Re: [PLOTS] intro activity for data loggers

[Jeffrey Warren]

Chris replied in with some really good questions, many of which get at the question of "constraints" -- i.e. what constraints are you designing towards? A specific cost, size, weight, # of parts or complexity... as well as an audience you're designing for (even if that's just yourself!)

I think this is a really helpful thing for any project or posting (on PublicLab.org or elsewhere!) to lay out up front -- sort of like the design philosophy section of the aerial mapping page. 

For this case, I think we're looking for what an initial 'shakedown' or even an onboarding activity might look like -- one where, in a more controlled setting, someone new to a given logger could try it out at lower risk, to confirm something they already know -- say, a hot and a cold bucket of water -- and make sure the logger is doing what they expect it to. 

Jeff

On Fri, Jun 16, 2017 at 2:31 PM, Stevie Lewis <ste...@publiclab.org> wrote:

Hi there,

There's more and more interest in different affordable open source data logging tools in water monitoring, and we'll be testing some out at the Barnraising next weekend. We're hoping to come up with a standard "intro activity" that could help people test out a logger -- so I posted this Q: What would be a good basic activity to test out a data logging device in water? 

Any ideas?  

-Stevie

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[Carol Johnson]

Hi all,

My first question is, similar to Chris's, what can the data loggers do? Conductivity? Turbidity? pH, dissolved oxygen? We could put different things in jars of water like known amounts of salt (e.g. make a calibration curve of salt concentration vs response, to make sure it's linear), and mix salt (inorganic) with food coloring (organic). Does the presence of food coloring affect the salt measurement, which might be applicable to complex environmental systems where there are inorganics and organics present? I'll keep thinking...

-Carol

On Monday, June 19, 2017 at 3:13:27 PM UTC-4, Jeffrey Warren wrote:

Chris replied in with some really good questions, many of which get at the question of "constraints" -- i.e. what constraints are you designing towards? A specific cost, size, weight, # of parts or complexity... as well as an audience you're designing for (even if that's just yourself!)

I think this is a really helpful thing for any project or posting (on PublicLab.org or elsewhere!) to lay out up front -- sort of like the design philosophy section of the aerial mapping page. 

For this case, I think we're looking for what an initial 'shakedown' or even an onboarding activity might look like -- one where, in a more controlled setting, someone new to a given logger could try it out at lower risk, to confirm something they already know -- say, a hot and a cold bucket of water -- and make sure the logger is doing what they expect it to. 

Jeff

On Fri, Jun 16, 2017 at 2:31 PM, Stevie Lewis <ste...@publiclab.org> wrote:

Hi there,

There's more and more interest in different affordable open source data logging tools in water monitoring, and we'll be testing some out at the Barnraising next weekend. We're hoping to come up with a standard "intro activity" that could help people test out a logger -- so I posted this Q: What would be a good basic activity to test out a data logging device in water? 

Any ideas?  

-Stevie

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[Jeffrey Warren]

Great, thanks! I added yours to the post as well.

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[Stevie Lewis]

Hi Carol! 

So excited to work on this at Barnraising! Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but the data loggers will collect and store the data (also potentially transmit!) from whatever sensor we figure to add to it. So if, like we're talking about here, we're interested in temperature, we'll add a sensor for that. 

Best,

Stevie

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[Chris Fastie]

That is correct, the loggers can have many different kinds of sensors connected to them. Several sensors can be connected at the same time. Most loggers do not come with any sensors by default, although many have a real time clock with a thermometer which can be read and reported. The Nano Logger Kit comes with a sensor for barometric pressure and temperature. The sketch loaded on the Nano will start reading that sensor, saving the data to SD card, and displaying it on the serial monitor. If you connect another sensor, the sketch will have to be modified.

The Mini Pearl Logger Kit does not come with a sensor, but the starter sketch for it (available here) will read time and temperature data from the real time clock, save it to SD card, and display it on the serial monitor.

Although these loggers can send data via USB to a computer and display it (serial monitor), transmitting the data elsewhere requires additional hardware (e.g., a radio for wifi or cellular).

Carol's list of parameters that sensors should sense (Conductivity? Turbidity? pH, dissolved oxygen?) includes some of the top picks for water quality monitoring. Unfortunately, inexpensive, off-the-shelf sensors can't sense those things. One could use inexpensive components to make a conductivity sensor or turbidity sensor, but that is a rather big project. One can buy sensors for those parameters, but they cost maybe $100 to $400 and might not work with some Arduino based sensors. 

The realm of DIY data logging is a small subset of the realm of environmental sensing. 

Chris

[Carol Johnson]

Hi Chris, Stevie,

Thanks, this is helpful. Coming from the environmental field in academia I have no idea what is available at low cost, and am looking forward to learning more and helping design studies for what is available. 

So at the Barnraising, will we have different sensors to play with (and which ones)? Just temperature and time? I guess I'm still confused on how to help answer your original question, Stevie. 

Best,

Carol

[Stevie Lewis]

Hi, 

Thanks again for clarifications and follow ups. Carol for the question I posted, was looking for activities to "get acquainted" with the data loggers. Especially for people who have a water interest. For example: "What type of activity could we test out doing at the Barnraising in an hour or so with the data logger (or loggers) we're bringing?"

I'm interested in exploring what that activity might be in hopes we could test it out and write it up so others can do it as a "first step to working with your data logger."

I think we'll have a few data loggers at the Barnraising, including some of the ones Chris mentioned, and one or two sensors - definately temperature. These clarifications and follow up questions are really helpful! 

(I'll copy these responses over to the online question I posted)

Best,

Stevie

[Kina Smith]

Hi. I'll chime in here too, as I do a lot of work with these low cost dataloggers and sensors.

Doing something simple that is physically noticeable is a good way to demonstrate what a datalogger is and how it's useful. Air temperature. Relative humidity. Light intensity. Wind speed. Stuff like that. The sensors are very cheap for all of these factors and I think it's better to measure something that we can physically feel at first instead of salinity or stuff that we can't actually see. 

I'm actually working on materials for a 2 week science camp for highschoolers right now where I am teaching about building diy dataloggers and measuring environmental data with inexpensive sensors. I'll share them once they're in a more complete state. 

[Stevie Lewis]

Hi there,

Awesome!! That would be amazing, I'm looking forward to seeing them!

We were able to get the Mini Pearl and the Nano up and running at Appalachia Barnraising. We found the Mini Pearl was a bit more plug and play, but both were interesting. The Mini Pearl had a barometric pressure sensor we were able to plug in immediately to get some data which was satisfying! The nano took a bit more work, but I think Leslie Birch got it going after some excitement involving a few sparks and a little bit of smoke, but no harm done! Think she'll be posting about it on Public Lab soon. Keep an eye out.

Best and thanks for all the support!! 

-Stevie 

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[Jeffrey Warren]

Yeah this was a really fun and informative session. I think we could do a writeup based on the kinds of initial "shakedown" tests people did with the sensors -- i remember one group put it in the freezer, then in an underarm (ha!) to test hot/cold. I'm curious if any group did that with two sensors and compared the outputs?

Thanks!

J

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