The Internet of Things (IoT) world grows on a daily basis despite the lack of standards. All IoT developments are still proprietary, but that is a story for another post. More developers are looking to get in the field to stay on top of tech trends. But with how fast the market moves, various restrictions and limitations can prevent developers from bringing their product to the masses. A new board, the WaRP7, is meant to face these challenges and over come them, which may make it the tool developers have been waiting for.
On the outside the WaRP7 looks like your average development board, but it’s what on the inside that makes it notable. Designed in partnership with Farnell element14, this board is built to take on issues IoT and tech wearable creators usually face: battery life, size, and connectivity. Since it has an open source platform it lets developers to create without licensing restrictions, which often eats up a lot of time and causes delays in projects. The WaRP7 board wants to take projects from the drawing board to the prototype phase.
The NXP I.MX 7Solo applications processor is used as the basis for the new WaRP7. The board also implements the ARM Cortex-A7 core along with the ARM Cortex-M4 core. This design helps with low-powered modes, which is important for most IoT and wearable designs. Yet, it’s also powerful enough to work a higher-level operating system and a complex interface. The daughter card has a flexible design with sensors to help it gather data. There’s also a MikroBus expansion socket that makes the board compatible with over 200 Click Boards making for faster prototypes for wearable models.
(Photo from NPX)
The WaRP7 includes a wide range of connectivity options and the Murata type Idx multi-radio module and Bluetooth 4.1. Its CPU board is also one of the smallest on the market, with it being 2×4 centimeters. And if you’ve been following tech trends, smaller is in. The board also comes with an external LPDDR3 memory, NFC connectivity, Bluetooth Smart, and Wifi. The WaRP7 is also made to work with multimedia devices thanks to its MIPI-DSI display port, onboard camera, and audio features.
Developers of the WaRP7 board, according to NXP’s brochure, picture the device being used in wearables, like activity trackers, ECG monitoring, smart watches, and smart clothing. The board wants to make the developing process of these projects smoother and quicker, but will it actually make a difference? We’ll have to wait and see. Hopefully, the board will bring more innovative, smart, and creative wearables to the tech world. Read more about WaRP7 at element14.
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