IoT products centre stage at Paris show

21st September 2017

Mick Elliott

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At ENOVA 2017 in Paris Farnell element14 is showcasing its offering of IoT products and development platforms to illustrate how it is supporting innovation and start-ups. The display will also feature a local French start-up and an innovative product they have designed with the support of Farnell element14.

Products being highlighted at the show include the Raspberry Pi 3 and a set of kits and accessories including the Pi Desktop and the MATRIX Creator IoT development platform.

The MATRIX Creator is a Raspberry Pi add-on that provides multiple functionality to support the development of IoT devices by new users and experienced developers alike and is ideally suited for the development of applications in automation control: particularly for home automation systems involving optical and sound elements.

The board incorporates a Xilinx Spartan-6 FPGA, an ARM Cortex-M3microcontroller, a range of sensors for motion, temperature, humidity, light, ultraviolet and infrared, an 8-microphone array and a 35-LED array.

The board also incorporates integrated Z-wave and ZigBee communications plus connectivity via a wide range of analogue and digital input/output interfaces. It can also be used in stand-alone mode using its onboard processing capability.

The new Pi Desktop is an innovative set of accessories that converts a Raspberry Pi^™ into a fully featured Linux-based desktop computer, housed in an elegant enclosure. When combined with the Raspberry Pi, the Pi Desktop provides users with all the functionality they would expect from a standard PC, including WiFi, Bluetooth, a real-time clock, a mSATA solid-state drive interface, an optional camera and a power switch.

The result is a simple and elegant solution for Raspberry Pi^™ enthusiasts looking to turn their Raspberry Pi^™ into a stylish desktop computer within minutes.

It eliminates the need to use a complex bundle of wires, or to compromise on the choice of peripherals. The Pi Desktop can be connected to a display via the HDMI interface.

Other products being featured include the WaRP7 IoT and wearable development platform, whose open source design and complete software package allow developers to innovate without licensing restrictions; the NXP Hexiwear wearable development kit; the BeagleBone Bluerobotics controller; the BBC micro:bit pocket-sized educational computer; and the CodeBug embedded single-board computer.

Farnell element14 will also be sharing its stand with a French start-up, AirNodes, founded in 2016 and located at Chavanod in the Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes region.

The company developed a smart mirror, unique to the French market, and have since worked with Farnell element14 to redesign and prototype a new version of the mirror, based on a Raspberry Pi 3. The redesigned mirror has already been purchased by a French 5-star hotel.

This collaboration is an example of the support Farnell element14 can provide to startups, fostering innovation as they take their products to market.