TILES: A NEW PARADIGM FOR EMBEDDED DEVELOPMENT

Tiles are fundamentally altering the way that we develop, prototype, scale, and produce embedded intelligent systems. By modularizing the complexity of modern electrical subsystems, Tiles seamlessly carry a design from initial concept all the way through mass production using the same hardware, leading to tremendous savings in time and cost while simultaneously reducing risks and avoiding common pitfalls, allowing researchers, educators, entrepreneurs, and seasoned engineers to focus their time, resources, and energy on the things that really matter: product functionality and user experiences.

PLATFORM

There are currently over 75 different tiles covering the full range of subsystems:

• CORE: processing, communications, interfaces
• LINK: communications, BLE, WiFi, mesh, etc.
• POWER: voltage regulation, monitoring, battery management
• SENSE: input sources for motion tracking, sound, light, environmental monitoring, etc.
• DRIVE: output drivers for actuators, audio, motors, etc.
• DISPLAY: embedded visual displays and indicators
• MEMORY: flash storage
• ADVANCED: multi-modal functionality and experimental systems

STANDARDIZATION

• Packaging: most tiles come in a standard T44-10 SMD package shown to the right. Deviations are made for increased I/O (primarily for Core tiles) or due to other constraints (physical actuator limits, etc.).
• Common Pads: the ground connection is always made at the larger pin 1, with the logic supply directly opposite. I2C communications are normally found on pins 4 (CLK) and 5 (DAT) in the lower left, while those Tiles that support SPI generally use pins 2-5 for the MISO, CS, CLK, and MOSI lines, respectively. Other pins are functionality dependent.
• Breadboarding: we are working on a number of solution for solderless testing of multiple tiles…
• Soldering: tiles can be soldered to carrier boards using low-temperature Tin-Bismuth paste
• Reuse: by reheating the carrier board, the entire Tile can be removed and reused

NOW FOR SOME FUN…

1. brainstorm, discuss ideas, and form teams
2. explore, select, and reserve your tiles here (FCFS)
3. discover resources & acquire additional components (HuaQiangBei Market)
4. prototype (laser-etching carriers, SnBi paste & hot-plate soldering)