Arduino's Pro application kits are rapid prototype tools for engineers, researchers, and professionals in industrial automation, smart industry, Edge AI/ML, predictive maintenance, and IoT.
Introduction
In recent years, the Internet of Things (IoT) has emerged as a new solution for technology-driven efficiency. Its impact spans across industries, including healthcare, retail, power and energy, transportation and logistics, manufacturing, and agriculture, and more. Developing a new market-ready IoT application is a time-consuming and expensive process that involves setting up a testbed using real-world devices. It also involves multi-layered hardware and software infrastructure. Thus, there is a need for a rapid prototyping platform that can provide a partially finished product with proof of concept (PoC) and an idea for the commercialization of the product without investing much in costly hardware and software. To learn more, read this article which covers how Arduino supports rapid prototyping.
What is Rapid Prototyping?
Rapid prototyping is a design method used in product development to create and test prototypes of a product or feature quickly. It involves producing a series of iterations based on user feedback to optimize aspects like design, functionality, and usability. In other words, a rapid prototype approximates a design idea that allows the product development team to verify the product's operations and functions, components, layout, functionality, appearance, and behavior. It ranges from concept sketches to fully functional artifacts of concepts in the early stages and reduces the risks involved with the full-scale implementation. It helps developers test the feasibility of their ideas, providing a clearer picture of the real-world performance of their product as well as refines their concept before sending it to mass production. Rapid prototyping also improves development efficiencies by addressing potential issues during the prototyping phase, preventing costly rework.
A rapid prototyping process involves several steps:
- Defining objectives: The user must conduct in-depth research, clearly define the problem, and ensure that the proposed solution meets user requirements. The functional requirements and capabilities of the prototype, such as data acquisition, processing, and process control, should be specified.
- Proof-of-Concept (PoC) Prototyping: The next step is to create a PoC of the proposed solution to check its viability and possible challenges. Once the PoC is made, the designer selects a development approach to implement the idea into a product within the specified budget and scope. The virtual prototype of the product is created using a combination of hardware and software components. Here, designers don't need to purchase actual components and develop the PCB; instead, they can opt for development kits and prototyping boards.
- Alpha Prototyping: This is the first functional version of a product, developed in the early stages of development. It is a preliminary working model that provides core functionalities and gathers initial user feedback. The alpha provides a foundation for future iterations and allows stakeholders to evaluate the development direction before more resources are committed. It is also critical to refine requirements and align the project with user expectations before advancing to a feature-complete version.
- Beta Prototyping: This is a more refined and functional version of an initial prototype, designed to resemble the final product closely. It incorporates feedback from earlier testing (alpha prototype stage) and helps developers identify potential issues, optimize performance, and enhance the overall user experience. This iterative stage ensures that the final product is reliable and focuses on real-world validation under near-final operating conditions.
- Production phase: At this stage, the design is finalized with adjustments for manufacturability, ensuring it can be produced efficiently at scale. This involves processes such as refining circuit layouts, selecting durable enclosures, and standardizing connections for data and power. Each unit is rigorously tested for performance, durability, and connectivity standards. Final regulatory compliance checks and certifications (e.g., CE, FCC) are completed, confirming the product meets legal and safety requirements.
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How do Arduino Pro Kits Aid Rapid Prototyping?
Rapid prototyping kits serve as affordable tools that accelerate product development across industrial automation, IoT, and robotics. These platforms enable engineers and designers to quickly experimentand test new ideas through hands-on development.
Arduino has introduced professional-grade application kits designed for for complex project development that can be utilized by both professionals and hobbyists. They contain high-performance microcontrollers, precision sensors, and actuators. The user experience is further improved by the Arduino open-source IDE that offers extensive software libraries, which greatly reduce development time and effort. Additionally, the platform supports AI and ML model deployment and integrates easily with several services such as Arduino Cloud, AWS, and Azure.
The Arduino Pro Middleware Platform has pre-built components such as hardware interfaces, drivers, OS and security APIs, and application code templates, which streamline the development process. This comprehensive hardware abstraction layer lies at the heart of the system.
