AMD has strengthened its Kria adaptive system-on-module (SOM) motherboard portfolio with the K24 and KD240 Driver Starter Kit, designed to control electric motors in robotic systems. With this new platform, Kria aims to lower the barrier to entry for the use of chips designed for robotics, Serve the Home reports.
The K24 SOM and corresponding starter kit target cost-sensitive industries and commercial edge use cases, starting at $250. This product can be used in electric motor systems, robots for factory automation, power generation and public transportation, including elevators and trains. It may also be incorporated into medical systems, including surgical robotic devices and MRI beds.
AMD K24 features
Equipped with a quad-core Arm Cortex-A53 processor as well as a dual-core Arm Cortex-R5F real-time processor and running Ubuntu, the K24 is an entry-level module. It also has 2 GB LPDDR4 RAM, as well as Mali-400 MP2 GPU and AMD Deep Learning Processor.
Much more accessible than the improved K26, it is designed specifically for input/output (I/O) in computing and motor control. What makes this product particularly useful for motor control is its lower latency than comparable units. AMD claims the K24 has 120ns of latency, half the 276ns of Texas Instruments’ AM64XX.
Additionally, K24 can be used with K26 in the same robotic systems, thanks to a compatible connector.
Its integrated packaging means it is approximately half the size of a credit card. At around half the power consumption of the K26, it consumes much less power than other options on the market.
Kria’s starter kit, on the other hand, includes a number of additional components that make it much faster and easier to start setting up robotic systems even at home. This will be in addition to a second starter kit called the REB Robotics 2-in-1 Motor Kit Accessory, which will be released in the near future.
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