Cleanbox Technology’s Cleanbox system employs Nordic’s nRF52832 SoC enabling wireless updates to cleaning cycle parameters for VR/AR headsets via smartphone app
Nordic Semiconductor today announces that Cleanbox Technology, a global equipment-cleaning technology company, is employing Nordic’s nRF52832 Bluetooth® Low Energy (Bluetooth LE) System-on-Chip (SoC) in its ‘Cleanbox’ device. The solution helps virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) businesses and venues keep VR and AR headsets clean, dry, disinfected, and safe for use by guests at all times.
The Cleanbox system employs medical-grade ultra-violet (UVC) light and super-hydrophobic nanotech coatings that repel fluids and prevent them from seeping into the headsets, as well as an air system that removes detritus and any wetness remaining at the surface of the headset. The user simply places the VR/AR headsets inside the Cleanbox device, closes the door, and presses the start button to activate a 60-second cleaning and drying cycle that eliminates bacteria, viruses, and fungi.
The Nordic SoC-enabled Bluetooth LE wireless connectivity allows changes to be made to specific parameters in the regular headset cleaning cycle—such as extended cleaning cycles or longer air bursts—via the iOS-compatible Cleanbox app on a Bluetooth 4.0 (or later) smartphone or tablet. Such updates are performed by Cleanbox Technology service technicians, at the request of the Cleanbox device owner, as part of the ongoing system servicing and maintenance process.
The SoftDevice simplified our application code development and now allows us to perform secure over-the-air device firmware updates
David Georgeson, Cleanbox Technology
Nordic’s nRF52832 multiprotocol SoC combines a 64MHz, 32-bit Arm® Cortex® M4F processor with a 2.4GHz multiprotocol radio (supporting Bluetooth 5, ANT™, and proprietary 2.4GHz RF protocol software) featuring -96-dB RX sensitivity, with 512kB Flash memory and 64kB RAM. The SoC is supplied with Nordic’s S132 SoftDevice, a Bluetooth 5-certifed RF software protocol stack for building advanced Bluetooth LE applications. The S132 SoftDevice features Central, Peripheral, Broadcaster and Observer Bluetooth LE roles, supports up to twenty connections, and enables concurrent role operation. Nordic’s software architecture ensures a clean separation between the RF protocol software and the Cleanbox application.
“We selected the Nordic nRF52832 SoC to provide the Bluetooth LE connectivity for the Cleanbox system due to its powerful integrated Arm M4F processor and Nordic’s S132 SoftDevice. The SoftDevice simplified our application code development and now allows us to perform secure over-the-air device firmware updates [OTA-DFUs] for Cleanbox system upgrades,” says David Georgeson, CTO at Cleanbox Technology.
“The excellent Nordic Software Development Kit and the strong support and quick response times of Nordic’s application engineers have also been very important.”
