Industrial Automation and Future Trends

Industrial Automation remote I/O moduleThere is debate on the feasibility of employing Android on Industrial Automation applications.
Big companies contend the market share and most of the time constrains customers to use their proprietary software.

The world is changing and the Internet allows users to benefit from almost infinite availability of information, technical specifications and even to find people that freely share their knowledge and expertise.

Our vision is that in the close future, more industrial automation applications will benefit from the open community and they will lay the foundation to a new revival of this sector.

In this post, I want to show you how the integration of Android in industrial automation applications is possible. I also noted that is surprisingly straightforward.
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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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BieMme Italia at Maker Faire Trieste 2014

maker faire trieste logo bminiWe are happy to announce that BieMme Italia has been accepted to be part of the Mini Maker Faire Trieste exhibitors. The Maker Faire will held on May 17th from 10am to 18pm at the International Centre for Theoretical Physics, Miramare, Trieste, Italy.

The Faire will be a great occasion to show you all our products in production such as the BMini shield, the Bmini all-in-one and the new analog converter just to name a few. During the faire, there will be workshops and panels that will help you to understand how to use the Bmini and whether they meet your projects’ requirements.

We are really proud to share with you our thought, passion and competences. So, please stop by at our stand. We look forward to meet you! See you there!

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!

Latest News: Website and On Line Store

Android logoWe are happy to announce that BieMme Italia web site’s new sections are now live. The main front page has been redesigned reflecting the new products’ categories we offer, namely:

Every section listed above describes the details of the products with pictures, videos and technical specifications. Just check it out and let us know what do you think!

European Vat ExemptionThe second news is about the on line store. Starting from January 2014, all the orders from European companies placed in the on line store can benefit from Vat exemption, as long as the company is registered in the European VIES list. Just add your Vat number during the sign in process or specify it under MyAccount/View or change my account information once logged in.