All posts tagged: design

In this instalment in our series of articles focusing on various Internet-of-things systems, we explore the new Nearbus Open IoT Project. Although not the most complex of systems, Nearbus offers a level of control and interaction with devices and sensors which is ideal for demonstrations, proof-of-concept designs or even simple products where rapid development and low-cost are the main requirements.

Unlike other systems, Nearbus takes a different approach to device control. After loading the Nearbus on the device’s microcontroller, it is considered to be part of the “cloud” and as such transparent to the web services or API. In other words, you can read or write to the MCU’s registers directly from the cloud – which makes control much simpler than other systems. By “virtualising” the hardware in the cloud, it makes it much easier for existing services to interact with the real hardware, and in a more secure manner. Let’s examine the how this is possible with regards to the required hardware and software

Hardware – Due to market forces and age of the system at the time of writing, the Nearbus system only works with the Arduino-Ethernet platform. Thus the end microcontrollers used are Atmel ATmega328 programmed with the Arduino boot loader and interfaced with the Wiznet W5100 Ethernet controller. However this allows you plenty of GPIO, ADCs and CPU speed to complete a variety of tasks, and due to the open-source licensing of the Arduino platform the hardware cost for around A$20 per unit in volume. The main downside to this solution is the inability to use onboard WiFi chipsets, so the agent hardware needs to be connected to a separate WiFi router for true wireless control.

Software – Due to the current hardware requirement, the only code for each Nearbus node is their sketch (code) and the Arduino boot loader – both of which are totally open-source. The rest of the work is in interfacing your own cloud- or server-based applications with the Nearbus hub system. This transfer takes place via HTTP requests.

There are two methods for interfacing applications with the Nearbus system. The first method is the “transparent” mode which allows the agent to send and receive a packet of data over preconfigured periods of time, for example every five or ten seconds. This allows your cloud applications to call functions on the agent hardware as if it was controlling the MCU directly.

The second method is the “VMCU” mode (Virtual Microcontroller) which allows direct control of the basic MCU features such as GPIO, ADC, etc., via a web services API. This is the more complex method that maps the MCU remotely and thus allows direct control of the MCU’s registers and returns data in the raw from for your own web app to work with. The ability to map the registers removes a layer of complexity from the user or designer – as they don’t have to worry about network protocols, instead just be concerned with the microcontroller itself.

Furthermore you can configure, add and remove devices with a web-interface, and also create connections to send data to other IoT services such as cosm or twitter. If you don’t have a server capable of running your own web apps to interface with Nearbus, you can use other free or paid services such as Google Spreadsheet web apps – and demonstrations have been provided to show how easy it is to display, capture and analyse data from the hardware agent.

The Nearbus system is a different paradigm to the usual IoT systems. It may seem awkward or different to more conventional or consumer-oriented ways of doing things, however if you have a strong PHP and networking background it can be implemented easily with your server and applications. Due to the low hardware cost it’s ideal for monitoring or remote-control applications that don’t require complete real-time interaction.

If you’re interested in moving forward with your own system based on the Nearbus, we have a wealth of experience with the required hardware options, and the team to guide you through the entire process – from understanding your needs to creating the required hardware interfaces and supplying firmware and support for your particular needs.

Our goal is to find and implement the best system for our customers, and this is where the LX Group can partner with you for your success. We can create or tailor just about anything from a wireless temperature sensor to a complete Internet-enabled system for you – within your required time-frame and your budget. For more information or a confidential discussion about your ideas and how we can help bring them to life – click here to contact us, or telephone 1800 810 124.

Published by LX Pty Ltd for itself and the LX Group of companies, including LX Design House, LX Solutions and LX Consulting, LX Innovations.

Continuing from our previous articles which are focusing on a range of currently-available Internet-of-Things systems, we now move forward and explore another successful addition to the Internet-of-Things marketplace in more detail – the system known as “Ninja Blocks”. An Australian invention, developed only last year and originally released via the ubiquitous Kickstarter crowd funding system – Ninja Blocks are now a commercial product and available for use. It is billed as the “ Internet of things for the rest of us” – however anyone person or organisation can make good use of it.

Like other systems the Ninja Blocks consist of two major elements – the hardware devices and attached I/O devices, and the software environment. Using this combination you can create sets of “rules” that allow interaction between the hardware and the end user with a variety of methods. For example temperature can be monitored remotely, alerts can be sent when a button is pressed, or an image can be emailed from the connected webcam – ideal for remote monitoring, security or personal interest applications.

