Android Industrial: AC Drive over rs485

The following video represents an example of HMI in Industrial applications. In particular, in this project I used an Android multi touch that runs on Cortex A8 at 1Ghz and show how it can greatly control an AC drive. Specifically, I used a Allen-Bradley adjustable frequency AC drive.

The Android UI on the touch screen device allows to:

  • Start/Stop the motor
  • Set the direction (forward, backward)
  • Manage the output relay
  • Control the status of the digital inputs
  • See the parameters such as the current, frequency and output voltage
  • Set the motor frequency

You’ll find the source code and complete specifications of the project on my github channel. Don’t miss to check it out also our wiki section! As usual, comments are welcome 🙂

Why is the Android Emulator Slow?

Intel HAXM on Android SDK ManagerThe frequent question between Android developers is: Why is the Android emulator slow?

The Android emulator is a very powerful tool that greatly improves the testing capabilities when a real device is not available. It is possible to simulate the front and back camera, sd card, internal storage, 3G network with different speeds and so on.

In real scenarios, using the default Android Emulator Images is a cumbersome process and in many occasions it is not feasible while testing complex Android applications mainly because of its slowness. Instead, developers are forced to use a real device for testing their apps.

In this post I would like to describe you an interesting method that helps to speed up the Android emulator. As a prerequisite, you need an Intel VT enabled system. Continue reading

Arduino Android communication through Modbus TCP

Arduino ethernet modbus tcp

The project I want to share with you today is how to communicate between Arduino and Android through Modbus TCP.

This article belongs to a set of walkthrough articles that are based on understanding:

  1. How Arduino communicates to Android devices not only by means of USB
  2. How easily is to use the lightweight modbus protocol in both Arduino and Android
  3. How the two slightly different implementations of modbus TCP and RTU, can be used in industrial and home applications

Take a look at how to communicate between Arduino and Android through RS485 and modbus RTU article if you are interested in knowing the “serial” version of the current article. Continue reading

Android Modbus RTU library new release

A new release of the Modbus RTU Android library for Ltouch multi-touch devices is available

Time has passed from the first release (v.0.1) of the modbus RTU Android library. Our customers were satisfied and many home and industrial automation projects have been developed. However, as in any software projects, some bug fixes exists and features enhancements have to be implemented.

That’s why we are proud to announce that the new version is ready for download. As usual, you will find two binaries: debug and release. The main difference is that the first will give you more informative logs whereas the second one is devoted for production. The Android devices currently supported are the Ltouch F and Ltouch S. The Modbus functions that are implemented are:

  • Function Code 03, Read Holding Registers specifically designed for reading registers in one of the devices active in the bus line.
  • Function Code 16, Preset Holding Registers specifically designed for writing registers in one of the devices active in the bus line.

For details, examples and API docs, please take a look at out libraries section.

In case you need to update the library only, remember to refresh your project (especially if you are using Eclipse) in order to avoid that the older version of the library will be used in the app.

As usual, comments and suggestions are welcome! 🙂

How to set Android Brightness through Adb

brightness icon (www.picol.org)In this post I’d like to show you how to adjust the Android Brightness using Adb. This could be particularly useful when for instance you accidentally set the brightness to small values, therefore you are not able to get back to a value that let you see what is going on.

I’ve tested the following procedure for the Ltouch Android panels and Android development boards, however this procedure is quite general that you can easily use on any Android devices.

The first step is to connect the Android devices to your PC using the mini-usb cable. On Windows, you have to install first the Android usb driver provided by Google (OEM) or by the device’s manufacturer. More info on that on this wiki. On Linux/Mac, no driver is needed.

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How to set the Android Adb over Wifi

android wifi connection panelIn this post I’d like to describe you how to set adb over Wifi or Ethernet. As you probably already know, the adb (a.k.a. Android Debug Bridge) is a powerful tool that allows you to shell directly to the emulator or to a connected real device. Indeed, many other actions are available, such as:

  • copying files from/to the device
  • installing and removing and apps
  • managing port forwarding
  • making backup and restoring older archives
  • partitions synchronization
  • seeing the log from the device
  • checking for bug report

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Android Modbus RTU library for ICS

We are very happy to let you know that a new release of the Android Modbus RTU library for Android is available for our customers. So what adds this new version? Basically, the most important feature (and most awaited) is the full support for Android Ice Cream Sandwich, specifically for the following modbus functions:

  • Function Code 03, Read Holding Registers designed for reading registers in one of the devices active in the bus line.
  • Function Code 16, Preset Holding Registers designed for writing registers in one of the devices active in the bus line.

You can now design your Android apps that leverages all the powerful and exciting features of the ICS.

Since we made also hardware modifications to the board in order to improve the RS485 bus signal quality, the customers that already has our Ltouch boards can still use the version v0.2. Starting from February 2014, all the Android panels that we sell on the store, will have the new circuitry. Check out our download section!

For any further information, please contact us!

An Introduction to The Android Log

Using and analyzing the Android log for debugging apps and understanding how the system works.

In this post I’d like to get you familiar with the Android log system. This is a fundamental source of information about the behavior of the system and is frequently used in the software cycle development. It is also extremely important when debugging your application or when customizing the Android ROM itself (in case you need Android to do advanced requirements).

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Biemme Store Opening

We are happy to announce that our new on line store is now open. The key product we want to present is our new development board. Take a look at it, we hope you will find useful for your needs.

To date, we were concentrated to provide the customers two development boards with capacitive touch screens that can be used in many contexts like industrial and home automation systems. The availability of many interfaces (like Ethernet, rs485 etc) and the possibility to install Android, Linux and WinCE 6.0, make the boards very flexible.

For professional users that would like to to integrate our board into their existing industrial instruments, we designed a free native Android library that supports the modbus RTU protocol through rs485. In this way, you only need to create an Android project, link the modbus library and call the methods provided.

Development board in stock:

The first board includes an aluminum frame 5mm thick and a rearward steel protection cover. The frontal frame has a button to power on/off the system and to set and wake up from standby. The frame could be white or black.

Ltouch with white frame development board
The second board does not include the frontal frame and rearward protection as the picture on the right shows, in order to allow the customer to place it inside an already existing structure.
The board works also with Arduino slaves, take a look at these nice demo video on youtube.

Ltouch without frame development board

How to create your first Android App

eclipse-logoIn this brief Android development tutorial, you’ll be able to create your first Android Hello World application. The Android app that you’ll create can be installed in every Android smartphones, tables and especially in the newest development boards that are used in home and industrial applications.

First, you need to download Eclipse IDE. Since in the Download page many version are available, the one called “Eclipse IDE for Java Developers” should be fine.
Another important package to download is the Android SDK.

Continue reading