What is YABA?
The world’s first Open Hardware and Multi-platform Controller/Edge Computing System/IIoT Gateway
The world’s first Industrial Open Hardware MarketSpace
YABA is the innovative Open Hardware controller platform designed to have a simple but robust approach to the technologies of modern industrial automation and IoT world. If you like to develop hardware and software with Raspberry, Nvidia CUDA, Google Coral or also with Arduino, Micro Pic, STM Nucleo, etc. and felt the need to bring your expertise to the professional market, YABA is the ideal platform for you.
YABA can works as a PAC/PLC or, better, as a Edge Computer or as IoT Gateway where high performances CPUs, programmable trough high level languages and tools, work together with expansion modules capable of interfacing with the real world.
How about using TensorFlow or OpenCV for realtime data analyzing or just OpenHAB on a rock-solid platform?
On YABA you can develop your expansion board and see that can works with Raspberry CPU as well as with Coral or Jetson Module.
Current Situation
Inexpensive platforms are today readily available on the market and can be adopted as low cost solutions for the home market and small/mid size companies with limited budget to invest in high-end components. These platforms, however, require significant engineering and design efforts to be adapted for the professional market, presenting several limitations: scalability, flexibility, difficult assembly and testing.
Architectures bases on board stacks are easy and cheap to implement. Nevertheless, when the number of boards increases, the end results does not look very professional.
Also testing is very problematic if not impossible: how to measure the signal of a board nested within the stack?
Well, if these are familiar situations…. you surely have already grasped the concept!
YABA Solution
The current market offers some solutions to these problems but the situation is still very fragmented and developing an expansion board for a platform often precludes the option of using for others.
In the industrial sector the preferred architecture is the backplane one, where several expansion boards can be installed on a single main bus board.
Today there are many types of industrial backplane buses, from the simpler ones to the most complex ones.
Many Industrial grade backplanes are designed to achieve maximum performances at the expense of extremely complex configuration efforts and very high cost. Several of these are moreover propietary and “closed source” so you cannot develop your boards for these.
Arduino, Raspberry and the others have already showed us that in many scenarios simplicity, lower cost and open source approach win over extreme performance.
YABA is born to offer a mid-range alternative that fits between inexpensive but-hard-to-assembly boards and their expensive industrial big brothers.
The innovation characterizing YABA is the choice of a bus type that offers simplicity, reliability, wide usage, availability of support and last but not least performances: USB.
…. but USB is not exactly “open source”!
Even if the USB protocols is regulated by the respective consortium, the specifications are in the public domain.
If you are an hardware developer and wish to affix the USB logo on your product or want your vendor identifier, you must proceed with a non-trivial certification procedure, but those who don’t need to use the USB logo can do without it.
Moreover, as explained below, on YABA the USB is only one of the possible protocols, you can develop your boards using the I2C bus or high-speed LVDS lane that does not require any license or certifications.
With the latest versions (3.1) the USB bus/connector guarantees all the above features, the “alternative mode” allows the use of additional lanes for different protocols, on the YABA project we plan to use them for high-speed LVDS buses (such as EtherCAT® M- BUS) and I2C bus.
In order to allow those who wish to use the USB logo but do not want to take the road of certification, we plan to acquire the USB license for YABA so the developers who will use our bus interface modules will be able to affix the USB logo in their products, similar to how they can do it with other USB chips manufacturers.
YABA Concept
Backplane Architecture
Architectures bases on board stacks are easy and cheap to implement. Nevertheless, when the number of boards increases, the end results does not look very professional.
Starting from the prototype, well-built and professional cases will be available in different form factors: CubeBox, SlimBox, DesktopBox, RackBox and OpenBox
Multiplatform
Do you like more Arduino or Raspberry? STM or Microchip? Nvidia CUDA or x86? Regardless of your preference YABA is designed to support it.
Limitless Scalability and Expandability
The USB bus offers the possibility of expanding YABA without any limitations. Soon after the initial launch, We can surely foresee the development of expansions boards for: acquisition of digital and analog signals; gathering of environmental and production values; communication of wired, cellular and industrial fieldbus networks; robotic controllers; encoders; VOIP; speech recognition; industrial automation; smart homes…..in short, everything and without limits!
Not be considered an innovation but a must-have. Nothing will obviously prevent third parties to develop CPU or expansion boards as proprietary products. Still the platform architecture and the communication bus will remain open standards.
