3 Technologies That Stood Out at Embedded World 2024

"It's not a faith in technology. It's faith in people." - Steve Jobs

This quote by Steve Jobs epitomizes my experience at Embedded World 2024 in Nuremberg, Germany. The level of innovation, ingenuity, and excitement I witnessed as I walked among the numerous booths and through the crowd was so enjoyable to observe and experience.

Over 1,100 exhibitors came from across the world to present and share their innovations at EW2024. Numerous technologies, products, and services were on display, with some main themes being artificial intelligence (AI), edge computing, robotics, and display technology. In this article, I want to share with you three technologies that I enjoyed seeing at Embedded World 2024, especially after the wonderful discussions I had with the inspiring people behind them.

But before I jump in, if you are a tech enthusiast like me and interested in reading about Edge AI and how it is rapidly permeating almost every industry, check out the 2024 State of Edge AI report that I developed together with Wevolver in partnership with TinyML Foundation, Renesas, Synaptics, Mouser, Nordic Semiconductor, Syntiant, Arduino, and more. It's insightful, comprehensive, and free!

Here are 3 exciting technologies that stood out to me in Embedded World 2024.

1. Robust Perception Solution for Autonomous Systems from Fraunhofer IIS

In an interesting discussion with Dr. Christoph Sohrmann , Group Manager at Fraunhofer IIS, Division Engineering of Adaptive Systems , I learned about the challenges perception sensor systems face, whether under lab or real-world conditions. Today, robust perception systems are a crucial part of Industry 4.0, especially with the rise of autonomous robots and transport vehicles.

However, finding the optimal system for a specific application can be quite challenging, with the expansive variety of sensor types, processing hardware, and data processing algorithms. This is where Fraunhofer IIS's solutions come into play. By adopting simulation, virtual environments, and digital twin technologies, they are capable of helping their partners characterize, measure, test, benchmark, validate, and develop their optimal sensor systems with a high robustness level for autonomous applications.

At EW2024, Dr. Sohrmann demonstrated an engaging qualitative comparison of camera, LiDAR, and radar sensing environments for autonomous systems. I was able to visualize the data from sensors mounted on a mobile robot in real time, which made it relatively easy to identify the strengths and weaknesses of each sensor.

If you're interested in learning about how Fraunhofer IIS is bridging simulation with the physical world through electronic perception systems, visit their website.

2. Visual Servoing Using Edge AI from Analog Devices

I met with Jake Carter of 亚德诺半导体 and discussed how they are employing Edge AI capabilities to enable visual servoing for robotic arms. Visual servoing is a control technique based on visual feedback from a vision sensor.

At Analog Devices' booth, Jake demoed their MAX78000 AI microcontroller. With a built-in, ultra-low-power CNN accelerator, this AI microcontroller enabled a robotic arm to detect, track, and pick up a small object. The microcontroller and its corresponding camera module were seamlessly mounted on the robotic arm, demonstrating the perfect embedded nature of edge devices.

This shows how real-time object detection and tracking can be achieved with live correction, reduced latency, and true embedded intelligence.

You can check Analog Devices' MAX78000 microcontroller product page for more information.

3. SmartBridge Display Technology from Synaptics

This was quite an interesting technology to see in action. Fabrice DAYAN of Synaptics Incorporated showed me their latest advanced automotive display processor, SB7900, better known as SmartBridge. It is a local dimming IC that supports large, high-contrast, high-resolution automotive LCDs at lower overall power consumption and cost (up to 30-inch displays and 6k resolutions).

Basically, this is a perfect solution for enhancing display readability. By analyzing incoming images, SmartBridge can control the brightness of every single LED in the array. This reduces halo and enables high contrast ratios to ensure better visibility, improved clarity, and higher image quality against various lighting conditions.

It was fascinating to see the SmartBridge technology live. If you're interested in reading more about it, you can check out the Synaptics SB7900 product page.

Final Thoughts

embedded world Exhibition&Conference 2024 was such an experience! Not only was the technology exciting to see, but the conversations with inspiring people from across the globe gave me great confidence and optimism that we are on a great trajectory with how we're integrating technology into our industries and personal lives. This brings us full circle to what Steve Jobs said. It is really about the people and what they do with the technology that will leave an impact on the world.

If you were at EW2024, too, what technology stood out to you the most? Let me know in the comments below. I can't wait to see what next year's event will show.