Here is an excerpt from the projects we have successfully completed over the past decades.

IoT (OPTITAS)

Optimization and enhancement of an existing IoT Network. Support for LoRaWAN Devices and Gateway. Added LoRaWAN Devices (Environmental Sensors) to the existing IoT-Network. Evaluation of new technologies like LoRaWAN.

Creating high quality dashboards using Grafana incl. several connectors. Bridging proprietary Protocols to MQTT.

 

Tools and Software:

ESP32, STM32, Raspberry, LoRaWAN Gateway

Chirpstack, Mosquitto, HiveMQ, Docker, Yocto, Grafana, InfluxDB

C, Python, MQTT, GIT, Linux, Modbus, RS485, RS232, 
FreeRTOS, VMWare, VSCode

 

Automotive (Harman International)

Member of an international team developing Tuner Software for some big OEMs. Mainly C lang Software for platforms based on a NXP Mercury SoC running in an AUTOSAR Framework including use of CI/CD. 

Fully responsible for the “Announcement Master” Task. 

Strong collaboration with the AM/FM, DAB and Core Teams.
 

Tools and Software:

NXP S32K324 SoC, S32 Design Studio, Segger J-Link, Lauterbach Debugger, CanDB, CAN Bus, DAB- and FM Simulators

IBM ALM, Gerrit, GIT, LDRA, Enterprise Architect, Confluence, CodeSonar

 

IoT (OPTITAS)

Customization and Setup of several IoT Sample Projects including Hard- and Software Development of custom Devices based on the ESP Series.

 

Tools and Software:

ESP8266, Raspberry

Mosquitto, Docker, Grafana, InfluxDB, VMWare ESXi

C, Python, MQTT, GIT, Linux

 

Process Control (ABB)

Software Port/Migration

Migrating (mostly new development) of an existing Software to a new Embedded-Controller Board used in some Modules of the Process Control System.

Optimization of the Lab Infrastructure

Connecting Lab Devices to the corporate network

Creating and maintaining several VMs used for development and testing

Support development VMs

Adding remote capabilities to some (elder) measurement devices

Debug environment for the Target Hardware

Lauterbach Emulator / Linux VM(s)

Error reporting and fixing

Tool chain Integration

AzureDev pipeline builds, …

Automated Testing

Fully automated testing using python scripts (incl. evaluation of the results)

Support of external Suppliers/Developers

 

Tools and Software:

NXP MCF5329 Controller (M86K CISC Microprocessor), TQM5329 Cold Fire SoM, Lauterbach Debugger, HP Logic Analyzer

TFS, SonarCube, U-Boot, Yocto, buildroot, Linux Apps and Kernel Driver, GIT, AzureDev, Python, X-Server

 

IoT

Design and Implementation of an IoT infrastructure.

Project lead

Evaluating several Technologies related to Industry 4.0 and (I)IoT

Networking and integration of different protocols and hardware platforms

Planning and Realization of the full system

Dispatching data to an Influx Database

Visualization using Grafana

Setup of several Virtual Machines for testing purpose (VMWare)

Inclusion of several IoT Devices (Power Meters, …)

Monitoring, Alerting

Optimization and predictive Maintenance

 

Tools and Software:

ESP8266, ESP32, Raspberry

Mosquitto MQTT, Docker, Grafana, InfluxDB, VMWare ESXi

C, Python, MQTT, GIT, Linux, Yocto

 

Medical technology (Getinge)
Non-Conformity (NC) processing (e.g.) of a Heart-Lung-Machine. Evaluating of the thermal behavior incl. Simulation of the environmental Parameters.

Project lead

Development, Evaluating and Optimizing of a temperature sensor

System tests and -documentation according to medical standards. 

Design and execution of the test batches including verification of the provided specification.

Close collaboration with the QA (D-FMEA, P-FMEA, ...).