Furthermore the entire system is open hardware, and can be modified at whim – all the design files are available for download and examination. So creating your own devices to interact using the system is a possibility, and we can easily help you integrate your existing hardware to make use of Nina Blocks connectivity. Now let’s examine the hardware and software in more detail.

Hardware – Housed inside an enclosure (that you’re encouraged to open) is a “BeagleBone”, which is a single-board Linux-based computer running a 720 MHz super-scalar ARM Cortex-A8 processor. Attached is a daughter board which contains an Arduino-compatible microcontroller and a 433 MHz wireless data link. There’s also three USB ports to connect various sensors (such as temperature, motion detectors), actuators (such as radio-controlled AC outlets) and the aforementioned USB webcam. Connection to the Internet is via a typical RJ45 connection or a Wi-Fi USB adaptor.

Included in the Ninja Blocks retail package is a wireless passive infra-red motion detector, a wireless button (similar to a doorbell button), a wireless temperature/humidity sensor and a wireless door sensor (which is a magnet/reed switch, ideal for doors and windows). This allows experimentation and a rapid method of getting familiar with the system.

The wireless hardware operates in the consumer product 433 MHz frequency area, which allows integration with a wide variety of commercially-available products. If you can decode or understand the protocols used by such hardware it can be used with Ninja Blocks. For example the use of wireless AC outlets is a perfect example of how quickly (and safely) almost any device can be controlled remotely. In doing so this also removes the requirement for customised AC wiring and certification.

Software – Getting started is incredibly simple, as the cloud-based environment allows you to create sets of rules that generate actions based on the data coming from the hardware. Like any other IoT system you can also create specific applications for your own needs to work with the cloud service. Further you can also update the firmware on the Arduino-compatible hardware inside the Ninja Block to allow for customised hardware interactions.

Just like the hardware design, there’s no secrets to the software and the Ninja Blocks API is documented including various examples that is growing over time. Any programmer with contemporary experience can get up to speed within a reasonable amount of time. However the system can remain “code-less” as the owner can simply work with the graphical cloud interface if need be.

The Ninja Blocks system spans almost every user type, from the interested beginner to the organisation who knows what they want and doesn’t have the resources to “reinvent the wheel”. It may look like a simple product however there is a huge scope for customisation and adapting existing hardware is a genuine possibility.

If you’re interested in moving forward with your own system based on the Ninja Blocks, we have existing experience with the platform, a relationship with the Ninja Blocks organisation and thus can guide you through the entire process – from understanding your needs to creating the required hardware interfaces and supplying firmware and support for your particular needs.

Published by LX Pty Ltd for itself and the LX Group of companies, including LX Design House, LX Solutions and LX Consulting, LX Innovations.

Continuing from our article last week which examined the Twine wireless sensor blocks, we now move forward and explore another recent addition to the Internet-of-Things marketplace in more detail – the “Electric Imp”. Although the name sounds somewhat toy-like, the system itself is quite the opposite. It’s a unified hardware, software and connectivity solution that’s easy to implement and quite powerful. It offers your devices WiFi connectivity and an incredibly simple development and end-user experience.

That’s a big call, however the system comprises of a relatively simple hardware solution and software development environment that has a low financial and learning entry level yet is quite customisable. Like other systems it comprises of a hardware and software component, so let’s examine those in more detail.

Hardware – Unlike other IoT systems such as Twine or cosm, the Electric Imp has a very well-defined and customisable hardware structure that is both affordable and incredibly compact. Almost all of the hardware is in a package the size of an SD memory card, and the only external parts required are a matching SD socket to physically contain and connect with the Imp card with your project, and supporting circuitry for an Atmel ATSHA204 authentication chip which enables Imp cards to identify themselves as unique unitsin the system.

Connection to the cloud service is via a secure 802.11b/g/n WiFi network and supports WEP, WPA and WPA2 encryption, however due to the size of the Imp there isn’t an option for a wired connection. The external support schematic is made available by the Imp team so you can easily implement it into almost any prototype or existing product. But how?

