Open Source Hardware Platform Research Articles

Open source hardware and software platform for robotics and artificial intelligence applications

Recent developments in open source hardware and software platforms (Android, Arduino, Linux, OpenCV etc.) have enabled rapid development of previously expensive and sophisticated system within a lower budget and flatter learning curves for developers. Using these platform, we designed and developed a Java-based 3D robotic simulation system, with graph database, which is integrated in online and offline modes with an Android-Arduino based rubbish picking remote control car. The combination of the open source hardware and software system created a flexible and expandable platform for further developments in the future, both in the software and hardware areas, in particular in combination with graph database for artificial intelligence, as well as more sophisticated hardware, such as legged or humanoid robots.

An Introductory Embedded Systems Teaching Using Open-Source Hardware and Software Platforms

Embedded systems are used everywhere in human lives. They are in alarm clocks, automobiles, mobile phones, personal digital assistants, home appliances and etc. The Faculty of Electronic Engineering and Technologies at Technical University of Sofia decided after many iterations and discussions with the partners companies and employers organizations to accept a new curriculum for Bachelor degree in Electronics. In order to prepare the students for the challenges of their future job in the new curriculum it was emphasized on the practice and especially on obtaining skills in embedded systems programming. The laboratory classes in “Practice on open source platforms programming” are intended to give the students basic knowledge and skills in this field. The open source hardware and software platforms—Arduino development board and the software IDE, which are globally recognized as tools for introductory education, are chosen for this purpose. In this paper it is proposed a practical approach for teaching the basics of embedded systems hardware and software. The stress is on the program control of inputs and outputs to convince the students in the flexibility and universality of the programmable devices. Also there are introduced the principles of the sensors and their application. Some examples are presented.

A Remote System for Monitoring Auxiliary Data Center from Environmental Threats with Lower Hardware Cost

There are some data centers that are located far from the main data center for ensuring continuity of company's Information Technology operations in case the main data center encounters a serious downtime especially for companies engaged to work in distributed manner to increase quality-of -service to their customers. Environmental downtime is a significant cost to organizations and makes them unable to do business because what happens in the data center affects everyone. In addition, the amount of electrical energy consumed by data center increases with the amount of computing power installed. One strategy of reducing energy consumption in data centers is to adjust the temperature and humidity data. Installation of physical Information Technology and facilities related to environment on monitoring temperature, humidity, power, flood, smoke, air flow, room entry is the most proactive way to reduce the unnecessary costs of expensive hardware replacement or unplanned downtime and decrease energy consumed by servers. In this paper, we present remote system for monitoring auxiliary data centers implemented using open-source hardware platforms, Arduino, Raspberry Pi, and the Gobetwino. The objective of collecting temperature and humidity data allows monitoring server's health and gets alerts if things start to go wrong. When the temperature hits 50oC., the supervisor at remote headquarters would get a SMS, then take appropriate actions that make sense to reduce electrical costs and preserve functionality of servers in auxiliary data centers. The data center environmental monitoring represents a step forward towards addressing awareness monitoring of energy efficiency and data centers located far with ability to receive a notification by email.

