Freescale Supports MEMS Industry Group’s New Open-Source Sensor Fusion Initiative with Advanced Development Resources

Freescale Semiconductor (NYSE: FSL) today announced premium support for MEMS Industry Group’s open-source sensor fusion collaboration, Accelerated Innovation Community (AIC). In addition to contributing its industry-leading sensor fusion software, Freescale is making available its sensor fusion development kit and additional development technology based on its Freedom development platforms for Freescale Sensors and Kinetis MCUs with Bluetooth. The development kit includes optional software development support from Freescale, and works with AIC’s open-source sensor fusion software to help developers more quickly and easily deploy sensors into new and compelling applications for the secure Internet of Tomorrow.

“Sensor fusion is a fundamental building block for today’s secure embedded processing solutions. Although it has been in the market for several years, sensor fusion has so far been kept proprietary, and this has unnecessarily slowed its broader adoption,” said Babak Taheri, vice president and general manager of Freescale’s sensor solutions division. “With our comprehensive development tools and support for AIC’s open-source initiative, Freescale will help even more developers and systems designers unleash the benefits of sensor fusion technology, ultimately leading to the creation of compelling new IoT products and services.”

Sensor fusion software leverages and synthesizes the capabilities of multiple sensors, enabling extremely accurate data such as motion, location, orientation and tilt information. But until now, the software was complex and difficult to develop. AIC’s open-source sensor fusion software helps address this issue by enabling quicker and simpler system sensor customization and optimization. And the premium support provided by Freescale helps further accelerate development cycles, while reducing risk with a proven hardware and software platform to evaluate performance.

“The availability of open-source sensor algorithms will catapult innovation in sensor-based applications to an unprecedented level,” said Stephen Whalley, chief strategy officer for MEMS Industry Group (MIG). “With our support, and through MIG member companies like Freescale Semiconductor, which is helping to drive AIC forward, we are realizing the very first open-source sensor algorithm community.”

AIC’s open-source software is available for both Android and Windows. Freescale’s development technologies and support for AIC help simplify the selection of sensor fusion algorithms and provide visualization of projected fusion results. Freescale’s development kit incorporates award-winning e-compass and sensor fusion software, the Kinetis Design Studio development environment, and the CodeWarrior embedded software development suite for microcontrollers. It also combines Freescale Freedom development boards for Kinetis K64 MCUs (FRDM-K64F), and for sensors with Bluetooth (FRDM-FXS-MULTI-B). Premium software development support from Freescale for AIC’s open-source collaboration is available through a private software support portal.

Tweet this: Sensor fusion goes open source through @MEMSGroup with premium support from @Freescale. #memscongress

Availability and Pricing

The bundled sensor fusion development kit (FRDM-SFUSION) will be available for purchase from Freescale later this month, and is ideally suited for use with a sensor fusion software library, which can be downloaded separately. The kit is offered at a suggested resale price of $170 (USD). Also available is a premium software development support package that includes a private portal with up to 50 hours support at a price of $10,000 (USD).

For more information about this kit, please visit http://www.freescale.com/SensorFusion. For more information about AIC’s open-source software, please visit www.memsindustrygroup.org/aic.

About Freescale

Freescale Semiconductor (NYSE: FSL) is a global leader in embedded processing solutions, providing industry leading products that are advancing the automotive, consumer, industrial and networking markets. From microprocessors and microcontrollers to sensors, analog integrated circuits and connectivity – our technologies are the foundation for the innovations that make our world greener, safer, healthier and more connected. Some of our key applications and end-markets include automotive safety, hybrid and all-electric vehicles, next generation wireless infrastructure, smart energy management, portable medical devices, consumer appliances and smart mobile devices. The company is based in Austin, Texas, and has design, research and development, manufacturing and sales operations around the world. www.freescale.com

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