Imagine a tiny development board with GPIO pins, an SPI and I2C-bus, a serial UART, and a 16-bit ADC inside your project that is controlled via WiFi – this is what the Imp offers. It’s quite exciting to imagine the possibilities that can be introduced to existing projects with this level of control and connectivity. From remote control to data gathering, system monitoring to advanced remote messaging systems – it’s all possible. Furthermore, due to the possibility of completely internal embedding of the Imp system inside your product, system reliability can be improved greatly as there’s no points of weakness such as network cables, removable parts or secondary enclosures.

Software – As each Imp is uniquely identifiable on the Imp cloud service, you can use more than one in any application. Furthermore, your Imp firmware is created and transmitted to each Imp card online – which allows remote firmware updates as long as the Imp has a network connection; and a cloud-based IDE to allow collaboration and removes the need for customised programming devices, JTAGs, or local IDE installations. This saves time, money, development costs and offers a more portable support solution.

The firmware is written in a C-like language named “Squirrel”, which is created using the aforementioned online IDE. Once uploaded to the Imp card the firmware can still operate if it loses a network connection – or if a run-time error occurs and a network is available, the details will be sent back to the IDE. This allows developers the ability to remotely debug Imp applications in real-time – saving on-site visits and unwanted client-supplier interactions.

Furthermore, Imps have an inbuilt LED which can be utilised to display status modes if an application fails or other information which can be used to a clients’ benefit, helping them describe possible issues if a network connection isn’t available. There is a detailed language description, a wide range of tutorials and example code to help developers get started – and although some features are still in the beta-stage, the core advertised features are available at the time of writing.

If you’re interested in moving forward with the Electric Imp, we can guide you through the entire process, from understanding your needs to creating the required hardware interfaces and supplying firmware and support for your particular needs. The up-front hardware cost is much lower than other systems, and with volume pricing the implementation costs can be reduced further.

Published by LX Pty Ltd for itself and the LX Group of companies, including LX Design House, LX Solutions and LX Consulting, LX Innovations.

Many organisations, pundits and ourselves at the LX Group have discussed various aspects of what is generally termed the “Internet of Things” with great enthusiasm. And there’s many good reasons to be interested in this new level of technology. However from an external viewpoint, many people are still concerned that this “Internet-connected devices” is just a fad, being proposed by boffins and experimenters to automate their coffee machines or send a tweet when their children arrived home from school.

However nothing could be further from the truth. The Internet is real, devices are getting connected and more information than ever is being made available from connected systems. Industries of all types can take advantage of this to their benefit – and thus the concept of the “Industrial Internet” is born. This isn’t a new, separate Internet but instead a term for benefiting from the intelligence available with new technology to enhance any industrial operation.

This concept can be broken down into three specific categories:

Intelligent devices – these are the local hardware devices that work within existing or new installations that serve as the bridge between the installation and the larger overall system. Examples can range of a variety of connected instrumentation, sensors, local user-interfaces, or any other type of data-gathering and transmission device. In the past these may have been current-loop or other proprietary connections – but instead these devices are connected by a wired or wireless IP (internet protocol) connection.

The benefits of intelligent devices are several – their hardware cost can reduce over time with increasing volumes and popularity of the technology used; with a standardised interface the deployment and training costs for staff can be minimised; and with constantly-connected devices more data about the system operation can be gathered, allowing greater levels of analysis and faster decision-making cycles.

Intelligent systems – As the sum of all the parts, an intelligent system contains the new and existing hardware, networking and computing power that combine to offer a level of synergy unavailable from preceding technologies. With new levels of data output from intelligent devices, insightful programming by systems analysts and a strong background knowledge, optimisation of any operations can be achieved.

With knowledge comes understanding – allowing optimisation of all parts of the system. From simply matching machine usage to off-peak electricity prices to detecting device irregularities in real time, you can find savings in operations, system maintenance and also learn new insights about system operation in general. By monitoring device status in real-time you can reduce required holdings of consumables, pro-actively organise preventative maintenance instead of waiting to be notified of a fault, and fine-tune operations based on external and internal factors.

Intelligent decision-making – Over time as more operation data is gathered, analysed and verified by humans – the burden of decision-making can often be transferred to the system itself. The greater the number of data channels and volume of data being recorded offers the opportunity for a higher level of prediction of future events. Just as existing weather scenarios can often be used to predict future behaviour – a system can make decisions based on captured data that fit within predetermined parameters. From a simple laser printer that can order its’ own service call when the drum needs replacement; or an off-site diesel generator that can use data such as the load from attached refrigeration systems, ambient temperature and the amount of sunlight to determine how much fuel needs to be ordered and when it is required; or a delivery truck that can monitor speed, distance travelled, engine fluid levels, location and driver history and then decide when it needs a service – intelligent decision making can reduce the number of person-hours required for any organisation, and also help predict and determine situations that may not have been possible to realise with existing systems.

