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Dec 22 ’11
Today we’d like to share the second place winners in the Taiko Cup competition. Second place went to the team from National Taipei University of Technology, Department of Computer Science and Information Technology. The system is a home safety system comprised of an IP camera, hazard sensors, magnetic triggers, pressure sensor and motion sensors. The system is particularly suited for installation at extended care facilities for senior citizens. Aside from common hazard sensors such as gas, heat and sound, the team also implemented pressure sensors on the bed so if the patient is out of bed or fell off, a caretaker will be notified immediately through one of three alart mechnisms (SMS, visual alarm, audio alarm). The system can also be accessed through the web interface and be monitored remotely.
Dec 19 ’11
The Taiko Cup Draws To a Close!We told you this was going to happen, and indeed, the first Taiko Cup competition has been successfully completed! Our panel of judges reviewed the work of 12 teams who created 12 projects using Tibbo BASIC and programmable modules. The judges then picked the top three winners, along with five runners-up. And then, of course, awards were given, and a lottery draw was held for various electronic components, sponsored by Amedi and Tibbo. You can see some photos above — click an image to make it larger. The next few posts will focus on specific teams and their endeavors. Great work, everyone!
Nov 21 ’11
SSI Object Documentation Released!
Believe it or not, but the day has finally come! We have just released complete documentation for the SSI object! Now you can read all about this powerful object, capable of implementing up to four serial synchronous interfaces on the general purpose I/O lines of your programmable module. We know many of you have been using this one for a while, but maybe the new docs will reveal something you didn’t know. [Check it out[(http://docs.tibbo.com/taiko/object_ssi.htm)!
Jul 20 ’11
TIDE 2.50.10 and TiOS 3.27 Now Out!Heya, folks! New TIDE/TiOS release is out. It fixes a bunch of issues including the infamous “Firefox refresh issue”. In addition, you now have AES128 and RC4 encryption working and properly documented (see aes128dec, aes128enc, rc4). Now you can easily write applications with secure comms! There are also three other new functions — strand, stror, and strxor. These are often used in encryption algorithms.
Jun 21 ’11
Password Protection is Here
Yes, you are reading this right. Password Protection for firmware and Tibbo BASIC projects is finally here! Set the password, and the device is locked! Passwords are set using the updated Device Explorer — install our new TIDE V2.50 to test this (don’t forget to upgrade your device’s firmware too). Your Tibbo BASIC application can also password-protect the device automatically. TIDE will optionally cache passwords so you don’t need to input them over and over again. Device log-ins are secure — eavesdropping on the network won’t reveal passwords. And what if you forgot the password? When TIDE prompts for it, keep the MD button pressed while clicking OK in the Change Device Password or Enter Device Password dialog — this will bypass the password protection (once). A few of you have politely (ahem…) requested this feature on the forum, and now we did it… hope you sleep better at night. Enjoy!
Jun 20 ’11
EM500 Supports Wi-Fi, Here’s How
We mentioned this in the June Newsflash, but some of you may have missed it: The EM500 now supports Wi-Fi! The image above comes from our manual, under Connecting GA1000, and shows how you can connect the GA1000 Wi-Fi modules to our EM500, using only three lines. Programmatically, Wi-Fi is supported using the .wln object, just like on all of our other platforms.
May 30 ’11
Fd. comes to our MiniMo EM500At long last! Upgrade to TiOS 3.24.04 (plus corresponding platforms) and use flash disk on the EM500. Being a minimalistic and economical device, the EM500 does not have the flash storage for the fd. object built-in — you need to connect an external flash IC (ATMEL AT45DB41). Here is the schematic diagram:
May 20 ’11
Testing fd. transactions — part 2
Here at Tibbo we use our own devices to test other devices. Here is a good example of how you can use the DS1005 in the lab. Remember how we tested the robustness of disk transactions by power-cycling the EM1206EV that runs an app that constantly adds data to a file? We used the DS1005 for this. It has relays, and we wired one of them into the power line of the EM1206EV! Here is the (very simple) code.
May 18 ’11
Testing fd. transactions — part 1Here is how we tested our new cool disk transactions. We created a small app published below. This one keeps adding data to a file, in a loop. We then power-cycle the device (we tested on the EM1206EV) thousands of times. Without transactions, you can break the disk and cause errors in about 100 attempts. With transactions enabled, we haven’t been able to break the disk! Don’t forget to use the new platforms and firmware (3.23.01) if you want to try this!
May 16 ’11
Flash Disk, FortifiedEveryone knows that flash memory hates abrupt power interrupts. Turn the power off in the wrong (right?) moment, and you may have to do fd.format again! Well, not anymore! We’ve just extended our fd. object to support transactions (journaling). First, format the disk with the new fd.formatj (“j” stands for “journaling”) method:
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