The industrial control sector is undergoing a fundamental architectural shift. Data shows that as of 2025, ARM-based platforms account for 65% of the embedded development market, while traditional x86 solutions have declined to roughly 12%. This is not merely a substitution trend; it reflects new demands from the factory floor-low power consumption, hard real‑time performance, long product lifecycles, and edge AI capabilities. Conventional x86 industrial PCs are increasingly stretched to meet these requirements, and ARM is rapidly becoming the new infrastructure baseline.
The ARMxy BL370 series is an industrial-grade ARM controller built precisely for this environment. Its differentiation from most automation products on the market lies not in being “better” in a generic sense, but in being fundamentally different in design philosophy.
Hardware architecture and I/O configuration
The BLIIOT BL370 adopts a modular approach that decouples the host, the SOM (System-on-Module), X series I/O boards, and Y series I/O boards. Need more RS485 ports? Swap in an X board with additional serial interfaces. Require AI inference? Choose a SOM variant with the built-in NPU. Need PT100 temperature sensing? Pick the corresponding Y board. The total number of possible I/O combinations exceeds 58,000, allowing integrators to tailor the hardware exactly to project needs without paying for unused interfaces.
The controller uses the Rockchip RK3562J processor, which features a quad-core Cortex‑A53 plus an independent Cortex-M0 core. The A53 cores run the Linux system and application logic, while the M0 handles real-time control tasks-each operating without interfering with the other. This architecture delivers more deterministic real-time behaviour than a software-only RT-patch on Linux, and it simplifies the system compared to using separate PLC and gateway devices.
Integrated NPU and AI inference capability
The BL370 includes a 1 TOPS NPU. This enables on-device execution of lightweight vision models for defect detection, or real-time energy trend analysis and anomaly identification in power management applications. Data processing and decision-making happen locally, eliminating the latency and dependency of cloud round-trips.
For system integrators, this means AI capabilities can be embedded into nodes that previously served only as data collectors, without additional hardware costs.
Pre-loaded software and protocol conversion tools
The BL370 comes with BLIoTLink pre-installed, an industrial protocol conversion software that supports Modbus, PLC, BACnet, IEC104, MQTT, OPC UA, and other major protocols, with built-in connectivity to leading cloud platforms. It also includes BLRAT, a remote access and maintenance tool for remote login, debugging, program updates, and system monitoring. Docker containers and Node-RED are natively supported.
For integrators, this eliminates the need to build a software stack from scratch-protocol conversion, remote maintenance, and containerised deployment are ready out of the box. Project delivery time can shift from “writing code” to “configuring parameters.”
Typical application scenarios
The BL370 is suited for scenarios that combine real-time control, data acquisition, and edge computing:
Development and operational support for system integrators
The BL370 addresses three key pain points for integrators: selection cost (pay only for needed interfaces), delivery efficiency (pre-loaded software reduces time-to-deployment), and maintenance complexity (remote tools cut down on-site service visits).
The power efficiency of ARM-roughly one-third the consumption of an equivalent x86 system-combined with a product supply commitment exceeding 10 years, translates into tangible cost advantages over the lifetime of long-term projects.
Beilai Technology provides system firmware images, kernel driver source code and after-sales technical support and so on.
