Launching the MonZzz – shockingly smart snoring air wearable

Posted on Jul 15, 2017 | Comments Off on Launching the MonZzz – shockingly smart snoring air wearable

 

 

We are  starting a new product campaign on Indiegogo for the MonZzz – shockingly smart snoring aid wearable. It saves your relationships from snoring. Above is a video link, check it out, it’s pretty funny!

We also start a thunderclap.it campaign. It’s a free way to support the start of the campaign. In two weeks, thunderclap will simultaneosly send facebook and twitter messages. But for this we need to collect 250 votes. Please go here https://www.thunderclap.it/projects/59280-say-bye-to-snoring and click on facebook and twitter support buttons.

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Measurements of BLE signal indoors

Posted on Jun 21, 2016 | Comments Off on Measurements of BLE signal indoors

Measurements of BLE signal strength (RSSI) dependency on the range indoors

 

Introduction

There is not much results of Bluetooth Low Energy range measurements to be found on the web. The primary reason is that it’s hard to control for environment, wall and floor materials. That being said, the numerous use cases for Bluetooth LE, from now on BLE, exactly in that type of environment, indoors. We, at Mondevices, decided to fill that gap.

 

Description of Setup

We took various BLE devices that transmit packets about 10 times per second and varied antenna designs. Most of PCBs were based on TI chip CC254x family. We have also included a combination of CC2541 with a power amplifier CC2590 and also used Texas instrument RF Studio with a mounted antenna. Below is a detailed description of the devices used.

Name	UUID	Description
CC2590 MIFA	68:9e:19:18:7a:a0	CC2541+CC2590 amplifier using MIFA antenna
WIRE	20:91:48:4c:9b:c5	CC2540 with vertical 1/4 wave-length antenna
NoBattery	b4:99:4c:74:d6:99	CC2540 with chip antenna and battery removed
CC2590 Wire	68:9e:19:18:83:f7	CC2541+CC2590 amplifier using wire antenna
TiDev	b4:99:4c:64:69:26	TI Smart RF development kit antenna
Roach1	b4:99:4c:74:e8:c5	CC2540 with wire antenna bent like roach antenna
Wire3Coil	b4:99:4c:74:c5:92	CC2540 with wire coiled around circular enclosure
NoBattery	b4:99:4c:74:d6:99	CC2540 with battery far away from PCB
Molex Antenna	b4:99:4c:74:e4:8d	CC2540 with Molex spiral antenna
Roach2	b4:99:4c:74:b7:d5	Roach 2 has antenna bent close to PCB
MIFA	b4:99:4c:74:ef:0a	CC2540 (inverse F) MIFA antenna in the enclosure
CHIP2Louise	b4:99:4c:74:b2:89	CC2540 chip antenna called Louise in the enclosure
CHIP1Molly	20:91:48:4c:a3:8a	CC2540 chip antenna called Molly in the enclosure

We have tried to find the best performing devices that could operate at furthers distances from the office and keep steady connection. We have found that TI RF Dev Kit and CC2590 booster are consistently perform better than other devices. TI Dev Kit has a large wave-length antenna and CC2590 boosts power transmission to 10 dbm, which is 4 times more than current chip antenna at 4 dbm setting or 8-9 times better than CC2541 0 dbm setting.

 

The photo of BLE range test setup describes positioning of all the test devices.

 

We tried all different combinations of antenna while trying to stay as close to same technology stack of TI CC254x family.

The close up of PCB with 1/4 wire antenna, CC2590 combo with MIFA and wire antenna.

Measurements

We have conducted measurement of RSSI strength of advertising packets of all 13 devices using TI Smart RF packet sniffer. We stored the results and parsed them with our custom parser script written in python. The results are attached as plots and tables.

Results

We did several measurements starting within in the same room in the office confines, then outside in the most RF challenging area of the kitchen and outside in the long corridor. The results of RSSI strength measurements of advertising packets are shown below. To avoid clatter on graphs we only display top three and top bottom plots. The tables shows stats for all

the devices. The kitchen area is very typical to every office and home, with metal surfaces of refrigerator, fax and printer machines and surrounding offices with BLE speakers, wearables and printers. Metal surfaces create destructive interference, where BLE signal interfere with itself. Other electronic devices create electromagnetic RF interferences. We counted around 200 BLE devices sending advertisement packets.

In the same room

In the office, same room where we placed all the devices, we can detect all the signals. This is an expected and obvious result. What is interesting that the biggest RSSI values we get from TI Dev Kit, CC2590 booster combo and, most surprising, just a simple vertical 1/4 wave length antenna positioned perpendicular to the PCB plane

The table below shows the stats for all the devices, not just top and bottom three. As one can see devices with power booster, CC2590, shows consistently on top.