The Industrial Internet exists today, and using systems designed with the three categories mentioned earlier will help your organisation become more efficient, understand more about itself, and find cost benefits in all measurable areas. However the biggest step is the correct implementation of such a system. Like any plant or equipment purchase, making the right decision first – and once – will set your organisation on the path to increased efficiency and profitability – and this is where the LX Group can partner with you for your success.

We can discuss and understand your requirements and goals – then help you navigate the various hardware and other options available to help solve your problems. We can create or tailor just about anything from a wireless temperature sensor to a complete Internet-enabled system for you. For more information or a confidential discussion about your ideas and how we can help bring them to life – click here to contact us, or telephone 1800 810 124.

Published by LX Pty Ltd for itself and the LX Group of companies, including LX Design House, LX Solutions and LX Consulting, LX Innovations.

There has been much discussion about the increasing possibilities available to existing systems by using the Internet of Things for two way transmission of data for logging and control purposes. However there is so much more than just working with data in a more efficient and cheaper method.

The concept and reality of the Internet of Things also allows devices to have increased levels of intelligence to further their defined tasks. This may sound like science-fiction, however it is possible – and already demonstrated in may consumer devices. For example – recent smart phones can download and install operating system updates without any intervention by or technical knowledge required from the user.

Using this same method your IoT devices – if designed appropriately – can be updated with new firmware just like our example smart phones. You can do this with two methods – by either using existing hardware such as “Electric Imp” modules that can be fitted in existing hardware, or creating new or re-designed hardware with the appropriate microcontroller/wireless chip combination.

When your devices can remain connected – or connect when necessary, they can also offload processing requirements to the cloud service or other connected server hardware. By programming your devices to simply send, receive and act on data the processing work can be offloaded to the server-side, reducing the requirement for faster device CPU speed, memory and so on. This in turn can reduce the hardware purchase cost, physical size, and also the power requirements for the device – saving money at all stages of operation.

All this sounds great – and has been put into practice in many fields. Let’s run through a few examples from a wide variety of examples.

Remote Point-of-Sale devices – Within the broad field of vending machines, point-of-sale devices, unattended ticketing machines and more – so much can be done to make stakeholders’ lives easier and cheaper. Product prices can be updated in real-time; data from the POS machine can be served to the central host giving real-time data and sales analysis; environmental data can be used to price cold drinks in real-time – for example when the local temperature increases or you know a certain area will be busier than usual – increase the drink price. The concept of supply and demand can be tweaked to your advantage with the right technology. And of course service calls and device monitoring can occur.

Passenger Information Systems – Almost every public transport system has some sort of PIDS (Passenger Information Display System), however their level of usefulness is usually determined by the ability of the system to run on-time. Remote displays may be programmed with timetable data to show when services should arrive, and on-board displays can show the “next station is…” type of data.

However when things go wrong – such as diversions, breakdowns, late-running or data required in an emergency – this data cannot be updated by local operators or staff in unattended stations. Thus the ability for a bus or train to communicate with a central server can allow relevant data to be displayed in real-time to the required PIDS units. Redundancy can be employed to allow for various failures, for example RFID technology at a railway station can be used to detect when a particular train arrives and departs. And when timetables change, stations are altered or new information is required to be displayed – it can all be done remotely or even while on the move.

Cube Satellites – In the last twelve months various groups have been working on tiny satellites that are launched into space along with regular commercial satellite payloads. Although this is a far-out example, it’s a demonstration of what we’re talking about. Each of these tiny satellites contain inexpensive consumer-level microcontrollers that control sixteen AVRs each running their own firmware, collating data and sending it back to earth via UHF radio link. The firmware for each of these AVRs can be uploaded and thus alter the satellite’s function when required.

The IoT is more than just wireless data – it’s about control. Having more control over your assets and revenue stream can increase business efficiency and profitability. With the right applications and minds on the task, even the simplest thing can be constantly tweaked to maximise gains. Here at the LX Group we can discuss and understand your requirements and goals – then help you navigate the various hardware and other options available to help solve your problems. We can create or tailor just about anything from a wireless temperature sensor to a complete Internet-enabled system for you. For more information or a confidential discussion about your ideas and how we can help bring them to life – click here to contact us, or telephone 1800 810 124.

