Rapid Prototyping of Control Panel with Touch Display for Sliding Doors

Abstract

User interfaces to control machines are a critical part of any technology that requires user inputs. The user interface works as a link between human and machine, and it is vital that this link is understandable for both parts. Therefore, the design of the interface is of great importance in order to fully utilize the capabilities the technology provides. Assa Abloy is a company that offers solutions for entrance systems. The company’s portfolio of operating mode selectors does not offer a touch based user interface between the entrance system and the user. This master thesis seeks to build a prototype of such an interface which is focused on satisfying the needs of the user. The prototype should implement a graphical user interface that works as a link between the user and the entrance system. To achieve this, the graphical user interface utilizes a back-end communication protocol, which is forwarding and translating user actions to the door. The graphical user interface is implemented in the python programming language and the communication protocol is implemented in the C programming language. The communication between these programs are done using an MQTT broker. The programs are implemented using a Raspberry Pi, which utilizes a touch screen through high speed DPI interface. The back-end communication protocol communicates to the entrance system using RS-485 standard. This resulted in a prototype, which in appearance and functionality resembles a finished product. The most important features of the prototype is that it can be connected to a sliding door and control the operating mode as well as receiving and displaying error information in the form of a error number, description and a solution. The results provides insights about the design of a new generation of touch based operating mode selectors.

To implement a design that focuses on the user experience, this project is done in parallel
with another master thesis at Assa Abloy. This master thesis is focused on a UX-analysis of the current controller from the company and the insights gathered from the analysis is shared with our project. This offers interesting opportunities and influences the workflow of our project. Programming in industry is becoming more dependent on stakeholder feedback, and therefore workflows such as agile programming and extreme programming has been developed to account for this. To ensure that the opportunities the UX-analysis present are fully utilized, these techniques are used. In addition to develop a prototype of a new touch based user interface, this project serves as an example of how the agile programming methodology is beneficial to the results, when the initial specifications does not entirely specify the desired functionalities for a prototype.

Popular Abstract

Technology is a large part of every person's day to day life. The interface between people and tech is a crucial part in order for humans to utilize technology in an effective way, and sometimes this fails miserably. Everyone can relate to a time when the use of a technical product that is intended to make life easier has been a frustrating experience. This project aims to rapidly produce a prototype of a new type of control panel of an Assa Abloy entrance system which is touch based. In our master thesis, we developed this prototype and explored the advantages of a touch based control panel with the user experience in focus.

The result of this project can be seen in the picture. The prototype is able to connect to an entrance system and supports a multitude of functionalities.

The key features of the prototype includes but is not limited to:

Able to connect to a sliding door entrance system using a raspberry pi.

The user can select 5 different door modes.

Detailed description of error messages together with a suggested solution

Changing parameters of the sliding door

Clearly displaying the currently selected mode.


The control panel was produced in a rapid manner using off the shelf hardware and integrating it with software used to build the graphical user interface and connect to the entrance system. The design of the graphical user interface has been done in
conjunction with another master thesis, which aimed to perform a UX-study of a touch based user interface. The findings of this master thesis have been implemented during the development of our prototype, with the goal of making the result as user friendly as possible.

With technology developing rapidly in today's world, companies like Assa Abloy need to ensure that they keep pace and constantly are up to date with the market and the technologies available. Therefore this new product is of great importance to provide a more modern alternative to the older control panels consisting of buttons or a key to change between the different modes.

The prototype produced allows the company to get an early indication of how this product can look and interact with a sliding door. It can also be used as a platform to continue to develop new features and test them before implementing it in the real product.

• author: Söderberg, Hampus and Nilsson, Axel
• supervisor: Samuel Estenlund
• organization: Industrial Electrical Engineering and Automation
• course: EIEM01 20241
• year: 2024
• type: H3 - Professional qualifications (4 Years - )
• subject: Technology and Engineering
• keywords: Prototyping, Agile programming, XP, Raspberry pi, Graphical user interface, MMI, Con- trol panel
• publication/series: CODEN:LUTEDX/TEIE
• report number: 5514
• language: English
• id: 9175623
• date added to LUP: 2024-10-02 15:34:13
• date last changed: 2024-10-02 15:34:13