Supporting external suppliers:

  • Setup of the test stand
  • Development of the testing Software
  • Qualification of the test stand (MSA, IQ, OQ, …)

 

Tools and Software:

Minitab, Python (incl. Pandas and NumPy), Excel, Trendows, PCAN-Explorer, Serial (Monitoring/Download) Tools, EMV and IPX Test Beds, GNUPlot, Several Climate Chambers, Environmental Simulation

 

Linux Software Development/Porting

Multiple Display Control Walls Systems (Barco)

Migrating current Software to latest Linux-Kernel.

Modification of a GBit Ethernet Linux Kernel Driver (multi-MAC).

Integration into the actual Infrastructure.

QA regarding the deterministic Network Performance.

Development of long-term Performance- and Stability tests.

Documentation and Result Evaluation.

System Optimizing

 

Tools and Software:

Linux, GDB, nmap, netstat, netperf, iPerf, Linux Kernel driver development

 

Automation and Control (SEW Eurodrive)

Consulting, Project lead for a worldwide leader in drive technology and factory automation.

Consulting of the senior head of department to setup an encapsulated laboratory network and Inclusion in the company’s domain.

Integration of test and measurement equipment due to respect of the Security Policies.

 

Design and Implementation of a complex Test bench for electronic components in Hard- und Software. The main goal was a higher product quality using automated tests during development and production.

 

Architecture, planning and process organization of the overall system:

  • Industrial-PC with a cPCI/PXI Bussystem
  • Multiplexer for analog Signals
  • Stimulation of digital and analog Outputs
  • Digitizer to measure fast analog signals
  • DMM to measure analogue Signals (DC)
  • Waveform Generator to create arbitrary Voltage-Waveforms
  • Accurate and synchronized measurements with a common time base (PXI Star Trigger)
  • Multiple FPGA-Boards to stimulate and measure digital IOs
  • Reproducible results through standardized processes
  • Forensic testing of returns from the customers
  • Software based on standard Software like LabVIEW and TestStand
  • Custom Software programmed in Python language to control various external devices incl. Reports
  • Intensive cooperation with the hardware and software Suppliers (customized Software for LabVIEW)
  •  Construction and commissioning of the entire system
  • Creation of various test scenarios according to the specifications of the respective device developers
  • System optimization

 

Development and commissioning of a complex programmable logic controller board to control drives.

 

Development from prototype to A-Sample

Freescale P1020 QorIQ PPC based Microcontroller running GreenHills Integrity RTOS

 

  • Intensive collaboration in hardware development
  • Verification of schematics and suggestions for improvements
  • Setup and test of the development environment
  • Boot concepts based on U-Boot and Yocto
  • Development of the system software, based on the real-time operating system Integrity by GreenHills
  • Extending the BSP (Board Support Package) to add the required drivers for additional peripherals
  • Validation and Optimization of the DDR-Ram Parameters using the DDR Validation Suite by NXP/Freescale
  • Qualification of various Gigabit Ethernet Phys inclusive iterative IEEE802.3 Compliance Tests based on the Agilent/Keysight Ethernet Compliance Test Application
  • Evaluation of different GBit Phy Evaluation Boards and development of a MDIO communication interface used to program the Phys via USB
  • Troubleshooting the test application (LabVIEW). Error reporting and intensive cooperation with the manufacturer

 

Consulting and collaboration in the development and commissioning of a derivative of the aforementioned controller board

The Freescale LS1021A QorIQ ARM Cortex A7 based Microcontroller running Embedded-Linux / Windows CE was selected as preferred controller.

 

  • Setup and Test of the Development Environment
  • Validation and Optimization of the DDR-Ram Parameters using the DDR Validation Suite by NXP/Freescale
  • Qualification of the Gigabit Ethernet Interface inclusive iterative IEEE802.3 Compliance Tests based on the Agilent/Keysight Ethernet Compliance Test Application

 

Medical Tech (Maquet)

 

Error analysis, troubleshooting and optimization of the hardware and software of a heart-lung machine and its peripherals. Intensive cooperation in solving EMC problems.

 

System testing and documentation according to medical standards. 

Verification of test procedures and review of specifications.

 

Semiconductor Company (Fujitsu Semiconductor)
Development of a hardware related Library for the Fujitsu FCR4_Cluster Series (MCU based on an ARM® Cortex™-R4 core) using C and Assembler to encapsulate the control of the integrated peripherals.

