Bluetooth Low Energy for a Wearable Sensor
The Challenge
Nymbl Science is a healthcare start-up using modern technology to help people improve their balance and prevent deterioration of balance. The off-the-shelf sensor they used in their product prototype failed to provide the performance they needed for their user tests.
The Solution
Nymbl Science's solution uses the popular Bluetooth Low Energy technology to communicate with their wearable sensor. We optimised the firmware of the prototype device to drastically improve its speed and accuracy.
The Role
We worked closely together with Nymbl Science development team and provided them with the improved firmware that they used in their tests.
The Technology
We used our experience in embedded C development and knowledge of Bluetooth Low Energy technology to deliver a robust and efficient firmware.
The Benefit
The improved speed and accuracy of the sensor helped to develop a better mathematical model to analyse motion data and eventually helped to build a more efficient solution.
What the client said
“We were very happy to have worked with Bitgrove on our project. Tamás not only delivered the improvements we needed rapidly and fully debugged, he was also able to give us some general advice on our strategy for wearable sensors.” – Jim Cook (co-founder, Nymbl Science)
Fingerprint Recognition for Embedded Devices
The Challenge
SimPrints is a non-profit tech start-up building a mobile biometric scanner. They successfully evaluated an open-source fingerprint recognition library written in C# for desktop computers. They needed a more portable implementation of the algorithms used by the library but written in C to be able to use it on mobile and embedded devices.
The Solution
After an initial feasibility study we came up with two possible solutions. One of them was to use a high level object oriented language (Vala) offering a syntax very close to C# and the possibility to automatically generate a portable C code. The other one was to implement a simple object oriented framework and abstract data structures from scratch in C and implement the algorithms manually. After a careful consideration of their long-term goals SimPrints chose the latter option.
The Role
SimPrints wanted to do the majority of the development with their own team but was lacking the resources to get the project off the ground quickly. We delivered the skeleton of the new library to be used in the next phase of the project and also suggested a development methodology and process workflow.
The Technology
The C99 standard was chosen to implement a lightweight object oriented framework including the abstract data structures required. A unit test framework was also integrated to facilitate test driven development. The solution was completed by rewriting a couple of the original C# classes to provide examples. The source code was delivered directly in SimPrints' GitHub repository.
The Benefit
SimPrints made a successful application as one of the projects supported by the 2015 Redgate Down Tools Week. The timely delivery of the C framework gave a head start to the project and provided the basis for the amazing progress made during the Down Tools Week.
What the client said
“Working with Bitgrove was great. Tamás is very analytical in his thinking which is a huge benefit to start-ups because of the constant time crunch. Tamás is passionate about writing good code, and always put the needs of our organization over the opportunity to create billable hours. We hope to work with him again in the future.” – Tristram Norman (CTO, SimPrints)
Bluetooth Low Energy Connectivity
The Challenge
OurPath is a healthcare startup providing an online programme for its clients to help prevent them developing type-2 diabetes. They use a mobile phone app, wireless scales and pedometers to monitor their clients' progress. During the development of their system they faced a communication issue between one of their Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) devices and the mobile phone app.
The Solution
We investigated the flow of over-the-air packets during the communication and suggested ways to overcome the problems.
The Role
We worked closely together with OurPath's team to understand their needs and the problem they had. Then we did our investigation independently and provided a detailed report describing our suggestions.
The Technology
We used a Bluetooth Low Energy sniffer tool to capture the transmitted packets. Our understanding of the details of the BLE protocol helped us to analyse the recorded data and suggest ways to fix the communication.
The Benefit
Resolving this communication problem meant that OurPath could continue with their original development plan and didn't have to spend extra time and money on workarounds to make their system work.
What the client said
“Even as a programmer, I’m still baffled by what Tamás managed to accomplish. The work he did was not only exemplary, but presented back to us with a quality of documentation that would put most companies to shame.” – Chris Edson (Founder & Technical Lead, OurPath)