Please observe:
The following listing is preliminary and not complete.
The LC Meter is an electrical device, which can calculate with accuracy self induction and capacity.
The circuit’s principle operation is based on self induction or capacity’s specifications in LC circuit on strength of resonance’s frequency. The LC Meter calculates automatically in combination with a micro-controller and a special PIC18F242.
The usage of LC-Meter is to calculate elements (capacitors or coils) in high frequency circuits, for example in case we have to resonate an oscillator or an RF filter.
When it comes to Point of Sale, there exists several open source, well developed and resource hungry projects. We have focused on developing a system that has very less deployment and energy cost. Our solution, Gizmo PoS, is a web based system that is much more than a conventional cash register. This system is successfully deployed and tested as restaurant PoS using Raspberry Pi and trivial android devices for collecting orders. Moreover incorporating Bluetooth low energy devices opens up new applied research opportunities.
Magnetic Induction Tomography (MIT) is a measurement modality that can measure the permittivity, permeability and conductivity of objects. Of special interest is the application of measuring conductivity of low conductive objectives such as biological tissues as it offers a non-contact method of determining the relative quantity of intact cells. Measuring low conductivities requires the measurement of phase shift in the order of mill-degrees at frequencies up to 20MHz. Existing multi-channel MIT systems are usually build around a centralised data acquisition system (DAQ). These systems suffer from long transfer times between the data acquisition and the processing part. Furthermore, the signal generation is typically external, requiring clock synchronisation to achieve phase locking between the different parts. This paper presents a novel two channel phase measurement module for MIT that integrates the signal generation, data acquisition and the phase calculation in one single board. The module uses a Xilinx Zynq FPGA with integrated hardware ARM microcontroller cores. A Dual 14-bit 125MS/s ADC is used for signal acquisition, while a dual DAC and a Direct Digital Synthesis (DDS) Xilinx FPGA softcore is used for signal generation. The FPGA reduces the data rate using CIC low pass filters before the data is passed to the ARM microcontroller for calculation of the phase. The result is transmitted via an Ethernet link to a PC. The novel system achieves a phase precision comparable with existing implementations. Details of the module, circuits and algorithms employed are provided as are the results of the performance measurements.
Today’s world is highly dominated by information technology. The world’s society is dependent on getting and exchanging information reliably, quickly and – most of all –
confidentially.
Due to the fact that embedded devices as e.g. mobile or smart phones are limited regarding computing and battery power, a widely used method to achieve confidential communication is the
encryption of data by means of stream ciphers. Stream ciphers – as compared to block ciphers like DES or AES are based on a simple encryption scheme, namely the XOR-operation of each
data bit with a key stream bit. Since encryption is based on this straightforward (and fast) principle, the key to secure stream ciphers is NOT the encryption process itself, but rather the
generation of a random key stream. One goal of this presentation is to describe the different possibilities how to generate key streams, in particular to distinguish
Embedded systems and smart electronics have a strong relation. As smart electronics are on the edge of high technology today and embedded systems are found in any smart system Dept. of Electronics Engineering of TEI of Crete decided to plan and run an Intensive Course on Embedded Systems for its students with the help of our colleagues from AmiEs Network. In this work we present a kind of SWOT analysis based on the experience of students and lecturers from the first such course held in Chania in May 2014. We also provide some thoughts for how to continue this effort and propose to AmiEs Network to include this as a parallel activity in AmiEs Symposium.
Copy protections for Android apps exist since the early days. Even today the existing solutions like Google's License Verification Library are proven to be insecure according to our recent research. In this paper we suggest to use secure elements to add another layer of security and to separate confidential data from the insecurity of the Android OS. The content is based on our ongoing research and meant as an update to the paper presented at the last AmiEs conference in 2013.
This work presents a MATLAB-based discrete event simulator designed for the purpose of analysing the performance of VFTT-protocol based scheduling algorithms. This simulator is capable of performing complex tests in order to ascertain the applicability of V-FTT protocol in an infrastructure based wireless vehicular network. The simulator provides its outputs in the form of graphs showing the efficiency of different output variables in an infrastructure based wireless vehicular networks. A simulation example illustrates the use of the software presented.
The engineering degree programmes in Helsinki Metropolia University of Applied Sciences have gone through a fundamental change. The number of degree programmes has been reduced from 20 to 7. The reduction was based on an analysis of the tuition of the previous degree programmes. There were quite a few different study paths that a student could take to gain certain professional skills. Some of these paths required applying to certain degree programmes thus requiring quite a lot of insight of the field of study even before applying to the university. Smaller number of degree programmes allows students to pick the field of study they are interested in still leaving them with a lot of flexibility later in the studies. The analysis also showed that different degree programmes offered courses or modules with identical or very similar learning goals. These modules were merged and are now shared between programmes. Reduction in the number of degree progammes was not the only change. There was also a major change in the way the tuition is organised. In the new curriculum courses are given in modules of 15 ETCS credits. Each module lasts 10 weeks and targets in students gaining or deepening professional skills in the area covered by the module. The key idea of these large modules is to bring project based learning as an everyday practise in engineering education and to integrate basic studies into the projects instead of having separated courses on for example maths, physics or communication skills. This article focuses on changes made in the curriculum of students majoring in embedded systems.
