All posts tagged: support

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.

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

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

When working on electronics designs in your workshop, bench or in less than ideal commercial situations there is always the danger of encountering electrostatic discharge (ESD for short). ESD _[1]is the sudden flow of electricity between two objects caused by one of three things:

physical contact – such as simply touching an object with your hand
an electrical short – due to component or object fatigue
dielectric breakdown – such as the failure of insulation

Over time it has become easier for those in the semi-professional or hobbyist to not concern themselves as devices and components have become more resistant to the effects of ESD. However this laissez-faire attitude will sooner or later punish the individual’s components or projects. Furthermore, the hazard of ESD is not limited to those with less experience or training, it can affect even the most seasoned engineer.

The causes of ESD generally fall into two categories. The first is the familiar static electricity, caused by two objects coming into contact with each other and then separated. A simple example is wearing a sweater made from synthetic materials – you can feel the static electricity as you take the sweater off. The static electricity is caused by a process known as thetribolectric effect, where a charge moves from a highly-charged object to the lower-charged object in order to balance out.

The second cause of ESD is electrostatic induction. This is the redistribution of charge in an object, caused by the influence of nearby charges._[2]So you may have an object with an excessive amount of positive charge and bring it close to an object without a charge that can conduct electricity, the electrons in the charged object will be attracted to the other and thus the charge is induced across the gap between the two items.

There are several types of ESD, and the most common form is the spark. A spark will occur when the potential difference between two objects is to high the charge will bridge the gap between them. An obvious example of this is lightning – as the potential difference between the charged cloud and the ground is very large. However not all sparks will resemble lightning, and some are small enough to exist yet remain unseen – a hazard in themselves. Some may consider them to be harmless if they’re not strong enough to be visible, however this is not the case.

Various risks involved with ESD are documented widely, with the major concern in the electronics design field being the possible damage to electronic components and devices. The most susceptible component types are CMOS integrated circuits and MOSFET transistors. It only tales one careless person to run their hands through their hair and then pick up an IC – only to find it doesn’t work. Why? The high voltage yet tiny static charge transferred from the hair to the hand sparks across to the leg of the IC handled by the engineer, thus rendering it useless. Those parts that are vulnerable to ESD ship in protective tubes, anti-static bags or other special packaging types for a reason, and care needs to be taken once removed from the packaging.

So how can these risks be mitigated? The first method involves setting aside an area or converting the work space into an Electrostatic Protective Area (or EPA). To do this the workers need to be grounded, usually via wrist straps; and that all conductive materials are also grounded such as bench mats and surfaces. This can be done easily with the use of anti-static bench and floor mats. Furthermore humidity control is important – by dehumidifying the area involved, the opportunity for moisture to develop on various surfaces decreases and in turn the opportunity for ESD damage. Some organisations may even use ion generators to help neutralise charged surface regions in the space. If you organisation has on-site storage or assembly areas, these will also require various ESD-neutralising systems. Finally the use of appropriate warning signage, staff training and quality control is required to maintain the awareness of ESD and the possible risks.

Even though this has been a summary look at ESD, preparing your organisation can be an expense that isn’t justified when preparing your first design prototype, notwithstanding the cost of setting up a complete electronics design facility and workshop. So if you are thinking about moving into hardware work for the first time, instead consider outsourcing the hardware (or more) prototyping to a team of experts with experience in the field, documented successes and all the resources to successfully move your prototype forward to a product. Here at the LX Group we can partner with you through all stages of the design process, allowing you to avoid the expense of setting up engineering areas in your facility.

To get started, simply contact us 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.

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] ESD definition Wikipedia, accessed 09/11/2012 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrostatic_discharge

[2] Electrostatic induction definition from Wikipedia, accessed 09/11/2012 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrostatic_induction