Sometimes even the software developers at @zeroiee get really sweaty.

For example, when rolling out updates, before presentations to customers - or when it comes to carrying a 12 kg car battery, a V2X radio receiver, GPS antenna and laptop across the nearby terrain to perform a range coverage measurement.

We certainly got a lot of looks during the event. Hopefully we didn't scare anyone.

The results are not yet what we had hoped for. But that's why we do such tests: to ensure that the customer receives a product that not only meets their expectations, but also delights them.

Find out more about our AMPS V2XNode: https://www.zero-iee.com//assets/products/pdfs/V2XNode_Product_Description.pdf

Hey Mastodon users!
Have you ever seen an Audi e-tron display Mastodon on its main HMI display?

Probably not!
This was enabed by one of our products - the ZERO FPDLinkNode, which is part of our AMPS (Advanced Modular Prototyping System). The FPDLinkNode is plugged in between the native vehicle display-/touch unit and the HMI controller. This way we're able to manipulate display contents and create a visual overlay.

The overlay enables us to display the vehicle's own content and at the same time show new content on the display without disrupting the native functionality. In this example, however, we have set the FPDLinkNode so that the native Audi user interface is completely overlaid.

Weißwurstfrühstück and get-together

Compared to English, the German language is infamous for long compound words like "Weißwurstfrühstück". But the latter actually exemplifies that sometimes it is just cumbersome describe something nonexistent in a language/culture.

Weißwurstfrühstück is a Bavarian tradition and can roughly be translated to "veal sausage breakfast with wheat beer, pretzel and sweet mustard"". And we had a great one last Friday!

To this occasion, Johannes Sendtner, whom we supported with his Bachelor thesis, came to visit and proudly showed us his bachelor's certificate. He was evaluated with 1.0 for his work on optical air quality sensors.

Congratulations and good luck with the next steps in your career!

We are currently testing the use of Hugo with the Docsy theme for the distribution of manuals for our products.

Since we already use Hugo to generate our homepage and blog, it made sense to use a tool that we already know.

The biggest advantage of a static site generator like Hugo is that we don't have to worry about security problems in the web application.

Which tools do you use - and why?

https://gohugo.io/

https://www.docsy.dev/

A clean Git history is the key to successful teamwork and quick bug fixes. Errors can only be successfully tracked down if it is always possible to trace when and where code was changed by whom and for what reason.

However, in the rush of the battle, the changes that are packaged in a commit are sometimes not taken very seriously. Who has never experienced this? A change that is actually unrelated to the current work package has made it into the commit because the file has already been saved temporarily.

The solution: With an "interactive add" (git add -i), you can pack partial changes ("hunks") into a commit and specify line by line what should be included in the next commit.

"Staging patches": https://git-scm.com/book/en/v2/Git-Tools-Interactive-Staging

We at ZERO GmbH have completed our first prototype to display our own content in vehicle on-board systems. The touch function of the display can also be used to write ZERO in the most beautiful font

So...why all this? With the help of our AMPS platform, our customer can easily show new designs or functions in a vehicle and bring them to life - without having to access the series components directly.

And "easily" really means "easily":
Connect computer viaHDMI => switch on via button or CAN => be happy

Curious about our ArtNet based light control system?

We've created a web GUI that enables easy access to various typical vehicle lighting scenarios. The operator gets instant feedback about the currently activated scenario.

Our layering concept allows prioritizing lighting animations and stacking them on top of each other.

By the way: Animations are provided as CSV files. You're free in choosing the tool to generate these.

We are making progress with our new ArtNet-based lighting control system!

The most important ArtNet frames are now implemented. We have also successfully tested the implementation of our new layering concept: Multiple animations (for example flashing and a "Welcome" animation) can now be prioritized and stacked on top of each other. In the video, the flashing has a higher priority and thus overlays the "Welcome" animation.

There are still bugs hidden here and there, but we are looking forward to presenting a first complete version soon!

As you may know, at ZERO we equip show cars with lights and lighting control systems, so that they shine just as their designers have envisioned.

Since more lights with more complex animations need to be controlled, we are gradually reaching the technical limits of our CAN-based solutions. In our search for alternatives, we once again stumbled across the topic of ArtNet/DMX:

What works on stages can also work in a show car, right?

So we decided to develop a prototype for a new lighting control. We use an ArtNet <-> SPI translator, which enables us to transmit control signals from our own software to the light with low latency and without hassle. We have also adapted our software so that it is ArtNet-compatible and, compared to the old version, can also reliably display complex lighting scenarios.