LX is an award-winning electronics design company based in Sydney, Australia. LX services include full turnkey design, electronics, hardware, software and firmware design. LX specialises in embedded systems and wireless technologies design. https://lx-group.com.au Published by LX Pty Ltd for itself and the LX Group of companies, including LX Design House, LX Solutions and LX Consulting, LX Innovations.

Moving on from our examination of Hardware design directions for Internet-of-Thing solutions, we now turn to the software portion of the solution. As there was many hardware options to consider, there is also a variety of choices to select from when looking for a service to collect data from and interact with your hardware. Each have their own features, costs and drawbacks – however these factors and more are subject to the goals of your project.

Nevertheless each have their own distinctive features, so let’s examine three existing and experienced market players in more detail. The first is known as “cosm”, however previously called “pachube”. Cosm is flexible in that you can use your own hardware designs or existing hardware from other vendors, and no hardware licensing is required. You can prototype very easily with cosm using inexpensive development platforms such as NXP’s mbed or even an Arduino-compatible board. This allows your hardware team to get started straight away.

However the service is mainly for capturing and organising “feeds” of data from connected devices, and this can be done for zero cost. There are other options that allow device management and provisioning, however they are in beta stage at the moment. Nevertheless the cosm platform is effective and excellent for capturing data from remote devices for analysis and action – and with very low start-up and running costs it’s great for experimenting or proof-of-concept prototypes.

The next service we consider is “Thingspeak”. This is a fully open-source IoT platform that designed for data feeds and interaction with hardware in both directions. You can also import existing data collected before implementation. Although Thingspeak is open-source, it does provide security via API keys and user authentication. Rules can be created that react when data reaches a certain value or parameter – which cause twitter messages, can trigger hardware or other devices via a connected PC.

You can also export all captured data in .csv file format for ease of local analysis or system transfer. Due to the openness of the system, there’s a great variety of tutorials and examples available for Microsoft .NET, Arduino, python, processing and other environments – which will help your team get up to speed. And currently the service is no-charge. With these factors in mind, Thingspeak can provide a simple solution however more direct enquiries with the organisation would need to be made with relation to long-term changes in costings.

Finally we take a look at “Nimbits”. This service provides the usual cloud-based data gathering, analysis and so on – but using the Google Apps. This offers an incredibly reliable server, integration with Google Docs and other related software tools. As with Thingspeak, Nimbits is fully open-source and allows import and export of your own data. Nimbits offers integration with social media such as facebook and twitter.

The service is free for up to 1000 API calls per day, and then one cent per 1000 calls. Therefore you can again try it for free, or at a very low cost. Getting started is simple, with a range of tutorials on data capture, and interaction or messaging based on circumstances. It does require more coding than cosm or Thingspeak, however this isn’t an insurmountable challenge.

The IoT industry is growing, and even as we write this more services are being introduced and demonstrated. It can be difficult to choose which service to use, as they’re all quite young and untested over the long term, so having hardware and plans that can span two or more different services is essential for the longevity and sustainability of your IoT project.

Here at the LX Group we can discuss and understand your requirements and goals – then help you navigate the various hardware and other options available to help solve your problems. We can create or tailor just about anything from a wireless temperature sensor to a complete Internet-enabled system for you. For more information or a confidential discussion about your ideas and how we can help bring them to life – click here to contact us, or telephone 1800 810 124.

LX is an award-winning electronics design company based in Sydney, Australia. LX services include full turnkey design, electronics, hardware, software and firmware design. LX specialises in embedded systems and wireless technologies design. https://lx-group.com.auPublished by LX Pty Ltd for itself and the LX Group of companies, including LX Design House, LX Solutions and LX Consulting, LX Innovations.

When designing hardware to integrate with an Internet-of-Things solution, or an entire solution – it can be easy for the design team to focus on the software, server and control system due to the ease of prototyping and the availability of experienced people. It’s a common philosophy that once the software is “sorted out” – the hardware can be easily designed to work with the system. Thus it can be tempting for organisations who move towards IoT solutions to focus on the software more than the hardware as it may seem at the outset to be more complex and more difficult part of the system.

