Seismometer Raspberry Pi
Barbara Fillmore
For the first few weeks, I mostly had fun observing the oscillation of the washing machine's motor during the spin cycle (the up and down lines below), or the noisy 30 Hz tone of the dryer's drum, spinning for an hour or two at a time (the constant noise you see after the undulating washing machine):
The model I had was pre-assembled and came with an official Pi power supply and a pre-flashed microSD card with the Shake software package preinstalled. They also offer a weatherproof outdoor model, and models with features like vertical and horizontal geophones, sonic sensors for infrasound, and extra motion sensors to detect a wider range of earthquakes.
The image you see above was actually pulled by a local geophysicist, Dr. Robert Herrmann, who I interviewed at length in my video on the Raspberry Shake and citizen science. He's maintained a software package called Computer Programs in Seismology for decades, starting on a PDP 11, and it's been ported to all modern platforms since then.
Using the public data available through Raspberry Shake's 'ShakeNet', Dr. Herrmann was able to pull up and correlate sensor data from all the regional Shakes in the AM ('Amateur') Seismograph Network:
This post isn't a full review of the Raspberry Shake. Heck, I barely know the differences between a $10,000 Nanometrix Trillium and a Shake! But that's why I spent a few hours with Dr. Herrmann on SLU's campus, and asked him a lot about their on-campus seismic vault, which has been recording data for nearly 100 years:
SLU continously monitors the Earth's movement, and is one of many institutions which helps governments, corporations, and individuals build better structures, remain accountable (the AFTAC's U.S. Atomic Energy Detection System helps enforce the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty), and learn more about the world under them.
You should watch the video if this post piqued your interest. I started this journey thinking it would be neat to test out the Raspberry Shake, but now I find myself checking in on the USGS's website more frequently, reading up on the local history of seismology, and hoping to someday visit the seismometer deep in Cathedral Cave.
Earlier this year, I contributed to a kickstarter campaign by ngel Rodrguez that raised $99,258 to bring into existence an inexpensive short period seismometer produced by OSAP. It consists of programs running on the Raspberry Pi, a small board that sits on top of a raspberry pi or HAT (Hardware Attached on Top) and a geophone. This weekend I got to set mine up and start collecting data. This was my first kickstarter, and I am supper pleased with what was produced.
Setting up the Raspberry Shake was pretty straight forward. There was a bug in some of the units first sent out that would have made future updates difficult, but the folks at OSAP sent out very clear instructions for fixing it. The process took me less than 5 minutes. They supplied a website with general information, a user guide, and a google groups forum for questions.
Right now, the device is under a desk near my router and several other digital devices. Eventually, I'll likely move to a more quiet location. For now, I'm curious how much information it can pick up of people coming and going. One of our interns is working on a room-use sensor array for Raspberry Pi's to help gather analytics on facility use. I'm curious if this type of information might be advantages over infrared motion sensor type approaches.
At this point, some of you might be thinking, "wait a minute, are there even earthquakes in Houston for it to hear!?" The short answer is maybe, if I'm lucky. It is a short period seismometer. It is good for detecting relatively close and small earthquakes and not too good for listening for bigger earthquakes farther away. Before I ordered the Raspberry Shake, I did some research and figured I might be able to detect a few earthquakes a year. There were earthquakes in the last five years that might have been big enough to detect in Houston in north Texas (possibly induced due to water disposal), south of San Antonio, and in far West Texas. There were also several earthquakes in the Houston area in the early part of the 20th century due to extensive oil production of the Goose Creek oil field.
I do not live in a tectonically active area. I live in southern Alberta, Canada. The nearest activity is in Washington and British Columbia related to the subduction zone there, and also the Intermontane Seismic Belt from Utah to western Montana. What magnitude of seismic events can I expect to detect from these areas, and what level from global events, say Japan or Chile?
The specific magnitude of the events that you will be able to receive is difficult to properly estimate because it depends on many factors, such as terrain composition and geology, or the positioning of the Shake.
Yes, our Raspberry Shakes work with two boards put together: one is our proprietary Shake board, that connects the seismic sensors to the Raspberry Pi board (computer) which elaborates them and uploads them on the internet.
