Altium Accelerates IoT Hardware Development with Modular Design and Toradex Collaboration

Altium announces that Toradex, a leading embedded computing solution provider, has licensed the Geppetto modular design tool. Toradex users can now go straight from creating a Toradex design, to manufacturing a working printed circuit board in just one session from the Toradex website.

With Geppetto, Altium has simplified electronic engineering and removed the barrier of entry for a new breed of product inventors. Engineers and designers of all levels now have easy access to modular prototyping and rapid production, propelling electronics design for the emerging AI and IoT markets.

“The partnership with Altium allows everybody to create customized boards using a web-based ‘drag and drop designer’, no schematic and layout experience required! Currently supported are the Verdin and Colibri SoMs featuring the latest NXP i.MX 6, i.MX 7 and i.MX 8M Mini Applications Processors. The collaboration also extends into the software. Torizon, the open source easy-to-use Linux platform, can be configured to support the custom boards built with Geppetto,” said Daniel Lang, CMO, Toradex. “We look forward to enabling even more modules such as the Verdin i.MX 8M Plus featuring an integrated neural network accelerator for Machine Learning applications.”

Geppetto is a free cloud-based design tool that opens the door to electronics design for non-electrical engineers. Now Toradex users can create Geppetto-based carrier board designs for Toradex Computer-on-Modules and Single Board Computers in minutes, and have it ready to ship from 7-20 working days.

“We are thrilled Toradex is choosing to give their users the power of authorship and advanced design using Geppetto,” said W. Gordon Kruberg, M.D., head of Modular Hardware, Altium, LLC. “Geppetto is democratizing the path for electronics design.”

Geppetto Key Capabilities:

• Custom Web-design tool – embedded directly into the Toradex ecosystem, Geppetto provides a simple drag and drop design platform to develop production-ready prototypes for IoT and AI applications.
• Free Design, BSP, and 3D Model files On Demand – Geppetto generates EagleCAD, .BRD and .SCH files of your design on-demand, as well as instant pricing and customized device trees, datasheets and .STL models.
• Altium Viewer – With Altium Viewer embedded in the Geppetto interface, Geppetto also provides Altium Designer project files and high-quality PDF schematics.
• Rapid Manufacturing – Carrier boards designed and ordered in Geppetto reduces engineering cost and errors. Geppetto automates the PCB routing, BOM, fabs and assembly. Electronics arrive pretested, application ready, and fully assembled in 15 business days.