UUID	Alias	MeanRSSI	StdDevRSSI	VarianceRSSI	MinRSSI	MaxRSSI	Count	FCSerrors	FCSerror%
68:9e:19:18:83:f7	CC2590 Wire	-37.58	2.86	8.16	-50	-33	187	0	0
68:9e:19:18:7a:a0	CC2590 MIFA	-34.21	3.45	11.9	-47	-30	187	0	0
b4:99:4c:74:e8:c5	Roach1	-44.31	2.95	8.72	-55	-40	186	0	0
20:91:48:4c:a3:8a	CHIP1Molly	-55.22	2.98	8.87	-66	-51	186	2	1.08
b4:99:4c:64:69:26	TiDev	-42.95	3.27	10.71	-54	-38	185	0	0
20:91:48:4c:9b:c5	WIRE	-42.48	3.34	11.17	-54	-36	185	0	0
b4:99:4c:74:b7:d5	Roach2	-57.35	3.13	9.78	-68	-50	176	6	3.41
b4:99:4c:74:e4:8d	Molex Ant	-58.27	3.07	9.45	-68	-51	172	14	8.14
b4:99:4c:74:c5:92	Wire3Coil	-59.29	2.82	7.97	-67	-53	156	10	6.41
b4:99:4c:74:b2:89	CHIP2Louise	-61.53	2.4	5.78	-67	-58	97	28	28.87
b4:99:4c:74:d6:99	NoBattery	-60.29	2.82	7.95	-66	-54	78	18	23.08
b4:99:4c:74:ef:0a	MIFA	-64.29	1.96	3.82	-68	-60	21	17	80.95

As one can see the strongest signals are from CC2590 combo with and without WIRE antenna, and from CC2540 with WIRE antenna. The percentage of FCS errors that demonstrate the data loss is also the least in CC2590+CC2541 combo and in CC2540 with the WIRE antenna.

 

In the RF dead zone – the kitchen

The kitchen is one of the most challenging from RF interference perspective environments. Here  only a few devices survived.

The table below shows the stats for all the devices in the kitchen.

UUID	Alias	MeanRSSI	StdDevRSSI	VarianceRSSI	MinRSSI	MaxRSSI	Count	FCSerrors	FCSerror%
68:9e:19:18:83:f7	CC2590 Wire	-60.59	1.87	3.5	-66	-57	133	0	0
20:91:48:4c:9b:c5	WIRE	-64.62	1.7	2.87	-70	-58	125	6	4.8
b4:99:4c:74:e8:c5	Roach1	-68.07	1.45	2.1	-73	-65	114	10	8.77
68:9e:19:18:7a:a0	CC2590 MIFA	-68.44	2.94	8.63	-76	-62	114	14	12.28
b4:99:4c:74:b7:d5	Roach2	-74.67	1.28	1.65	-77	-72	63	33	52.38
b4:99:4c:64:69:26	TiDev	-75	1.68	2.83	-79	-71	48	21	43.75
b4:99:4c:74:e4:8d	Molex Ant	-75.98	1.01	1.02	-79	-73	46	34	73.91
b4:99:4c:74:c5:92	Wire3Coil	-76.94	1.48	2.18	-80	-75	32	25	78.13
b4:99:4c:74:d6:99	NoBattery	-77	2.6	6.77	-81	-71	13	7	53.85
b4:99:4c:74:b2:89	CHIP2Louise	-80	0	0	-80	-80	4	4	100
b4:99:4c:74:ef:0a	MIFA	-79.67	0.47	0.22	-80	-79	3	3	100
20:91:48:4c:a3:8a	CHIP1Molly	-80	1	1	-81	-79	2	1	50

Again in the kitchen are the strongest signal and lowest errors are in CC2590 combos and in WIRE antenna.

When we tried to walk beyond the kitchen table we only observed CC2590 combo surviving the distance and kitchen interference with high rate of data errors.

In the long corridor

We also did measurements in the corridor far away from the kitchen we got slightly better results.

UUID	Alias	MeanRSSI	StdDevRSSI	VarianceRSSI	MinRSSI	MaxRSSI	Count	FCSerrors	FCSerror%
68:9e:19:18:7a:a0	CC2590 MIFA	-66.67	2.92	8.52	-78	-63	87	1	1.15
20:91:48:4c:9b:c5	WIRE	-71.19	2.89	8.33	-81	-68	68	7	10.29
b4:99:4c:74:d6:99	NoBattery	-74.62	1.74	3.04	-83	-72	60	13	21.67
68:9e:19:18:83:f7	CC2590 Wire	-73.67	3.28	10.76	-80	-67	52	7	13.46
b4:99:4c:64:69:26	TiDev	-72.45	3.06	9.34	-79	-67	42	4	9.52
b4:99:4c:74:e8:c5	Roach1	-75.35	1.85	3.4	-78	-71	34	9	26.47
b4:99:4c:74:c5:92	Wire3Coil	-77.6	0.8	0.64	-79	-76	15	4	26.67

Not surprisingly the strongest signals and lowest FCS errors are from CC2590 combo with and without WIRE antenna, and from CC2540 with WIRE antenna.

