Intel announced a new chip module it calls Joule at its Intel Developers Forum in San Francisco. The module is a follow-up to Edison, the prior IoT module launched in 2014. Joule is a tiny maker board that will allow developers to test the RealSense-powered concepts and, hopefully, bring them to the market faster than before.
Joule is a lightweight, and low power usage board capable of processing 4K video on-board. To demonstrate Joule, Intel showed off a pair of Pivot Head safety glasses augmented with the Joule. The scenario was this — an employee in an aircraft building facility is attaching bolts, needs to ensure the right sizes are used in all locations. The glasses were capable of verifying this is being done correctly.
When employees make a mistake, the glasses say so out loud, preventing mistakes that could prove fatal.
There will be two Joule kits to choose from: the 550x, which includes a 1.5GHz quad-core Atom T5500 processor, 3 gigabyte of RAM and 8 gigabyte of storage; and the 570x, which packs in a 1.7Ghz quad-core Atom T5700 CPU (with burst speeds up to 2.4GHz), 4 gigabyte of RAM and 16 gigabyte of storage. Both models include “laptop-class” 802.11AC wireless, Intel graphics along with 4K capture and display support, and a Linux-based OS.
Joule developer kits are now available for purchase from sites like Newegg, Intel says, and the company plans on certifying the board for use in more than 100 countries by the end of this year. The system is also already in use in a number of industries with a custom-made products. Those include a bartender robot with Joule-powered computer vision made by Japanese company VStone and a heads-up display from the French company EyeSight built into the highway police motorcycle helmets.