物联网 + Unity3D虚拟现实花卉养护远程智能监控系统

针对传统花卉养护手工操作工作效率低、可交互性差、缺乏远程监控能力以及人机交互界面缺乏视觉感染力问题，采用Arduino开源硬件平台，结合Unity3D引擎移动开发平台，设计和开发了一种物联网 + Unity3D可交互智能化虚拟现实花卉养护远程监控系统。该系统由基站服务端和远程站客户端组成，基站服务端使用土壤湿度和DHT温湿度传感器检测花卉土壤湿度和室内环境温度和湿度，控制器根据不同花卉土壤湿度设定值，在环境温度允许情况下，调节电磁阀，控制浇水量。远程站客户端实现虚拟漫游，实时信息显示、远程控制功能。基站服务端和远程站客户端通过无线路由器进行数据传输和交换。系统测试表明本系统能够通过三维交互式虚拟现实场景远程监控花卉生长，自动调整浇水量，提高了花卉养护的实用性和趣味性。 Due to the manual and low efficiency, poor interactivity, lack of the remote control and visual appeal of the man-machine interface for the flower maintenance, we proposed a kind of interactive intelligent virtual reality monitoring and control system for flower maintenance based on internet of things and Unity3D. It was designed and developed by using the Arduino open source hardware platform and the Unity3D engine mobile development platform. The system consists of a base sta-tion server and a remote station client. Base station server uses the soil moisture and DHT tem-perature & humidity sensor to measure the soil humidity and the indoor environment temperature and humidity. Controller controls the irrigation amount through the regulation of electromagnetic valve according to the setpoint of soil humidity when the environment temperature is allowed. Remote station client is used to achieve virtual roaming, real-time monitoring, information display and remote control function. Data transmission and exchange between the base station server and the remote station client is realized through the wireless router. System tests show that the system can monitor the growth of flowers by the three-dimensional interactive virtual reality scene, automatically adjust the water quantity, and improve the practicality and interest of flower maintenance.

Strategies for the Universities to be Locally Engaged while Globally Visible

Universities are now operating in a post-globalized world. They need to be locally engaged while globally visible for continued success. Specific strategies include 1) unbundling education using fractal modules approach to facilitate more flexible and customized learning expectations of net generation of students; 2) open-source software and hardware platforms to facilitate collaborations around a short or multi-year, multidisciplinary brain stretching projects motivated by the real world challenges; 3) new courses on innovation and entrepreneurship to nurture experience seeking and enterprising mindset of students; 4) cross-border university- public- private partnerships for developing solutions specific to the local needs and can be scalable for the world; and 5) encouraging faculty members with glocal mindset.

재난관리 원격 모니터링용 오픈소스 하드웨어 모듈 응용

Since the natural disasters such as floods, droughts, heat wave and cold wave are increasing, the need for risk management is necessary to minimize the damage with utilizing IT technology. Also, the monitoring services of disaster response type have been developed and applied. Recently, the open source hardware based on the signal of the sensor, or the monitoring studies have been carried. In this paper, by analyzing a low-cost open source hardware platform such as Beagle board, we examine the utilization of the hardware-based module for sensor monitoring.

Develop Direct Geo-referencing System Based on Open Source Software and Hardware Platform

Abstract. Direct geo-referencing system uses the technology of remote sensing to quickly grasp images, GPS tracks, and camera position. These data allows the construction of large volumes of images with geographic coordinates. So that users can be measured directly on the images. In order to properly calculate positioning, all the sensor signals must be synchronized. Traditional aerial photography use Position and Orientation System (POS) to integrate image, coordinates and camera position. However, it is very expensive. And users could not use the result immediately because the position information does not embed into image. To considerations of economy and efficiency, this study aims to develop a direct geo-referencing system based on open source software and hardware platform. After using Arduino microcontroller board to integrate the signals, we then can calculate positioning with open source software OpenCV. In the end, we use open source panorama browser, panini, and integrate all these to open source GIS software, Quantum GIS. A wholesome collection of data – a data processing system could be constructed.

음성 보안을 제공하기 위한 가상화 기반의 VoIP 설계 및 검증 테스트

Recently, the computing paradigm has been changing and VoIP technology is being revisited to support various services. In this paper, we have designed and implemented the system of software PBX open source Asterisk, hardware platform, and mobile devices to support secured voice service based on VoIP. Specially, we designed the various platform from single board to servers based on XenServer in hardware platform. And we verified the delay test of network traffics and the secured voice communication test based on this platform.

