driving increased usage and sales. The CELUS Design Platform acts as a dynamic, automated support tool, helping manufacturers connect with their long-tail customers and ensuring their solutions are always front and center when engineers need them.
To get access to these design resources from Renesas, sign up for CELUS today.
