Acceed announces the compact industrial Box PC Matrix-750 from Artila which has two Ethernet interfaces (RJ45) and also offers the option to use mini-PCIe cards as individual radio communication modules. It can be used fast and easily to extend the device for wireless communication. Two insulated digital inputs and two relay outputs serve for local data exchange together with the serial interface. Support of the Linux real time patch for real time applications is a special feature.
The industrial Box PC Matrix-750 is ideally suitable for the remote management of modules such as sensors and actors in factory automation, building and vehicle networking or logistics applications. The hand-sized device in robust metal casing scores with low energy consumption and flexible communications to the network (wired and additionally wireless with an optional module). The gateway can be equipped with the desired communication interface via the mini-PCIe slot; the micro-SIM slot is integrated. If desired, the distributor acceed supplies ready configured devices in accordance with the customer’s specifications. Both independent, permanently installed 10/100 Mbit LAN interfaces are standard. In addition to the serial interface, which can optionally be configured according to RS-232 or RS-485, the Matrix 750 has respectively two insulated digital inputs and relay outputs which, for example, can be used for monitoring tasks and alarm signals and an USB-OTG port for direct connection to OTG-compatible devices (USB on-the-go).
The core of the controller is the Cortex-A7-CPU (up to 800 MHz). As RAM, 512 MB DDR3 memory is available, augmented with 16 MB DataFlash as a backup file system for fast, easy updates and problem-free system recovery. A MicroSD slot supports SDHC cards up to 128 GB. The standard equipment includes the reliable operating system Linux Kernel 4.14.x with a boot loader and a pre-installed file system and a software utilities bundle such as Web server, PHP server, Python, Perl, MySQL and SQLite. Equally, Node-RED is supported; the distributor acceed provides a free Snippets download.
In accordance with industrial requirements, the robust casing with its dimensions of 108 × 78 × 35 mm is manufactured exclusively using metal, has two lateral assembly eyelets and is also suitable for top-hat rail assembly. Its supply voltage can be within the range of 9 to 48 VDC. Matching power supplies are also available from acceed. The power consumption of the Matrix-750 with only 250 mA (at 12V) is very low. Operation within an extended ambient temperature range from 0 to +70°C is permissible.