Cougars and Tigers and Manx, Oh My!!

Theres no place like…. Oregon

  (when it comes to the design of PC/104 boards!)

Once upon a time, way back in 1976, VersaLogic Corporation was born. The fledgling company wanted to provide customers with the highest quality industrial computer products on the market.

Not satisfied with just offering high quality products, they decided to support every board they made for a minimum of 5 years, which meant that their lovely customers could virtually eliminate product redesign during the lifecycle of their projects. 

Over the years the clever team at VersaLogic have designed and developed a huge range of boards, and have realised their dream of becoming industry leaders in the embedded industrial computer market.

PC/104 is one of the smallest form factors available, making the VersaLogic range perfect for customers who have limited space to play with. With features including 3D graphics, low power consumption and gigabit ethernet there is a VersaLogic board to give your project the happily ever after it deserves.

Somewhere, over the Atlantic, in Eugene, USA

VersaLogic make PC/104 boards, each and every day

Somewhere over in Oregon, where skies are blue

VersaLogic make EPIC and EBX boards too…..

Check out the range of PC/104 boards here - Sarsen - VersaLogic

 

NewsBytes Issue 21 - UEI PowerDNR RACKtangle®

The DNR-12-1G RACKtangle® chassis is a compact (3U), rugged Ethernet based data acquisition and control I/O rack from United Electronic Industries (UEI).  The chassis is ideally suited for a wide variety of industrial, aerospace, automotive and laboratory data acquisition and control applications.

The DNR-12-1G houses a PowerDNA data acquisition system in a rack enclosure, and multiple DNR-12-1G systems may be mounted in a single rack. Though the backplane electronics are identical to the popular PowerDNA "Cube" series, the PowerDNR RACKtangle series provides two Gigabit Ethernet interfaces and provides slots for up to 12 I/O boards, with easy board installation and removal directly from the front of the rack. The standard rack is provided with rubber feet which make the DNR-12 ideal for desk or table top applications, and a bracket kit allows the cubes to be mounted to a wall or other flat surface or in any standard 19” rack (3U height).

The UEI PowerDNR DNR-6-1G HalfRACK product is identical to the DNR- 12-1G system except for the size of the enclosure and the number and order of I/O modules it can accept. All standard PowerDNA I/O boards are available in PowerDNR versions for use in DNR-6-1G systems.

The RACKtangle is an ideal substitute for VME technology in data acquisition and control applications. It is smaller, more modern and lower cost. The RACKtangle is also an ideal choice for a host of Ethernet data acquisition and control applications where small footprint and high performance are desired.

Call the Sarsen Team on +44 1672 511166 for more information on UEI's range of products.

www.sarsen.net          info@sarsen.net

Busy Little Beavers..... Embedded Applications keeping the Sarsen Team busy...

Now everyone is back in the office, and we are back to full capacity after the summer holidays, it’s time to start thinking about the next few months, and look at the projects that will be keeping us busy until Christmas and beyond! (Only 126 days to go!)

 

Our main focus is the High Speed Financial Trading market. BittWare’s Altera Stratix V FPGA PCIe hardware is optimised for this industry. With multiple lanes of 10GigE straight to the FPGA, and PCI Express Gen 2, combined with on-board memory and optional TOE, as well as additional built-in support for 40 GigE and PCIe Gen3, the financial industry has taken notice!

The new Falcon EPU release from VersaLogic means we are talking to people about all kids of applications, including Mil-Aero, Medical, Security, R&D and Robotics. It’s a really compact board, (around the size of a credit card, and weighing 40g) so it’s also a brilliant solution for use in for portable applications and unmanned systems where Size, Weight and Power consumption (SWaP) are critical design elements.

X-ES customers are also keeping us busy with enquiries, in particular about the XPm2020 and XPedite7470 boards. The 7470 is a high-performance, low-power, 3U VPX-REDI, single board computer based on the 2nd generation Intel® Core™i7 processor or 3rd generation Intel Core i7 processor and Intel QM67 chipset. The XPm2020 is a VITA 62-compliant 3U VPX power supply that takes in a MIL-STD-704 28V-DC input voltage and provides up to 300W on 3.3V, 5V, and ±12V at up to 90% efficiency. Both are available now.

Show and Tell….

We love talking about our products, and we have loads of sample boards we can show you, so If you would like one of our sales team to visit you onsite, to discuss how the products we sell can work in your applications, please give us a call on +44 1672 511166 to arrange a meeting.

The Principles of Principals

Here at Sarsen Technology we represent 10 manufacturers, who all follow the same principles to provide top of the class service and support to our customers.

• Technical info available 24/7 – all of our manufacturers have libraries packed full of useful datasheets, manuals and white papers to help you with your query.
• Dedicated support staff – All the manufacturers we represent have a knowledgeable team ready to help you.

• Awesome local reps to support you out of US working hours. Yep, that’s us! 
• Slick RMA processes with clear guidelines when there are issues. Which really isn't very often.
• Downloadable software – whether it’s a BSP, Driver or Quick Start Package, they’ve got them all!
• Mutual sharing of resources and articles – Danville’s goal in particular is to become a repository of SHARC Related Resources and Reference Material for the DSP Developer. If you have a DSP Trick, SHARC-related Article or Web Site that you'd like to add to their reference library, please contact us and we will add it to their collection.
• Comprehensive warranties to give you peace of mind when making the decision to buy.

So, if this little list still doesn’t give you the warm-and-snugglies, give us a call to discuss how the Principles of our Principals will keep you in safe hands when buying any product from Sarsen Technology!