Design and Implementation of Remote Control System for Mobile Platform Based on Interoperation of Android and Arduino

The project designed and implemented an interoperability mobile platform with a system based on Android open source software platform and Arduino open source hardware platform , an Android program on the host terminal receiving environment data from the mobile platform and sending message through 3G channel using XMPP protocol, and an Android program on the remote control terminal which could process the environment data sent from the mobile platform according to the algorithm and send back control commands. With this system, the mobile intelligent terminal can collect environment data of moving objects in any area through the 3G signal and control the behavior of distant moving objects to avoid collision. Meanwhile, the system which has broad application prospect is prototype of self-driving car, robot designed for dangerous mission and Mars exploration rover.

Wireless Sensor Network System Design Using Raspberry Pi and Arduino for Environmental Monitoring Applications

With over a decade of intensive research and development, wireless sensor network technology has been emerging as a viable solution to many innovative applications. In this paper, we describe a wireless sensor network system that we have developed using open-source hardware platforms, Arduino and Raspberry Pi. The system is low-cost and highly scalable both in terms of the type of sensors and the number of sensor nodes, which makes it well suited for a wide variety of applications related to environmental monitoring. Overall system architecture and the design of hardware and software components are presented in details in this paper. Some sample deployment and measurement results are also presented to demonstrate the usefulness of the system.

An Open-Source Hardware and Software Platform for Telesurgical Robotics Research

We present our work to develop a telerobotics research platform that provides complete access to all levels of control via open-source custom electronics and software. The electronics employs an FPGA to enable a centralized computation and distributed I/O architecture in which all control computations are implemented in a familiar development environment (Linux PC) and low-latency I/O is performed over an IEEE-1394a (Firewire) bus at speeds up to 400 Mbits/sec. The mechanical components of the system are provided by the Research Kit for the da Vinci System, which consists of the Master Tool Manipulators (MTMs), Patient Side Manipulators (PSMs), and stereo console of the first-generation da Vinci surgical robot. This system is currently installed, or planned for installation, at 11 research institutions, with additional installations likely in the future, thereby creating a research community around a common open-source hardware and software platform.

Beyond Open Source Software: Solving Common Library Problems Using the Open Source Hardware Arduino Platform

Using open source hardware platforms like the Arduino, libraries have the ability to quickly and inexpensively prototype custom hardware solutions to common library problems. The authors present the Arduino environment, what it is, what it does, and how it was used at the James A. Gibson Library at Brock University to create a production portable barcode-scanning utility for in-house use statistics collection as well as a prototype for a service desk statistics tabulation program’s hardware interface.

Detection of scale-freeness in brain connectivity by functional MRI: Signal processing aspects and implementation of an open hardware co-processor

An outstanding issue in graph-theoretical studies of brain functional connectivity is the lack of formal criteria for choosing parcellation granularity and correlation threshold. Here, we propose detectability of scale-freeness as a benchmark to evaluate time-series extraction settings. Scale-freeness, i.e., power-law distribution of node connections, is a fundamental topological property that is highly conserved across biological networks, and as such needs to be manifest within plausible reconstructions of brain connectivity. We demonstrate that scale-free network topology only emerges when adequately fine cortical parcellations are adopted alongside an appropriate correlation threshold, and provide the full design of the first open-source hardware platform to accelerate the calculation of large linear regression arrays.

Closed-Loop, Multichannel Experimentation Using the Open-Source NeuroRighter Electrophysiology Platform

Single neuron feedback control techniques, such as voltage clamp and dynamic clamp, have enabled numerous advances in our understanding of ion channels, electrochemical signaling, and neural dynamics. Although commercially available multichannel recording and stimulation systems are commonly used for studying neural processing at the network level, they provide little native support for real-time feedback. We developed the open-source NeuroRighter multichannel electrophysiology hardware and software platform for closed-loop multichannel control with a focus on accessibility and low cost. NeuroRighter allows 64 channels of stimulation and recording for around US $10,000, along with the ability to integrate with other software and hardware. Here, we present substantial enhancements to the NeuroRighter platform, including a redesigned desktop application, a new stimulation subsystem allowing arbitrary stimulation patterns, low-latency data servers for accessing data streams, and a new application programming interface (API) for creating closed-loop protocols that can be inserted into NeuroRighter as plugin programs. This greatly simplifies the design of sophisticated real-time experiments without sacrificing the power and speed of a compiled programming language. Here we present a detailed description of NeuroRighter as a stand-alone application, its plugin API, and an extensive set of case studies that highlight the system’s abilities for conducting closed-loop, multichannel interfacing experiments.