Development of several Sample-Applications.

Development of various Test-Software for the manufacturers Starter-Kits.

 

Medical (Technolas Perfect Vision)
Medical Environment: Porting/Analysis/Support of a complex laser-controlled Excimer Platform for refractive Surgery running under RTLinux and RTAI.

 

Automotive (OPTITAS / AUDI)
Design, Development and project lead of complex cPCI/PXI Hardware for Data Acquisition in automotive Environments (CAN, LIN, RS232, MOST) including development of the complete Measurement based on IPCs (industrial PCs) incl.

Sub-Components:

  • Modular cPCI/PXI-Board incl. High Speed Interfacing to a local XILINX Spartan-3 FPGA
  • Several Interface Boards supporting physical Layer Interfaces for MOST, CAN, RS232c
  • Specification and (Co-)Development of a 12V Power Supply for harsh environments including support for Accu-Packs
  • Development of a Remote-Control-Unit to Switch On the IPC
  • Specification, Selection and Assembly of the complete IPC and the Third-Party Components like CPU, Power Supply, ...

Target hardware / µCs / Tools / Languages: 

  • Standalone Embedded System based on IPCs, 32-bit Processor, 80x86 GCC-Compiler, Linux, C , C++
  • Embedded standalone System, 8-bit µC ATMEGA, ATMEL-IDE, SILAB-IDE, ANSI-C, Assembler
  • FPGA, integrated 8-bit µC, PIC Microchip, Microchip-IDE with C-Compiler, CC5X (Special-Compiler), C, Assembler
  •  

Automotive (OPTITAS)
MOST Tool Tool4M-XL

Development of a complex hardware based on a INTEL PXA250 platform to simulate and analyze MOST-Networks (Car Infotainment Network) incl. Software development for Linux and Windows. Setup of the specification and strong participation in the development process of the FPGA-Design and Layout.

Development of the protocols for communication over RS232 or TCP/IP. Development of the comfortable GUI running on Windows using MSVC.

Target: Standalone Embedded System.

Tools/µCs: 32-bit µC, INTEL, ARM, GCC-Compiler, C, ANSI-C

OS: Embedded-Linux, RTAI, KDbg

 

Automotive (Harman Becker)
Development of several MOST-Bus prototype systems for the automotive industry (OEM) based on existing hardware/software (Harman-Becker). Development based on Keil-Compiler and CMX-OS for Siemens/Infineon C16x Microcontroller.

Integrating the prototypes into the MOST System.

Tons of features to debug and simulate other members of the MOST network.

Intensive collaboration with the other team members.

Target: Embedded DIN Car-Radio

Tools/µCs: 16-bit µC, KEIL-Compiler/IDE

OS: CMX (RTOS)

 

 

 

Mature Projects left for historical reference only:

Automation (Siemens Electrocom)
Development and Optimization of a complex steering for fully automated a mail-sorting system within a team of approx. ten developers using RTOS QNX.

 

Electronics / Gas Metering (RMG electronic)

Connecting a process control system (FlexControl) to the project handled in period 1995-1996 (QNX, C, Multitasking). Remote transmission of the historical data using a Modem, connection to Windows-PCs.

 

Electronics / Gas Metering (RMG electronic)
Software development: Data acquisition and evaluation for Gas-Delivery-Stations. Evaluation, Visualization and historical saving of acquired data for up to 32, via RS2321 connected, Gas-Flow-Meters incl. the communication setup with several PLCs (QNX, C, Multitasking)

 

Networking Infrastructure
Setup and operating of a medium size company network running several Windows-PCs, Laptops, Smartphones, Linux-Servers (Debian) and Windows Clients running in a VMware ESXi environment (Bare-Metal Hypervisor)

 

Automation / Medical engineering 
Software development for batch-controlled operating mode for rotating tablet press using PC-measurement cards.

