AT527268A1 - MatCube - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a small housing with a defined plug interface for power supply and serial data line for combining electronic hardware and software components, whereby each housing has the shape of a cube (1) or cuboid (5) and is closed with a square (2) or rectangular (6) cover and the fixed connection to other housings is made via a connector (3) and a holder (4). With the help of these similar housings, which have a uniform form factor (height, base area), networks of electronic components with associated software can be developed. Connections (3) and holders (4) can also be used for networking. The fastening and stacking of housings is supported by mounting plates (9) or connecting pieces (10).

Description

Introduction:

The range of electronic hardware components available today is very diverse and available at affordable prices. It has therefore become much easier to find your own solutions for a variety of tasks. Very often there are also complex hardware solutions that already have a microprocessor structure integrated or can be easily combined with it, such as the Arduino family.

There are also numerous platforms that provide software solutions free of charge. However, for a specific application, expertise in the hardware and software components is usually necessary.

The trend from the analog domain to the digital one is clearly visible, which is one reason why hardware has become cheaper. In the past, knowledge of sensors, amplifiers and analog-digital converters was necessary, but today many sensors are already equipped with ADCs and a serial interface. However, more software knowledge is required to operate them. Various adjustments are often necessary, registers must be defined, etc., i.e. very high technical skills are still required.

Most users do not have this knowledge and are not interested in acquiring basic technical knowledge. The focus is on finding a quick and efficient solution. This allows users to devote themselves entirely to a solution concept. Detailed knowledge is often distracting and therefore a hindrance. Clear structuring and differentiation of the system components from the actual problem is therefore particularly important and should be strived for.

State of the art:

There is currently no system that is constructed in the manner presented. A literature search using the search terms "container", "electronic", "components" and "prototyping" leads to the following results:

1) Guide to New Electronics Prototyping for Hardware 'e Startups & Design Companies

3 Sys:

; E :(2023- 05 “08) 1) Electronics ; prototyping services under one roof Heuss Era ranics-naraftahmnine (2023-05-08) 2) Cool Components tus /raciamaoanents ca uk/callectans/aratahuines (2023-05-08) The systems mentioned are hardware-oriented and primarily focused on the production of special circuit boards that are tailored to specific areas of application and problems in standalone operation. In some cases, a close connection to special microprocessors should also be mentioned, which means that a general application option that makes the simple integration of a large number of electronic components of different types and from different manufacturers almost impossible or causes considerable effort.

Description:

Reminiscent of the structure of a Matador modular system (https://www.matador.at), the present invention presents a method or a device that uses externally similar modules.

These are characterized, among other things, by the fact that they only have certain uniform

The modules can be linked via a plug-in system by tapping the supply voltage and the serial lines for themselves and looping them through to the next module. Preferably, the serial data connection I2C is used, which enables the modules to be addressed accordingly. Of course, other communication structures such as PCI bus, KNX bus, etc. can be used. In the solution presented here (drawing 7), the data communication is implemented as a serial 2-wire connection such as I2C or PCI bus, but can be implemented in any standardized

or non-standard configuration. Only the basic property of a

bus with extendible addressing.

As an alternative, a separate addressing bus can be used in addition to the data and supply bus. As a further alternative, a parallel data bus with different bit widths can be used in conjunction with an addressing bus.

One or more wireless modules can also be installed as an intermediate or final link in a Mat-Cube chain structure so that external modules that are difficult or impossible to access via plug or cable connections can be integrated into a process.

All common radio connections can be considered “wireless”.

The parts in drawings 1-6 of the MatCube system can be produced in different ways (e.g. 3D printer or laser cutter). If necessary, the box and lid can be modified. A practical example would be additional holes in the box through which peripheral devices for a micro-computer (mouse, screen, USB stick, ...) can be connected.

Drawing 1 shows the basic form factor of the MatCube system, the standard cube. It consists of four parts: the box (1), which serves to accommodate one or more electronic components - such as a micro-computer; the lid (2), which can accommodate further electronic or electromechanical components such as sensors or actuators; one or more connectors (3), which fit into the holes in

Drawing 2 shows the MatCube double cube, which is used to accommodate larger microprocessors or other components. The lid can also be larger and accommodate several electronic, electromechanical or electrochemical components (for example several sensors). The connection to other cubes is again made via connectors and brackets.

Figure 3 shows the standard cube at half height in case an electronic component does not require a full box height. One use case would be a microprocessor to which a series of boxes are connected via connectors, for example to build a sensor network. The holes for the connectors are rotated by 90 degrees in this case.

Drawing 4 shows the double cube at half height.

Drawing 5 shows a MatCube part (9) which can be designed as a base or side plate and which is used to attach MatCube boxes. A MatCube cube can be attached to or on this part in a detachable manner if necessary.

Drawing 6 shows a connecting piece (10) for two MatCube cubes, which allows stacking of cubes in any direction.

Figure 7 shows the block diagram of several linked Mat-Cubes (10a, 10b, 10c, 10d). Drawing 7a shows the physical coupling with (plug (12) and socket (13) Drawing 7b shows the physical plug connection (12, 13) divided into the two bus structures for serial data transmission (14) and the power supply (15). Drawing 7c shows the data bus (14) divided into a data line (16) and a synchronization line (17), as well as the supply bus (15) divided into the two supply lines (18, 19). The electronic units (20a, 20b, 20c) installed according to the respective function tap the looped lines (16, 17, 18, 19). At the beginning of a module chain there is a unit (10a) with a special master function, which is why generally only one power supply unit (11) is connected here. Module 10a can itself represent a mat cube or any other form of electronic unit. The 2-wire bus structures shown here (14) (15) can also be multi-core, for example additional supply voltages or other data communication structures.

Claims (1)

The present invention represents a device and a method of a modular system of electronic hardware and software components that can be combined, cascaded or linked in any way, characterized in that each element consists of a preferably identical housing with a defined plug interface for power supply and serial bus structure, of the electronics for various purposes such as sensors, data acquisition and storage, databases, mini displays, control elements such as switches and potentiometers, etc., of the electronics for communication, such as a microprocessor structure and the operation of the specific electronics, as well as the firmware required for this, so that a user can combine these modules into an overall system for a wide variety of tasks without much detailed knowledge. claim 2 Device and method according to claim 1, characterized in that one of these elements - preferably the first in a chain - can represent a master which controls the sequence and Claim 3 Device and method according to claim 1 - 2, characterized in that each module is pre-installed with its own firmware, but can also be adapted by the user. claim 4 Device and method according to one or more of claims 1 - 3, characterized in that the housings and connector interfaces can assume certain standard sizes and thus the modules can be exchanged and combined as desired. claim 5 Device and method according to one or more of claims 1-4, characterized in that the plug connections represent a mechanically stable connection in addition to their electrical function. claim 6 Device and method according to one or more of claims 1-5, characterized in that individual modules can have a further plug connection for operating further components such as a display, a keyboard, an external memory or external (power) electronics for control tasks. claim 7 Device and method according to one or more of claims 1-6, characterized in that individual cubes can be linked fixedly or detachably with intermediate adapters. claim 8 Device and method according to one or more of claims 1-7, characterized in that, depending on the connector design, in addition to a serial data bus, a parallel data bus of different data width is also used and/or an additional address bus is used, wherein a standard method or also a non-standardized protocol can be used for all types of data communication. claim 9 Device and method according to one or more of claims 1-8, characterized in that one or more Mat-Cube elements can establish a radio interface to external modules.