Imagination Technologies, the company that makes the graphics chip for Apple’s iPhones and iPads, has just launched a Kickstarter for its Creator i40 Internet of Things developer kit.
The Creator i40 is dubbed the “Ultimate IoT-in-a-box dev kit” and offers a complete hardware and software solution for developers and hobbyists to create their own smart home apps. Ultimately it’s intended for prototyping IoT products, but with the added benefit of a cloud system already in place to use and experiment with.
The main board uses a 550MHz, dual-core MIPS processor and features expansion slots for adding additional sensors and hardware. The main development kit, which will cost £80 via the Kickstarter page, includes the main i40 dev board, two ‘Clicker’ expansion boards and three sensor boards – a motion sensor, a thermostat and a relay switch.
Imagination reckons it’s covered every possible feature a developer could need. The board features 802.11ac 2×2 Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.1 Smart, the 6LoWPAN wireless standard used the ZigBee and Google’s Brillo OS, a TPM security chip, a Micro SD card slot and an Ethernet port.
Related: What are Project Brillo and Google Weave?
Underpinning this is support for several open standards and Linux operating systems, as well as access to FlowCloud – a cloud platform for powering IoT devices.
Here’s a quick video explaining the Creator i40 and its features. Full specs are below the video – click here to view the Kickstarter project.
Creator i40 full specs:
- CPU: 550 MHz dual-core, dual-threaded MIPS interAptiv, 32/32 kB L1 I- and D-cache per CPU, 512 kB L2 cache, IEEE 754 Floating Point Unit
- RAM: 256 MB DDR3 SDRAM
- Memory: 512 MB NAND flash, 1 x micro SD card
- Communications: 802.11b/g/n/ac 2×2 Wi-Fi (Ensigma™ C4500 RPU), 802.15.4 6LoWPAN dedicated chip, Bluetooth 4.1 (Classic + Smart, respectively)
- Security: Dedicated TPM chip
- Ethernet: 1 x RJ45 Ethernet port
- Audio: 1 x 3.5mm input/output jack, 1 x S/PDIF input/output connector
- I/O: 32 x GPIO, 2 x mikroBUS i/f, 4 x PWM, 1 x SPI, 2 x UART, 2 x I2C, 5 x ADC, expansion headers, 14-pin EJTAG connector, 9 x indicator LEDs (7 x I/O, 1 x MCU),
- USB: 1 x micro USB 2.0 OTG
- Power: Micro USB (5V DC) or barrel adapter (9V DC)
- Dimensions: 100 mm x 106 mm
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
