Gas Moon
Android app that calibrates, configures and tests industrial gas detectors over serial or Bluetooth.
- Mobile App
- Embedded
- UI Design
Challenge
The manufacturer maintained its detectors with a legacy desktop application, so every field intervention required a laptop and a serial cable. The application also embodied years of protocol knowledge: several firmware generations in the field, each with its own quirks, all of which had to keep working. The goal was to move the whole toolset to Android without breaking compatibility with any detector already installed.
Solution
We designed the interface for phone and tablet use and rebuilt the application in Java on Android, structured in four strict layers that keep the wire protocol, the device workflows and the UI separate. On connection the app probes the detector and adapts to the firmware generation it finds. The serial link runs over a USB FTDI adapter; for wireless use we built a Bluetooth Low Energy link on the Quectel FC41D module, carrying the same protocol over the air. Guided procedures cover zero and span calibration with gain correction, alarm and fault simulation, and parameters from alarm thresholds to the 4-20 mA scale. Every calibration exports a certificate and a report from the device.
Result
Technicians now service the full installed base from an Android device, over cable or Bluetooth. One codebase ships the app in four branded editions, and calibrations end with a certificate generated on site.
About this project
Gas Moon is the tool an Italian gas-detection manufacturer uses to service its fixed gas detectors: instruments built around catalytic, electrochemical, semiconductor and CO sensor heads that measure flammable and toxic gases in industrial installations. For years it existed as a desktop application, so every intervention on a detector meant carrying a laptop and a serial cable.
LM DevStudio redesigned it and rebuilt it as a native Android app. A phone or tablet connects to the instrument over a USB serial adapter or over Bluetooth Low Energy, through a link we built on the Quectel FC41D module. Technicians read live values, adjust alarm thresholds and run guided calibrations that produce a certificate on the spot, and one codebase ships four white-label editions.
Tools used
- Android
- Java
- FTDI
- Quectel FC41D