Uso de hardware de código fonte aberto "Arduino" para acionamento de dispositivo solenoide em sistemas de análises em fluxo

This paper describes the use of the open source hardware platform, denominated Arduino, for controlling solenoid valves for solutions handling in flow analysis systems. System assessment was carried out by spectrophotometric determination of iron (II) in natural water. The sampling rate was estimated as 45 determinations per hour and the coefficient of variation was lower than 3%. Per determination, 208 µg of 1-10-phenanthroline and ascorbic acid were consumed, generating 1.3 mL of waste. Arduino proved a reliable microcontroller with low cost and simple interfacing, allowing USB communication for solenoid device switching in flow systems.

An Open Source Hardware and Software Platform for Interdisciplinary Design: Electronics, Interfacing and Programming for the Designer

An Open Source Hardware and Software Platform for Interdisciplinary Design: Electronics, Interfacing and Programming for the Designer

Design and Implementation of a Single-Frequency Mesh Network Using OpenAirInterface

OpenAirInterface is an experimental open-source real-time hardware and software platform for experimentation in wireless communications and signal processing. With the help of OpenAirInterface, researchers can demonstrate novel ideas quickly and verify them in a realistic environment. Its current implementation provides a full open-source software modem comprising physical and link layer functionalities for cellular and mesh network topologies. The physical (PHY) layer of the platform targets fourth generation wireless networks and thus uses orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) together with multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) techniques. The current hardware supports 5 MHz bandwidth and two transmit/receive antennas. The media access (MAC) layer of the platform supports an abundant two-way signaling for enabling collaboration, scheduling protocols, as well as traffic and channel measurements. In this paper, we focus on the mesh topology and show how to implement a single-frequency mesh network with OpenAirInterface. The key ingredients to enable such a network are a dual-stream MIMO receiver structure and a distributed network synchronization algorithm. We show how to implement these two algorithms in real-time on the OpenAirInterface platform. Further more, we provide results from field trials and compare them to the simulation results.

Lipopolysaccharide-induced increases in cytokines in discrete mouse brain regions are detectable using Luminex xMAP ® technology

Methods to determine cytokine protein content in samples of interest, such as enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), are often labor-intensive and costly. Furthermore, because ELISA requires relatively large sample volumes and protein concentrations, it is difficult using this technique to determine protein content for multiple cytokines from individual samples. Recently, Luminex has developed an open source hardware platform combining flow cytometry- and bead-based antibody capture that is capable of detecting multiple analytes from a single sample. In the present study we employed the Luminex 200 ® platform to determine the cytokine protein content in discrete brain regions of C57BL/6J mice. In spike-and-recovery experiments, known concentrations of murine recombinant interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6, and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)α were added either singly or as a mixture of all three to whole brain homogenates containing known quantities of total protein. Spiked samples were assayed for either a single cytokine or for multiple cytokines using 1-plex or 3-plex assay kits, respectively. In whole mouse brain homogenate we recovered between 81% and 103% of the recombinant cytokines. We then injected C57BL/6J mice intraperitoneally with bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and sacrificed them 4 h later. We detected in samples taken from LPS-stimulated mice 4- to 870-fold increases in serum or spleen cytokine protein, and 1.5- to 16-fold increases in cytokine protein in discrete brain regions, relative to protein content in samples obtained from vehicle-treated animals. These results indicate that multiple cytokines may be reliably assayed from discrete regions of mouse brain using a single sample.