Sensit Technologies Swiss Army Programmer (SAP) App
Level of Education of Students Involved
Undergraduate
Faculty Sponsor
Nicholas Rosasco
College
College of Arts & Sciences (CAS)
Discipline(s)
Computer science
ORCID Identifier(s)
0009-0008-8060-5064, 0009-0008-1827-6247
Presentation Type
Poster Presentation
Symposium Date
Spring 4-24-2025
Abstract
Sensit Technologies, a Valparaiso-based company that manufactures gas leak detection equipment, requested an application to reduce manufacturing complexity. Our goal with the Swiss Army Programmer (SAP) App is to simplify the firmware uploading process for the operator through the integration and consolidation of these complex configurations and tasks done by the application without user input. The new application is authored using C# and Windows Presentation Foundation to enable loading of single-board computers with firmware. The complexities of pairing Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs) to appropriate loaders creates additional, avoidable tasks for assembly technicians, requiring them to juggle more than 5 software tools, each with unique file navigation systems and user interfaces. This application aims to provide Sensit with a uniform suite to support all of their PCBs, thereby reducing that workload and specific task complexity. As opposed to the PCB configurations for all of the different software (each of which has a unique process for identifying the type of PCB and its configuration), the SAP App aims to allow an operator to simply select a product and the type of microcontroller the product uses and start/stop the download process. One of the challenges this project faced included the need for physical hardware and products used for testing purposes. In addition, the lack of resources on this highly specialized domain provided the challenge of creating extensive and from-scratch software for unique device detection, PCB and product configuration, and loading protocols.
Recommended Citation
Beals, Nate and Vazquez, Aidan, "Sensit Technologies Swiss Army Programmer (SAP) App" (2025). Symposium on Undergraduate Research and Creative Expression (SOURCE). 1452.
https://scholar.valpo.edu/cus/1452
Biographical Information about Author(s)
Aidan Vazquez is a junior at Valparaiso University, majoring in Computer Science.
Nathan Beals is a sophomore at Valparaiso University, majoring in Computer Science.