Engineers can define the electrical components that make up an IoT device using Jumper’s drag-and-drop UI. Once all of the components are imported, they can then be connected to the CPU or micro-controller chosen by the development team. (Image courtesy of Autodesk.)
Jumper.io’s (Jumper) browser-based EDA gives engineers the ability to define and test their IoT devices using a drag-and-drop user interface (UI) and a virtual testing environment.
Once the user defines all of the components of the device, they can then be connected to a digital CPU or micro-controller. Sensors, LED, communication modules and other I/O devices can all be integrated into the digital mock-up.
Next, engineers can compile control code for the IoT device. The code can then be tested virtually within the Jumper system or by loading the software onto the device with a hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) setup. Engineers can test the systems for bugs, security vulnerabilities, penetration testing and communication protocols.
Anything a user can do within a lab to test an IoT product, Jumper hopes to make possible virtually.
“When you work to develop a device to create the embedded software, you go through a lot of iterations to work and debug the code that controls the device,” said Jonathan Seroussi, CEO of Jumper. “You don’t need fancy hardware. You can work on it before you get the prototype from the factory. It is far easier to work with and much easier to deliver to other contractors to work on it instead of sending them hardware.”
A seasoned engineer will note that Jumper will be up against quite a few EDA software options, such as Mentor Graphics, SynopsysWind River and solidThinking’s Embed.
Does Jumper.io Democratize Embedded Software Development Tools?
Using the System Status page in Jumper, engineers can define how various IoT devices interconnect. This task is done to define, connect, debug and analyze the communication on an IoT system. (Image courtesy of Autodesk.)
The developers at Jumper are aiming to make the software easy to use in comparison to competitors. Hence the drag-and-drop UI. However drag-and-drop UI isn’t new.
None the less, the goal is to have a software that can get a user up and running in the EDA space within a few weeks.
Much like other computer-aided engineering (CAE) tools, EDA can get rather pricy for the average user. A team of engineers creating the next big IoT thing in the garage can’t necessarily afford EDA technology. Jumper wants to change that.
“Our vision is to remove the obstacle of hardware labs,” said Seroussi. “We believe these barriers need to be broken down. It reflects itself in our business model that is more flexible than the licensing and difference business models of others that focus on company size and usage.”
Unfortunately, Jumper doesn’t currently have a product off the shelf at the moment, but the team is working with a handful of customers and has received a lot of interests from others. The goal is to have them all on board in about six months.
Jumper will also be available on the Autodesk Forge Platform. This will allow engineers to utilize Jumper and Autodesk’s cloud services, API and SDK. This will help facilitate the creation of data, apps, experiences and services that will define the IoT device under development.
In addition to brining Jumper onto the Autodesk Forge Platform, the added funds will also help the fledgling company to officially launch a product of its own.
The company’s target market for Jumper at the moment will consist of the industrial IoT (IIoT), in particular applications for factories, hospitals and smart cities. There are enough people going after the autonomous car anyway.
Jonathan Seroussi has a long history with technical start-ups and Autodesk from Visual Tau to Jumper. (Image courtesy of Autodesk.)
Forge Fund Brings Autodesk Alumni Back to The Fold
The marriage of Jumper to Autodesk brings one of the Israeli company’s co-founders back into the Autodesk family.
Back in 2009 Seroussi sold his first company, PlanPlatform, to Autodesk. The company supplied a mobile CAD software called Visual Tau.
This company would one day become Autodesk’s first move into the cloud and cloud services. Hence, Visual Tau would morph into Autodesk’s mobile version of AutoCAD.
“Israel is a hotbed for innovation and its startup community is leading breakthroughs in how IoT products are designed, tested and brought to market,” said Scott Reese, vice president for cloud products at Autodesk.
After the acquisition, Seroussi served as Autodesk’s leader in the company’s Tel Aviv, Israel office. He served in this role for many years until he decided to create Jumper with co-founders Dan Shemesh, Jumper CTO, and Yavin Nissenboim, Jumper vice president of product.
“Since 2009 up until about 18 months ago, Jon led our operations in Israel to grow our presence and reputation in there. Our presence and reputation has a very positive place in Israel,” said Bill Danon, director of Public Relations at Autodesk. “When he left, we expressed an interest to work with him in the future and his idea for Jumper was good and a known quantity for us, as he has the ability to make a successful start-up.”
How to Get in On Autodesk’s Forge Fund?
Back in December 2015 Autodesk announced its $100 million Forge Fund. The aim of this fund is to help technical start-ups bring their solutions onto the Forge platform. The business case for the fund is to help the development of Forge’s cloud-connected ecosystem. Currently, Forge has over 400 apps and services for engineers to access when designing their products.
“Autodesk is committed to supporting early-stage companies that are pushing the envelope for digital manufacturing and IoT, as shown by our prior investment in IoT platform provider Seebo, and now Jumper for a complete and easy-to-use IoT design process,” added Reese.
So, what set Jumper apart from other tech products eligible for the Forge Fund? To that, Josh Ewing, Corporate development at Autodesk, said, “One reason for investing in Jumper was that what the company is doing is very synergistic to Autodesk Fusion products. You can look to Fusion 360 and Jumper to make products smarter, how they are made and how they are used.”
In other words, once an engineer finishes a product design in Fushipn 360 and the EDA design with Jumper, one of the next stages in the workflow would be to get that hardware set up on the IoT using Fusion Connect to analyze and manage the data coming off the product. Seems very synergistic to me. If one were to approach Autodesk for some of the Forge Fund, they might look to the company’s coverage gaps and see how they might be filled with technology they have.
To find out more about the Forge Fund, follow this link.