Lattice Semiconductor Presents FPGA-Based Solution Stack
Lattice Semiconductor has recently introduced a new low-power, FPGA-based solution stack aimed at accelerating implementation of industrial applications like robotics, scalable multi-channel motor control with predictive maintenance, and real-time industrial networking in environments like automated smart factories, warehouses and commercial buildings, known as Lattice Automate.
Lattice Automate includes software tools, industrial IP cores, modular hardware development boards, and software-programmable reference designs and demos that will be key to creating intelligent industrial systems to execute on those applications, according to a Lattice press release.
Mark Hoopes, director of industrial segment marketing, Lattice, told Fierce Electronics that smart factories and other industrial settings are leveraging technologies like IoT and edge computing to increase automation, and that the complexity of implementing these capabilities requires “full solution stacks, not just silicon.”
Hoopes said it’s an arena in which Lattice’s focus on low-power FPGAs should pay off. “Power is a huge concern in certain industrial areas,” he said. “For example, if the solution is inside a robot that needs to move rapidly, having good power dissipation helps.”
Precise motor control and predictive maintenance also are key requirements in these settings, Hoopes added. Lattice Automate is capable of enabling systems that can sense speed, position, and movement of different motors in a machine or robot to allow for flexible, scalable motor control. Another benefit is a predictive maintenance reference design that employs sensing circuits, a data collector, and a single local AI/ML engine to improve data privacy and minimize machine downtime by monitoring multiple motors in a system.
