DMC began working with Full Tilt, a technology startup originally out of MHUB Chicago, when they reached out to help develop their new product: MatFresher. Due to the complexity of its electronics, they needed DMC’s expert team of hardware, firmware, and other embedded engineers. 

The MatFresher portable kiosk thoroughly cleans yoga mats through a variety of methods, including brushing, UVC light, and a natural cleaning solution. First, DMC worked with Full Tilt’s mechanical team to familiarize ourselves with the motors, sensors, and other components of the device. Then, we moved into the design phase of our embedded solution.

This graphic explains the five steps MatFresher users go through when using the appliance.

Cellular Modem Connection

DMC designed and programmed the main PCB that interfaced between the MatFresher’s mechanics and LCD display, as well as programmed its HMI. The MatFresher needed to be able to connect to the internet, but there were a variety of ways to do so. Our team decided that the best IoT solution would be to use a cellular modem. 

It’s advantageous to have the MatFresher connect through a cell modem because then there are no Wi-Fi requirements for the yoga studios that would host the device. Additionally, each user can easily input their phone number to access their account when operating the kiosk. This means the MatFresher is much more reliable, easy to install, and can be distributed widely. 

Once we decided the best methodology was to connect cellularly, we worked with a third-party application development team to integrate this cloud solution. DMC has our own custom application development team, that our embedded engineers often work with. However, we are just as experienced and comfortable collaborating with a third party as we are with our team. 

DMC worked closely with these developers to determine all of the communication between the MatFresher machine, our device, and the cloud application. After performing many tests of the cleaning kiosk to ensure each component was operating and synchronizing correctly, the MatFresher was ready to be deployed. With DMC’s wide range of expertise and experience, we were able to deliver this solution quickly and efficiently while still meeting all of our client’s needs. 

This is the circuit board DMC designed, and it wraps directly around the LCD screen as well as connects to it. 

Learn more about DMC's product development expertise and contact us to get started on your next project.