Wearable electronics: how to design your own hands
Smart watches and fitness bracelets have gradually moved from entertaining, but exclusively theoretical concepts to the nearest retail stores of portable electronics like Euroset or Svyaznoy. With a little more effort, you can become the owner of smart glasses or some other virtual reality device. Wearable gadgets are gradually becoming quite ordinary thing. But at the same time, almost every buyer of such a device becomes a kind of experiment: new technologies are being tested on it. “Early birds”, “early technology adopters” - this is the name in the west of the first wave of novelty lovers. They have to put up with non-ideal interfaces, lack of applications, not quite clear usage scenarios.
Is it possible to force the market to slip through this phase as quickly as possible and go into a mature state when buying a wearable gadget compares with the choice of home appliances - simple and clear? At one time, this stage for quite some time, about 10 years, was experienced by smartphones. But we have every reason to believe that the current "childhood diseases" of wearable devices will be overcome much faster.
And one of the reasons for this optimism is the powerful growth of open platforms and the emergence of thousands, if not tens of thousands of independent developers. An example of such an “engine of progress” could be the recent initiative of the well-known chip maker - Taiwanese company MediaTek (one of the leaders of the hardware market for smartphones). The initiative called MediaTek Labs was created so that anyone who is interested in creating new gadgets gets the necessary tools for their development. It does not matter whether you have only a concept or a fresh idea in your head, know how to prototype and create 3D models, or have spent the last 20 years exclusively programming in assembler. Any enthusiast who has a goal and a vision can assemble a team around his project or implement the capabilities of MediaTek Labs. Moreover, it can only be a vision: MediaTek Labs allows you to participate in projects of specific devices, even if you have only an idea, but there are no IT skills at all.
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In fact, within MediaTek Labs, you can implement the full cycle of device development. The company provides hardware, operating system, all software and hardware interfaces, documentation, full support. At first you will have to spend money on “hardware” (it would be strange if it was distributed just like that) - about $ 80 for the LinkIt One kit from the MediaTek Aster ( MT2502 ) system-on-chip with Wi-Fi modules ( MT5931 ) and GPS ( MT3332 ). The LinkIt One Developer Kit includes antennas for wireless modules and a lithium polymer battery. The architecture of the chip is ARM7, and it is positioned as a solution to the class Simple Application Use (SAU). This means that the devices assembled on the basis of MediaTek Aster, can be a wearable electronics average. Various trekkers, health monitors and the environment, smart watches with a simple interface, flying drones with automatic navigation - this is the range of solutions available. And the cost of the final product will be affordable (we all remember the great Google Glass toy at a price well beyond 1000s that are not cheapening dollars). Roughly speaking, devices on Aster will occupy a niche between simple pedometer bracelets (up to $ 100) and smart watches or high-end glasses (over $ 400). Also in the area of ​​the golden mean will be the typical battery life of such devices: about 5-7 days.
That's how MediaTek LinkIt One looks like.
Taking up a “middle” niche is not new to MediaTek. It is on affordable, but quite advanced smartphones, “hearts” (that is, processors, more precisely, systems-on-chip with a processor at the head) for which the company delivers, MediaTek did its business. More than 200 million chipsets were produced and shipped only last year. This means that if you think broadly, and your device will require millions of copies, there will be no doubt about the ability of this company as a partner to supply the right number of chips without a long wait.
The real-time operating system LinkIt , on the basis of which MediaTek Labs is proposed to develop applications, is a kind of alternative to various variations on Linux for more compact and energy-efficient solutions. And, by the way, it is not at all necessary to be a guru of the hardware level of microcontroller programming in order to develop new gadgets within the possibilities provided by MediaTek Labs. Like the Arduino platform, which unites enthusiasts with very different levels of training around them, MediaTek Labs provides a clear SDK and HDK (tools for developing software and hardware, respectively). By the way, support for the Arduino code and iron in LinkIt is also available, so you can significantly expand the capabilities of an existing product without abandoning previous developments. Perhaps, apart from Arduino, MediaTek Labs can be compared with the Raspberry Pi, but in any case, very indirectly. The Raspberry microcomputer practically remained a toy for “geeks”, with the help of which you can hack an ATM, but create an element of the “Internet of things” that would become truly massive until it came out.
The last, but perhaps the most important component, without which no such initiative “takes off” is the community. Thousands of developers from all over the world, of whom several hundred have already come from Russia and Eastern Europe, joined MediaTek Labs. And this means that you will not be left alone with your problems and questions. You can come to the project as any specialist who is interested in creating new products, designs, concepts. And the entrepreneurial movement in IT that is gaining momentum can find here the most valuable resource for itself: personnel who love their work and are focused on the product. “Monsters” of the market, however, also show interest in MediaTek Labs: the project has quite a living engineers of large telecom corporations, looking for ideas and talents and ready for dialogue with enthusiastic developers. And also - factories that, if they find your project interesting, may even offer to make it at their own facilities. Naturally, not just like that, but for quite lively dollars.
While market giants like Intel and Samsung are able to roll out products created under the powerful influence of marketing and their own ideas about what users should like, your vision of the beautiful may be different. Meeting every day with the real needs of living people and not being tied up with complex obligations with shareholders, independent developers, designers, single entrepreneurs and visionaries can very coolly influence the modern market. At a minimum - to speed up the arrival of the “Internet of things” in every home, to bring closer the moment when the wearable gadget becomes a convenient and reliable assistant, not causing frustration and a long period of habituation.
