Electronic theft prevention
Lassi Lääperi · Theseus (Ammattikorkeakoulujen) · 2020
Kemppi OY is the leading manufacturer of welding equipment in Finland and one of the largest in its field in Europe. Kemppi’s Minarc product family contains multiple different devices and their modern revisions under the additional title EVO. Minarc devices are designed to be portable and usable on the go. The lightest Minarc machine weighs only 4Kg with the bulkiest variant weighing less than 10Kg. Despite being small and only TIG/MMA capable, Minarc devices are not necessarily cheap. The price for the cheapest machine of the Minarc family revolves around 500e with the priciest devices being close to 2000e. The convenience of the modern world is a double-edged sword. What is convenient for the user is also convenient for the thief, especially when it comes to portability. The thesis takes a brief look into small item theft prevention methods and modern electronic ways to prevent theft. The case was to create a device for Kemppi Oy’s Minarc welder that addresses the issue of equipment theft. The goal of the device was to incorporate new and existing IoT technologies to enable potential conversion of dumb machines into IoT ones through an additional connectivity module or a software update depending on the capabilities of existing devices. The IoT’s inherent connectivity to the internet can be used to detect, prevent and potentially deter theft. The device created in this thesis ended up using Bluetooth for its short range and LoRa for long range communication. A Raspberry Pi computer was used as the core of the device. The device was tested at Kemppi’s factory in Lahti to determine its range and usability in real world applications.