In past five years there has been an impressive gradient in terms of computational power of embedded systems. At the same time, the cost per GFLOPS has gone down two orders of magnitude in the last ten years. Both of these developments have a strong impact on realizing the Internet of Things (IoT), where uniquely identifiable embedded computing-like devices are interconnected within the existing Internet infrastructure.
In this paper, we investigate state-of-the-art HTTP server technology and their hardware requirements with specific focus on application within embedded computing devices. Current limitations in terms of application spaces and future estimates will be discussed.
The paper describes the design and implementation of a power meter prototype capable of managing the information flow between the consumer and electrical energy supplier. The power meter is designed to use Power Line Communication (PLC) as main medium to exchange data between the appliances and the Utility database. The prototype consists of three main blocks: The residential gateway, the power meter and the HMI, user interface.
The main purpose of the gateway isto use as router in order to manage data received from various power meters, either through power lines using PLC or any Wireless protocol like ZigBee, and forward it to a webserver and HMI unit.
The Power meter is designed based on an Atmel microcontroller and other Signal conditioning units to measure the power as well as the necessary communication interface and protocols for data exchange. The task of the HMI is to provide the customer an easy way to manage devices connected to the home electrical network. The HMI communicates with the Gateway via Ethernet and/or Wi-Fi.
Windows Phone (WP) is the operating system developed by Microsoft for mobile devices. It is the successor to Windows Mobile and was first launched in October 2010 with Windows Phone 7.
Windows Phone 7 went through some changes and updates until a new major version; Windows Phone 8 was released in October 2012. It introduced a new generation of the operating system. Windows Phone 8 replaces its previously Windows CE-based architecture with one based on the Windows NT kernel with many components shared with Windows 8, allowing applications to be easily ported between the two platforms.
Windows Phone 8 also added a number of software improvements and brought support for updated hardware including support for multi-core processors and high resolution screens.
Windows Phone 8.1 was announced in April 2014. It includes several new features including a notification center, Internet Explorer 11 with tab syncing among Windows 8.1 devices and WP devices, separate volume controls. Starting with this release, Microsoft has also dropped the requirement that all Windows Phone original equipment manufacturers (OEM) include a camera button and physical buttons for back, start, and search.
In this tutorial we will go through Windows Phone SDK installation and configuration and learn how to create Windows Phone applications and debug and test them on a real device.
There are existing technologies allowing us to locate objects in our environment and also technologies allowing us to see virtual objects around us, near and far away. Those technologies include both navigation devices and eyeglasses with integrated display, known as HUD (heads-up display). More advanced virtual scenery may be obtained using specific virtual reality hardware. The vision of this presentation is to combine these two technologies to add virtual reality in our real environment.
The idea is to see high quality virtual objects located in certain places on the terrain by using eyeglasses, such as Google glasses. User may be able to travel between these objects, exchange data with them, modify them or activate specific tasks. Accurate navigation is essential to define the exact location and to provide directions for the user to be able to see virtual objects in correct locations with eyeglasses.
Network connection with virtual object database is also needed as well as high performance computing equipment for 3D-data calculation for the eyeglasses.
This project idea opens a huge number of opportunities for new applications. Novel virtual reality adventure games or geocaching may be developed. Dangerous rescue operations can be trained virtually. The idea makes it possible to explore tourist attractions in virtual reality without actual traveling. Architectural design or factory layout may be available for walkthroughs in early design stage.
Co-operation of multidisciplinary experts is essential for this kind of concept and it is therefore suitable for an internationally organized project. Since none of the current eyeglasses with integrated display have yet hit a breakthrough, there is still room for further scientific research. Manufacturers of such devices are still in early prototype phase and inexpensive user friendly end customer products are yet to be seen.
As smartphones gain their popularity, vulnerable road users (VRUs) are increasingly distracted by activities with their devices such as listening to music, watching videos, texting or making calls while walking or bicycling on the road. In spite of the development of various high-tech Car-to-Car (C2C) and Car-to-Infrastructure (C2I) communications for enhancing the traffic safety, protecting such VRUs from vehicles still relies heavily on traditional sound warning methods. Furthermore, as smartphones continue to become highly ubiquitous, VRUs are increasingly oblivious to safety related warning sounds. A traffic accident study shows the number of headphone-wearing VRUs involved in roadside accidents has increased by 300% in the last 10 years. Although recently a few Car2Pedestrian-communication methods have been proposed by various car manufacturers, their practical usage is limited, as they mostly require special communication devices to cope with the wide range of mobility, and also assume VRUs' active attention to the communication while walking. We propose a smartphone-based Car2X-communication system, named WiFi-Honk, which can alert the potential collisions to both VRUs and vehicles in order to especially protect the distracted VRUs. WiFi-Honk provides a practical safety means for the distracted VRUs without requiring any special device using WiFi of smartphone. WiFi-Honk removes the WiFi association overhead using the beacon stuffed WiFi communication with the geographic location, speed, and direction information of the smartphone replacing its SSID while operating in WiFi Direct/Hotspot mode, and also provides an efficient collision estimation algorithm to issue appropriate warnings. Our experimental and simulation studies validate that WiFi-Honk can successfully alert VRUs within a sufficient reaction time frame, even in high mobility environments.