In order to start working on your dream gadget, just visit two links: labs.mediatek.com is the website of the platform itself (registration is free, after which you can download the free SDK), and www.seeedstudio.com - here you can purchase the starter kit “ hardware »LinkOne for developers. Perhaps you will stop at the automatic feeder for domestic fish, which in parallel examines their physical activity, maintains the temperature of the water in the aquarium and automatically puts the photos of the most beautiful pets on the blog. And, of course, give this amusing gadget to several acquaintances. Or, you will collect more than $ 1.5M only in the form of pre-orders, as was done by the developers of Kreyos Meteor watches at Indiegogo last year. Good luck in such matters depends on very many factors, but the availability of available tools and for development is one of the most important. MediaTek Labs has it all.
Is it possible to force the market to slip through this phase as quickly as possible and go into a mature state when buying a wearable gadget compares with the choice of home appliances - simple and clear? At one time, this stage for quite some time, about 10 years, was experienced by smartphones. But we have every reason to believe that the current "childhood diseases" of wearable devices will be overcome much faster.
And one of the reasons for this optimism is the powerful growth of open platforms and the emergence of thousands, if not tens of thousands of independent developers. An example of such an “engine of progress” could be the recent initiative of the well-known chip maker - Taiwanese company MediaTek (one of the leaders of the hardware market for smartphones). The initiative called MediaTek Labs was created so that anyone who is interested in creating new gadgets gets the necessary tools for their development. It does not matter whether you have only a concept or a fresh idea in your head, know how to prototype and create 3D models, or have spent the last 20 years exclusively programming in assembler. Any enthusiast who has a goal and a vision can assemble a team around his project or implement the capabilities of MediaTek Labs. Moreover, it can only be a vision: MediaTek Labs allows you to participate in projects of specific devices, even if you have only an idea, but there are no IT skills at all.')
In fact, within MediaTek Labs, you can implement the full cycle of device development. The company provides hardware, operating system, all software and hardware interfaces, documentation, full support. At first you will have to spend money on “hardware” (it would be strange if it was distributed just like that) - about $ 80 for the LinkIt One kit from the MediaTek Aster ( MT2502 ) system-on-chip with Wi-Fi modules ( MT5931 ) and GPS ( MT3332 ). The LinkIt One Developer Kit includes antennas for wireless modules and a lithium polymer battery. The architecture of the chip is ARM7, and it is positioned as a solution to the class Simple Application Use (SAU). This means that the devices assembled on the basis of MediaTek Aster, can be a wearable electronics average. Various trekkers, health monitors and the environment, smart watches with a simple interface, flying drones with automatic navigation - this is the range of solutions available. And the cost of the final product will be affordable (we all remember the great Google Glass toy at a price well beyond 1000s that are not cheapening dollars). Roughly speaking, devices on Aster will occupy a niche between simple pedometer bracelets (up to $ 100) and smart watches or high-end glasses (over $ 400). Also in the area of ​​the golden mean will be the typical battery life of such devices: about 5-7 days.That's how MediaTek LinkIt One looks like.
Taking up a “middle” niche is not new to MediaTek. It is on affordable, but quite advanced smartphones, “hearts” (that is, processors, more precisely, systems-on-chip with a processor at the head) for which the company delivers, MediaTek did its business. More than 200 million chipsets were produced and shipped only last year. This means that if you think broadly, and your device will require millions of copies, there will be no doubt about the ability of this company as a partner to supply the right number of chips without a long wait.
The real-time operating system LinkIt , on the basis of which MediaTek Labs is proposed to develop applications, is a kind of alternative to various variations on Linux for more compact and energy-efficient solutions. And, by the way, it is not at all necessary to be a guru of the hardware level of microcontroller programming in order to develop new gadgets within the possibilities provided by MediaTek Labs. Like the Arduino platform, which unites enthusiasts with very different levels of training around them, MediaTek Labs provides a clear SDK and HDK (tools for developing software and hardware, respectively). By the way, support for the Arduino code and iron in LinkIt is also available, so you can significantly expand the capabilities of an existing product without abandoning previous developments. Perhaps, apart from Arduino, MediaTek Labs can be compared with the Raspberry Pi, but in any case, very indirectly. The Raspberry microcomputer practically remained a toy for “geeks”, with the help of which you can hack an ATM, but create an element of the “Internet of things” that would become truly massive until it came out.
| What is LinkIt | SDK Intro | HDK Intro | API References | Documentation |
While market giants like Intel and Samsung are able to roll out products created under the powerful influence of marketing and their own ideas about what users should like, your vision of the beautiful may be different. Meeting every day with the real needs of living people and not being tied up with complex obligations with shareholders, independent developers, designers, single entrepreneurs and visionaries can very coolly influence the modern market. At a minimum - to speed up the arrival of the “Internet of things” in every home, to bring closer the moment when the wearable gadget becomes a convenient and reliable assistant, not causing frustration and a long period of habituation.
In order to start working on your dream gadget, just visit two links: labs.mediatek.com is the website of the platform itself (registration is free, after which you can download the free SDK), and www.seeedstudio.com - here you can purchase the starter kit “ hardware »LinkOne for developers. Perhaps you will stop at the automatic feeder for domestic fish, which in parallel examines their physical activity, maintains the temperature of the water in the aquarium and automatically puts the photos of the most beautiful pets on the blog. And, of course, give this amusing gadget to several acquaintances. Or, you will collect more than $ 1.5M only in the form of pre-orders, as was done by the developers of Kreyos Meteor watches at Indiegogo last year. Good luck in such matters depends on very many factors, but the availability of available tools and for development is one of the most important. MediaTek Labs has it all.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/364125/
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