Another idea at the base of the YABA project is the creation of a community of software developers and system integrators. Using a dedicated MarketSpace everyone will be able to promote and sell their own products. If you have an idea or a necessity and you need professional help, on the YABA portal you will be able to create your own project to find qualified partners and suppliers.
Form Factors
Starting from the prototype, well-built and professional cases will be available in six different form factors. All form factors will have the additional option of mounting and intelligent display to facilitate the development of standalone systems with human-machine interfaces.
Note that all formats will use the same CPU and the same expansion cards so you can reuse them when the requirements change.
DesktopBox
The DesktopBox will be the first available form factor. It is the ideal development kit for both professionals and amateurs wishing to start familiarize and experiment with the platform. It is suitable for medium size system implementations. It can also be used as an operator panel (with additional LCD).
Desktop Box Specifications:
- Dimensions 200 x 100 x 100 mm
- CPU slot: 1 (double)
- Card slots: 6
- Power supply: external
- LCD mount (optional): 5″ touch panel mounted on the top or at the back of the case
CubeBox
The CubeBox reduced dimensions are ideal for small systems where space is a constraint. With its sleek look the CubeBox is the perfect choice for home applications, where style is a very important factor. Thanks to its compact size, the CubeBox can fit very easily in a suitcase or in a rag-sack, making it very easy to transport everywhere.
CubeBox Specifications:
- Dimensions 100 x 100 x 100 mm
- CPU slot: 1 (double)
- Card slots: 1
- Power supply: external
- LCD mount (optional): 2.8” touch panel on the top or on the back of the case
SlimBox
The SlimBox is another streamlined and compact form factor that can accommodate a larger touch screen. Like the CubeBox, it offers a cutting edge design perfect for home applications. The SlimBox large display make it also easy to use as an operator panel. The SlimBox can represent a good choice for the beginner developer who want to get introduced to the platform.
This form factor is also usefull for hand-held battery powered systems like test instruments, on field data entry, etc.
SlimBox Specifications:
- Dimensions 200 x 50 x 100 mm
- CPU slot: 1 (double)
- Card slots: 1
- Power supply: external
- LCD mount (optional): 5”/7″ touch panel on the top of the case
RackBox
The RackBox is YABA industrial grade form factor. Fitting in a standard 19″ rack, with internal power supply and large 7″ touchscreen, the RackBox is the ideal solution for industrial applications.
RackBox Specifications:
- Dimensions 482 x 133 x 150 mm (3U – 19″ standard rack-mount)
- CPU slot: 1 (double)
- Card slots: 6
- Fan slots: 1
- Power supply: internal
- LCD mount (optional): 5″ or 7” touch panel on the front of the case
CardBox
YABA CardBox can be plugged directly into a standard PC via USB C port. It is the most inexpensive entry-level solution to start familiarizing, developing and testing with the platform.
CardBox Specifications:
- Dimensions 100 x 25 x 100 mm
- CPU/Card slots: 1
- Power supply: USB C
OpenBox
YABA OpenBox is the industrial grade form factor that can host CardBoxes and be mounted on on standard DIN rail.
CardBox Specifications:
- Dimensions 200x 130x 100 mm
- CPU slot: 1 (double)
- Card slots: 6
- Power supply: external
- LCD mount (optional): 5″ or 7” touch panel external mounting
Multiplatform
Do you like more Raspberry or Arduino? Nvidia Jetson or Google Coral? STM or Microchip? RISC or x86? Regardless of your preference YABA is designed to support it.
For the launch are currently under development CPU boards based on ARM/Raspberry and Arduino. Future plans include, also with the contribution of the community, to support almost every available platform on the market, from x86/64 board to Nvidia CUDA enabled Jetson board and Google Coral CPU Module.
Every day new CPU boards are born without an house…YABA is the home for all these boards!
Any CPU or CPU Module natively supporting the USB host specification can already be interfaced with the backplane.
Additional BUS protocols as LVDS/EtherCAT or I2C can be also add.
Expansion boards are USB devices compatible with every CPU board. They can also be used individually on standalone PCs via a simple enclosure box.
Expansion boards that don’t require high data througput can simply use I2C bus.
Expansion boards that needs strict timing constraints can also use LVDS/EtherCAT
In scenarios requiring high computational power or large storage space, YABA boxes can also be directly connected to a high performance PC/Server. This option is also handy during development, offering the possibility of adopting the preferred high-level framework.