Acer has announced the availability of its CloudProcessor IoT starter kit in EMEA at the 2017 BETT show in London. For the company this new kind of educational product is a natural development for the “Hour of Code” – the global movement which encourages students to organize coding tutorials. “This easy to use set of programmable components with customized Acer software in conjunction with cloud connectivity is the perfect way to introduce connected hardware to anyone beginning their technological education,” said the company.
“Basic IT skills and an understanding of the technology underpinning the modern world will be essential to daily life in the next few years. Acer CloudProfessor is part of Acer’s contribution to ensuring today’s students are prepared for the world they graduate into” said Maverick Shih, President of the BYOC Smart Products Business at Acer. “Educational technology solutions like this provides students with a great onramp to computer coding. Presenting computing concepts in fun and simple ways is the key to getting kids excited about the next big thing. With the CloudProfessor, we aim to build that excitement about IoT and the possibilities of the cloud.”
Acer was at the BETT show from January 25th to the 28th at booth B109 with demo units of the Acer CloudProfessor and experts on hand to talk through this device and the rest of the range suited for educational institutions.
Acer CloudProfessor is the world’s first IoT starter kit, combining hardware, software and the Cloud. It is the easiest way for all people who are new to the IoT to learn what the Cloud is and how to bring their own unique creations into the world. Alongside the CloudProfessor module, the kit contains an Arduino Leonardo Development Board, an LED101 Development Board, Seeed Arduino Shield, two LEDs, two Sensors (light and temperature) and a small motor to enable movement with robotics projects.
Straight out of the box, this kit comes with access to Acer´s Build Your Own Cloud (BYOC), an ecosystem with partners from multiple layers of the industry from chipset, sensor, operating system, middleware, to application vendors. This pre-programmed connectivity means users can plug and play with their devices and creations. Importantly, it lets them connect and explore without having to worry about the complexities of security, API access and other technological issues that could distract from the main aim – learning in a fun and engaging way.
Keeping the kit as easy and intuitive as possible to use – CloudProfessor has been designed to run on smartphone and tablet apps. Active on Android, Chrome OS and iOS devices, students learn through tutorials how to work in programming languages such as JavaScript, Blockly and LiveCode to complete simple scenarios and get inspired to create their own projects. By removing the need for a laptop or computer screen, the modules become very portable allowing for coding projects wherever the user feels like – in the classroom or while on a trip, for example.
Together with companies such as Gigo, Acer isproviding learners with the easiest ways to get into the Internet of Things (IoT). Using CloudProfessor and the hardware provided as a starting point, the kit begins with eight application packages for users to try out. For every extension added after that, Acer delivers a sample code which utilises each to get the project started.
The actual Acer CloudProfessor unit itself is a sleek black box (108mm x 44mm x 13mm and weighing less than 100g). It connects through 802.11 a/b/g/n Wireless LAN and Bluetooth 4.0 + HS. Storage internally comes through 16GB inbuild flash and the unit can take a MicroSD card for up to 128GB worth of capacity. The whole device is powered through an Intel Atom x5 Z8300 CherryTrail chipset, a powerful driver for this device, opening up a wide range of possibilities for IoT exploration.
The Acer CloudProfessor IoT development kit will be available in the UK and EMEA regions in the first half of 2017. Specific availability and pricing details will be announced soon.
