Electricity and Control May 2020

RESKILLING, UPSKILLING + TRAINING

Reaching for the stars F rom collecting data in sub-zero Antarctica to rapid circuit prototyping on the International Space Station (ISS), XinaBox, a South African company which started small, is reinventing the way we approach the Internet of Things (IoT) and inspiring students to follow STEM careers. In 2008 Bjarke Gotfredsen and Judi Sandrock founded Meta Economic Development Organisation (MEDO) – a South African non-profit development organisation implementing bespoke entrepreneurship and secondary level science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) education programmes. Their initial aim was to leverage space science to motivate students in high schools across South Africa to pursue STEM careers. They started to experiment with modularising computer chips which could be connected without soldering components together in an effort to improve safety for the students while fast-tracking the process to complete experiments. The company was successful in overcoming this barrier found in electronics and developed various xChips modules that are now sold under the trading name XinaBox. Pronounced ‘X-in-a-box’, the company was formally established in 2015 by Gotfredsen, Sandrock and Daniel Berman, with its home base in South Africa while being registered in Ireland and the USA for patent and distribution purposes. xChips are a modularised set of computer chips that can be used to make a weather station, satellite or even a rocket. The components are plug-and-play and can be reused for different applications in the rapid development and prototyping of products as well as in STEM type experiments at a school and university level. The range of xChip modules encompasses processor boards, cores, sensors, power, communication, output, control and storage devices, as well as a variety of supporting functions including LoRa, Bluetooth and WiFi, OLED displays, capacitive touch sensing, proximity sensing, temperature sensing, humidity sensing, universal digital and analogue input modules, with more being added on an ongoing basis. Judi Sandrock said XinaBox was developed to be used in schools and maker spaces so users could build electronics

or lab equipment.” XinaBox kits are already being used successfully in schools in the USA and South Africa. The xChip concept makes a wide variety of electronic functions available in a standardised modular format that can be assembled, in any order, to build electronic devices quickly and easily. Users can begin coding in minutes without prior electronics knowledge, as there is no need to design and debug hardware. xChips work in all popular programming environments. They allow for seamless integration with single board computers (SBC), embedded systems and other hardware programming environments. Some of the xChips are developed for building weather stations and science experiments in Extreme Low Earth Orbit (ELEO) on board small satellites. In 2017, the versatility and affordability of the chips caught the attention of Brian Andrew, Managing Director for RS Components in sub-Saharan Africa. After meeting with the global team and reviewing the range it was approved for release in 2018 and is now sold worldwide through the RS websites. Andrew said he was taken aback by the ingenuity of XinaBox. “When I was introduced to Xinabox and the xChips, I knew it had to be part of the global RS range. I’m really proud that we have a South African invention to take to the rest of the world. This product is a game changer for the IoT industry and STEM education. The best part is that it is compatible with Raspberry Pi, Arduino and other development boards. It’s a simple plug-and-play solution forged in the heart of Africa,” he said. On board the International Space Station In February 2020, XinaBox partnered with US-based organisation Quest for Space to launch experiments to the International Space Station (ISS). While on board the ISS, the XinaBox payload will collect data such as pressure, temperature, humidity, g-force and acceleration. The information will be stored on a SD card to be assessed once the experiments return to earth. Monitoring the environment in Antarctica In mid-February 2020, an XinaBox environmental monitoring rig, made from the flagship XK01 kit, was placed outside the Antarctic’s SANEA IV base – and has been monitoring and reporting live data to an IoT platform. The South African National Space Agency (SANSA) and South African National Antarctic Programme (SANAP) use the base for research in the fields of oceanography, biology, geology, geomorphology and renewable energy.

Students learning how to work with xChips.

without soldering, ‘breadboarding’ or using any consumables. “The xChips are affordable, re-usable and robust enough to build satellites for launch into space. XinaBox has changed STEM education dramatically by enabling students and makers to get straight into IoT and software development without any electronic knowledge

For more information visit XinaBox: https://xinabox.cc Or visit RS Components: http://za.rs-online.com

28 Electricity + Control MAY 2020