The Evolv Express system is a free-flow weapons-detection system that can
screen 3,600 people an hour. The initial release of this groundbreaking product
was standalone devices, installed at customer sites.
However, Evolv has a much broader vision for the product that includes data
analytics, machine learning, and data fusion. The original architecture that relied
on embedded processing, local data storage, and a UI/UX attached to each
freestanding system limited the growth in capabilities for this product.
Supporting customers globally was also a challenge for the Customer Support
organization. The loosely connected freestanding device architecture meant that
devices at each site location had to be monitored and supported individually, a
difficult scenario as Evolv’s shipments scaled.
Evolv and VividCloud both saw these challenges as an IoT migration opportunity.
By turning the Express system into a network of smart, connected, Industrial IoT
devices, a much more ambitious roadmap of new and expanded features became
possible.
The first application targeted by Evolv to be migrated from the embedded device
was the UI. VividCloud rearchitected the legacy software into a Progressive Web
Application (PWA) in Angular to improve the UX and allowing it to be used
immediately on Android and Windows devices. As a PWA, could be run on a
variety of other platforms, including MacOS and iOS, should Evolv ever have the
business need.
The second application to be migrated and enhanced was the legacy application
that could only display usage and performance data on the Express systems
screen. To support this and other applications to follow, VividCloud architected a
multi-tenant system on AWS to store usage and performance data from Express
systems deployed globally. The implementation included development of data
pipelines to capture, process, and store the scanner data for all systems on AWS.
A dashboard application was developed allowing users to view the status of all
Express systems deployed and manage those systems through a set of IoT Jobs.
The monitoring solution also provides an analytics dashboard providing users with
several Tableau visualizations of the scanner data.
To meet security standards including tenant data encryption, a strict separation of
environments was implemented to avoid exposing production data to lower
security environments. VividCloud implemented an AWS Account Landing Zone
leveraging AWS Control Tower.
The Landing Zone consists of amongst other core components three AWS accounts
that host multiple sandbox environments for daily development as well as a staging
account for demonstrating different versions of the product and a production
environment. Deployments to AWS have been fully automated leveraging Gitlab
CI/CD pipelines, Ansible Playbooks and AWS CloudFormation.
The Evolv AWS platform was deployed on schedule and operational with every
Express system.
Evolv offers a secure and seamless weapons detection and screening experience for public
and private venues.
Their products make it possible for venues of all kinds to keep visitors safe from concealed
weapons, public health threats and intruders.
Key products include Evolv Express and Evolv Edge.
Founded in 2013, the company is headquartered in Massachusetts, and where their products are
designed and manufactured
