PORTFOLIO
PORTFOLIO
PORTFOLIO
TM NODE BEEPER
(2017)
TM NODE BEEPER
(2017)
TM NODE BEEPER
(2017)
ENTER TEXT ON A TOUCHSCREEN, AND A SWITCH BEEPS!
In a maze of various switches and servers, it can be quite daunting to find it even with proper documentation of the layout. If an asset of concern (say, a switch or router) needed finding, one could just enter the text of the serial number of the asset, click a button, and the device attached to it would beep. (W = 2)
Imagine being in a huge room full of cheap furniture, and you need that fragile rack. It can be quite daunting to find the right one. So one does it old school: they just squint and "ooh" and "aah" until they find the right unit.
Telco companies have similar problems with their switches or routers. And when one of them needs to be inspected or replaced, it can take a long time to find the right one.
So the idea is: they wanted an screen to key in the serial number, and the right equipment will light upand buzz and make a helluva noise so we can find it.
ENTER TEXT ON A TOUCHSCREEN, AND A SWITCH BEEPS!
In a maze of various switches and servers, it can be quite daunting to find it even with proper documentation of the layout. If an asset of concern (say, a switch or router) needed finding, one could just enter the text of the serial number of the asset, click a button, and the device attached to it would beep. (W = 2)
Imagine being in a huge room full of cheap furniture, and you need that fragile rack. It can be quite daunting to find the right one. So one does it old school: they just squint and "ooh" and "aah" until they find the right unit.
Telco companies have similar problems with their switches or routers. And when one of them needs to be inspected or replaced, it can take a long time to find the right one.
So the idea is: they wanted an screen to key in the serial number, and the right equipment will light up and buzz and make a helluva noise so we can find it.
So, we experimented a bit on RF modules. This was just a general remote device built for testing different RF modules for transmission (Tx), but if you were to look closely, 315 MHz pairs were used. They're extremely cheap even back in 2017.
However, they are extremely prone to noise and had to be coded very tightly. I remember having to use Manchester protocol for the modulation, with double-redundancy polling. Sadly, the source files are not here. Later, a simple microcontroller board was designed and printed for the Tx.
Did I hear someone say "Why are you not using Xbee"? Because one pair costs RM300 back then.
Next was the interface. At a time when easily accessible touch screens existed, Raspberry Pis were the OG. The interface was programmed with PyQt, which had a good forum community to help out in the development.
In short, PyQt allows the display of GUI to send digital data to the microcontroller via the Raspi GPIO pins. We sent the data from 8 pins, which was crude but it did the job. The flow was: transfer 0xF0 from Pi to the Tx microcontroller GPIOs. A simple bit hifting converts the value to hex for transmission.
For the receivers which light up and blare noise (10 units were made, and I think we used PIC16F1455) to read the 8-bit data in hex. And internal oscillator-enabled!
This GIF is an actual footage of me testing the system. But I've uploaded the video too!
So, we experimented a bit on RF modules. This was just a general remote device built for testing different RF modules for transmission (Tx), but if you were to look closely, 315 MHz pairs were used. They're extremely cheap even back in 2017.
However, they are extremely prone to noise and had to be coded very tightly. I remember having to use Manchester protocol for the modulation, with double-redundancy polling. Sadly, the source files are not here. Later, a simple microcontroller board was designed and printed for the Tx.
Did I hear someone say "Why are you not using Xbee"? Because one pair costs RM300 back then.
Next was the interface. At a time when easily accessible touch screens existed, Raspberry Pis were the OG. The interface was programmed with PyQt, which had a good forum community to help out in the development.
In short, PyQt allows the display of GUI to send digital data to the microcontroller via the Raspi GPIO pins. We sent the data from 8 pins, which was crude but it did the job. The flow was: transfer 0xF0 from Pi to the Tx microcontroller GPIOs. A simple bit hifting converts the value to hex for transmission.
For the receivers which light up and blare noise (10 units were made, and I think we used PIC16F1455) to read the 8-bit data in hex. And internal oscillator-enabled!
This GIF is an actual footage of me testing the system. But I've uploaded the video too!
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*Note: To aid the viewer's perspective, we added weightage W, followed by a number, which states the estimated number of sub-projects within it.
Usually, one project has several major facets which need to be dealt with separately from the others before they converge as a single. A medical device generally has the most facets due to the multidisciplinary aspects, including embedded programming, electronics, optical alignment, prototyping design and aesthetics, and also interface programming, hence, W = 6.
This highlights that the entries presented are all significant, though not equally so, and that each is distinct.
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Ready to work with us?
Contact us by clicking the button below, we are happy to help you.
Interested?
Ready to work with us?
Contact us by clicking the button below, we are happy to help you.