eDiViDe, “ European Digital Virtual Design Lab”, is an online digital design laboratory developed in the Catholic University College Limburg in Belgium that offers different and real FPGA based setups. This virtual laboratory gives students an opportunity to practice with FPGA design anywhere at any time, so long as they have access to an internet connection.
The setups are programmable in VHDL which can be written in any simple text editor, after which this code can be uploaded and programmed into the remote FPGA. After the FPGA is programmed the user can remotely give input to the setup by use of a web interface and monitor the output of the system by indications on the same web interface and through a webcam near the setup.
New setups, like an FPGA based LED Cube can be created and attached to eDiViDe, which are then available to program and control by anyone with access to the platform. Here an existing LED cube is used, which was controlled by a microcontroller that is replaced by and FPGA. Hereafter VHDL exercises and templates are developed for the students to use when they practice with the LED cube. Then the FPGA is connected to a server so it’s accessible for programming, controlling and monitoring over internet together with a webcam. Next a web interface is made to control and monitor the setup. And finally the whole setup is connected to a central server to manage access to the setup.
The sediment level probe described in this abstract is the graduation project assigned to me during my 3 month internship at the NIOZ naval research institute in the Netherlands. Sedimentation on the seabed happens when particles from either organic organisms or minerals sink to the bottom, this layer of slick and mud is called sediment and plays a major role in the marine ecosystem as many microscopic organisms thrive in this environment.
I was asked to redesign the old version of the sediment probe and resolve the problems that had risen in de previous development period and in-field testing. The main requirements of this project are to achieve a high level of accuracy, high reliability, low power consumption and to keep the cost per
sensor to a minimum.
Another request was to keep the sensor as invisible as possible, to minimize the risk for theft and vandalism. The sediment probe contains an array of 200 phototransistors over a 40cm measurement bar, illuminated by a LEDbar roughly 50cm up ahead. By the intensity of the measured light per phototransistor, the researcher can tell the difference between soil, sediment and water in the stored data as each of these has a different transparency.
Successful measurements are stored onto an SD card, whereafter the researcher can retreive this data with a infrared triggerable WiFi interface.
This eliminates the need to open the probe to retreive the data stored on the SD card. As opening the sensor in a hostile, salty and moist environment poses a big risk for the sensitive electronics inside
GSR (Galvanic Skin Response) sensors are useful to detect stress situations in human beings. This detection has been used in previous works concerning the support of the navigation of powered wheelchairs. The experiments have been first carried on with paraplegic persons, being the sensors installed in the fingers. It was found that GSR signals were clearly able to detect stress and, using that information, different levels of support to the navigation could be actioned. However, further experiments with more impaired people detected that it is not possible to measure stress with GSR when sensors are placed under the injury level. In consequence, alternative solutions were tested. In this paper the results of new placement points of GSR sensors are discussed. These results were based in experiments carried on at Centro de Reabilitação do Centro, near Aveiro, which are also described here. It is shown that stress detection is possible but using different algorithms from the ones previously published. Some proposals concerning future work in this area are also discussed.
Wireless sensor networks and Internet of Things are rapidly gaining momentum and ground in measurement and control applications. Typically these systems contain simple sensor elements networked together. However, the possibilities and applications of small and independent sensor and/or actuator devices are not yet fully explored and some research should be targeted towards more traditional systems.
In this paper a novel platform for actuator and sensor applications is presented. The key features of the platform are wireless very short range communications, wirelessly charging using inductive coupling, in-application- and self-programming, re-configurable hardware and extremely simple electronic circuitry. The system is designed to be hermitically sealed.
With in-application programming and with re-configurable hardware the software and hardware configuration of the device can be altered even while the system is operating. This includes for example the analog signal pathway consisting of amplifiers, filters and AD converters. In fact, the system is designed to be installed before the actual operational parameters or the details of the target environment are even known.
Applications for presented platform range from industrial measurements to electronic fishing gear. The platform could be used e.g. in humidity, moisture, temperature and vibration measurement in applications where the measurement device needs to be implanted in the target - for example cast in cement. As a fishing lure the system could automatically detect the depth and change the parameters how it is attracting fish with blinking lights and vibrations.