However hardware design cannot be overlooked or resources in that field minimised. There is much more to consider than just what “the hardware will do” – the consideration of which type of IoT system to work with needs to be executed – and in conjunction with that the choice of which hardware design path to take.

After deciding on which IoT platform to design your hardware for, the choice of hardware design path is crucial to the success of your IoT implementation. Even if you’re developing for internal use, or offering hardware or turnkey systems to customers – the choice of hardware design can play a part in the long-term success or failure of the system.

When we say the “choice of hardware design” it is not the actual type of device (however that can also play a part in success or failure) or design tools used to create something – it is the choice between one of hardware design paths. That is, will you choose proprietary hardware interface designs from an existing supplier; create your own hardware and protect the intellectual property with copyright and possible patent protection; or open-source your design to some degree to allow input and contribution from internal and external customers? There are pros and cons to each method, so let’s examine them in some more detail.

Existing design – This is the easiest option for your design team, as the hardware interface to the required IoT system has been designed, tested and ready for integration into your hardware. To resell your own devices based on an external system can require licence or royalty payments to the system provider, however this will often be returned “in kind” with marketing support, referrals and leads from the system provider. However you’re at the mercy of the success or failure of the host system – which could leave you with outdated and useless hardware that can be at least difficulty to modify or at worst a total write-off.

Internal, protected design – With this option you have access to the required interface design from the IoT system provider that allows you to create your own hardware instead of buying or licensing technology from the provider. It gives you total control over the hardware design – including possible modularity between the IoT interface hardware and the product itself, in case of system failure (as mentioned previously). Furthermore you have complete control of the design, maintain all IP, and can market your designs as an exclusive product that’s compatible with the system. However all design, support and revisions will happen in-house.

Open-source – After a few minutes searching on the Internet it may seem that almost everyone is open-sourcing their designs to allow all and sundry to review, modify, critique and sometimes re-manufacture their products. This method is preferable if you are offering paid access to the server-side infrastructure or you are happy to allow others to create devices that compete with your own hardware to quickly allow customer take-up of your IoT system. Furthermore you can build a community around users of your system, which can reduce the support load and generate good-will. However taking this path in essence abandons revenue from hardware sales and any intellectual property your team have created. Finally, larger customers may see this product as insecure (even if it offers encrypted data transmission) due the openness of the designs.

Published by LX Pty Ltd for itself and the LX Group of companies, including LX Design House, LX Solutions and LX Consulting, LX Innovations.

Everyone is in a rush. From management with new ideas to implement, engineers under the pump to meet or beat deadlines, investors and shareholders to receive their financial returns, and generally everyone else in the organisation. Then you have the competition – who you need to beat to be first-to-market with your new product ideas or revisions. It just doesn’t stop!

You may be tempted with the concept of shipping just the minimum viable product, or looking to save as much time as possible. It is true that time can be saved in the design process – and there may be many quite obvious methods of doing so. However efficiency gains in any process can only be found and validated by professionals in each field. Therein lies the key to successful product development, and fine-tuning the process – you need the right team members with the expert knowledge in their field.

In the past you may have released products that have been satisfactory, had a low return or maintenance rate, with good customer feedback. However this may have just been a simple fluke – due to low volume, low feedback of any kind, and the end users not using the product to its rated specifications. But when it comes time to speed things up – the results of the new design may be altered directly or indirectly for the worse.

But how can this be? Knowledge – and the lack of it. Even in medium or large organisations, the design team may comprise of inexperienced new hires, staff who aren’t familiar with the latest revisions in your field, or well-meaning people who just don’t have enough design knowledge to do the best job possible. Their results may produce costly mistakes – both financially and legally. Let’s examine a couple of mistakes to see how easy they are to make, yet costly to recover from.

One recent – and very public example is the recent issue with the Lithium-Ion battery pack used for auxiliary power in the new Boeing 787 aircraft. In a constant drive to reduce weight, engineers chose Li-Ion batteries for their high energy to weight ratio – which theoretically is a great idea. However in practice one large battery was made with several individual packs that were packed together in a sealed compartment. This didn’t allow for any cooling space between the individual packs, thus causing overheating after use and a fire. Now the 787 fleet is grounded until further notice, causing great cost embarrassment to operating airlines, Boeing and associated organisations. [1] With more thought about the design and knowledge about Li-Ion batteries this potentially lethal situation could have been easily avoided.

