Customer
“We hired Softeq to convert prototype software into production-level software, across the whole gamut from machine-level code all the way to web user interface.”
- BUSINESS NAME ZAPS Technologies, LCC
- LOCATION USA
- BUSINESS ACTIVITY Water quality monitoring and analysis
Problem
ZAPS Technologies is a provider of high-precision optical instrumentation and services for water quality monitoring. The company’s flagship product is LiquID Station — a real-time multi-parameter water monitoring system, which measures water quality without reagents.
ZAPS Technologies turned to Softeq to port the software system underpinning LiquID Station’s business logic from Windows to a more resource-efficient Linux OS, and enable remote control and calibration capabilities to manage two of its modules (optical filters module and measurement data collection module) via a web interface.
One of the key requirements was to re-write the software using more traditional programming languages such as C++ and Java: the solution was initially based on the LabVIEW platform, which restricted its extensibility.
Solution
Seamless software-to-hardware communication
The Softeq team carried out system porting to Linux and developed a number of Java-driven interfaces to enable the software to seamlessly communicate with specific hardware devices:
- LabJack U3 data acquisition device
- NI 6602 counter/timer for creating measurement devices. To create this interface, our team had to solve some challenges stemming from the NI driver’s limited capabilities
- Interface for accessing motherboard inherent functionality
Remote data access
LiquID Station supports remote data access through a secure web user interface (WUI) enabling:
- Data retrieving and storage
- Data processing and visualization
- Alerts being sent to the end-user in case of critical water conditions, e.g. contaminants exceeding the acceptable level
The networking and remote access security is ensured with the SSL and SSH protocols, respectively. The roles and passwords are segregated to enable secure system updating and remote management.