Walking towards the advertising devices

The last test in this document we have walked from the area past the kitchen towards the advertising devices. Below is the graph that shows graphs and tables with RSSI values.

UUID	Alias	MeanRSSI	StdDevRSSI	VarianceRSSI	MinRSSI	MaxRSSI	Count	FCSerrors	FCSerror%
68:9e:19:18:7a:a0	CC2590 MIFA	-58.8	10.72	115.02	-74	-34	51	2	3.92
68:9e:19:18:83:f7	CC2590 Wire	-58.66	11.73	137.62	-77	-34	50	5	10
20:91:48:4c:9b:c5	WIRE	-61.04	9.8	95.95	-76	-38	45	3	6.67
b4:99:4c:64:69:26	TiDev	-58.64	12	144.09	-77	-30	42	3	7.14
b4:99:4c:74:e8:c5	Roach1	-59.68	9.36	87.57	-78	-43	31	2	6.45
b4:99:4c:74:d6:99	NoBattery	-61.81	12.61	159.04	-80	-42	27	3	11.11
b4:99:4c:74:e4:8d	Molex Ant	-61.61	10.48	109.8	-82	-47	23	4	17.39
b4:99:4c:74:b7:d5	Roach2	-62.95	8.07	65.09	-76	-51	21	1	4.76
b4:99:4c:74:c5:92	Wire3Coil	-64.68	7.5	56.22	-77	-50	19	4	21.05
b4:99:4c:74:ef:0a	MIFA	-59.94	8.04	64.68	-74	-49	16	1	6.25
b4:99:4c:74:b2:89	CHIP2Louise	-64	4.55	20.67	-72	-58	12	2	16.67
20:91:48:4c:a3:8a	CHIP1Molly	-63.5	6.95	48.25	-75	-52	12	5	41.67

Just like in previous experiments, we can see that the strongest signals and lowest data errors levels are in CC2590 combos.

Conclusions

We have conducted experiments indoors using different antenna configurations and designs on CC254x IoT SoC technology.

We have consistently observed that the strongest signals that survived both RF interference and distance are

• CC2590+CC2541 combo
• WIRE antenna

 

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Mondevices are going to the Shark Tank!

Posted on Mar 26, 2014 | Comments Off on Mondevices are going to the Shark Tank!

Mondevices are getting into the Shark Tank at a Smart Fabrics Conference in San Francisco this April:

http://www.smartfabricsconference.com/get-in-the-shark-tank.aspx

Mondevices will be one of the “…three start-up companies or entrepreneurs will pitch a new and innovative product/technology … to our Shark Tank Panelists to get future business connections, advice and guidance. The selected projects will also have the opportunity of presenting in front of our 200+ audience of brand owners, end users, apparel companies, wearable technology developers, design agencies, integrators, electronics suppliers, fashion technologies and future textile professionals.”

We are honored and fired up by this opportunity!

Stay tuned for more news!

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Baby Monitor in a Button

Posted on Mar 11, 2014 | Comments Off on Baby Monitor in a Button

Baby Monitor in a Button

Monbaby is a wearable sleep sensor for your newborn baby packed in a “smart” button. “Smart button” technology is a universal sleep analyzer that can be attached to any article of clothing. It snaps just as easily to your father’s favorite pajamas as to your newborn baby onesies.

[wp_cart_button name=”Monbaby” price=”119.0″]

This technology have won a special prize in WT 2014 competition in Munich

This technology is applicable to all ages, but we decided to first implement it parents of newborn babies and small kids.

Using this product you will be able to lift your anxiety about how your newborn babies sleep at night. Monbaby does it by measuring and classifying motion, movements, position, orientation and activity levels and sending it to parents smartphone. It detects movements and falls and streams data to a smartphone app, where information is displayed in a convenient, easy-to-understand manner.

Monbaby contains a precise MEMS 14bit accelerometer that measures movements, orientation and activity level. Measurements are done in real-time, 5 times per second and transmitted over Bluetooth (4.0) Low Energy to an iPhone app or any Smart Bluetooth capable device. The sensor is powered by 3V coin-cell battery giving 5 weeks of constant use and 1 year in passive mode. The antenna operating range is 40 ft in the line of sight, but it may be more limited in some homes depending on environment, such as wall materials, electromagnetic noise and other obstructions.

