The Arduino Portenta series stands for high performance in the Industrial IoT. With user-friendly, yet high-performing and industrial-grade boards, Arduino Portenta makes Industry 4.0 possible in every company – no matter how big the company or how complex the project. Learn more about the versatile Portenta Series from Arduino Pro in this guide.
Versatile range of Arduino Pro
The Arduino Portenta series is the most comprehensive and versatile of the Arduino Pro product line to date. It includes powerful developer boards and controls as well as shields for special abilities. Arduino thus enables a wide variety of companies to implement their IoT projects easily and securely. Be it the farmer who wants to control his greenhouses smartly, a medium-sized company who wants to monitor his machinery with smart sensors or a large company planning an AI project – everyone benefits from the modular and individually configurable Portenta series.The products can be used in professional industrial machines, robots and laboratory equipment. With their high computing density, they are particularly designed for use in demanding IoT projects, especially when it comes to implementing machine learning, AI or computer vision.
For an easy start, the Linux operating system is already pre-installed on boards such as the Portenta X8 or Portenta H7. Since the products are compatible with both the Arduino and the Linux ecosystem, users can choose the right development environment for each project. In addition, the products meet industrial standards for hardware security. Updates and fleet management are done over a wireless secure connection.
Portenta X8 and Portenta H7 – when maximum performance is required
The Portenta X8 and Portenta H7 deserve special mention: With its enormous computing power and two microprocessors, the Portenta X8 is a multitasking talent: The SOM (System on Module) runs real-time applications and can run high-performance processes on Linux cores at the same time. The board is therefore ideal for state-of-the-art production machines, laboratory devices or for controlling robots.Portenta H7 is also about the simultaneous execution of several complex tasks. The board manages the execution of high-level code or AI tasks while running real-time applications. In projects that do not require wireless communication, developers can also switch to the Portenta H7 Lite. This has no video input and slimmed-down security features, but offers full computing power at a reasonable price. The Portenta H7 Lite Connected Version offers a good compromise between reduced functions and full connectivity.
Sophisticated developer hardware for AI projects
A valuable addition to the Portenta X8 and H7 boards is the Arduino Portenta Max Carrier. With this carrier, the boards become an industrial IoT platform – either for direct use in demanding AI applications, building automation and robotics, or as a prototype.The Portenta Breakout Board is also a valuable aid in development. It gives access to the Portenta high-density 80-pin connector, making it easy not only to prototyping, but also to measure or control signals.
Arduino offers a variety of sensors that can be used for AI projects. In the Portenta family, the Portenta Vision Shield stands out. It expands the series with the function of machine vision for professional image recognition and also has audio recognition. There is a version with LAN as well as one for LoRa.
Industrial IoT for manufacturing and agriculture
On the other hand, if you are looking for a particularly easy introduction to the smart control of machines and systems, the Portenta Machine Control is the right choice. It is particularly well suited to upgrading existing systems with smart capabilities, as it is easy to install but still offers the possibility to control complex scenarios of different machines.If the control is to be done outdoors or in more remote locations, the Arduino Edge Control controller is a good choice. This allows users to collect data from sensors in real time. Evaluation and control take place directly on site. This solution is therefore particularly suitable in agriculture for automating greenhouses or monitoring the irrigation of fields. To protect the controller from weather and dust, we also recommend the Edge Control housing kit with IP40-certified protection.
Benefits for PRO users
The Portenta series from Arduino Pro not only offers diverse hardware to implement complex IoT projects, it also ensures a seamless user experience with its user-friendly development environments, the Arduino IoT cloud and a large, active developer community. This allows developers to concentrate on what is really important: successfully implementing their project.
The Arduino Portenta series is just one of many product families from Arduino Pro. In this guide you will find an overview of the entire product range, development environments and more.
Images: Adobe Stock
