[Tech Report] Industrial SBCs for Everything from Prototyping to Production

Manufacturing downtime is a major source of losses, wasting both time and money. When unexpected downtime occurs, average losses for manufacturers are estimated at USD 260,000 per hour.

As industrial automation, edge computing, and AI-based applications continue to expand, the need for reliability in Single Board Computer (SBC) systems to prevent such losses is also growing. Demand for Single Board Computer (SBC) reliability to avoid loss costs is rising in parallel.

Industrial SBCs are characterized by integrating essential computing elements onto a single board. They also combine processing power and connectivity in a compact form factor.

These industrial SBCs are presented as suitable for demanding industrial environments. Recently, a video discussion was held against this backdrop.

Experts from Raspberry Pi, Gateworks, NXP Semiconductor, and EDATEC took part in the discussion. They talked about the growing importance of industrial SBCs in the latest embedded and edge computing systems.

SBC usage is surging as industrial automation and edge computing grow. Industrial SBCs serve as flexible, scalable platforms for a wide range of applications, including soft programmable logic controllers (PLCs) and machine vision.

The use cases for SBCs are not limited to factories. Industrial SBCs are used in medical devices, oil and gas field control systems, power grid monitoring, and rail systems.

Industrial SBCs are also used in other embedded and edge computing applications where reliability is essential. Their use is also expanding into drones, unmanned aerial vehicles, space, and vehicle-to-everything (V2X) solutions.

This expanding range of applications is closely tied to the characteristics of industrial SBCs. Industrial SBCs can operate even in environments where conventional electronic devices struggle to function.

As a result, industrial SBCs are used across a wide range of fields, from PLCs and machine vision inside factories to reliability-critical embedded and edge systems, drones, and vehicle-to-everything (V2X) solutions.

SBCs are well suited to harsh industrial environments. In industrial settings, temperature, humidity, and dust can act as threats that degrade electronic device performance, and SBCs are designed with reliability as a design priority to withstand those conditions.

Reducing the number of components lowers the likelihood of failure. Another feature is that with fewer components, even if one part fails, the probability of a failure occurring is lower.

SBCs offer strong resistance to power fluctuations and are designed for continuous operation. As a result, they have strengths in durability and continuous use.

As edge computing continues to grow, demand for real-time information processing is also increasing. This leads to faster decision-making and greater efficiency, and SBC advantages are also being cited in this context.

However, the challenge for engineers is moving from prototypes to actual deployment systems. In large-scale applications such as edge AI, SBC adoption is constrained by memory, heat generation, and cost.

Time-sensitive workloads require computing near the point where data is collected. Typical targets include machine vision for quality assurance and machine vision for predictive maintenance. In this process, AI-based analytics play the role of delivering actionable insights rather than raw data.

To meet these needs, engineers need processors. These processors must strike a balance among computing performance, connectivity, and energy efficiency. NXP is cited as an example supplier of such processors.

In this regard, Dave Lee, senior sales manager at Raspberry Pi, said that memory is becoming more important as edge workloads become more advanced. He also said that the current market is facing unprecedented shortages of memory and RAM. He pointed to cloud providers' heavy use of high levels of memory bandwidth as the main cause of the shortage.

In addition, data on SBCs tends to move from the CPU to secondary and peripheral devices. For this reason, memory pressure on SBCs becomes heavier in high-intensity edge applications.

Raspberry Pi is addressing memory supply issues with a broad multi-vendor strategy for DRAM and storage memory. One solution is the 'clamshell' approach.

The 'clamshell' method involves placing 2 DRAM chips on the board. Accordingly, when 4GB memory is hard to source, two 2GB memory chips can be mounted on the board.

Meanwhile, a key issue in industrial environments is power supply stability. Power interruptions can result in data corruption, storage device damage, and costly downtime.

To address these problems, EDATEC responds by choosing components that exceed specifications. EDATEC considers the SBC's resistance to electromagnetic interference, resistance to electrostatic discharge, whether the system uses optical isolation, and whether the system uses capacitive isolation.

For example, EDATEC chooses to use components rated for 80V on 24V input and output terminals. This significantly exceeds the required standard and improves reliability.

A supercapacitor backup is provided as a power-loss prevention solution. This allows operators to shut down systems safely without damaging memory or long-term nonvolatile storage devices.

Gateworks has also designed a rugged power supply. Its design goal is durability in extreme industrial environments without a power supply connection or thermal management devices such as fans, and its top priority is environmental sustainability.

This power supply can be applied in environments such as mines with heavy tractors, factories in hazardous and extreme-temperature conditions, defense, and space, with the goal of ensuring smooth power supply operation in those environments.

These cases show the industry's broader demand for a shift in the criteria for success in industrial computers. The traditional focus was on processing power, but the new success criterion is consistent operation even in the harshest environments.

From the perspective of next-generation edge computing implementation, SBCs are presented as representing the future of industrial systems. Accordingly, competition in this industry is expected to intensify over the next few years.

In an environment where competition is intensifying, the importance of collaboration across the technology ecosystem is growing even more. No single vendor can meet all of edge computing's requirements.

Cooperation among processor manufacturers, board designers, system integrators, software developers, and distribution partners is cited as a condition for success. The purpose of such cooperation is to accelerate innovation, and the effect of this collaboration is a substantial improvement in product time to market.

Amid these changes, users who have traditionally relied on existing methods are also beginning to consider moving to SBCs. This is because SBCs offer faster prototyping, improved scaling speed, greater flexibility, and a wider range of price points.

SBCs are also linked to the use of proven hardware solutions. When proven hardware solutions are used, engineers can reduce development time by up to 6 months.

At the same time, even when proven hardware solutions are used, freedom to customize for specific applications is preserved. In the end, SBCs and proven hardware solutions are connected as tools that make it possible to shorten development timelines while maintaining customization.

DigiKey plays a central role in the collaborative ecosystem by connecting customers with the technologies, vendors, and resources they need. In doing so, it supports engineers' development processes and provides access to the components needed to carry out projects as well as to finished systems needed to carry out projects.

With this support, engineers can evaluate NXP processors, build Raspberry Pi-based prototypes, and deploy industrial solutions from Gateworks and EDATEC. DigiKey supports this development flow by connecting a range of technologies and supply chain resources.

Industrial SBCs are expected to play an important role in the future of automation, edge computing, and AI. Their strengths include reliability, performance, and flexibility, and broad integration into a wide range of applications is expected.

DigiKey helps engineers respond to the complexity of modern industrial system design by leveraging its role in integrating the entire ecosystem of SBC manufacturers. This support also extends to the transition from prototyping to production.

Source: TECHWORLD · Sean Luke, DigiKey Technical Marketing Engineer
Original: https://www.epnc.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=406366

References

• https://www.epnc.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=406366