Another much smaller yet equally hazardous example is that of a power supply design update. The previous design had the AC-AC transformer mounted separately on the chassis. However in a drive to reduce the enclosure size, a newer engineer decided to mount the transformer directly onto the PCB – and also reduce the PCB thickness to save production costs. In theory it looked great, and the test samples from production worked flawlessly. However after the first batch shipped to customers – they were not happy. The combination of the transformer weight, reduced PCB thickness and shock from the delivery process caused the PCBs to fracture – rendering the power supplies useless.

In both cases it would have taken an experienced, knowledgeable person a very short period of time to determine the changes were not for the better, and recommend positive design changes. And thus saving an incredible amount of time for restoration, money and the organisations’ reputation. It can be said that “experience pays” – every time. But what to do if you’re in a rush and don’t have the required experience?

Work with an organisation that has a large team of knowledgeable, experienced engineers with a wide range of design and manufacturing expertise across consumer, business and military-grade products – such as the LX Group. We can take your design ideas, revision requirements and produce the required customised solution for your team, or even follow through to final completion, including documentation, standards compliance and revisions.

For more information or a confidential discussion about your ideas and how we can help bring them to life – click here to contact us, or telephone 1800 810 124.

Published by LX Pty Ltd for itself and the LX Group of companies, including LX Design House, LX Solutions and LX Consulting, LX Innovations.

[1] Peter Cohan, Forbes Magazine 27/01/2013 –http://www.forbes.com/sites/petercohan/2013/01/27/mit-professor-battery-fix-could-ground-787-until-2014/

As mentioned in our previous discussion of the 4-20 mA current loop, there are many forms of wired data transmission that can be used in products, and today we’d like to review another form – the Inter-integrated Circuit bus (or I2C bus for short). This is also known as the “two wire interface” and has been around for quite some time. Invented by NXP (previously Philips Semiconductor) the I2C bus is a multi-master serial single-ended data bus used to allow systems to communicate with a huge variety of electronic devices.

From a hardware perspective it is quite simple – each device connects to the serial data and clock lines, which are controlled by the master device. The clock and data lines are connected to Vdd via pull-up resistors, for example:

The master device controls the bus clock and initiates communications with each slave device. Communications are initiated by sending the slave device address – which is unique to each device – and then either data write or request commands. Then the slave device will act upon received data, or broadcase the required number of bytes of data back to the master device.

You may be wondering how the slave addresses are organised – each device manufacturer applies for an address range from NXP for their products. Some devices will only have one set address, and some can have their address altered – for example by changing the last three bits in the binary representation of the addresses. This is done in hardware by connecting three pins to Vdd or GND.

The speed of the I2C bus varies, and can range from 10 kbps to 3.4Mbps – with the speed usually proportional to the total device power requirements. The usual speed for the majority of devices is 100 kbps.

The decision to use the I2C bus can be simple, due to the popularity of the interface even on the most inexpensive of microcontrollers – and many design engineeers are familiar with the bus due to the history.

But what sort of devices can make use of the I2C bus? There are literally thousands available, in a wide range of categories. These can include simple temperature sensors, EEPROMS, motor controllers, LCD interfaces, I/O expanders, real-time clocks, UART interfaces, ADC/DACs, and more.

Apart from the huge range of devices, the advantages of using the I2C bus include industry expertise, the ability to address literally hundreds of devices using only two master I/O pins, and that devices on the bus can be “hot swap” – that is you can add or remove devices from the bus without powering off the entire system. This in itself is perfect for systems with maximum run-time requirements, as technicians can replace faulty device modules with reduced down-time for the end user.

However there are disadvantages to the I2C bus, two of which need to be taken into consideration. The first is that the maximum physical length of a bus run is usually around 20 metres, and in some cases much less. You can use bus extension devices from NXP (and others) that will allow much further physical distances – however designers need to ensure the capacitance across the bus stays at around 400 picofarads.

The second disadvantage is the possibility of slave address clash. You may have two specialised devices with the same slave address. In these situations you need to use an address multiplexer IC on the bus which first needs to be controlled, and then the device selected is addressed as normal. Nevertheless, as part of normal prototyping and planning these disadvantages can be removed or minimised with appropriate engineering.

It can be said that the I2C data bus may not be the “latest technology”, but it can effectively solve problems in the right circumstances. However there are many options, and choosing the right one is a fundamental step for the success of your project. So if your design team is set in their ways, or you’re not sure which data communication method is best for your application – it’s time to discuss this with independent, experienced engineers.

