It’s the stuff budding inventors and programmers dream of: a development platform which integrates anything from Wi-Fi to USB, motion and colour sensors and a compass in a device the size of your fist.

But a University of Malta engineering student has succeeded in developing just that, turning his final year project into a business venture launched on crowdfunding platforms IndieGoGo and Zaar.

Reuben Ferrante presenting his eeMod.

Reuben Ferrante’s eeMod is designed as an educational tool for would-be inventors and engineers, allowing them to design products and learn embedded programming with ease.

It can be programmed to be a mobile robot, robotic arm, internet of things platform, or even wireless games controller, with its multiple sensors and modules making it programmable for countless uses. 

Its design makes it ideal for swarm robotics research, with multiple eeMods capable of networking wirelessly to demonstrate how a swarm might behave in a physical environment.

Such swarm devices already exist but are far more costly than the eeMod, which uses two PCB modules to house its multiple sensors.

Mr Ferrante made use of the University of Malta’s TAKEOFF Business Incubator to develop his eeMod, a University initiative aimed at helping IT-based entrepreneurs and start-ups turn their ideas into viable business ventures.

The eeMod is now available for pre-order from both Zaar and IndieGoGo.