 

Electronics / Gas Metering (RMG electronic)
Software development for a gauging office certified Gas Flow Meter based on a double processor system (C, ASM 80186, 80C537)

 

General Software 
Software development for order handling of photo-labs (Clipper)

 

Electronics/Gas Metering (RMG electronic)
Software development for a gauging office certified Gas Flow Meter (C, 80C537)

 

Data transmission (Police Rhineland-Palatinate)
Development of a Microcontroller based punched paper tape press worker / reader (Software, Hardware and Mechanics) incl. connection to standard PC via RS232 (C, 80C537)

 

Electronics/Gas Metering (RMG electronic)
Thesis: Development of an Interface according to the DSfG-Standard incl. Soft- and Hardware: Host and Remote as PC-Interface-Card (C, 80537)

 

Electronics/Gas Metering (RMG electronic)
Hardware based Development of Test Software for a gauging office certified Gas Flow Meter (PLM, ASM, 8085)

 

Electronics/Gas Metering (RMG electronic)
Technician for Development and Testing

 

Electronic/Gas Metering (RMG electronic)
Technical Drawer (Schematics)

 

Automobilindustrie

Projektleitung, Konzeption, Entwicklung Testsystem

Projektleitung, Konzeption, Entwicklung komplexer compactPCI/PXI-Hardware zur Messdatenerfassung (CAN, LIN, RS232, MOST) in automobilen Umgebungen, sowie die Planung und Realisierung der dazugehörigen komplett IPC (Industrie-PC), bestehend aus:
• Modulare cPCI-/PXI-Karte mit Anbindung an eine XILINX Spartan-3 FPGA (Anforderung: industrielle Umgebung, high-Speed) 
• Diverse Erweiterungskarten mit physical Layer Interfaces für MOST, CAN, RS232c
• Spezifikation und (Mit-)Entwicklung bei einem industrietauglichen 12V Netzteil für Industrie-PCs mit Funk-Fernbedienung und Akku-Option 
• Entwicklung einer Hand-Fernbedienung zum Einschalten des IPC
• Spezifikation, Auswahl und Aufbau der kompletten IPCs inkl. zugekaufter Komponenten wie CPU, Netzteil, …

Zielhardware / µCs / Tools / Sprachen  
• Eigenständiges Embedded System auf IPC Basis, 32-bit Prozessor, 80x86 GCC Compiler, Linux, C , C++ 
• Embedded standalone System, 8-bit µC ATMEGA, ATMEL-IDE, SILAB-IDE, ANSI-C, Assembler 
• FPGA, integrierter 8-bit µC , PIC Microchip, Microchip-IDE mit C-Compiler, CC5X Spezial-Compiler, C, Assembler 

Konzeption und Entwicklung MOST Bus Teststools

Konzeption und Entwicklung einer komplexen Hardware auf 
Basis einer INTEL PXA250 Prozessor-Plattform zur Analyse und 
Simulation von MOST-Bussystemen
 (Infotainment Netzwerk für Automobile) inkl. Software-Entwicklung unter Linux und Windows.
Vorgabenerstellung bezüglich der Hardware-Entwicklung sowie intensive Mitarbeit bei der Entwicklung des FPGA-Design und des Layouts. 
Entwicklung des Kommunikationsprotokolls über RS232 und TCP/IP sowie die Entwicklung der kompletten Oberfläche unter Windows MSVC. 
Zielhardware: Abgeschlossenes eigenständiges Embedded System. 
Tools/µCs: 32-bit µC, INTEL, ARM, GCC-Compiler, C, ANSI-C
OS: Embedded-Linux, RTAI, Kdbg. 

Entwicklung und Analyse mehrerer MOST-Bus Prototypen

Entwicklung und Analyse mehrerer MOST-Bus Prototypen-Systeme und Testanwendungen für die Automobilindustrie auf Basis bestehender Infrastrukturen. Entwicklung mit Keil-Compiler, CMX-RTOS auf Siemens/Infineon C16x Mikrocontrollern.
Zielhardware: Embedded DIN-Autoradio
Tools/µC: 16-bit µC, KEIL-Compiler/IDE
OS: CMX (RTOS)

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IoT

Verschiedene Projekte auf Basis der Komponenten ESP8266, ESP32, Raspberry, LoRa WAN Gateway, …

