What is Pulsefex?
Pulsefex is an embedded systems project built as the final project for the Embedded Systems course at York University. The system captures and displays real-time heart rate and SpO2 (blood oxygen) levels using medical-grade sensors.
Built on the STM32WB55RG microcontroller, Pulsefex interfaces with the MAX30102 pulse oximeter and TMP102 temperature sensor via I2C, with all real-time data rendered on an SSD1306 OLED screen.
My first embedded systems project — I stepped far outside my software comfort zone to learn low-level C programming, MCU architecture, and physical circuit fabrication.
System Architecture
Four components working in concert — from signal capture through to real-time display.
My Contributions
My primary responsibility was the low-level I2C driver for the SSD1306 OLED screen — written entirely in C. I built custom drivers to send bit data directly to the display, allowing the team to render and update heart rate visuals in real time.
I was also responsible for the circuit design and physical fabrication — laying out the connections between components, building the circuit on a breadboard, and soldering the final assembly together. First time soldering anything; learned fast.
The experience gave me hands-on confidence with MCU architecture, I2C communication protocols, hardware debugging, and real-time data retrieval — a completely different mindset from software-only development.
Group Members
A five-person team from York University — each contributing across firmware, hardware, and integration over a two-month development period.