Category Archive for : ‘IoT’

INTRODUCTION

This is the third article of a series. which aim is a feasibility study for a modular system for biopsy. This system is composed of the main control board based on Xilinx ZYNQ Ultrascale+ and servo satellite motor drives based on Xilinx ZYNQ-7000. Accordingly, the objective of the system is to control a robot composed of multiple joints.

So, the biopsy is executed by driving one mechanical positioner composed of 6 Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motors (PMSM) motors and multiple joints, that are coordinated to position the biopsy needle on the

Main Characteristics

This is the second article of a series, which aim is a feasibility study for a modular system composed of the main control board based on Xilinx ZYNQ Ultrascale+ and servo satellite motor drives based on Xilinx ZYNQ-7000. The objective of the system is to control a robot composed of multiple joints. The article’s target is an automation of a prostate biopsy to assist doctors during medical procedures. The biopsy is executed by driving one mechanical positioner composed of 6 Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motors (PMSM) motors and multiple joints

Introduction

Welcome to part 2 of the previous article about PWM signals and PYNQ! In this article, we will show what is a servo motor and how to control a servo motor with the previous design of the PWM on the PYNQ framework, with a simple “recipe”. If you have missed the previous article, you can find it here!

So, let’s start!

What is a Servo Motor

A Servo Motor is a rotary actuator or linear actuator that allows for precise control of angular or linear position, velocity, and acceleration. Servomotors are used in applications such as

In this article, we propose a new demo that combines the potentialities of the PYNQ Z2 with the wireless communication of Bluetooth Low Energy (aka BLE). This combination paves the way for the creation of new and amazing applications.

In this article we will also focus on creating a simple BLE Server on the PYNQ Z2 and to do this we use the Bluetooth capabilities of the ESP-32 module.

Enjoy the reading 😉

The Bluetooth Module

We have chosen to use the ESP-32 WROOM 32 module for this project. Thanks to its low costs

Introduction

One of the main problems of embedded systems is the external communication, in particular for the FPGAs: you need in every specific situation a different protocol and different strategies for inter-communication with a host system. That’s why the USB protocol is useful and, in particular, for a complex device such as the FPGA. In this article, we will define a simple but robust approach for designing an FPGA as a USB Device.

The USB system

Universal Serial Bus (USB) is an industry-standard that establishes specifications for cables, connectors, and protocols for connection, communication, and

Introduction

The “double tap” is a gesture that today is a crucial part of many of our daily actions.

The goal of this article is to implement a double tap feature that is easy to integrate, intuitive and adaptible.

So, the first step towards this goal is to make sure we have all the materials to develop and test the algorithm. We will use the X-NUCLEO-IKS01A2 board, that is easy to use and install on PYNQ.

Vivado design

The next step is to create an appropriate design for communication with the X-NUCLEO-IKS01A2; in fact you can

Introduction

PYNQ is a perfect framework for beginners and advanced users of FPGA,  it provides a great base bitstream that manages some peripherals on the board without any effort. However, if you need custom IPs for your application (and also for custom pinout), you need to know how to create a specific bitstream using the Xilinx IP Cores, which are quite documented but not often ready to use. In this article, we can show you how to implement a design that can output multiple PWM signals on the PMOD of a

There are two methods for using devices on FPGA for PYNQ: the integrated microprocessor (PS side) and the programmable logic (PL side). In order to maximize the use of the FPGA, this article shows how you can use the programmable logic for common devices such as SPI, I2C and UART.

We have used this flow also for SMART-IO Project. If you have lost the article about SMART-IO, follow this link!

You can find every design in this article as Github project in the MakarenaLabs Github company.

Design with Vivado for PYNQ

In order to create

Abstract

This article explains how to engineer an IoT on Edge solution, a multisensor scenario with a wide range of communication protocols. So, the solution proposed, called SMART-IO, is about an implementation of the complete stack to satisfy hardware and software requirements. Then, the engineering samples proposed is a unique System On Module (SOM) or MultiProcessor System On Chip (MPSoC) solution. They are based on Xilinx Zynq family, which allows to manage a high data throughput and low latency when it comes to data processing.

Statement of the problem

The evolution of IoT to

Introduction

The role of precision farming in the actual agronomic plants is crucial for increasing productivity and improving control accuracy. In this article, we propose a smart device, Arduino based and open source, for controlling a little greenhouse of carnivorous plants, called Nebul.IoT, that manages temperature and humidity and, in critical situations, controls the internal nebulization system.

Component
Quantity
Price

Arduino UNO
x1
19 €

DHT11 Sensor module
x1
5 €

Relay 5v Module
x1
2 €

Electrovalve
x1
14 €

Buzzer
x1
1 €

ESP32 PMOD
x1
30 €

The problem

A greenhouse for the carnivorous plants is very difficult to be managed: while this kind of plants needs a specific ecosystem which