CLIENT

Hova Networks is a software company with extensive experience in telecommunications, healthcare, telematics, and IT. Hova sought to move from hardcopy to electronic medical records in Mexico City in order to reduce cost, enable doctors to spend more time with patients, and reduce errors associated with misfiles or misdirected physical records. Hova approached Motivo for the design and development of a mobile patient authentication device and a build of 210 units for pilot deployment in doctors’ offices.

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REQUIREMENTS

Switching to electronic records requires secure patient authentication. This required the development of physical user interface hardware with the combined capacity to read in a smart card, identify a patient’s fingerprints, and communicate with a remote server over the internet. The unit needed to allow for intuitive and easy use of the fingerprint reader and card reader, adequately cool the internal electronics via natural convection, and have an appealing design.

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CHALLENGE

The main challenges of this project included determining an appealing industrial design while maintaining a small package and reasonable cost for small volume production. The device was intended to be customer touch-heavy, so the interface needed to be intuitive and easy to operate. The enclosure needed to be designed for manufacture as a plastic injection molded case while taking into consideration FCC compliance issues. The project also involved management and coordination of vendors from China, Mexico, Germany, and USA. Furthermore, the schedule was challenging as the customer needed to deploy 200 units with a hard government deadline.

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MOTIVO’S SOLUTION

Motivo solved the design and packaging problem by coming up with a unique shape that allowed components to be layered efficiently, resulting in an engaging shape yet minimizing the device footprint to save space on the desk. Motivo leveraged commercial off-the-shelf components to create a low cost, seamlessly integrated unit. The device could connect to the server through WiFi or Ethernet, allowing for better flexibility. After validation of the design with 3d printing, Motivo assembled and packaged 210 injection molded units in house. Each unit was then flashed with the end firmware and assigned a unique security ID. Motivo performed end of line testing, quality control and retail packaging design. The units were then each packaged into their retail boxes, bulk packaged for shipment, and drop shipped to the customer. Remote diagnostics and debug support was provided once the systems were fielded.

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OUTCOME

The project went from concept generation and system architecture development to initial 3D printed fit-functionality-and-feel prototype in 9 weeks. Final design for manufacturability and the build and validation of 210 units was completed in an additional 12 weeks. The total project schedule and cost were three times lower than would be typical for a consumer electronics job. The success of this pilot project resulted in continued partnership with Hova on further government projects.