Measurements are transmitted over Bluetooth (4.0) Low Energy to an iPhone or Android smartphone

The latest crowd-funding campaign video:

The video of a fully functional prototype for iPhone is here:

http://youtu.be/n5nM4KzbXyw

and for Android here:

Here is our presentation at CES 2012:

Smartphone apps re-transmit data further to a cloud, so that information could be shared on the web site. Historical data can be viewed on the web. Our Bio-Data Analytics Library is developed to apply more sophisticated data analysis to detect any deviations from norm. We see it as a step toward real-time diagnosis.

Unlike existing baby monitors that only monitor baby activity passively, Monbaby warns parents if baby turned around and sleeping on a stomach, giving parents plenty of time to go and turn baby face up, as sleeping on stomach is not recommended by American Academy of Pediatrics. It also does not have dangerous cords. RF emissions of Bluetooth Low Energy are 10 times less than existing baby monitors RF emissions. Most importantly we working on Bio-Data Analytics Tools that could integrate with other devices and databases.

Same technology stack works for your elder parents from convenience of their homes.

People wear jewelry, rings, bracelets. In the future, we see all the jewelry will perform function of health monitoring. We envision development of the whole new markets of Bio-Data analytics, where jewelry and clothing will turn into real-time health monitors and will be part of on-going real-time diagnosis systems. No longer will we go to doctors for them to find out what’s wrong, doctors will call us when they see troubling signs on our health dashboard.
We see Monbaby as a first step towards it.

Monbaby let’s you know that your loved ones are sleeping fine.

• What can Monbaby measure?
• Who should use Monbaby?
• What devices can be used to receive Monbaby data?
• What other potential usages for Monbaby?
• Any concerns about using Monbaby?

What can Monbaby measure?

• Movement
• Freefall
• Shaking

Who should use Monbaby?

• Any household who has babies or young children
• Newborn babies in hospital nursery room
• Young children in hospital pediatric department
• Elderly in the elderly caring facilities
• Folks who need active external care

What devices can be used to receive Monbaby?

Monbaby was designed with adopted health care profiles of Bluetooth 4.0, therefore any Bluetooth LE compatible devices can be used as the data receiver.  For example, iPhones, android phones, PC with a BLE doggle, or even a monitoring watch …etc. The detail can be illustrated by the following diagram:-

What are the other potential usages?

• Vital signals tracking logs
  • Collected data can be stored on the receiver device for a set amount of time. 
  • When pediatrician asks for the fever information, simply pull out the history log in a second of effort.
• Cloud access for the health data
  • Check your baby condition any time anywhere.
• Data analysis for research purpose
  • With a big users base, all the health data can be collected anonymously for research purpose. 
  • Health experts can now have some solid real-life data to base on for their research.

Any concerns about using Monbaby?

• Radio Frequency (RF) emission
  • Monbaby uses Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) for its wireless data transmission.
  • Compare to a lot of existing baby monitoring products currently sold in the market, BLE incurs only a small fraction of RF emission.
  • Wireless transmission can also be minimized by configuring the device to send data only on critical events.
• Battery
  • Monbaby operates on a CR2032 3V battery.

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Our Product is Smart Clothing Winner at Innovation World Cup in Munich

Posted on Jan 29, 2014 | Comments Off on Our Product is Smart Clothing Winner at Innovation World Cup in Munich

We came back from Munich and not empty handed but with a prize!

Mondevices have won a special prize for best Smart Clothing solution for a smart button product.

Here is the link to their PR and a excerpt from it below:
http://bit.ly/monbabywon2014wt and the transcript is

here: 140128_PR_WT IWC_Winner
“””
And, last but not least, the best Smart Clothing solution, also a special prize, went to Smart Button by Artur Technologies LLC. The button can be attached to any pajama or nightgown to monitor sleep movements, activities, and movment in real-time, streaming the data to a mobile device.
“””

Now Mondevices is listed in WT hall of fame:
http://www.wearable-technologies.com/innovation-worldcup/hall-of-fame/

Thank you Munich!

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Monbaby prototype – fall detection

Posted on Dec 18, 2012 | 2 comments

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Monbaby Android BLE demo

Posted on Jul 17, 2012 | Comments Off on Monbaby Android BLE demo

Here is a link to a quite crude, but functional demo of a monbaby sensor transmitting accelerometer measurements wirelessly over BLE to a smartphone that routes it to the web/cloud.

Monbaby android presentation

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