Naturally, if you wanted to assemble the Shake yourself, then you will have to buy a Raspberry Pi board and mount everything together with our DIY kit. But, as you noticed, we have ready plug-and-play turnkey products that are ready to use.
I see that the 3D has geophones, where the 4D has accelerometers. And the 3D is about twice the price of the 4D. What would I be sacrificing by getting the less-expensive 4D model? Both obviously handle vertical waves, but do they both handle the horizontal components equally well? Do these instruments allow one to estimate the direction the waves are coming from, perhaps from surface waves?
To let you know a bit more about my application, I live about 30km outside a major city (Calgary) on an acreage, so it is quiet without any man-made seismic noise. Not many trees to impart motion to the ground, either, although it is very windy here. I have a walk-out basement and would install the seismometer on the concrete slab near the foundation wall cut into the hillside.
The difference lies in the fact that for the RS3D, the three sensors are all geophones, dedicated to capturing every aspect of fainter quakes, even from the other side of the world. The RS4D, instead, has three microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) accelerometers alongside the vertical geophone, and, as stated, is dedicated to recording strong-motion events.
The location you have in mind for the Shake is perfect, I wish I had something like that! Remember to have a power plug and a LAN cable that can reach down there and you will be set up. Also, remember to orientate the Shake towards the North, using the corresponding arrow on the instrument and a simple compass, so that you will be recording data in the correct directions.
I have connected the cable to the router. I powered up the 3-component shake. Blue LED lights, Red light is on steady. green lite next to red light blinks, yellow light on cable to router is steady with occasional blinks.
rs.local does not connect
Fing does not find seismometer.
What is next step?
I looked at those, and a few similar devices - they should work, and as you say, probably better idea than USB dongles. The problem is that if you look at a the reviews, they are a bit spotty. Mostly with the devices failing after a relatively short time.
Ubiquiti sets the bar for the world's first low-cost and efficient broadband Customer Premises Equipment (CPE) with the original NanoStation. The NanoStationM and NanoStationlocoM take the same concept to the future with sleek and elegant form...
Test of IOGear Ethernet-2-WiFi connection. (GWU637). One week before this post I received a IOGEAR Ethernet-2-WiFi Universal wireless adapter. I first set up the 3-component raspberryshake using the ethernet plug on my wireless router. (slight delay because I put the ethernet cable in the WAN plug first) After that correction everything went smoothly. Next I set up the GWU637 link and made the WiFi connection. Only a couple steps using the WPS button. Took about a minute. Then I unplugged the ethernet cable connected to the raspberryshake from the router and put it into the GWU637. It again took about a minute but the recorded signal continued. No problem. Next I disconnected and turned off the raspberryshake and GWU637 and moved it to the basement, about 50 ft from the router. Plugged everything back in and after a short period, a minute or two. The system started back up and running. It have been running in that configuration for a few days now.
Concerns: I was using the power supply that came with the GWU637 so both systems were using a plug to AC. One option is to use the USB plug on the shake computer for power. Have not tried that yet. My concern is that the GWU637 is running a bit warm, but not as worm as other WiFi connectors I have used. Someone else expressed concern that some reviews indicate a high failure rate. However, the type of use here is probably not as heavy as the use they are designed to handle.
Elise Staat, a senior geology student at South Dakota Mines, and her advisor, Kevin Ward, Ph.D., assistant professor of geology and geological engineering at Mines, may have found a relatively inexpensive way to measure the thickness of the Earth's crust using seismic waves.
The Earth is in constant motion, and plate tectonics and volcanism produce a continuous hum of earthquakes around the planet every hour of every day. The nature of these vibrations can allow researchers to better understand the deeper parts of the Earth itself, including the depth of the crust.
Traditionally, seismometers, which are the devices that measure earthquakes, are complex, expensive and sensitive scientific instruments that are located in specially made bunkers in remote locations where they can monitor the rumblings of the Earth.
As these rumblings travel though the Earth, slight variations in the Earth's subsurface changes how instruments will record the radiated seismic energy. These slight variations can be used to understand how the structure of the Earth looks at depths no human can ever access or see, dozens to hundreds of miles below our feet.
c80f0f1006