After disassembling the new corona inspection kit, an ARM chip came out and it turned out that it was a high-tech product beyond imagination

Foone , a programmer working on hardware and software reverse engineering , disassembled the 'COVID-19 Home Test ', a new coronavirus infection (COVID-19) test kit that can be used at home, and found it inside. It became clear that an Arm chip was embedded, and it turned out to be more high-tech than I had imagined.

foone (@Foone) / Twitter
https://twitter.com/Foone

The 'COVID-19 Home Test' made by Ellume, which allows you to perform COVID-19 inspection at home, is an inspection kit with a simple structure that does not have a display etc. on the main body and has only one button. The test results are designed to be sent to a smartphone connected via Bluetooth.

Teardown time. OKSO this is a home test for that pandemic thing that I don't want to mention. It's a Fancy one: No screen, only one button. It bluetooths to your phone. Pic.twitter.com/2I1EcvZesd

— Foone (@Foone) December 26, 2021

It looks like this and is very simple. On the right is a gray circular button, and when you place a sample in the dent on the right, the light flashes and the inspection is performed.

Inside the box you've got the testing device itself. You put the sample on the left side, there's a blinky light, and a button. Pic.twitter.com/tP4wO4unuv

— Foone (@Foone) December 26, 2021

The product name and FCC ID are printed on the back.

Inside the box you've got the testing device itself. You put the sample on the left side, there's a blinky light, and a button. Pic.twitter.com/tP4wO4unuv

— Foone (@Foone) December 26, 2021

When the housing is disassembled, it contains a printed circuit board, moisture-proof material, and button batteries, and 'the contents are very similar to a pregnancy test kit,' Foone said.

So open it up and we've got a plastic guide on top of a PCB, an anti-moisture tablet, and a button cell battery.
Looking pretty similar to a pregnancy test at this point. Pic.twitter.com/sNWjiwyppm

— Foone (@Foone) December 26, 2021

When the black case on the printed circuit board is disassembled, there is an inspection sheet inside ...

The plastic guide is a little more complicated, though.
You've got the test strip and a plastic cover on top of it pic.twitter.com/D3Wx2xTWW1

— Foone (@Foone) December 26, 2021

You can see that a lens etc. is mounted under it.

Removing the test strip, you can see it's more complicated underneath, too: There's lenses! Pic.twitter.com/GQzXzvsXds

— Foone (@Foone) December 26, 2021

The photo below shows this lens taken closer.

a close-up on the lenses pic.twitter.com/XGfljfF9c1

— Foone (@Foone) December 26, 2021

Furthermore, according to the printed circuit board, 'you can see a few LEDs and two optical sensors.'

And the PCB itself is also more complicated. We've got 2 or three LEDs, and 2 light sensors pic.twitter.com/SED4T39AJ5

— Foone (@Foone) December 26, 2021

The back side of the printed circuit board is as follows. 'BT Analyzer PCB --Stanley v3.0' 'M1000169' and what seems to be the name of the board are also written.

The bottom of the PCB has some names.
It's the BT Analyzer PCB-Stanley v3.0, and M1000169 (nice)
A lot of test points all over the bottom. Pic.twitter.com/WIPPAoIegp

— Foone (@Foone) December 26, 2021

Other things that can be confirmed on the board are 'ELMBTC15 080 11053' and ...

ELMBTC15 08011053 pic.twitter.com/ps9yzu9z5v

— Foone (@Foone) December 26, 2021

Black antenna on a black board

It's hard to get a picture because it's black on black, but there's an antenna here pic.twitter.com/wab4ZeBCto

— Foone (@Foone) December 26, 2021

Nordic Semiconductor's SoC ' nRF52810 ' etc. The nRF52810 has an Arm Cortex-M4 running at 64MHz, 192KB of flash storage, 24KB of memory (RAM), and a 2.4GHz Bluetooth LE- enabled transceiver.

SO! The chip!
It's a Nordic Semiconductor nRF52810.
An ARM'S It Cortex-M4 That Runs At 64Mhz. 192 Kilobytes Of Flash Storage, 24 Kilobytes Of RAM, And Built In 2.4Ghz Transceiver. It'S Designed For Bluetooth LE, But Can Do Proprietary 2.4Ghz Protocols And ANT. Pic.Twitter.Com / DmUbid3Fdw

— Foone (@Foone) December 26, 2021

The nRF52810 operates at 1.6 to 3.6V and has a built-in 12-bit A / D converter. In addition, the product outline of nRF52810 states 'disposable medical sensor' as a recommended application.

It runs at 1.6v to 3.6v and has a 12-bit ADC built in.
The product brief lists 'disposable medical sensors' as one of the suggested applications for it. Pic.twitter.com/Y9jBajLUgV

— Foone (@Foone) December 26, 2021

According to DigiKey Electronics , the nRF52810 costs $ 3.85 (about 440 yen) individually, but if you buy 1000 or more in bulk, the unit price per piece will drop to $ 1.925 (about 220 yen). The COVID-19 Home Test is sold at Wal-Mart for $ 26.1 (about 3000 yen).

So you might ask 'BUT CAN IT RUN DOOM !?'
well, it has enough CPU power, but that's not enough RAM.
You'd need to add more to get a Doom running on it.

— Foone (@Foone) December 26, 2021

In addition, Mr. Foone has succeeded in playing DOOM on the pregnancy test kit in the past, but nRF52810 has insufficient memory to play DOOM. However, the nRF52810 has two interfaces, SPI and I2C, as well as Nordic Semiconductor's unique programmable peripheral interconnect bus, so adding memory is 'definitely possible'.