News

Meet us at Hannover Messe

Artec Design will participate at Hannover Messe – the world’s leading trade fair for industrial solutions. The event will feature an expo as well as side events and activities. Visit us at Hall 15, stand A02 from the 17th to the 21st of April!

Book a meeting with us via info@artecdesign.ee.

WELMO (Wearable Electronics for Effective Lung Monitoring)

Artec Design has successfully finished WELMO – a research project funded by the European Union. It was dedicated to the development and validation of a wearable vest with integrated low-cost and low-power miniaturized sensors allowing continuous recording of lung sounds and electrical impedance tomography (EIT) examination. The sound and image signals were combined, processed and linked with specific clinical outcome by applying innovative algorithms. The impact and, acceptances usability of the proposed solution were validated in a realistic setup through the execution of excessive validation studies. Finally a business sustainability study was carried out, aiming to the mid-term exploitation of the proposed solution.

During the project, Artec Design contributed to the development of WELMO electronics through schematic design and PCB layout design, firmware development for a Cortex-M uC, industrial design as well as the production of the sensors.

Smart Warehouse Controller

Artec Design developed the electronics, devised the industrial design and implemented embedded Linux support for baseSAFE by Nutimaja.

baseSAFE includes technologies to control and integrate numerous sensors, actuators and external systems like ventilation systems and cameras. It can be used as an intrusion alarm panel and works on an external backup battery. Artec Design’s tasks included schematic and PCB design; housing design; bootloader and embedded Linux configuration; board support package and factory test system development; prototype assembly and production.

The key features of baseSAFE are:

• i.MX 8M Mini with 2 GB LPDDR RAM and 16 GB eMMC
• 24 V power input and a backup battery input
• 10/100 Mbps Ethernet
• 2x USB Type-A
• 2x RS485
• 11x analogue inputs
• 8x digital inputs
• 8x digital outputs
• 8x relay outputs
• Buzzer output

Certification

Product Compliance & Certification

Many products require compliance testing or certification before they can be offered to customers in Europe and Northern America. Artec Design has acquired following regulatory approvals for developed products when requested by clients:

• CE marking – indicates that a product has been assessed by the manufacturer and deemed to meet EU safety, health and environmental protection requirements.
• FCC marking – indicates that an electronic product sold or manufactured in the United States is compliant to the standards set by the Federal Communications Commission.
• RoHS compliance – shows that a product is compliant to the EU directive for restricting the use of hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment.

Payment Terminal Certification

Artec Design has extensive knowledge of RFID and NFC systems dating back to early 2000s. Caused by the growing demand for contactless payment solutions, Artec Design has established in-house capabilities for developing EMV compliant payment terminals to process transactions using MasterCard and Visa schemes. These capabilities include electronics design, embedded software development, EMV contactless kernel integration, production and certification activities. This includes:

• EMV Kernel Integration – in close partnership with NMI, contactless kernel is integrated and tested with the payment terminal firmware.
• Dedicated Test Application Set – special test application set is developed and provided to certification authorities for testing the payment functionality according to EMVCo and payment scheme (Visa, MasterCard) requirements.

Key vendor certifications include:

• EMV Level 1 – evaluates the electrical and mechanical aspects of reader hardware and covers the ISO 14443 (RFID) and ISO 18092 (NFC) protocols.
• EMV Level 2 – evaluates the embedded software and the integration of a certified scheme specific EMV kernel (Visa, MasterCard) of the payment device.
• PCI PTS – enforces physical and logical (software) security for the payment terminal.
• PCI DSS – enforces security for cardholder data in the whole payment logic.
• MasterCard TQM – validates design and manufacturing process for products that embed payment terminal (PCD). It requires ISO 9001 or equivalent as a prerequisite and is linked to a relevant EMVCo Level 1 contactless LoA.

The public ticketing system developed for one of our clients, Ridango, features contactless EMV payments that have been certified in full compliance with Visa and MasterCard requirements for Transit Terminals.

E-Paper Devices at the University of Tartu

The University of Tartu (UT) has chosen Artec Design’s e-paper devices for room signage at the new Delta building. The university displays room schedules on the e-paper devices, which includes the room numbers, lectures as well as the names of lecturers in both Estonian and English.

The installation includes 13.3-inch e-paper devices as well as a central management server (CMS), which makes it possible to easily monitor and configure all devices via a single Web interface.

University of Tartu E-Paper Displays

Introduction

The University of Tartu has chosen Artec Design’s e-paper devices for room signage at the new Delta building. The university displays room schedules on the e-paper devices, which includes the room numbers, lectures as well as the names of lecturers in both Estonian and English.

The university has implemented middleware that acts as a link between their calendar system and the external API of the central management server (CMS) of the e-paper devices. The CMS makes it possible to easily monitor and configure all devices via a single Web interface, while the middleware renders images based on the schedules and uploads the contents to the e-paper devices. This solution gives freedom to universities in terms of what and how is displayed on the devices and makes it possible to base the design on their own templates.

Design Considerations

The installation is based on E Ink‘s 13.3″ e-paper displays, which are large enough to convey all information for the day. The displays have a natural tone and sleek design, therefore, reducing visual noise in the environment. The devices feature a scratch resistant tempered glass front cover with anti-glare coating, which gives the device a premium look as well as the required durability for public spaces. The devices have thin bezels that are coated black, as this matches the design language of traditional signage methods used at the Delta building.