At the LX Group we have experience designing a wide range of data gathering and control systems over short and long distances – and using this experience we can determine the most effective method of returning data and control signals no matter the application or geography. Our engineering team have developed a number of systems in this area and have extensive experience with the core technology requirements of such systems.

We understand the importance of high availability, accuracy and integrity of the systems, combined with the need for future proofing infrastructure rollouts. For more information or a confidential discussion about your ideas and how we can help bring them to life – click here to contact us, or telephone 1800 810 124.

LX is an award-winning electronics design company based in Sydney, Australia. LX services include full turnkey design, electronics, hardware, software and firmware design. LX specialises in embedded systems and wireless technologies design. https://lx-group.com.au Published by LX Pty Ltd for itself and the LX Group of companies, including LX Design House, LX Solutions and LX Consulting, LX Innovations.

After completing the process of taking your idea from a concept to a finished product and service, apart from dealing with possible faulty units or returns you may consider the process to be over with regards to the customer. Now and again you may receive the odd customer contact, but consider these to be simple and not part of “the bigger picture”. However your customers are still potential customers and product advocates – so you need to take care of their needs before and after purchasing and using your products. This not only involves dealing with them on an ad-hoc basis, but having a structured system in place to handle servicing your customers’ needs.

The investment required for such systems can generally be proportional to the investment made by your customers, however providing excellent customer service is an investment – and the more you put in, the more you get out. Finally, the more interaction you allow with customers – the greater their sense of “ownership” – which equals more sales and positive recommendations to others.

With this is mind, we will now summarise a variety of methods you can use to support your customers, with the goal of each method to satisfy customer needs and maintain sales growth.

– Contact centre and online support systems. Offering a direct channel of support to your customers is paramount, especially for more complex or specialised products. An unhappy, confused customer can be converted to a happy, satisfied customer very quickly if their questions, feedback and problems can be handled in a timely, friendly and live manner.

This can be achieved with a contact centre staffed by employees trained in customer service and every facet of the product they represent. By extension, the requirement to interact with customers electronically via email and social media is also relevant due to the popularity of these methods.

– Ongoing design modifications, improvements and unit cost reduction. Over time feedback will be received by customers, and all those involved internally with the product, and possibly external regulators. This feedback is valuable as it can help reduce problems, introduce incremental features for existing designs, maintain standards compliance, and also reduce manufacturing and servicing costs.

Just as software can be updated over time, a product design can possibly be altered with minimal changes at the design and manufacturing stage. By implementing constant improvements you can maintain internal and external customer satisfaction with your product. Furthermore, by advising existing and potential customers of these improvements, they understand that you are invested in your product past the initial purchase date and will feel more confident with your organisation.

– Product life cycle management. For products with a finite life cycle, offering more up to date versions of the product is also considered to be great customer services. Savvy customers realise that some things just don’t last forever (case in point – smart phones) and they are happy to update their purchases over time. If they are happy with the product, and loyal to the brand – they will expect you to keep up and meet their needs in the future.

Life cycle management is the opposite of leaving a product “as is” after manufacturing. Instead, your team receives feedback from customers, manufacturing, regulatory agencies and other relevant parties to improve the product. This can also involve market research as if you were starting over, however you instead create a product “road map” – planning the future for the product.

Furthermore if there are enough tangible reasons to replace the product with a complete new version, succession planning needs to be conducted. This involves the design process for a new, replacement product superior to the original that takes into account the needs of customers and other stakeholders – yet maintaining (if necessary) compatibility with the outdated version.

As you can see, there’s more customer service than simply sales and delivery. Successful organisations engage with all stakeholders to increase their business success. However if this concept seems foreign to you, or you’re not sure how to implement a successful customer service system – it pays to consult with a team who can provide them, matching your requirements, budget and desired outcomes. Here at the LX Group we have a wide variety of experience in the entire product design process from initial concept – through to manufacturing, sales, support and onwards.

So contact us today for a confidential discussion about your ideas and how we can help bring them to life – click here to contact us, or telephone 1800 810 124.

LX is an award-winning electronics design company based in Sydney, Australia. LX services include full turnkey design, electronics, hardware, software and firmware design. LX specialises in embedded systems and wireless technologies design. https://lx-group.com.au