congatec launches new product family aReady.COM

By offering a suite of high-performance embedded building blocks that span from Computer-on-Modules (COM) to the Cloud, congatec eases the integration process. The newly launched aReady.COMs come equipped with pre-integrated application-ready hypervisor, operating system, and IIoT software configurations, tailored to meet the specific needs of customers. Developers can promptly boot these custom-configured aReady.COMs and proceed to install their applications, minimising the complexity traditionally associated with integrating the various IIoT functionalities of an embedded and Edge computing system. The initial offering of aReady.COMs features the ctrlX OS by Bosch Rexroth, with additional aReady. products slated for release.

For clients, aReady.COMs represent a comprehensive package of computer-on-modules that are validated for functionality. These modules are ready for immediate application integration, significantly decoupling system from application development and dramatically reducing time-to-market by allowing OEMs to concentrate solely on their application development.

“Our aReady. strategy is congatec’s innovative approach for simplifying the implementation and use of modern basic technologies over the entire life cycle of customer applications. This will raise ‘application-readiness’ as a mark of quality to a whole new level. Moreover, it is not just limited to COMs but even covers everything from COM to Cloud. Computer-on-modules from congatec and all the services that we offer for it have always been geared towards making the integration of our embedded and Edge computing technologies as easy as possible for developers. Our aReady.COM means that we are establishing a new premium level for this application readiness. It makes the use of our modules even more convenient and efficient because the software building blocks required, both below and alongside the customer application are provided by congatec in application-ready form in the required configuration and function-validation,” Tim Henrichs, Vice President Marketing & Business Development at congatec, elaborated.

Andreas Bergbauer, Manager Solution Management at congatec, added: “The seamless integration of our hypervisor technology, and our growing portfolio of industrial software along with the integration of operating systems such as ctrlX OS, represent the first key stage of our aReady. strategy. Our roadmap also includes a whole host of further fully configurable, application-ready hardware, software and service building blocks, covering everything up to Cloud solutions for device management and maintenance. The most important point about all these aReady. products is that they will be an integral component of computer-on-modules, are fully function-validated and are pre-configured to individual requirements from a single source. This kind of comprehensive portfolio for system design can otherwise only be found in dedicated solutions at system level. What we are doing, though, is positioning this solution portfolio much earlier in the value-added chain and therefore making it available for the entire community of embedded and Edge computing developers.”

Detailing the features of aReady.COMs, they offer a hypervisor integrated into the firmware and a built-in memory pre-installed with the operating systems and IIoT applications according to customer specifications. Utilising the Linux-based ctrlX OS from Bosch Rexroth automatically grants access to a vast array of applications and engineering tools available in the ctrlX Store, including PLC applications, motion control, communication, and a variety of IoT and Cloud apps.

Customers evaluating the aReady.COM portfolio have the choice between two COM-HPC standard modules: the Mini Module conga-aCOM/mRLP and the performance-focused Client Size C Module conga-aCOM/cRLP, both powered by the 13th Generation Intel Core processor series (‘Raptor Lake’). These modules provide a customisable foundation, allowing for the precise tailoring of subsystems to meet specific client needs. As congatec continues to expand its portfolio, customers can look forward to a broader selection of high-performance building blocks from the entire congatec module range.