Fanless productive computers MIC-7000

MIC-7000 series computers are compact and at the same time high-performance industrial computers with fully passive cooling , while equipped with full-fledged Intel processors of the eighth generation and modern chipsets. A distinctive feature of computers MIC-7000 is a massive radiator, which occupies the entire upper part of the body and provides heat dissipation without the use of ventilation grills and fans.



To solve a variety of resource-intensive tasks, the configuration of computers can be expanded. Branded i-Module expansion modules allow you to install any PCI-e x16 card, including a full-sized GPU, for building machine learning systems and launching neural networks.



MIC-7000s are used in unmanned vehicles as a central processing server, simultaneously processing high-resolution video using video capture cards, performing neural network calculations, and controlling peripherals using I / O ports and industrial interfaces.



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Fanless cooling system

Industrial computers are often used in harsh environments: temperature extremes, pollution and dust. Traditional systems of active air cooling in such conditions can quickly become clogged and break down, and air vents become a source of penetration of debris and large particles. In computers of the MIC-7000 series, a fully passive cooling system is used, eliminating equipment failure due to cooler failure. Such a system is much less in need of maintenance and completely silent.

Industrial interfaces and I / O ports

For compatibility with classic industrial protocols, MIC-7000 computers have built-in industrial RS-232/422/485 interfaces and digital general-purpose I / O ports. IDoor modules are also supported, which we described in the article “ UNO-1000/2000 Series Modular Embedded Computers ”, with which you can add support for proprietary protocols, such as PROFIBUS, EtherCAT, PROFINET, and others.

Flex I / O Expansion Modules

Modules allow you to add additional connectors to the front panel, such as HDMI, DVI, RS-232, LAN, etc. using passive extension cords connected to the motherboard.

General-purpose I / O modules (GPIO) AIIS-DIO32-00A1E and 98R1750090E are available.



^{Flex I / O Expansion Table (clickable)}

Trusted Platform Module (TPM)

For the motherboard without a built-in TPM module, there is a remote TPM module PCA-TPM-00B1E, which allows integrating this functionality into most MIC-7000 computers. This module is designed for systems with increased requirements for hardware protection, for checking the OS loader and storing private keys.

CFast cards

The MIC-7700 model supports CFast cards with hot-swappable high-speed SATA interface. Cards of this type are used in modern cameras Blackmagick, Canon, Arri, and can be used as a compact replacement for SSD-drives.

Branded i-Module expansion modules

Industrial systems often require highly specialized hardware in the form of PCI-e cards. I-Module expansion modules are a portable PCI-e bus extension cable in a specialized package that connects to a MIC-7000 series computer, forming a single system unit.



There are modules in the form of 1,2,4 ports PCI-e x16 / x8 / x4, as well as a regular PCI for connecting obsolete boards that can be found in machine tools and automation systems. To connect boards with increased power consumption, such as high-performance graphics cards, there are modules with additional power lines, such as MIC-75G20 .

Also modules can have trays for installation of additional HDD / SSD-disks.







^{The i-Module MIC-75G20 expansion module with a MIC-7700 computer supports PCI-e-cards with a total capacity of up to 600W. It has two disc trays and an additional power supply.}

Video: Installing i-Module

The procedure for installing an i-Module is not more difficult than installing a card in a normal ATX package: to do this, remove the bottom cover of the MIC-770 computer and then dock with the expansion card.





^{Video: Installing i-Module on a real-life example}

Case: brake disc quality test system

Based on the MIC-7500 computer and the MIC-75M20 module , a serial station for testing the quality of automobile brake disks was launched. The disk is mounted on a rotating axis and unwinds, the rotation speed data is controlled by the PCIE-1802 ADC card. A special hammer, like a gramophone needle, reads the smallest vibrations on the disk surface using a PCIE-1816 card, which has 16 analog inputs, a sampling frequency of 1MS / s, and a resolution of 16 bits. The collected data is transmitted to the analysis system, which generates a report on the quality of the disk.

Case: unmanned vehicle controller

The task was to build a comprehensive data processing system from different sensors for autonomous vehicle systems. Cameras connected via the SDI interface via the DVP-7640E capture card were used to process the video stream in real time with minimal delay, since the use of IP cameras introduced an unacceptably high delay - in the region of 400-500 ms. Video from cameras is processed by the “machine vision” system, which is accelerated using the NVIDIA Tesla P4 graphics processor.



^{Schematic representation of the components of the unmanned vehicle system based on the computer MIC-7700Q}



Vehicle electronic systems, such as the engine controller (ECU), various sensors and the driver assistance system (ADAS) are available via the CAN bus. To connect the computer to the CAN bus, use the iDoor module PCM-26D2CA.



The main components of the system:

• MIC-7700Q - fanless computer with an Intel 7th generation processor, Q170 / H110 chipset
• MIC-75S20 - i-Module expansion module with 1x PCIe x16, 1x PCIe x4, 2x HDD / SSD slots
• PCM-26D2CA - iDoor expansion module with CAN bus interface
• DVP-7640E - video capture card for 8 SDI channels, with hardware codec H.264
• TESLA-P4 - accelerator NVIDIA Tesla P4

Conclusion

Computers MIC-7000 is a compact solution for various applications. Thanks to passive cooling and an extended range of operating temperatures, they can be used in adverse conditions. The i-Module, iDoor and Flex I / O expansion modules allow you to configure any options for a wide variety of tasks, which is a much more flexible solution than most embedded systems in which the expansion potential is often limited.

Links

Our other articles:

Modular Embedded Computers UNO-1000/2000 Series

Industrial 4G routers SmartMotion

We connect serial interfaces on IP

Modular industrial monitors Advantech FPM-7002

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