The ST Blog hosted the first roundtable to discuss what it means to design for IoT today. If you missed it or want to watch it again, we have a video of the conversation below. The event also served as a follow-up to two blog posts. One of the panelists, Sylvain Bernard from Siana Systems, had shared with the ST Blog his experience with the STM32MP1. Another panelist, Jake Sprouse from Synapse, had previously explained how he balanced vision and risk. Hence, after giving us insights into their design houses, the two men helped us decrypt the industry at large. Finally, to bring the ST perspective, we heard from Edoardo Gallizio, Sr. Product Marketing Manager, in charge of MEMS and Sensors for the Americas.
Design for IoT Today, During a Global Pandemic
The event first delved into the changes that engineers must face as they deal with a global pandemic. Designing for IoT takes a lot of time, demands many iterations, and relies on long roadmaps. However, recent worldwide challenges require immediate solutions. As Sylvain explained, if his operations changed in 2020, the world saw that remote collaborations could be fruitful. Jake took a different perspective and looked at the industry as a whole. A lot of businesses can pretty much function as they did before. However, other markets, like consumer health devices, are significantly transformed by the pandemic. It is thus, imperative to understand a client’s industry and needs.
Edoardo brought the point home when he explained that recent events highlighted the importance of partnerships. Small teams may feel that a multinational corporation like ST may be out of their reach. However, Edoardo’s message was trying to convey the exact opposite. If we learned anything from 2020, it’s the need for more bridges between actors while making innovations more accessible. Hence, ST is offering documentation, videos, tutorials, and a community that can help even the smallest teams.
Design for IoT Today, With the Rise of Machine Learning
We invite readers to watch the video to learn more about all the topics we covered during the event. The roundtable concluded by exploring the conversation that explored the rapprochement between IoT and AI. Professor William Kaiser, the author of courses on our Educational Platforms, asked if panelists saw more customers pursuing AI in the context of IoT. The question stemmed from realizing that the abundance of low-power and cost-effective sensors means systems are no longer starving for data. It is possible to add a myriad of MEMS and build a complex neural network at the edge. However, it is essential to ask if we are seeing customers requesting those innovations.
Jake and Sylvain explained that their design houses had started to move from mere proofs-of-concept to real-world applications. Most IoT projects still run traditional real-time applications or control systems. However, each design house also worked on machine learning projects at the request of customers. Hence, AI at the edge is no longer a hypothetical case study. Solutions like STM32Cube.AI are helping design houses satisfy new requests from clients and build new types of commercial products.
