Application to Measure Sensor Data and Various Parameters

[Tuan Nguyen]

Hello there,

My name is Tuan Nguyen, and I am a 2nd year undergraduate student studying Computer Science at University College London.

I am very interested in developing the mobile application to measure sensor data on the Android platform. I was initially planning to make use of the Android sensors for a next personal project of mine, but instead I found this and thought this was a much more interesting and useful.

I have already looked at the Android API and discovered some really neat features about the sensors on the hardware to gather raw data.  Here is a list of how I imagine to capture these sensor data: 

• Magnetic field - The geomagnetic field sensor can be used measure the geomagnetic in x, y and z axis.
• Elevation - Elevation can be calculated from an initially set height (and maybe by sea level?) by using the geomagnetic field sensor.
• Distance - Distance can calculated from an initially set position in 3D space by using the geomagnetic field sensor again.
• Noise and Sound - Sound can be measured via the microphone, and data such as noise can be extracted from it.
• Seismic Waves - A Seismometer effect can be achieved by placing the device on a flat surface and measuring vibration of the surroundings (I still need to do more research into this, but I am thinking of measuring the differences in the magnetic field over time).

As for representing a simple 2D graph in real time, the most obvious and easiest choice I can imagine of visualizing all the data, would be to use the Android Canvas. I have experience in using the Canvas and handling graphics in real time when I initially learned to use Android to make a game (unfortunately it was never intended to be released, but I can show proof of it). 

I would also like to implement an Android Background Service into the application, so it can run while the device is in idle for long periods of time.  This would be useful for practical situations to view the:

• Elevation made during a mountain climbing session.
• Distance moved during a jogging session.
• Monitoring the seismic activity for hours at home.

I have a year experience in working on the Android platform.  Here is a list of some notable applications I have been involved in:

+ Developed a tablet application to manage medical symptoms and appointments of players for PGA golf.

+ Currently I am developing a system called 'Facebook AutoLike' where I have an Android application and Arduino based device working alongside, to 'like' web pages using NFC and detecting users proximity to receive promotion via BLE.

+ I am working on an original interesting puzzle game running on the 'AndEngine' game engine, which I plan to release in April.

If you are interested in taking me on, please do not hesitate to contact me and I can show you some mock up designs of how I envision the application to be.

[Pankaj Nathani]

Hi Tuan,

Thanks for your introduction. It seems you have a good understanding of the app and have already done good research implementing the features. I like your idea of implementing a background listener for long practical measurements use cases. 

Please feel free to write back (you can reply privately) let us know how we can help you. I think working on possible mock up designs is good start, get our feedback on them before preparing a draft proposal.

Cheers,

Pankaj.