Day 2: A Day of Problem-Solving & Progress
The second day kicked off with a coffee and standup meeting under palm trees in the entry court. All the teams went back to their tables, some teams diving straight into prototyping. Our “software – team” continued refining their setups from yesterday and installing the software on their system. However, the day quickly turned into a true test of problem-solving skills, pushing our team to think creatively and adapt on the fly.
Hardware & Network Challenges
The students started by creating a YAML file to install InfluxDB, Grafana, and Telegraf on their laptops. The plan was to then install it on a Raspberry Pi, but a hardware problem prevented the initial setup. On top of that, slow Wi-Fi forced us to switch to a LAN cable, improving stability.
Switching Raspberry Pi Models: We had to switch between Raspberry Pi models due to missing cables and incompatible processor architectures. The Raspberry Pi 2 lacked computing power, while the Raspberry Pi 3 had SSH issues. We gave it another try with Raspberry Pi 4 after finding the missing connector in the in-house Web shop — an internal store organized by the ITQ team 💪🏻. It was a fun twist — orders were placed online and picked up at the other end of the room, turning logistics into part of the challenge! 😉
Software & Storage Struggles
Once hardware issues were resolved, we encountered software version conflicts: We had to install an older version of MongoDB and the latest version Mnestix API from the Dev-branch, since the initially used version wasn’t supported by our processor. Additionally, the newest version of the Eclipse BaSyx AAS Environment wasn’t compatible with this Mongo version, requiring a workaround. Then the Raspberry Pi’s SD card ran out of space while installing the database. We had to delete unnecessary files to free up storage. What a mess!
After spending the whole day testing different software and hardware configurations, we ultimately gave up on using a physical mini-computer and decided to host the software on a virtual machine in the cloud! Yeay! 🎉
After overcoming numerous setbacks, we finally got Docker Compose to communicate between the individual components.
Workshop: Measuring the Product Carbon Footprint with Digital Twins 
Amidst all the technical challenges, Christian held his workshop on “Circular economy supported by Digital Twins.” More than 30 students and professors joined in, engaging in lively discussions that showed just how relevant and essential digital solutions are for young people. It was great to see so much interest around the topic!
Progress in the Murr Elektronik Challenge
Meanwhile, the other teams working within the Murr Elektronik Challenge made great progress:
The Plastic Processing and Injection Molding team started assembling their prototype and setting up their machines on the main table.
The Robotics team engineered a way to automatically lower the lever of the injection molding machine and power the shredder, improving efficiency.
Their advancements are especially exciting for our Digital Twin team, as this is where we will measure energy consumption next!
A Learning Experience Beyond the Classroom
This day truly tested problem-solving skills, but it was inspiring to see how quickly our students came up with new ideas, adapted, explored new tools, and collaborated. Many tackled MQTT and Docker for the first time, proving that hands-on challenges are the best way to learn.
Looking Ahead: What’s Next?
Tomorrow, our team will take the next big step: connecting to one of the challenge machines and measuring its energy consumption. 📉📈📉 Can’t wait to see the results!
And in the meantime, I had lots of fun learning some Schwytzerdüütsch 🇨🇭 from our young talents from GBS St. Gallen! 😁
⬅️ go to DAY 3 or back to DAY 1 ➡️