ThingamaByte LOVES EMBEDDED SOFTWARE

Being respectful of the intellectual property and privacy of our clients and partners, we’ve chosen to avoid naming companies and sensitive details. If you’re familiar with the Grand Rapids area, you may have guesses for many of these. In the interest of displaying the breadth of our work, we present this list:

Embedded Software Development

Autonomous Lawnmower Path-planning. multiprocessor communication, platform RTOS, custom file storage, boot loaders, embedded GUI, and much more.
Automotive Data Monitor A tiny device which can be added to any vehicle’s CAN or serial network to log driver data for insurance purposes. We contributed communications, the RTOS, and efficient storage.
End-Of-Line System Testing for Electronics Manufacturing Distributed testing system for validating multiple simultaneous circuit boards. We developed the communication protocol, much of the sensor interfaces, the RTOS implementation, and the GUI.
Handheld Spectro-photometers High-precision spectrophotometers for print, automotive, and paints. We lead the project and also developed the platform and the core measurement engine.
Industrial Spectro-photometers High precision spectrophotometer for industrial plastics and coatings. We developed the core measurement engine as well as configuration management and motor control.
Intelligent Emergency Vehicle Light & Sound Controllers Smart controllers for emergency vehicle lights and sirens. We ported legacy systems to modern platforms and rolled out automated system testing.
Control Panels for Home Appliances Home appliances have complicated UI’s crammed into tiny inexpensive microcontrollers. We fully developed this project.
Intelligent Mesh-Networked Protective Gear Protective gear for emergencies in places where communication might be challenging. Our role was primarily to create reliable communication stacks and configuration management.
Self-Purifying Water Bottle Water bottle for avid hikers which purifies water with filters and UV light. Filter and purification are communicated via BLE to a phone app. We were the sole developer of this project.
Chemical Dispense Systems Systems for dispensing appropriate levels of chemicals for factory cleaning systems. Our role included architecture, database interaction, GUI development, communication, timing, and more.
Autonomous Lawnmower (Round II) A second startup tackled the autonomous lawnmower problem, this time with differential GPS and LIDAR. Our role was primarily path-planning, as well as supporting platform, positioning and targeting.
Smart Farm Sensor-Management System Large-scale aquaponics farm monitors soil and water quality with a centralized system. We built the sensor data collector / collator.

Prototype Development

  • Bluetooth LE Beacons for Information Systems

  • Angle Sensor for Smart Furniture

  • High-Precision Personal Fitness Diagnostics

  • Virtual Reality Wearable

  • Augmented Reality Steering Controllers

  • Interactive Experience Sensors & Controllers

  • Visual Timer for Personal Hygiene

  • Bi-Product Recovery from Beverage Production

  • Wifi-enabled Coffee Auto-Order System

  • Monitor for Maple-Syrup Extraction

  • Bluetooth Coach for CPR Training

  • Refrigerated Wifi Locker for Fresh Food Distribution

Open Source Development (& Project Management)

  • ThrowTheSwitch.org — An online community for Embedded developers supporting testing

  • Unity — Unit Testing Framework for C

  • CMock — Mock / Stub Framework for C

  • Ceedling — Test-oriented build system for C development

  • CException — Simple exception framework for C

  • MadScienceLabDocker — Docker image for using Ceedling & friends quickly

  • FantasticFS — Speed-Efficient Robust File Storage for NAND / NOR Flash

ThingamaByte — Making useful things out of Ones and Zeros.