Electronics, firmware & product development

Embedded touchscreen software for the HeatWinner

The touchscreen software for the Eneco HeatWinner, made by Inventum, was developed by Megahard.

Medical device electronics: the AGE Reader

Megahard developed a modified version of the Diagnoptics AGE Reader in collaboration with Diagnoptics engineers: electronics and software of a prototype medical device.

"The AGE Reader provides an immediate cardiovascular risk prediction in major chronic diseases such as diabetes, renal failure and cardiovascular disease."

Enclosure design, 3D printed

An example of an enclosure designed and 3D printed for Define-IT, with a window for an LCD display.

Robotic spider

This robot spider was designed for fun, to show off Megahard's mechanical CAD capabilities. A biological spider, and hence also this robot spider, can navigate terrain that is impassable for most other land vehicles. The legs of the robot spider have at least the same freedom of movement as those of a biological spider.

Free and open-source design

If you'd like to contribute or start your own robot project based on this design, feel free. The project is work in progress. The mechanical CAD files are on GitLab: gitlab.com/Megahard.pro/spider-robot-cad. Megahard would love to hear from you if you use the design files.

From a biological leg to a 3D printed leg

Applications in the real world

• Exploring areas that are dangerous or rough for humans: searching for survivors after a nuclear disaster, exploring war zones, inspecting unstable buildings after an earthquake, tsunami or volcanic eruption.
• Crisis response, to avoid risking human lives.
• Defusing bombs such as land mines. Tracked robots do this today; a robot spider could reach more impassable areas.
• Guarding property.

Analysing spider motion

The next step is the algorithm that lets the mechanical spider move and navigate, which means studying the motion, intelligence and control system of a real spider. One source is motion capture video and data of a tarantula, created by Christian Kickenweitz for his thesis at the University of Applied Sciences in Stuttgart, Germany (2006).

Wireless sensor network: WiseMotes

2019 update: the WiseMotes™ concept prototype that Megahard developed with INCAS3 has been taken to the market by Ingu Solutions.

The WiseMotes™ 2.0 system is a wireless sensor network for open environments. Users expand the reach of their own senses by scattering sensor motes in the area they want to measure, and monitor the situation directly on a screen. The motes measure movement, temperature and light intensity and send the data wirelessly to a PC or Mac. They are waterproof and can be opened to replace the battery. The spherical motes have an outer diameter of 28 mm; the circular 22 mm PCB holds all the electronics: radio, antenna, microcontroller, motion sensors, light sensor and temperature sensor.

Applications include:

• Detecting unauthorised intruders in any area, without expensive equipment.
• On-site, real-time measurement of temperature, transparency and movement in fluid tanks.
• Mapping a disaster area with little visibility, for instance to decide whether it is safe to enter a room in a burning house, or a chemical plant after hazardous substances have been released.

Above: the graphical user interface of the prototype system, and a prototype 2.4 GHz spherical antenna. This antenna type has the highest radiated energy efficiency while fitting perfectly into the sphere-shaped nodes.

Embedded software for industrial remotes

Megahard wrote embedded software that allows more remote controls to be used in proximity of each other: an implementation of frequency-hopping spread spectrum (FHSS).

Multiphase oil & gas flow laboratory control software

DNV GL provides independent testing, validation and calibration of multiphase process equipment such as separators and multiphase flow meters at its multiphase flow meter calibration laboratory, part of DNV GL Groningen (the Netherlands).

Megahard was asked to advise on improvements to the laboratory's LabVIEW control software and its data acquisition hardware, and to modify the existing LabVIEW software to fix bugs and add features.

Secret projects

Some projects are covered by a non-disclosure agreement. Without going into details, they can be roughly described as:

• Root cause analysis of product failures in aircraft subsystems for B/E Aerospace and Collins Aerospace.
• Mechanical and electronics design review of mobile scintillation detector prototypes for gamma-ray spectroscopy.