In preparation for the STM32 Summit 2019 (check out the event page in English or Chinese), which will take place on April 26 and 27 2019 in Shenzhen, China, we are now looking at the evolutions and challenges of industrial applications, after a deep dive into artificial intelligence yesterday. For the fourth consecutive year, the STM32 Summit will highlight significant industry trends and gather an eclectic selection of leaders to further innovation. It is an ST event, but more than 50 third-party partners will showcase their ingenuity and creativity, testifying of our collaborative approach in this ever-expanding market. The STM32 Summit will feature workshops around ST technologies and our partners’ solutions, as well as panel discussions with decision makers from various companies, a plethora of demos from our engineers and the many talents we work with across China.
This conference will be highly symbolic as it will serve as a stepping stone for the launch of the ST Partner Program in the Middle Kingdom. It will also be the first time we will deliver awards to the partners with the most impressive displays. The ST Partner Program offers a broad ecosystem of companies that will help our customers find the support and expertise they need to bring their ideas to market faster. The awards will help companies get the appreciation and recognition they deserve. China is such an exploding market that it is crucial to shine a light on excellence and ensure that it stands head and shoulders above the noise. And this is even truer in the field of industrial applications, which rests upon four foundational pillars: motor control, smart industry, power management, as well as safety and security.
STSPIN, MCSDK, Transceivers, and Predictive Maintenance, the Face of Motor Control and Factory Automation
Many engineers know us for our STSPIN motor drivers with great hits like the STSPIN820, the smallest 45 V / 256 micro steps motor driver that received awards from top Chinese media. The STM32 Summit will also be an excellent opportunity to show the solutions we built around these components, such as our Motor Control SDK, X-CUBE-MCSDK, which helps developers configure their firmware through a graphical user interface that dramatically simplifies their work. Additionally, we will have a demo that will showcase the power behind our libraries by displaying two motors, rotating at different speeds, but still running in synchronicity thanks to our platforms. It’s the first time we are bringing this demo in Asia, after getting positive feedback at CES 2019 (Las Vegas) and Embedded World 2019 (Germany).
Powerful motor control often leads to factory automation, which will give us an opportunity to talk about the many transceivers that can transform the operations of an industrial complex. For instance, we offer the smallest KNX transceiver, the STKNX, a small, powerful, flexible, and reliable RS485 module, the STR485, and various IO-Link products and tools. All these innovations enable us to lead the charge in predictive maintenance, and we’ll have a demo showing how our sensors can anticipate failures in a motor and help prevent sudden downtimes as well as significant repair costs by assisting a company in performing maintenance operations before an incident takes place. The demo even showcases a graphical user interface that helps attendees see the additional information available thanks to predictive maintenance.
SLLIMM, TrustZone, and STSAFE, the Arms of Power Management and Security
Industrial applications demand precise power management at every level. ST has new digital power factor correctors to manage loads as high as 3 kW better. The STM32 Summit will also feature the SLLIMM intelligent power modules that can integrate industrial inverters and pumps. By directly connecting the low-voltage microcontroller with an electric motor that receives power from the mains, the SLLIMM modules can help engineers create designs that are a lot simpler, and cost-effective, thanks to a lower bill of material. Whether teams need a small converter, a PFC controller, or an intelligent module, ST offers solutions that draw directly from our expertise in power management to help factories become smarter and a lot more efficient.
Security is another sensitive issue as industrial applications must also deal with confidential information and critical processes. As a result, we will show for the first time in Asia, an STM32L5 microcontroller with a Cortex-M33 powering Arm’s TrustZone, a mechanism that isolates information, safeguards the system’s firmware and the secure boot, among others, while using hardware acceleration to maintain the same level of performance. Similarly, we’ll showcase STSAFE solutions that facilitate the implementation of secure nodes, gateways, and cloud solutions thanks to feature-rich secure elements that protect hardware and data. For instance, STSAFE facilitates a product’s authentication on an LPWAN network, making it a great asset in a company’s battle against fraud and counterfeiting.
STM32 Summit, Beating Drums in Sync with China’s Beating Heart
Beyond the ST products and demos, the STM32 Summit is a chance to tailor our approach to Chinese customers and better show our commitment to the new trends that are shaping this region. More and more Chinese companies are looking to provide solutions, rather than just products. It explains why there’s a tremendous focus on research and development, as well as a desire to be the best, rather than simply be the first or the cheapest. Chinese companies are increasingly looking to bring value to distinguish themselves from the rest of the industry, which is why more and more are gravitating toward ST. As they discover the extent of our portfolio and the fact that they can benefit from our ecosystem for a substantial number of components, they realize that the key to groundbreaking innovation is taking advantage of all the solutions we have to offer.
