Projects

Nexus-Computing has specialized in delivering high quality software solutions to clients requiring solid and robust systems based on web technology, real time micro computing and embedded systems. Thanks to the broad spectrum of technology utilized for their clients, Nexus-Computings excels in delivering state of the art software.

GPS Bridge for Android
For the Danish Startup Company iLocator we were involved in Hard- and Software engineering of their GPS-Bridge Hardware Platform for automotive GEO-Logging.

Android Data Logger
The Bristol University (UK) is using our custom build solution to measure particle levels in their Lab. With an Arduino Due and Android Tablets they are able to display Chemical processes over a period of time.

OsciPrime Oscilloscope
The OsciPrime oscilloscope is an USB oscilloscope for Android that includes both a custom hardware front-end and software. It is entirely open-source and demonstrates our skillset in hardware and software engineering.

Hardware Platforms for Client Projects

For our clients we have evaluated many hardware platforms for various purposes, below is a list of the most popular systems we have used in successful projects.

nRF9160 DK

When it comes to IoT the growing Mobile Standards Cat-M and NB-IoT look very promising for building IoT applications with low power consumption. Nexus-Computing is providing software engineering and consulting for building Low Power IoT applications based on Cat-M1 and NB-IoT using Zephyr OS.

nRF52840 DK

The ubiquity of BLE is stunning. With the flooding of affordable smartphones it is the "go-to" wireless technology to be used for connecting with smart devices, micro controllers and home automation devices.

The nRF52 is an SoC that provides Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) connectivity and offers a solutions for a wide range of applications. It's low cost paired with excellent open source tools support (Makefiles / arm-gcc) and documentation make it a compelling candidate not only for Bluetooth applications but low power applications in general.

While building applications for the nRF is not all joy always, we have learnt the ins and outs of the platform and know the pitfalls when building firmware for this SoC.

More information about the nRF52840 DK »

Nexus-Computing Blogpost: Flashing the NRF52840 with a Blackmagic Probe SWD/JTAG Programmer »

Wandboard Dual/Quad

One of the most promising platforms for industrial projects is the IMX6 chip series of Freescale. The Wandboard is a low cost solution based on IMX6 and offers a large array of interfaces for external hardware. Nexus-Computing conducts their Android Embedded Trainings on this platform as it features great support for Linux and Android.

The Wandboard is an Embedded System Board, thus it is usually running an operating system such as a Linux distribution or Android.

While the recent hardware support for Linux is covered by patches in the mainline kernel, official support for the platform is based on older kernel versions. Note that there is an open source implementation for Linux of the graphic drivers, which is a significant success in the embedded industry, however a port to Android of it is lacking. If you are interested to run Android with decent UI performance you are reliant on the older kernel version and closed source driver for Android.

Have a look at the official Website of the Wandboard for further information »

Building and Deploying Android AOSP for the Wandboard: the article on our technical blog »

Working with GPIO interrups on the Wandboard: the article on our technical blog »

Beaglebone Black

The Beaglebone Black is based on a Texas Instruments OMAP chip which is commonly found in industrial application environments. As a low cost board it aims to address the market for prototyping and hobbyist purposes. As it is a single core solution it is more limiting in performace in comparison to the Wandboard or the Raspberry PI 2. However, the excellent support for the Linux kernel allows this platform to be a strong competitor in the market for embedded systems. Also the form factor of the platform makes it a great fit for projects where space is a limiting criteria.

Nexus-Computing has conducted Embedded Linux (Yocto) and Embedded Android Trainings on the platform for several clients.

It is also notable that the platform (hardware and software) is fully available as open source.

For more information about the Beaglebone Black platform, visit the official website »

Building Android AOSP for the Beaglebone Black: the article on our technical blog »

Building and Deploying YOCTO Linux for the Beaglebone Black: the article on our technical blog »

Pandaboard

The Pandaboard has been a great development platform for Embedded Linux and Embedded Android. It features a TI OMAP processor with support for the Linux Kernel and has been one of the more popular development systems around 2012, it has lost in popularity due to the arrival of more powerful hardware platforms of the more recent time.