All of this gives the devices a minimalist yet modern look that blends into the interior design of the building.

Media Coverage

• MarketWatch
• Yahoo Finance
• Digital Signage Connection
• Business Wire
• MarketScreener
• E Ink
• E Ink Info

Gallery

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Software Development Intern

Artec Design is a product development company covering a complete design cycle from conceptualization, electronic, mechanical, FPGA and software design to prototyping and production. Established in 1998, Artec Design has provided services to over 100 clients from more than 10 countries worldwide including Germany, Finland, Japan and USA.

We are offering a 3-month paid internship for a software development intern. Join us and create products that help startups to grow, conquer space or provide value to millions of users every month!

You will have a chance to

• Create software application components mainly in C++ for GNU/Linux systems
• Optimize production testing for new products
• Evaluate and test production units
• Write documentation in English
• Support the manufacturing process

You define yourself by

• Ongoing studies in a technical domain
• Broader understanding of C++ and GNU/Linux development environments
• Passion to solve exciting problems and technological challenges
• Punctuality and due diligence
• Knowledge of professional English, basic knowledge of Estonian

You will get extra points for

• Familiarity with Java software development
• Knowledge of Cortex-A family application processors
• General knowledge about software engineering
• Experience with Linux kernel development
• Know-how about desktop user interface programming

You can expect

• Interesting work in a friendly and supporting team
• Constant challenges and personal growth
• Opportunities to work on real products
• Monthly paycheck during internship period
• Potential for securing a permanent job

Sounds interesting? Get in touch via

careers@artecdesign.ee
(+372) 671 8550

Firmware Engineering Intern

Artec Design is a product development company covering a complete design cycle from conceptualization, electronic, mechanical, FPGA and software design to prototyping and production. Established in 1998, Artec Design has provided services to over 100 clients from more than 10 countries worldwide including Germany, Finland, Japan and USA.

We are offering a 3-month paid internship for a firmware engineering intern. Join us and create products that help startups to grow, conquer space or provide value to millions of users every month!

You will have a chance to

• Create firmware components for microcontrollers in C
• Optimize production testing for new products
• Evaluate and test production units
• Write documentation in English
• Support the manufacturing process

You define yourself by

• Ongoing studies in a technical domain
• General understanding of C and development environments
• Passion to solve exciting problems and technological challenges
• Punctuality and due diligence
• Knowledge of professional English, basic knowledge of Estonian

You will get extra points for

• Experience in embedded software development
• Knowledge of Cortex-M family microcontrollers
• General knowledge about software engineering
• Familiarity with electronic components and schematic design
• Know-how about console user interface development concepts

You can expect

• Interesting work in a friendly and supporting team
• Constant challenges and personal growth
• Opportunities to work on real products
• Monthly paycheck during internship period
• Potential for securing a permanent job

Sounds interesting? Get in touch via

careers@artecdesign.ee
(+372) 671 8550

WELMO

The Project

The 42-month project WELMO aimed at developing and validating a new generation of low-cost and low-power miniaturized sensors, integrated in a comfortable vest, enabling the effective and accurate monitoring of the lungs, through the simultaneous collection of sound and electrical impedance tomography (EIT) signals with the same sensors that can be combined, processed and linked with specific clinical outcomes making the systematic, accurate and real-time evaluation of respiratory conditions possible.

During the project, Artec Design contributed to the development of WELMO electronics through schematic design and PCB layout design, firmware development for a Cortex-M uC, industrial design, communications API development for Android as well as the production of the electronics. The resulting WELMO vest with integrated electronics is shown below.

WELMO vest with integrated electronics. Photos courtesy of CSEM SA.

The Problem

Lung related diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), pneumonia and asthma are considered the main causes of death in EU. The current management of such diseases only allows a momentary patient assessment at the time point out-clinic visit or hospitalization. Short-term trends in disease development, either deterioration or improvement, are not accessible. Continuous and real-time monitoring, especially in remote settings (e.g patients’ homes) is not available. Additionally the devices used for monitoring the patients are massive, expensive, uncomfortable and difficult to operate, thus requiring specialized personnel. Several of them also rely on patients’ cooperation and compliance to guarantee proper examination results. The incorporation of novel electronics in garments presents great potential for addressing these challenges.

Consortium

General Information

WELMO runs from January 2019 to June 2022

Project Full Name: WELMO – Wearable Electronics for Effective Lung Monitoring

Consortium: Swiss Center for Electronics and Microtechnology (CSEM), ELSYS, University of Coimbra, University of Kiel, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Smartex, Wellics

Call Identifier: H2020-ICT-2018-2

Funding: € 3,999,675

Duration: 42 Months

Multisignal Holter Recorder

Tensiotrace Ltd. was established for the development and validation of diagnostic methods and tools for cardiovascular medicine. Tensiotrace provides a unique 3-in-1 solution for beat-to-beat monitoring of significant cardiovascular parameters (ECG, BP and pulse wave).

The device features:

• 12-channel ECG, 8kHz
• Pulse wave recording
• Respiration waveform registration
• SpO2 registration
• Built in accelerometer for activity monitoring
• Continuous recording time up to 48 hour
• Built-in rechargeable battery and flash memory
• USB 2.0 high speed, 200Mbit/s download
• Bluetooth connection for review of the recording

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