Erstellung und Evaluierung einer IoT Infrastruktur in einem Unternehmen

Evaluierung verschiedenster Technologien im Industrie 4.0/Smarthome/(I)IoT Bereich.
Vernetzung und Einbindung unterschiedlicher Protokolle und Hardware Plattformen.
Planung und Umsetzung Gesamtsystem.
Anbindung aller System an die InfluxDB Datenbank.
Visualisierung verschiedenster Messwerte über Grafana.
Aufsetzen diverser VMs unter VMWare vSphere ESXi.
Einbindung verschiedener IoT Devices (u.a. Raspberry, ESP8266, Stromzähler, …).
Überwachung der Funktionalität aller angeschlossenen Devices.
Optimierung des Systems im Hinblick auf Energieverbräuche und predicitive Maintenance. 

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Prozessleittechnik

Portierung Firmware

Migration/Update einer bestehenden Firmware auf eine neues Mikrokontroller-Zielsystem.
Update des Betriebssystemes und der Software. 
Aufsetzen der Debug Umgebung unter Verwendung eines Lauterbach Emulators.

Optimierung Laborstrukturen

Professionelle und strukturierte Verkabelung sowie Vernetzung aller Geräte (soweit möglich).
Entfernen obsoleter Geräte (z.B. SoHo Switches) und Ersatz durch professionalle Geräte.
Einbindung der Laborgeräte in das Firmennetz (VPN / Remote Bedienbarkeit (wg. Covid).

Virtuellen Maschinen (VMs)

Erstellen/duplizieren/modifizieren von VMs in VMware vSphere System / ESX(i).
Support der VMs.
Remote Fähigkeit.

Debug Umgebung

Realisierung der Debug Umgebung mit Lauterbach Emulator / Linux VM(s)
Fehler reporting an Lauterbach (Enge Zusammenarbeit bei der Fehlerbehebung durch den Hersteller) 

Tool chain Integration

AzureDev pipeline builds, … 

Automatisiertes Testen

Voll automatisiertes Testen u.a. mit Python Scripts, sowie die Auswertung der Ergebnisse.

Unterstützung externer Dienstleister und Entwickler

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Medizintechnik

Non Conformity (NC) Bearbeitung

Fehler (Rückmeldungen aus Feld und Testteam) Bearbeitung u.a. einer Herz-Lungen-Maschine. Vermessung des thermischen Verhaltens inkl. Simulation der Umgebungsparameter. 

Entwicklung, Evaluierung und Optimierung eines Temperatursensors

Projektleitung bei der Serien-Entwicklung eines Temoperatursensors zum messen der Bluttemperatur.
Systemtests und -dokumentation nach medizinischen Standards.
Planung und Durchführung der Testabläufe inklusive Überprüfung der Spezifikationen.
Intensive Zusammenarbeit mit der QA (D-FMEA, P-FMEA, ...).
Unterstützung des externen Lieferanten: u.a.  
• Aufbau des Prüfstandes
• Entwicklung der Prüfstandsoftware
• Qualifizierung des Prüfstandes (MSA, IQ, OQ, …)

Fehleranalyse, -behebung und Optimierung

der Hard- und Software einer Herz-Lungen-Maschine, sowie deren Peripherie. 
Intensive Mitarbeit bei der Lösung von EMV-Problemen. 

Systemtests und -dokumentation

nach medizinischen Standards.
Verifizierung der Testabläufe und Überprüfung der Spezifikationen.
Linux Betriebssystem mit RTLinux und QT sowie diverse Mikrocontroller (u. a. ST10, C167). 

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Linux/Kernel Software Development

Multiple Display Control Walls Systems
Linux Modifikation eines GBit Ethernet Kernel Driver (multi MAC).
Integration in die bestehende Infrastruktur.
Erstellung und Auswertung script-gesteuerter Langzeit-, Performance- und Stabilitätstests.
Dokumentation und Auswertung der Ergebnisse.
Empfehlungen für Optimierungen.
Migration der Software über mehrere Kernel Versionen hinweg.