(iTers News) – Marvell has launched its Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign for Kinoma Create, the JavaScript-powered Internet of Things construction kit that helps software developers become makers, makers tackle projects with less hassle, and designers prototype products faster.
Kinoma Create includes the hardware needed to start creating connected consumer electronics and their companion apps. Kinoma Create integrates a power-efficient CPU; Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity; a capacitive touchscreen; and numerous input/output options for external sensors, LEDs, and input devices. All this is enclosed in a stylish, adaptable case that makes projects portable, and adds polish to product prototype demonstrations.
Kinoma Platform Runtime (KPR) is the software at the heart of Kinoma Create. KPR draws from 12 years of experience building applications for consumer electronics in JavaScript. Using JavaScript and XML for programming makes KPR accessible to novice programmers, while its advanced architecture empowers professional programmers to deliver commercial products more easily. Kinoma Studio is the development environment for KPR. Kinoma Studio includes the Kinoma Create simulator to speed development, a wireless debugger to eliminate cables, and application packagers for iOS and Android to build mobile apps with KPR that interact with Kinoma Create prototypes.
Kinoma Create is a full hardware-software product expressly designed to help Web and Node.js developers quickly feel right at home, because it’s based on familiar JavaScript and XML. It will also enable makers to build projects with less hassle, so they can focus on the fun parts of projects instead of the drudgery of starting from zero. Using this kit, designers build products faster by rapidly creating and testing portable prototypes, as well as ship real consumer products on the same platform.
Early-adopters of Kinoma Create have been able to build interesting projects in just a few weeks, including Ultimate Aquarium Controller, Cowboys, and Reassuring Box. The Missouri-based Ultimate Aquarium Controller has built a removable Wi-Fi system for keeping check of temperature, power consumption, salinity, water level, light, and pumps of aquariums. Toronto -based Cowboys came up with an interactive game that tests the strength, intelligence and social media skills of players, as well as how much they’ve had to drink. Reassuring Box of Japan has developed a home monitoring system that gives piece of mind before leaving the house or going to sleep.
“Kinoma Create is designed to be designed with—a tabula rasa for prototyping. It’s flexible and facile, opening new paths to creating everything from personal tinkerings to my research projects to first cuts of new products for testing in our company. It feels inclusive, intuitive, and complete, yet ready to adapt for my (occasionally offbeat) ideas. I’m into rapid sensor integration, and Kinoma Create pushes the boundaries of how quickly I can evolve my projects to get feedback from my teams and users,” said Valkyrie Savage, EECS PhD Student and co-founder of Savage Internet.
“Product engineers have been working on fragile development boards with complex embedded tools for too long. It’s time for a change. Kinoma Create is the next wave of hardware for developing consumer electronics,” commented Peter Hoddie, Marvell’s Kinoma VP. “We’ve rethought the developer experience from the outside in. Innovations in Kinoma Create’s case are just a hint at the software innovations inside. We’re launching Kinoma Create to help software developers, makers, and product prototypers bring their ideas to life.”