From the oceans to the sky and beyond: The unlimited applications of Red Pitaya’s high-speed SBCs 

In a rather different ipXperience, Eamon steps in for Guy as ipXchange chats with Nicu Irimia from Red Pitaya, who have just released the Bare OEM variant of their popular STEMlab 125-14 boards.

For those unfamiliar with Red Pitaya, this company makes compact single-board Linux computers that feature high-speed measurement capabilities at 125 million samples per second. These fully programmable boards allow designers to embed a laboratory’s worth of high-level signal analysis tools (DC-60 MHz, 2 in, 2 out) into their application at a fraction of the size and cost, as well as providing an open-source operating system to support their design.  

Like many of Red Pitaya’s products, the new Bare OEM board comes as the result of customer demand, with the number of applications for this easy-to-use analysis tool increasing with every shipment. Without the standard SMA connectors and expansion headers pre-attached, the Bare OEM board increases flexibility for Red Pitaya integration in applications that require space and weight savings, such as airborne projects or space missions. Direct soldering to the board also increases robustness against shock and vibration in more punishing industrial applications, further increasing the reliability of this already NASA-approved board. 

And so we come to the focus of the interview. As Nicu explains, to see the Red Pitaya as simply a bunch of scopes in a plug-and-play device with a smaller form factor is a drastic underestimation of Red Pitaya’s true capability. It is thanks to this wealth of measurement tools, which can be used simultaneously, that has enabled Red Pitaya to find itself used in countless applications, including: 

• Software-defined radios 
• Lidar and radar analysis 
• Counting fish in the ocean 
• On-site air quality measurement in space stations 
• Quantum computing 
• Laser stabilisation 
• Medical machines for early disease identification and diagnostics 
• Desktop NMRI scanners 

ipXchange won’t spoil what other stories Nicu has to share – especially the one with lions! – so sit back with a cup of tea and enjoy an almost feature-length interview that will take you to another world.

Keep designing!