The Universal Sensing Module from NXP combines a multi-sensor analog input board with an AI microcontroller board, backed by pre-built application code, to accelerate system development. Providing accurate, precise sensor data alongside real-time AI-powered diagnostics, the module is ideal for anomaly detection and predictive maintenance in industrial automation, laboratory instrumentation and smart manufacturing.
Based on an MCX N FRDM AI microcontroller board and an NAFE13388 analog front end (AFE) board, and complemented by pre-built application code, this ready-made platform helps developers to create a prototype for an industrial sensing circuit more quickly and easily. As well as performing sensing, control and edge AI functions, the module also ensures reliable wired connectivity through a 10/100 Mbits/s Ethernet controller and transceiver, a CAN FD transceiver, and USB Type-C® connectors.
The software resources provided by NXP to support the module include FreeMASTER, a run-time visualization and debugging tool for quick prototyping, the MCUXPresso software development kit for application development, and a variety of reference software in an Application Code Hub.
The NAFE13388 is a low-power 24-bit universal input AFE supporting voltage and current excitation sources. The NAFE13388’s highly integrated design provides software-defined analog inputs and outputs for a wide variety of industrial sensors – voltage, current, temperature, and more – enabling the implementation of flexible system architectures and reducing bill-of-materials costs. It provides eight single-ended or four differential channels with ranges up to ±12.5 V.
Offering very high accuracy of 0.002% and up to 24-bit precision at throughput up to 576 ksamples/s, this AFE board supports intelligent edge solutions for fast, reliable, and high-resolution data acquisition. This makes it ideal for factory automation, process automation, and control systems.
The MCX N947 AI MCU on the Universal Sensing Module’s MCX N FRDM AI board has an eIQ® neural processing unit (NPU) for performing AI/ML acceleration at low power. The MCU also features dual 150 MHz Arm® Cortex®-M33 CPU cores, up to 2 Mbytes of dual-bank Flash memory, a PowerQUAD DSP accelerator, and an EdgeLock® secure enclave.
