Case study
One carrier board, two industrial products, now in production
How Pinetics delivered an industrial Ethernet gateway and touch panel PC on one carrier board, with custom Yocto Linux, in 22 weeks.
At a glance
Client
A Swiss industrial automation company
Product
An industrial Ethernet gateway that collects data from RS485 sensor networks, plus a touch panel PC variant built from the same design
Pinetics' scope
As quoted: evaluation of the processor module, carrier board design for both variants, PCB layout, prototypes, custom Yocto Linux, C libraries and the firmware update module
Timeline
Full scope delivered in 22 weeks
Outcome
Prototypes accepted, in series production, in use in the field, and the client has since given Pinetics further projects
What did the client need?
The client needed a rugged gateway that reads fast RS485 sensor networks and passes the data to plant systems over industrial Ethernet. The same design also had to become a touch panel PC with a display. It had to run Linux on a system-on-module with an NXP processor, chosen by the client, and leave room for a future ST processor module.
What did Pinetics build?
- Four RS485 master ports and one RS485 slave port. The master ports run at 5 Mbps or more, and each has switchable 5 V sensor power, a switchable bus balance network and its own current sensing.
- Two Ethernet ports. One gigabit port, and one port that takes a plug-in industrial Ethernet module, so the same board can speak EtherNet/IP, PROFINET, EtherCAT and other protocols, or plain gigabit Ethernet.
- One carrier board, two products. The same schematic serves the edge gateway and the touch panel PC, which adds HDMI and a local display interface.
- Industrial power and protection. A 5 to 24 V input with galvanic isolation, ESD protection on every port, a functional earth and a board width that fits a 19 inch rack option.
- Custom Yocto Linux. Build system, bootloader, kernel and device tree work, boot time optimisation and an SDK for the client’s developers.
- C libraries and a firmware update module. Drivers for fast UART with DMA, GPIO and current sensing, a sample application for the industrial Ethernet module, written so they can be ported to the future ST processor firmware, and an over-the-air update module.
- Prototypes. Five gateway prototypes and one with a display, assembled and brought up by Pinetics.
What was the hardest part of the project?
Three things. The first was industrial Ethernet: one board had to carry a plug-in module for several industrial protocols next to a gigabit port, with isolation and protection fit for a plant. The second was the Linux side: a custom Yocto build, device tree and boot time that suit an industrial product, and a clean path for the client’s Java application to call the C drivers. The third was making one carrier board serve two different products.
How did the team solve it?
- The processor module was tested first. Before the design was committed, the team checked the module against the hardest needs, such as fast UART with DMA and two Ethernet interfaces.
- One shared design. The carrier board uses fit options, so the gateway and the touch panel PC share most of the schematic.
- A custom Yocto BSP. Pinetics built and tuned its own Yocto Linux, bootloader, kernel and device tree, cut the boot time, and handed the client an SDK.
- Portable C libraries. The drivers were written in C so the client’s Java application calls them directly, and so the same code can move to the future ST processor firmware. An over-the-air update module completes the software.
What was the result?
Pinetics delivered the full scope, from hardware to Linux, libraries and the update module, in 22 weeks. The client accepted the prototypes. The gateway is in series production and in use in the field. The client has since come back to Pinetics for further projects.
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