Jan. 10, 2023 /SemiMedia/ -- TDK Corporation yesterday announced the TDK i3 Micro Module, the world’s first module with built-in edge AI and wireless mesh connectivity capability. Through TDK’s collaboration with Texas Instruments (TI), the i3 Micro Module integrates the TI SimpleLink™ platform, featuring the CC2652R7, an Arm® Cortex®-M4F multiprotocol 2.4-GHz wireless 32-bit microcontroller (MCU) for real-time monitoring. The new module additionally integrates TDK’s IIM-42352 high-performance SmartIndustrialTM MEMS accelerometer and digital output temperature sensor, edge AI, and mesh network functionality into a single unit, facilitating data aggregation, integration, and processing.

The i3 Micro Module’s ultracompact, battery-powered wireless sensor, facilitates users to achieve sensing at most any desired position without physical constraints like wiring. This dramatically expedites the prediction of anomalies in machinery and equipment, enabling an ideal Condition-based Monitoring (CbM) implementation. Monitoring through real-time visualized empirical equipment data instead of relying on manpower and scheduled maintenance, understanding the health of machinery and equipment to help extend utilization life, and minimizing production downtime by preventing unexpected failures — all contribute to establishing an ideal predictive maintenance system. TDK designed the i3 Micro Module for truly “smart” sensor node edge implementation aimed at a wide variety of production equipment, empowering the ongoing global evolution toward smart factories.

“As more electronics and automation are being implemented in factories and buildings, companies are seeking more efficient ways to anticipate and manage equipment needs, avoiding expensive downtime,” said Nick Smith, product marketing manager at Texas Instruments. “This collaboration between TI and TDK will bring more technology into factories and increase their efficiency through simpler and more powerful sensing and real-time communication. TI’s connectivity technology is backed by over 20 years of experience to help drive innovations such as these modules.”

“TDK’s i3 Micro Module facilitates numerous benefits to the manufacturing floor to enable digital transformation and an enhanced smart factory environment,” stated Christian Hoffman, General Manager, Corporate Marketing Group, TDK Corporation. “The module simplifies the deployment and sensor data gathering process giving users the bandwidth to focus on effective condition based monitoring and predictive maintenance initiatives.”