Hardware Grant For Supporting Next Generation Of Voice And IoT Devices

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Algorithm developers, system designers and audio engineers can now create voice-activated systems for various IoT applications

Wevolver in partnership with audio solutions company Knowles has announced the launch of the Knowles Hardware Grant, which will offer twenty IoT and Home Automation Pro Development Kits to help algorithm developers, system designers, audio engineers and others create voice-activated systems for various applications such as IoT, mobile, and ear-worn devices. 

The IA611-RDI-01 is a reference design based on IA611 SmartMic for IoT applications. It enables ultra-low-power acoustic event detection, voice keyword detection and voice commands to develop a voice UI. To accelerate prototyping the SmartMic into an IoT application, the IA611 has been integrated with the Microchip SAM D21 Xplained Pro MCU board with full support via Atmel Studio 7. 

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The core of the reference design is the IA611 SmartMic designed for ultra-low power in a digital mic package. IA611 supports Knowles VoiceQ, a voice detector capable to automatically adapt its performance to the acoustic environment and enable voice wake keyword/ command. The reference design also includes a second digital mic for beamforming to improve performance if required by the IoT application.

It allows for rapid prototyping of IoT designs that use an MCU processor that is already tested, optimised for BOM, and performance. A downloadable extension provides sample code for a simple application and required libraries to develop a VUI pre-integrated with the SmartMic as a peripheral.

To apply for the grant, engineers need to describe their plans for the development kit in less than 500 words. The top twenty innovative responses will receive an IoT and Home Automation Pro Development Kit. 

In addition to the development kit, the top 5 submissions will be invited to participate in a private group innovation webinar with key Knowles engineers who will share their vision for voice at the edge. 

All submissions will be reviewed by a panel of senior Knowles engineers along with the CEO and co-founder of Wevolver, Bram Geenan. The review panel will select entries based on innovation, product fit and scalability. 

The grant recipients will be announced on April 30 2021.