element14 Community
element14 Community
    Register Log In
  • Site
  • Search
  • Log In Register
  • Community Hub
    Community Hub
    • What's New on element14
    • Feedback and Support
    • Benefits of Membership
    • Personal Blogs
    • Members Area
    • Achievement Levels
  • Learn
    Learn
    • Ask an Expert
    • eBooks
    • element14 presents
    • Learning Center
    • Tech Spotlight
    • STEM Academy
    • Webinars, Training and Events
    • Learning Groups
  • Technologies
    Technologies
    • 3D Printing
    • FPGA
    • Industrial Automation
    • Internet of Things
    • Power & Energy
    • Sensors
    • Technology Groups
  • Challenges & Projects
    Challenges & Projects
    • Design Challenges
    • element14 presents Projects
    • Project14
    • Arduino Projects
    • Raspberry Pi Projects
    • Project Groups
  • Products
    Products
    • Arduino
    • Avnet Boards Community
    • Dev Tools
    • Manufacturers
    • Multicomp Pro
    • Product Groups
    • Raspberry Pi
    • RoadTests & Reviews
  • Store
    Store
    • Visit Your Store
    • Choose another store...
      • Europe
      •  Austria (German)
      •  Belgium (Dutch, French)
      •  Bulgaria (Bulgarian)
      •  Czech Republic (Czech)
      •  Denmark (Danish)
      •  Estonia (Estonian)
      •  Finland (Finnish)
      •  France (French)
      •  Germany (German)
      •  Hungary (Hungarian)
      •  Ireland
      •  Israel
      •  Italy (Italian)
      •  Latvia (Latvian)
      •  
      •  Lithuania (Lithuanian)
      •  Netherlands (Dutch)
      •  Norway (Norwegian)
      •  Poland (Polish)
      •  Portugal (Portuguese)
      •  Romania (Romanian)
      •  Russia (Russian)
      •  Slovakia (Slovak)
      •  Slovenia (Slovenian)
      •  Spain (Spanish)
      •  Sweden (Swedish)
      •  Switzerland(German, French)
      •  Turkey (Turkish)
      •  United Kingdom
      • Asia Pacific
      •  Australia
      •  China
      •  Hong Kong
      •  India
      •  Korea (Korean)
      •  Malaysia
      •  New Zealand
      •  Philippines
      •  Singapore
      •  Taiwan
      •  Thailand (Thai)
      • Americas
      •  Brazil (Portuguese)
      •  Canada
      •  Mexico (Spanish)
      •  United States
      Can't find the country/region you're looking for? Visit our export site or find a local distributor.
  • Translate
  • Profile
  • Settings
Sudden Impact Wearables Design Challenge
  • Challenges & Projects
  • Design Challenges
  • Sudden Impact Wearables Design Challenge
  • More
  • Cancel
Sudden Impact Wearables Design Challenge
Blog EasyConfigure - Modular/Configurable System Intro
  • Blog
  • Forum
  • Documents
  • Polls
  • Files
  • Events
  • Mentions
  • Sub-Groups
  • Tags
  • More
  • Cancel
  • New
  • Share
  • More
  • Cancel
Group Actions
  • Group RSS
  • More
  • Cancel
Engagement
  • Author Author: tomaja
  • Date Created: 7 Dec 2014 11:47 PM Date Created
  • Views 1143 views
  • Likes 1 like
  • Comments 6 comments
  • easy_configure
  • sudden_impact
Related
Recommended

EasyConfigure - Modular/Configurable System Intro

tomaja
tomaja
7 Dec 2014

First of all, I owe a big "thank you" to Element14 and all the sponsors for selecting me as one of the participants in this challenge!

Also, I have to say thanks to members who are always eager to help each other. This community is amazing! Everything I create during this challenge will be open-sourced, of course.

I think this is the best way I can return for everything I learned here.

 

Project description

 

Regarding the proposed system, I plan to make it modular and easy to configure and use.

 

a) Modularity will make the system more generic and it will give the opportunity to easily setup the remote unit for different sports.

For this to work, I will have to make small remote sensor modules that can be fitted into casings that are customised for some sport outfit (at first I planned to make these casings 3D printed using SeeedStudio service but I will probably try casting them using the provided resin - this must be pure fun). Also, the main remote unit to which sensors will be connected must be small enough to fit the helmet or to be placed inside a small shirt pocket in such manner that it does not affect the sportsmen performance in any way.

 

It will also require a battery power and LiFe or NiMh batteries should be a good choice since these types of batteries are much more durable and not so flammable as LiPo and LiIon batteries are. Battery must have enough capacity to last for the entire training session without having to be recharged but not to big at the same time since we need the entire sensor module to be as small as possible. For some sports, weight is critical. Battery will be connected via wires to enable flat form factor when needed.

Sensors will be connected to the central remote unit (Arduino mini or  Adafruit Trinket pro) via cables/connectors or BLE (when wires are not an option).

 

b) To make the system easily configurable, remote sensor modules will use wireless connectivity and operate in AP mode when switched on for the first time to enable easy connection from the control unit (probably a tablet computer but during development I will use a regular lap-top or Raspberry Pi). Remote units will have unique SSIDs consisting of a common prefix and unique part to distinguish between different units. This way, control unit will be able to enumerate all the available devices without having to connect to each of them. The unique part of SSID will be preprogrammed and visible on the device so that operator can assign device ID to corresponding sportsman in the database.

