Custom micropython board with bluetooth

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inakto
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Joined: Mon May 15, 2017 7:14 pm

Custom micropython board with bluetooth

Post by inakto » Sun Jul 16, 2017 4:55 am

Hello, just wanted to share my MicroPython project. This custom board is a central part of a product a buddy and I developed.
The board connects over BLE to other similar boards which contain sensors or outputs of various types. Those sensors or outputs are controlled in MicroPython using an API.

It's been fun working with MicroPython and it's very nice and stable so far.

We are using a STM32F405 to run the uPython and NRF51 for BLE.

snektek-director-micropython.jpg
snektek-director-micropython.jpg (70.37 KiB) Viewed 6256 times
snektek-director-case.jpg
snektek-director-case.jpg (81.66 KiB) Viewed 6256 times

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pythoncoder
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Location: UK
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Re: Custom micropython board with bluetooth

Post by pythoncoder » Sun Jul 16, 2017 8:05 am

Nice!

I tried to look at what I take to be your website to see what the product actually does. Firefox refused to connect with the following message "The owner of crendontech.com has configured their web site improperly. To protect your information from being stolen, Firefox has not connected to this web site."
Peter Hinch
Index to my micropython libraries.

inakto
Posts: 11
Joined: Mon May 15, 2017 7:14 pm

Re: Custom micropython board with bluetooth

Post by inakto » Sun Jul 16, 2017 11:20 pm

Hi Pythoncoder.

That's not our domain, we have terrible SEO apparently and someone's DNS entries are pointed at our server.

Try https://snektek.com
I'd be interested to hear what you think.

Jonathan.

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pythoncoder
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Re: Custom micropython board with bluetooth

Post by pythoncoder » Mon Jul 17, 2017 7:08 am

It looks neat and exceptionally beginner friendly, and the website is good once you've actually found it ;)

Surely the forthcoming 2input unit should be an observer not an actor??

My one question is over the use of bluetooth - I assume this is correct given the comments above and the reference on the site to "same room" connectivity. Bluetooth offers the possibility of low power (battery) operation but your modules appear to rely on USB wall-warts. If you're using wall-warts why didn't you go for the much greater range of WiFi? Is it down to avoiding the need for SSID's, passwords and so on?

I'd be interested to know what you envisage as your core market.
Peter Hinch
Index to my micropython libraries.

inakto
Posts: 11
Joined: Mon May 15, 2017 7:14 pm

Re: Custom micropython board with bluetooth

Post by inakto » Mon Jul 17, 2017 5:04 pm

pythoncoder wrote:It looks neat and exceptionally beginner friendly, and the website is good once you've actually found it ;)

Surely the forthcoming 2input unit should be an observer not an actor??

My one question is over the use of bluetooth - I assume this is correct given the comments above and the reference on the site to "same room" connectivity. Bluetooth offers the possibility of low power (battery) operation but your modules appear to rely on USB wall-warts. If you're using wall-warts why didn't you go for the much greater range of WiFi? Is it down to avoiding the need for SSID's, passwords and so on?

I'd be interested to know what you envisage as your core market.

Hi PythonCoder.

I'm glad you think it's beginner friendly, the idea for the product was born out of constant frustration with incompatible arduino libraries and the like.

You are absolutely right that the 2input will be an observer, I had a mindslip while I put it up on the site. I'll get that updated soon, we are working on the upcoming modules now after having launched the site, to try to cover a breadth of application scenarios.

The Bluetooth range issue is another good point.
The actor/observer hardware has an internal 2477 coin cell holder, the idea being Bluetooth would allow months of tether free operation for a color or 10dof sensor. However, our software is not optimized for low power at the moment so we are not advertising that feature.

If there is demand we could also go for a sub-GHz wireless solution for better range.

My vision for this company is to move toward more professional/industrial products, we are looking to release an otherwise identical RS485 version once we prove product market fit.

Thanks for your comments!
Jonathan.

inakto
Posts: 11
Joined: Mon May 15, 2017 7:14 pm

Re: Custom micropython board with bluetooth

Post by inakto » Fri Oct 06, 2017 10:37 pm

For anyone who's interested I made a video showing the board in action. <3 MicroPython.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0W7ytFTgbqk

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