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There's an ARM Cortex-M4 with Bluetooth inside a Covid test kit

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Re: There's an ARM Cortex-M4 with Bluetooth inside a Covid test kit

#111

Post by viraptor »

varjag wrote: post #110
viraptor wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also availability. The more basic the chip, the easier / faster it is to get 1k of them. (or to find a perfect/close match requiring minimal changes)

That's only a recent thing really.

It's a recent thing on a world scale. But it's always been an issue and applies to anything you buy - the more sophisticated, the fewer items are stocked in warehouses. It's not that they wouldn't be available, it's that once you start ordering hundreds, the lead time will change from days to weeks at some point.

Re: There's an ARM Cortex-M4 with Bluetooth inside a Covid test kit

#112

Post by monocasa »

qbasic_forever wrote: post #52
monocasa wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think they wanted an M4 per se, but instead wanted a bluetooth radio to save on the cost of a screen. The Nordic chip just happens to be based around an M4.

IIRC Nordic has a M0 version with bluetooth radio--the BBC micro:bit and a few other maker boards used it. But perhaps it's not really available in cheap quantities anymore and a way overpowered M4 is what they got.

Yeah, those are the nrf51x line, this is the nrf52x line. It seems from the outside at least that Nordic is pushing the nrf52x hard even in price conscious designs. Even the micro::bit was respun for a v2 with a nrf52x also (including it's M4). Albeit I don't have much direct data on that.

Re: There's an ARM Cortex-M4 with Bluetooth inside a Covid test kit

#113

Post by [deleted] »

evan_ wrote: post #67

I wonder why they didn’t use NFC. They could get away with a much simpler chip, or even a fully analog solution if they didn’t need the complexity of Bluetooth. Seems like you could just about accomplish the same thing with a pair of NFC tokens, a photodiode, and some transistors. Basic components. Connect one of the two NFC chips to the coil depending on how much light is reflected off the test strip. When you scann…

[deleted]

Re: There's an ARM Cortex-M4 with Bluetooth inside a Covid test kit

#115

Post by delroth »

hnaccount_rng wrote: post #101
justinc8687 wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the argument (which to be clear, I don't agree with) is that there isn't a big federal database of vaccinations. Now mind you, if people understood how the EU QR codes work (public/private key), they'd realize this wasn't an issue, but if people are staunchly anti-vax / anti-science, this is probably a big ask...

But also, just to be clear: This doesn't prevent "forgeries" from circulating. Those aren't home-made, but you can just copy a QR code from someone else. And next-to-noone is checking the ID (which in theory would be required to close that point). And even if the ID were to be checked, all you need to find is one doctor or pharmacist, that is willing to misread your yellow book (WHO vaccination booklet). I'd still sa…

> And next-to-noone is checking the ID (which in theory would be required to close that point).

Depends on the country. France doesn't usually check the ID when they scan the QR codes. Switzerland more often than not does, at least in the German speaking part of the country where I live.

Re: There's an ARM Cortex-M4 with Bluetooth inside a Covid test kit

#117

Post by bushbaba »

evan_ wrote: post #67

I wonder why they didn’t use NFC. They could get away with a much simpler chip, or even a fully analog solution if they didn’t need the complexity of Bluetooth. Seems like you could just about accomplish the same thing with a pair of NFC tokens, a photodiode, and some transistors. Basic components. Connect one of the two NFC chips to the coil depending on how much light is reflected off the test strip. When you scann…

iPhones only relatively recently started supporting nfc for non payment use cases. https://blog.nordicsemi.com/getconnected/native-nfc-support-...

Re: There's an ARM Cortex-M4 with Bluetooth inside a Covid test kit

#119

Post by theta_d »

wcunning wrote: post #26

So my followup question is: I have a few of these, can I do anything with them once I'm done with the test? Hook up to the headers and reprogram? What about the Binax test? Or any of the other "connected" ones?

Binax is just some cardboard and a strip, no chips.

Re: There's an ARM Cortex-M4 with Bluetooth inside a Covid test kit

#120

Post by mrunkel »

AlexanderDhoore wrote: post #116

As a European: why are there chips in this? I just broke open mine and it looks like this: https://imgur.com/a/muz7FIy I bought 50 of these 2 weeks ago. Were 3-4 euro a piece.

It’s for the Bluetooth piece. The optical sensor reads the result and the turns on the light and/or lets the phone know over Bluetooth.

Seems unnecessary, but if people want to buy it…

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