TI Rolls out Wearable Development System

A new wearable, wireless development system could serve as areference platform for the design of sports watches, heart monitors, pedometers,fitness equipment and a wide variety of wireless applications.

Known as the EZ430-Chronos,the development tool is being sold by TexasInstruments for $49, as a way of getting its CC430radio-frequency-based microcontroller into a growing number of wirelessapplications.

"The development system literally comes in a sports watch," saysAdrian Valenzuela, a product marketing engineer for TI's MSP430 microcontrollerfamily. "You can take the back off the watch, remove the module, and program itfor whatever you need to do."

The EZ430-Chronos is believed to be the first customizabledevelopment system to be offered within an intelligent sports watch. Itincludes a USB-based RF "access point" that plugs into a personal computer (PC)and communicates wirelessly with the Chronos watch, enabling an engineer to dothe development through a PC.

The watch also incorporates sensors for use in a variety ofapplications. A three-axis accelerometer allows users to do motion-basedcontrol or sensing. Sensors for temperature, voltage and battery charge arealso included in the watch, along with development software.

TI engineers say the tool could be used for the design ofsports watches or high-end fitness watches, as well as fitness equipment, suchas pedometers and heart monitors. The company's literature also says that itcould be used to create displays for personal area networks or wireless sensornodes for data collection.

"We are not exclusively targeting it at the watch market,"Valenzuela says. "That's just a tiny subset of the market we will beaddressing."

TI says that BMInnovations, a maker of electronic products for the sports and fitnessmarket, has created a heart-rate monitoring system that is compatible with theEZ430-Chronos. Valenzuela adds that one TI engineer suggested employing thedevelopment system to create a product that would use the three-axisaccelerometer, pressure sensor and data collection capability to map a skier'scourse during downhill skiing.

"Because of its low cost, it's going to improve accessibilityfor a broad range of users who might not have considered doing RF designs inthe past," Valenzuela says.

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