STMicroelectronics Announces Industrial Smart Sensor Evaluation Kit

     Featuring a slim 45.8mm x 8.3mm motherboard, the STMicroelectronics STEVAL-IOD04KT1 Industrial Sensor Kit simplifies the development of compact IO-Link (IEC 61131-9) sensors for fieldbus-independent point-to-point bidirectional communication applications.

     The board integrates STMicroelectronics' STM32G0 microcontroller and L6364W IO-Link transceiver, IIS2MDC high-precision 3-axis digital output magnetometer, and ISM330DHCX iNEMO inertial measurement module with embedded machine learning core. Thanks to the L6364W's 2.5mm x 2.5mm CSP19 microchip-scale package and the STM32G0's 2.3mm x 2.5mm WLCSP25 package, the board's compact size allows for sensors with extremely small housings. The board is equipped with a 4-pin M8 industrial interface that can be connected to any IO-Link 1.1 capable IO-Link master controller. The 10-pin expansion interface allows the board to connect more sensors of different modes.

     The companion STM32Cube software package STSW-IOD04K provides IO-Link Device Description (IODD) files, ST's proprietary IO-Link demo software stack, and routines for managing the L6364W and MEMS sensors. The software package supports hot-swap activation, contains function libraries that facilitate the development of various types of sensors, and the software architecture can be easily integrated with other X-CUBE software to further expand the functionality of the sensor.

     The L6364W transceiver relieves the workload of the STM32G0 by being able to handle IO-Link communication functions. The chip also implements IO-Link compliant electrical interface and digital functions, including wake-up recognition, 15-byte data buffer, and crystal-less IO-Link clock extraction. Safety features such as surge pulse protection up to ±2.5kV, ESD protection, and reverse polarity protection are integrated on-chip, eliminating the need for users to install additional components and saving PCB space and bill-of-materials costs. The L6364W integrates on-chip 3.3V and 5.0V LDO regulators and a digitally configurable step-down DC/DC converter capable of delivering up to 50mA of load current, helping developers meet application energy efficiency and EMC requirements.

     The L6364W belongs to the STMicroelectronics IO-Link chip product family. This product family offers a complete set of chip solutions that simplify IO-Link physical layer implementation, including the L6360 IO-Link console transceiver and the L6362A and L6364Q IO-Link device chips.

     The STEVAL-IOD04KT1 kit contains all the tools needed to quickly connect the sensor for evaluation and use, including an IO-Link M8-M12 adapter cable and ST's STLINK-V3MINI code writer. Kits are available now.