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Cannabis Extraction Software
Modernization
Better user experience and device management with smart operation automation.
Location: Denmark
Project
The client is the world’s first manufacturer of completely automated kitchen appliance (Merlin400) for home extracting and purifying cannabis oil. They were looking for a technology partner to help with cannabis oil extraction software modernization.
Product value
Patients often use cannabis oil, in the form of CBD and THC extracts, to alleviate symptoms of arthritis, migraines, and many other conditions, and it can reduce chemo therapy’s side effects. However, cannabis oil can be expensive and hard to get in an acceptable quality.
The client’s device, Merlin400, allows patients to manufacture their cannabis oil of known and superior quality and save costs. It is effortless to operate and can be used in the comfort of the patient’s home.
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Tools and technologies
CHALLENGE
Technical debt and lack of maintainability of an IoT platform
Our customer saw an opportunity to make CBD oil more accessible for people who need it for medicinal reasons by creating an oil manufacturing device for consumer use, thus moving the manufacturing process home.
Using 3D printing technology that allows for incredibly fast iterations, our client created an automated kitchen appliance that, in 2-4 hours, can extract 90% of the available cannabinoids from hemp and cannabis.
This manufacturing device called Merlin400 is a complex machine with built-in electronics that runs a few programs for extracting CBD and THC oil.
The embedded part is based on Raspberry PI, a Linux machine that runs code written in Python. The startup founder did most of the coding, but the code was polluted, with lots of technical debt, not structured, and lacked maintainability. They were looking for a technology partner who can help with cannabis software modernization project.
SOLUTION
Automated firmware updates and improved code security
As the legislation towards CBD products for medical use is changing from illegal to legal, Drizzle created an innovative consumer device that solves a medicinal problem by making a complex manufacturing process simple. The product has received a Consumer Electronics certification and is also in the Danish Medicines Agency’s four-year trial program for preparing CBD oil for medical purposes.
Drizzle approached Euristiq when it recognized the need to improve device software – help refactor the codebase, and implement new features on both frontend and backend. Our expert suggested adding such processes as testing and CI/CD, which improved the development process.
One of the main updates the Euristiq team has carried out is implementing a secure way to update firmware over the air through built-in WiFi. The client wanted to improve device security and use obfuscation. We integrated the obfuscation process in the CI/CD pipeline so the resulting Python code is protected from being tampered with.
Previously, the firmware was copied from Github and installed manually. We introduced automation to firmware updates. The new build is being published through continuous integration, and new firmware is installed automatically in one package. Euristiq also added new functionality to the device – actions that manage the device state, like turning the heater on and keeping it operating for 10 min.
Our team has programmed the way device is provisioned initially. It requires a certificate to work with Amazon IoT, and the data is being sent back and forth. We integrated device provisioning into the initial device setup so this happens automatically. We also enabled device logs – recording of specific metrics. Minor changes were also done on the frontend side (React Native app), new features added, and new controls.
IMPACT
Significantly reduced costs for cannabidiol oil extraction
Merlin400 is the world’s first-ever entirely 3D printed food processing machine that complies with the food industry’s strict international standards.
Manufactured from plastic compared to expensive stainless steel that is customary in chemistry and extraction machines, it significantly reduces costs for cannabidiol oil production.
The device is produced in Denmark and distributed in other countries such as Germany, The Netherlands, Spain, the Czech Republic, and Switzerland.
The cooperation with Euristiq improved the device operability and system development processes – it became easier to test the device, and firmware release became trivial.
The next steps for the client are accelerating production, developing a more user-friendly version of the app, and expanding to the European markets. Drizzle is currently looking for partners to boost the manufacturing process.