Case Study: Monitoring Safety Systems for Elevators
Arduino Pro has enabled enterprises to transform their business model or existing products through rapid IoT deployment. Here is an example:
ESCM Manufacturing INC is a NY-based company that develops monitoring systems for elevator safety devices. Elevators have separated branch circuits, that include the hoistway, the car and the machine room, which provides a measure of safety for maintenance personnel working on the elevator. One of the biggest issues faced when installing and repairing elevators is troubleshooting electrical safety devices: technicians and elevator mechanics have to jump out the safety devices or remove their covers for contact inspection.
As of January 1, 2020, the elevator industry has been regulated by a new code - all NYC automatic passenger and freight elevators must be able to detect jumped and faulty door circuits to be considered compliant. The main challenge was to develop a safe and code compliant monitoring system to inform technicians on the state of the elevators safety devices.
To meet this challenge, ESCM developed the ESCM2000 Monitor and Display Board based on Arduino Nano. This board has two LEDs that serve as status lights: red blinking LED represents an open-contact and the green LED represents a closed-contact, providing the elevator technician with a status of the device.
Figure 1: ESCM2000 Monitor and Display Board based on Arduino Nano Image Source: Arduino
The ESCM2000 Monitor and Display Board supports elevator mechanics and technicians during the troubleshooting procedure of elevator safety devices by giving an observable indication of the status of the device being monitored. Moreover, the ESCM2000 has been designed to be independent of any other device, allowing for remote monitoring and eliminating the need for unnecessary jumping out of safety circuits.
The device sends data via RS-485 or CAN bus to any desired location for viewing on LCD. Two rotary DIP switches allow for easy programming of any address from 00-99 efficiently transforming any safety device into an addressable device.
Wrap Up: Why Is Rapid Prototyping Important?
The adoption of rapid prototyping not only reduces development time and optimizes resources, it also ensures that IoT solutions are in alignment with user expectations. This is because such prototyping allows for early stage assessment of the economic viability of a project and also identifies possible challenges. Most important of all, it identifies affordable solutions to the same complications.
Arduino’s rapid prototyping kits have empowered businesses and individuals to create functional prototypes efficiently. By utilizing the accessibility, ease of use, and versatility of Arduino boards businesses can streamline development, cut costs, and accelerate their product launch.
Products
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Arduino Pro Industrial Automation and Lighting Kit – creates solutions focused on a micro PLC programming environment, industrial communication protocols, and control applications. Kit Contents: Arduino Opta RS485, Arduino Opta WiFi, Single Phase power analyzer AC/DC - 100A, Power Supply for switching Opta |
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Arduino Smart Industry OEM Condition Monitoring Kit – a simplified kit suitable for projects needing temperature measurements. It uses the Portenta Machine Control’s capabilities with three temperature inputs for Thermocouples J/K and RTD PT100. Kit Contents: Arduino Portenta Machine Control, RTD sensor PT100, Thermocouple, WiFi antenna |
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Arduino Pro Edge AI/ML Vision and Speech Kit – creates intelligent projects with computer vision, image, and speech recognition. It leverages easy-to-use edge AI tools, all controllable remotely via Arduino Cloud using beginner-friendly Arduino C++ programming. Kit Contents: Arduino Portenta H7, Arduino Portenta Vision Shield Ethernet, Arduino Nicla Vision, Arduino Enclosure for Nicla Vision |
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Smart Industry Predictive Maintenance Kit –implements automation systems capable of recognizing voice commands and sensing environmental data to trigger processes. Kit Contents: Arduino Nicla Voice, Arduino Nicla Sense ME, Arduino Enclosure for Nicla Voice, Arduino Enclosure for Nicla Sense ME, Arduino Portenta C33, Arduino Portenta breakout |
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Pro Smart Industry Prototyping Kit – provides a platform to gain practical experience with industry-standard technologies such as Linux OS, LoRa® connectivity, and communication protocols used in factories and plants. Kit Contents: Arduino Portenta X8, Arduino Portenta Max Carrier, USB Hub, LoRa antenna, Cat.M1 antenna, Power supply for Portenta Max Carrier |
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About the sponsor
Arduino designs, manufactures, and supports electronic devices and software, allowing people around the world to easily access advanced technologies that interact with the physical world. Our products are straightforward, simple, and powerful, ready to satisfy users’ needs from students to makers and all the way to professional developers.
