Himax opens DigiKey preorders for its WiseGuard edge AI evaluation kit

Himax opened preorders for its WiseGuard edge evaluation kit through DigiKey.

Himax said on November 3 that developers could preorder a WiseGuard smart sensor evaluation kit through DigiKey. The launch is a distribution milestone for a low-power sensing platform the company is promoting for security applications. Himax expects shipments of WiseGuard module orders to start by mid-November. The kit gives engineering teams a route to assess the technology in their own designs. [Himax announcement](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/himax-opens-pre-orders-for-wiseguard-smart-sensor-evaluation-kit-through-digikey-bringing-ultralow-power-edge-ai-sensing-to-security-applications-302927839.html)

Always-on sensing competes for a limited power budget

A security device may spend most of the day waiting for an event. Keeping the whole system awake to process everything can be expensive in power. An edge sensor can take on part of that work close to where data is captured. If it can recognize events efficiently, the rest of the system can spend more time in a low-power state.

The benefit depends on what happens in realistic conditions. More false triggers can keep the radio or processor active, reducing any battery advantage. A detector that saves power by missing events creates a different problem. Teams using an evaluation kit can vary lighting, movement and wake-up settings while measuring how often the complete device responds. That test tells them more about a finished product than the power draw of one component in isolation. [Himax announcement](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/himax-opens-pre-orders-for-wiseguard-smart-sensor-evaluation-kit-through-digikey-bringing-ultralow-power-edge-ai-sensing-to-security-applications-302927839.html)

A kit opens a design path

Preorders and expected shipments establish when engineers can begin to get hold of the hardware. A commercial security product still has to meet requirements for power, operating conditions, event accuracy and handling of sensor data. A useful evaluation would measure energy over a representative day and record what the system stores or sends when it detects an event.

The November announcement is therefore about access to a development platform. The results of a deployment will depend on the final device and how its team configures and tests the sensor. [Himax announcement](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/himax-opens-pre-orders-for-wiseguard-smart-sensor-evaluation-kit-through-digikey-bringing-ultralow-power-edge-ai-sensing-to-security-applications-302927839.html)