The Pandaboard has been one of the earliest embedded platforms with reasonably good Android support from the manufacturer. Nexus-Computing has held many Embedded Android trainings on the Pandaboard and used it for several client projects.

The pandabord.org website holds more detailed information about specifications and purchase of the board »

Embedded Android Tutorial on the Pandaboard: read article on our technical blog »

Raspberri Pi 3B+

The Raspberry Pi has been announced right in time for the Embedded World 2012 in Nürnberg DE where it attracted wide interest right away. Sadly, while the demand of the visitors for purchasing the board has been very high, the models quickly sold out and at the time have only been available for preorder.

While being a fantastic tool for getting to know Linux and creating prototype projects, the platform struggles in following up on important criteria of embedded systems. The lack of documentation for the controler on the board as well as the obscure way the bootloader works are factors which disencourage clients from commiting to the system. However, as a product for educational purposes and prototyping, the Raspberry excells with a very respectable amount of peripherals as well as a living and active community behind the project.

Nexus-Computing has worked with the Raspberri Pi for a client project of LVS in order to create a Terminal controlling a bet slip reader, bar code scanner, NFC reader and thermal printer using Yocto Linux.

The website of the Raspberry Pi project has a large amount of information regarding Embedded Linux and micro computing. »

Turn your Raspberry Pi into an Android Accessory: read article on our technical blog »

Arduino Due

While already dated slightly, the Arduino Due is an incredible platform for real time tasks such as signal processing or controlling of external hardware. The great variety of features on the board make it desirable not only for small scaled private projects, but for use in professional environments where data acquisition and real time ability are of necessity.

In contrary to the platforms discussed above, the Arduino DUE is a micro controller platform. It does not host an operating system such as Linux or Android. Instead it is programmed with structural code enabling reaction times much shorter than embedded systems and depending on the program running on it, guarantees processing of code within certain time limitations. Thanks to the large amount of pins available even more advanced projects can be handled by the Arduino Due.

Nexus-Computing has written a book "Android + Arduino DUE" for the publisher Franzis where interaction via USB with Android is described, including samples and best practices for both Android and micro computing in general. Furthermore Nexus-Computing has conducted trainings for the /ch/open group with the Arduino DUE.

The Arduino Website has detailed information about the Arduino DUE product. »

Our Book "Android mit Arduino DUE" gives an introduction into communication between smartphone and micro controller »

The workshop Android + Arduino DUE held for /ch/open shows an example for a custom Android/Microcontroller training held by Nexus-Computing »

Android USB Host + Arduino, an article describing how to communicate without rooting your Android device »

Teensy 3.1

From the form factor and specification, the Teensy is a fantastic platform for engineering. Also support for compiling applications for the board is outstanding as it is possible to use plain C code with standard libraries for development. While many other platforms bring their own IDE; for engineers with experience in Linux, it is much more helpful to have command line tools and Makefiles for creating and deploying applications. The teensy does all this and features high performance and rich hardware features with the Cortex-M4 processor.

However, where the platform lacks is in good USB support. While there is the default USB-Serial driver in place, we noticed issues when communicating with the Android USB host API for instance. A nice example of how to send USB bulk transfers would go a long way with a platform like this (as it would with any other platform featuring a USB interface).

Nexus-Computing is currently evaluating the platform for realtime data acquisition projects.

The platform is very inexpensive and suits most of the requirements in standard micro controller applications. Read more information on the website. »

Pololu Servo Card

While most of the discussed hardware platforms evolve around low level software and applications, this board is used to control servo motors and read sensor inputs. The Pololu Servo Card is a great controller for accessing and extending IO. Over USB, computers or mobile devices can use it to control servos and motors; and via UART a platform such as the Arduino DUE has access to extended IO and peripherals.

Nexus-Computing is currently using this platform for the Jinn-Bot project and has written a custom USB driver for Android.

The product website has detailed information about specification and usability of the platform »