It is currently still a very early prototype - so for the time being you can only see a simple blinker animation.

We can't wait to show you more spectacular animations!

@inviridi and @thomas are at the Embedded World fair in Nuremberg today!

We’ve been at the Raspberry Pi booth and were particularly impressed by the LoRa products of RAK wireless!

Now let’s check out some more booths!

At ZERO GmbH, we are always on the hunt for the best signal reception

On the photo: Our small 10 cm 5G cube and the Danube river in the background.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTNWlvMviAI

Infrastructure sensors will gain importance by adding an additional layer of monitoring, guidance and security to future road traffic. Road users, no matter whether V2X-connected or not, will be recognized and added to the digital roadmap.

Ingolstadt, Bavaria, Germany is building just that, to allow start-ups, industry and academia to test their ideas.

If you've followed our recent posts, you already know that we gave Shorewall a try to tidy up our VPN firewall rules and gain full overview about our configuration. Our migration to Shorewall has been successful and we'd like to share some insights in our configuration:

"Keeping the Wireguard VPN firewall clear with Shorewall" - https://blog.zero-iee.com/en/posts/vpn-firewall-shorewall/

Shorewall by Tom Eastep is just perfect for small to mid size firewall deployments that are mostly static and not too complex. One of our developers uses OpnSense and PfSense for more complex scenarios in his private projects.

Which firewall / configuration tool do you use and why?

Hey Fediverse , have you heard of Wireguard VPN networks?

No worries - we're not trying to trick you into subscribing to another scammy VPN provider that you don't need

Wireguard is an Open Source VPN protocol and implementation for lightweight VPN connections that "just work". We've been using this technology to connect our ZERO #AMPS nodes across the internet and to our office. It enables us to monitor and update AMPS devices remotely without any client interaction.

To make sure that sensitive customer data does not leak, we've come up with a security concept for our VPN server. We share a part of our implementation in our latest blog post:

"Securing a multi-tenant Wireguard VPN server with iptables" - https://blog.zero-iee.com/en/posts/multi-tenant-wireguard-vpn-server/

What are you using Wireguard for? Did you face any challenges when switching to Wireguard based VPN networking? - And how did you tacle them?

The ZERO Microkiller - Patent narrowly missed

Johannes Sendtner worked on a fascinating piece of technology last year. Today, we would like to share some details with you.

The box depicted is called the "ZERO Microkiller," and its task is to recharge Qi-equipped smartphones wirelessly while simultaneously disinfecting them using UV radiation. To that end, UV LEDs are attached to the sides and the lid so that various items can be cleaned, and mirrors help avoid disinfection shadows.

It is dimensioned so that even larger smartphones can fit inside comfortably, while the outer shell is small enough to be integrated into the center armrest of a car.

While the idea is convincingly simple, and the Microkiller's function was proven in a laboratory, there are several technologically advanced ideas that we wanted to patent. Unfortunately, Ford Motor Company filed a similar application a few months before us.

#teamzero #zeroiee #technology #startup #electronics #patent #desinfection

Have you ever used Zephyr (OS) in an electronics project, e.g. with an Raspberry Pi Pico?

https://www.zephyrproject.org/

We're curious which problem it solved for you. Did it help with multitasking / scheduling? Or with HW drivers? File systems?

Let us know in the comments!

At ZERO GmbH we haven't used Zephyr yet, but we'd like to look at it in detail and try it out once we have a use case for it in a project.

Probably one of the most important tools at our company: The CAN/LIN debug adapter.

It lets us connect our PCs to a CAN or LIN bus network and send or receive data frames via an sophisticated software. The software enables us to filter frames, check timing parameters and data as well as write frames to simulate missing parts of any existing physical bus (Residual bus simulation)

Not cheap, but worth every penny. Which tools can you no longer do without at your workplace?

Still very blinky: Our ZERO Smart City Cube!

Looks like a little satellite, doesn’t it?

Now with supplemental power supply. It’s foggy outside.

Hey show technicians and DMX fans, we have something for you!

In our #showcar projects and demonstrators, we often need to control various types of lighting. Setting moods or attracting the attention of passers-by are just two examples of use-cases. The industry standard for this application is the DMX protocol, and there is a vast ecosystem of controllers, software applications, and lights that follow this standard. Our super-flexible LightNode does not natively "speak" DMX, but we have developed a DMX to CAN translator. The video briefly demonstrates how the moving faders of "Q Light Controller" control the color transitions of a light strip connected to our #AMPS LightNode. Of course, this can also be automated! If you want to learn more, just get in touch!