Control unit will automatically send configuration data to each device that operates in AP mode by connecting to each of them as a wireless client (one-by-one).

Configuration data will let the remote unit "know" which sensor modules are attached to it to be able to communicate with them.

After configuration is done (including the wireless network selection and required credentials passing) remote sensor units will switch to wireless client mode and connect to the selected wireless network and then again to the control unit. Remote units will publish sensor data updates using MQTT protocol (a lightweight C client is available for embedded devices at Paho - Open Source messaging for M2M). Control unit will also run a MQTT broker service and dispatch the received data to all monitoring units (laptops, tablets or mobile phones). I'm already working on a similar software for the InTheAir design challenge so this should be the easier part.

 

image

I think that this concept would work and could be done in the given timeframe. In the first stage, software design is my main concern until I receive the challenge kit. After the sensors tests are done using provided development kits, a remote sensor unit circuit will have to be designed for the final product.

 

 

Dragan

  • Sign in to reply

Top Comments

  • Robert Peter Oakes
    Robert Peter Oakes over 10 years ago +1
    One thing you need to consider (Well I am sure there are many but im pointing this one out specifically), Bluetooth is not know for range (10-30Meters at best and in absolute ideal conditions), you may…
  • amgalbu
    amgalbu over 10 years ago in reply to tomaja +1
    As far as i know BT4.0 supports meshing... So may be each player could act as a data repeater :-)
  • clem57
    clem57 over 10 years ago +1
    @ Dragan Knezevic , I found this interesting: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/flutterwireless/flutter-20-wireless-arduino-with-half-mile-1km-ran . It may have the range you need, but I cannot get…
Parents
  • Robert Peter Oakes
    Robert Peter Oakes over 10 years ago

    One thing you need to consider (Well I am sure there are many but im pointing this one out specifically), Bluetooth is not know for range (10-30Meters at best and in absolute ideal conditions), you may need to resort to Sub 1Ghz radios in order to get from far field to the base station, this would be less power than WIFI and still quite low cost and are easy to interface to your systems

     

    I don't know if you have looked at the ranges available for different wireless technologies but if you have not, I would do sooner than later as it will affect your designs

     

    This looks like cricket, I know from first hand experience what it is like to get hit directly from a cricket ball without a helmet and it is not nice, even hitting a helmet from a pro swing would be devastating so this should prove quite informative

     

    I look forward to seeing this progress

     

    Peter

    • Cancel
    • Vote Up +1 Vote Down
    • Sign in to reply
    • More
    • Cancel
  • tomaja
    tomaja over 10 years ago in reply to Robert Peter Oakes

    I was thinking about using BLE only for communication between sensor module and main player unit. Main remote unit will send the sensor data further to the control unit (MQTT broker) via WiFi.

    I should have made a sketch for the remote unit too to make this more clearer.

     

    2.4Ghz should be fine if good antenna is chosen. For my RC modelling hobby I use a 2.4Ghz transmitter and it has 1km+ range with simple omni-directional antennas.

    Here you can see the range test for ESP8266 WiFi modules I intend to use (already ordered one for test): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BYdZ_24yg0#t=385

     

    The field picture I used for illustration is just a picture I picked up to give some visual representation of system so it's easier to explain how it will work. The idea is to make the generic system, not strictly bound to a single sport discipline.

     

    I also look forward to make some progress image

     

    Dragan

    • Cancel
    • Vote Up 0 Vote Down
    • Sign in to reply
    • More
    • Cancel
  • amgalbu
    amgalbu over 10 years ago in reply to tomaja

    As far as i know BT4.0 supports meshing... So may be each player could act as a data repeater :-)

    • Cancel
    • Vote Up +1 Vote Down
    • Sign in to reply
    • More
    • Cancel
  • tomaja
    tomaja over 10 years ago in reply to amgalbu

    I'm already too much into the WiFi option image About to order a couple of Microchip's WiFi modules with external omni antenna, should be good for this application.

    But I never worked with BT modules before and would love to try that out too. I'm thinking about making one of the sensors connected with remote unit using BT modules but still not sure about it. It might be too much.

     

    Dragan

    • Cancel
    • Vote Up 0 Vote Down
    • Sign in to reply
    • More
    • Cancel
Comment
  • tomaja
    tomaja over 10 years ago in reply to amgalbu

    I'm already too much into the WiFi option image About to order a couple of Microchip's WiFi modules with external omni antenna, should be good for this application.

    But I never worked with BT modules before and would love to try that out too. I'm thinking about making one of the sensors connected with remote unit using BT modules but still not sure about it. It might be too much.

     

    Dragan

    • Cancel
    • Vote Up 0 Vote Down
    • Sign in to reply
    • More
    • Cancel
Children
No Data
element14 Community

element14 is the first online community specifically for engineers. Connect with your peers and get expert answers to your questions.

  • Members
  • Learn
  • Technologies
  • Challenges & Projects
  • Products
  • Store
  • About Us
  • Feedback & Support
  • FAQs
  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy Policy
  • Legal and Copyright Notices
  • Sitemap
  • Cookies

An Avnet Company © 2025 Premier Farnell Limited. All Rights Reserved.

Premier Farnell Ltd, registered in England and Wales (no 00876412), registered office: Farnell House, Forge Lane, Leeds LS12 2NE.

ICP 备案号 10220084.

Follow element14

  • X
  • Facebook
  • linkedin
  • YouTube