Contact us - +44 1672 511166 or email info@sarsen.net

Embedded Medical Systems from Sarsen Technology Ltd

Medical systems often have very demanding technology and support requirements.

MRI scanners, CT scanners and ultrasound imaging systems typically require powerful data acquisition, digital signal processing and data recording solutions. Sarsen understand that medical customers have special requirements, so we supply high speed data acquisition and powerful embedded computing hardware, specifically for these kinds of applications.

Sarsen Technology represents a range of US manufacturers with a proven track record in supplying high reliability solutions to the medical industry.

Conduant’s  Big River™ RTX16 Digital Recording System is configured to provide clients with StreamStor ® high-speed recording and play-back technology, built into a heavy-duty industrial 19” rack-mount chassis that includes a PCI backplane for COTS component flexibility, a set of individually removable hard disk drives for data storage and an onboard Dual Core Xeon Server that can be used to handle command and control as well as data manipulation. The Big River™ RTX16 recording chassis configurations provide clients with 16 removable hard disk drives for multiple terabytes of data storage capacity and can be used to support a variety of data streaming applications such as medical imaging. 

BittWare’s hybrid signal processing boards provide an ideal solution for medical imaging systems designers. These boards provide the programming flexibility of an FPGA with the number-crunching power of a DSP, integrated by an innovative architecture – BittWare’s ATLANTiS Framework, allowing system designers to use both to their full advantage to get their products to market quickly and cost-effectively.

United Electronic Industries (UEI) has worked with NASA, supplying the UEIPAC Cube to perform an essential role in controlling the COLBERT treadmill in the new space station exercise facility. The astronauts need the treadmill both for exercise and for maintaining bone density in a gravity-free environment. Some of the functions monitored by the UEIPAC are characteristics of the astronaut’s gait and foot impact forces while exercising on the treadmill. This is determined by sensing data of various types from accelerometers and load cells in the treadmill and associated restraining equipment.

The COLBERT treadmill tested during a zero-gravity flight

For more information on how Sarsen can help you find the right solution for your medical application please call us on +44 1672 511166, or drop us an email: info@sarsen.net.

HOT OFF THE PRESS!!! Brand New Board from VersaLogic

Is it a Bird?

Is it a Plane?

No!

FALCON

(VL-EPU-2610-E***) 

A brand new

complete embedded computer from

VersaLogic!

The new 'Falcon' Embedded Processing Unit (EPU) combines processor, memory, video, and system I/O into an extremely compact embedded computer. Despite its diminutive size it packs a lot into a tiny space.

The Falcon is around the size of a credit card (a mere 55 mm x 84 mm), and only 22mm thick, making it a great choice for a range of applications, including Mil-Aero, Medical, Security, R&D and Robotics; industries that are always looking for smaller, lighter and lower power embedded systems, that still offer exceptional high reliability and long term availability.

Tipping the scales at under 115g, which is about the same as a smartphone, it’s also a seriously good solution for use in for portable applications and unmanned systems where Size, Weight and Power consumption (SWaP) are critical design elements.

The Falcon is VERY rugged - designed to withstand extreme temperature (-40º to +85ºC), it also meets MIL-STD-202G specifications for shock and vibration. Soldered-on RAM and latching SATA, Ethernet, power, and main I/O connectors provide additional ruggedisation for use in the corners of the world where us mere mortals will never venture......

The spec sheet reads like an engineer's wish list -

• Industrial Temperature Operation - -40º to +85ºC operation for harsh environments.
• Fanless Operation - No moving parts for CPU cooling.
• Wide Input Voltage Range - Accepts 8 to 17 volts (12V typ.).
• High Performance Video - Graphics core supports MPEG-4/H.264 and MPEG-2 encoding and decoding.
• Network - Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) with remote boot support.
• RAM - Up to 2Gb soldered-on DDR2 RAM.
• SATA - Supports SATA hard drives and mSATA flash storage options.
• Mini PCIe Card Socket - Supports Wi-Fi modems , GPS, MIL-STD-1553, Ethernet, Solid State storage and other plug in devices.
• Device I/O - Four serial ports, four USB ports, Intel Hi-Def Audio

Check out the Falcon datasheet here for a complete run down of spec and capabilities!

The Falcon will be available from stock starting in September of 2012. 

We are anticipating a lot of demand for this board, so register your interest now by contacting us at info@sarsen.net or visit www.sarsen.net for more information.

Team GB, A Big Secret, and The Chance to Win an iPad with Sarsen Technology!!

First and foremost a massive congratulations to Team GB for their awesome performances so far this week.

With Jessica Ennis and Louise Hazel starting their heptathlon events today, Victoria Pendleton looking to get over yesterday’s disappointment with a medal in the Keirin and Rebecca Adlington defending her 800m freestyle title it’s going to be another exciting day for British sport.

There is a bit of a buzz in the Sarsen office – we have some exciting news to share with you next week! Keep an eye on Twitter and LinkedIn for more details!

This time of year is usually a little quieter for sales activity, and we were all looking forward to a bit of a rest, but we are still really busy! With some of the team off on their summer holidays it’s left the rest of us a little jealous, especially as our UK quota of sunshine seems to have been and gone!

Sarsen Technology are running a competition in this month’s MTE magazine to win a brand new iPad, simply for signing up to our monthly newsletter. It really couldnt be easier!
You can sign up and enter the competition here.

Have a fantastic weekend, and dont forget to cheer on Team GB as they go for more golds at

London 2012!