SoC-VaccineRefrigerator

Authors: Coralie Allioux, Gabriel Ganzer.

Vaccination is a safe and effective way to prevent disease and save lives. Due to their composition, many vaccines must be stored at stable low temperatures after manufacture to avoid degradation. This can be a particular challenge in developing countries with rudimentary health care systems. For this reason, we present VARE, a low-cost vaccine refrigeration system that can be used to adapt a domestic fridge into a specialized medical one.

VARE is composed of the followings components:

• UART2 for displaying messages to the user;
• DMA to manage data transfers;
• TIMER2 to count the amount of time the door is open;
• I2C1 serial communication with temperature sensors;
• GPIO for digital I/O signals.

Versions for MacOS and Windows10

The main branch is the version for MacOS. You can find the version for Windows10 on the branch winVersion.

The difference between the two is in the file platformio.ini. MacOS doesn't call directly the command renode, it uses mono instead.

Needed tools

To support our project, you will need:

• Platformio: you can download it via the official website;
• Renode: you must use the version providing by the link below, which is the source code of renode. Choose the appropriate OS for the prerequisites, depending on yours.

https://renode.readthedocs.io/en/latest/advanced/building_from_sources.html

How to use

Updating configuration files

You need to change some paths in the configuration files: platformio.ini and stm32f4_discovery_modified.resc.

platformio.ini file

The platformio.ini file is located on the root of the project. You must change the path of:

• upload_command value: path to renode;
• upload_flags value: path to the configuration file stm32f4_discovery_modified.resc;
• debug_server value: path to renode and the configuration file stm32f4_discovery_modified.resc.

stm32f4_discovery_modified.resc file

Th stm32f4_discovery_modified.resc file is located on the root of the project. You must change the path of:

• machine LoadPlatformDescription value: path to the file sensors.repl, located at the root;
• $bin value: path to the file firmware.elf located at .pio/build/disco_f407vg/.

Starting VARE project

Build and upload the project via platformio, in order to launch renode. Once renode is open, you can include the configuration file by the following command (changing the part YOUR_PATH):

include @YOUR_PATH/soc_arch_vare/stm32f4_discovery_modified.resc

Then, start the project:

start

The UART is now open and your are able to interact with it via the renode console.

Interacting with the system

To interact with the system, you will use directly the renode console to control the behavior of the different components. The results of those commands are visible on the UART and console log.

Buttons for setting the threashold

For setting up the threashold of the refrigerator, you have access on three buttons bia the renode console, all connected on gpioPortC:

• buttonDown: decreases the threashold of 1°C;

gpioPortC.buttonDown PressAndRelease

• buttonUp: increases the threashold of 1°C;

gpioPortC.buttonUp PressAndRelease

• buttonOK: validates the threashold.

gpioPortC.buttonOK PressAndRelease

Temperature sensors

The chamber is equipped of two temperature sensors, connected on i2c1. The supported temperature of the sensors is from -40°C to 125°C, otherwise, you will gate an error from renode. Chose the value of YOUR_TEMPERATURE according to this rule. You can set the value of the measured temperature on each temperature sensor via the renode console, according to the following:

• tempA: control the measured temperature of the first sensor, called A;

i2c1.tempA Temperature *YOUR_TEMPERATURE*

• tempB: control the measured temperature of the first sensor, called B.

i2c1.tempB Temperature *YOUR_TEMPERATURE*

Door sensor

The door sensor is connected on gpioPortA, and is able to detect if the refrigrerator door is open or closed. The same command is used to open the door (when it is closed) and vice versa, which is the following:

gpioPortA.sensorOC Toggle