GHC Update
Tim Syth
First, big thanks to all the participants in tonight's Global Hackerspace Challenge meeting. We did some solid brainstorming and seem to have come up with a concept, the details of which are below. The notes tell most of the story, but I'll provide a summary to hopefully head of some questions.
Second, we are meeting again at 7:30pm tomorrow evening for those who are interested.
The idea: Environmental Analyzer; Portable Data Logger and succinct, accompanying lessons to get the ball rolling
Cheap weather stations already exist, as to portable data loggers (anything associated with education is hella expensive), but no open-source, cheap, modular unit exists for educational purposes that puts all this together (unless you guys know something we don't?). Therefore, we want to create an out of the box weather station/environmental analyzer that is also a data logger (Phase 1). Included with the device will be simple lessons (the secondary capabilities in the outline below) such as how to construct a wind-speed sensor (Phase 2). Modular add-ons (again, listed in the outline) would likely require more financial investment, but would allow the user to expand capabilities as desired (Phase 3 - questionable considering time constraints).
Essence: Arduino-ify data-logging for students. Give a basic tool that works out of the box and provides a basis for data collection and analysis, but has the ability to expand to meet desires and curiosities.
So, notes are below, and here is where we need constructive criticism. What are the weak spots? What are we missing? Tear it apart and help us improve it.
Thanks.
t
Portable data logger; Out of the box Weather Station
1. Core goals
a. Environmental monitoring
b. Data logging
c. Introduction to data analysis
2. Out of box capabilities
a. Temperature
b. Light
c. Humidity
d. Barometer
3. Secondary capabilities
a. Provide a platform for low-cost data logging
b. Air particular measurement
c. Development of sensors for data logging (curriculum plans)
i. Wind/RPMs
ii. Solar
iii. Rain
4. Modular add-ons (???)
a. Solar power
b. Power monitoring
c. Time lapse photography
d. Rechargeable battery
e. PH measurements
Technical Specs
1. Basic components (we are looking into the what parts can be sourced globally)
a. Power source: 5 volts, DC, batteries
b. Microcontroller
c. SD card
d. Sensors
i. Temp sensor
ii. Photo voltaic
iii. Humidity sensor
iv. Barometric pressure sensor
e. display (like a cheap cellphone screen, Nokia??)
2. Containment box – schematic for possible cases (3 variations)
a. 1 liter bottle
b. tupperware-like container
Pete Prodoehl
Pete
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Rob Kreger
Great idea, I think this will be a good hands on type project for kids.
Might I also suggest a Google search on "1 wire weather station", there is a lot of stuff out there. There was a good book written a few years ago with very similar ideas and with lots of design ideas. "Weather Toys" by Tim Bitson From Extreme Tech. isbn-10: 0-470-04046-7. I have the book and if I can make it tomorrow's night meeting I will bring it with.
The basics of the book: walk the reader though using some java on a PC, connect a 1wire to usb adaptor, then connect to all kinds of weather related devices. Most of the boards and measurement devices can be bought from http://www.hobby-boards.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=22 Most of the sensors can be bought as a kit or fully assembled. The heart of all of these sensors is a 1wire product from Maxim-ic.
With the software that can be downloaded from the author's site you can have a one wire weather station up and posting data to the internet in only a few hours. http://www.weathertoys.net/weathertoys/main.html
Rob
Tim Syth
First and foremost, next GHC meeting will be Wednesday evening at 7:30pm. This will be the ramp up to start building as well as outlining the documentation for modular "opportunities" we want to include with the device.
Before I get to the update, I want send out some recognition to the level of participation S67 has been mustering. Thus far, we have had contributions from Joe, Tom, Tony, Heather, Chris, Greg, Davi, Pete, Markus, Carol, Scott, Will, Mossmaster (sorry, only have your handle!), Dougal, and Mike...and I am very likely missing a few. Count 'em: that's 14 people!!
And the recognition isn't just internal. Element14 had this to tweet:
element14 Great Global Hackerspace Challengers at @Sector67 are thinking outside the box for their weather station. Literally http://ow.ly/4t1rL
So big thanks to all the help, but enough with the preening.
The concept is crystallizing. It will be a functional weather station out of the box, with modular capabilities that temptingly invite people to do and learn! Some of the more exciting modular opportunities will be to construct a directional antenna, a wind sensor, and a rain gauge. We are also thinking a VGA 15 pin connector would be a nice option. If anyone has any interest in helping us write/source documentation to be distributed with our weather station, come to the Wednesday meeting to help us outline the plan.
Last night was a "parts" meeting. Hopefully my attempt at sharing the Parts and Code Resource Google doc made its way to your inbox, but if not, the link is here: 2011-04-04 - GHC Resources. If you cannot get access but want it, harass me immediately and I will rectify the situation. Here is a great opportunity for those of you with a lot of knowledge but not a lot of time to help us foot soldiers cut to the chase!
One big issue we have right now is the display. We would like to have some sort of immediate gratification right on the device to a) let people see the data immediately and b) provide some functionality that is independent from a computer. Thus far we have considered using an early, color, Nokia cellphone screen (globally available, but somewhat complex to interface with our device) or a LCD that is built in the basic unit. The included LCD seems like the better option, but I wanted to ask the S67 Brain Trust for its input. A cheap display is key...robustness is another consideration. Thoughts??
That's it this time around. I'll be at S67 at 9pm-ish this evening if anyone wants to talk in person, and don't forget the S67 gathering at 7pm.
t
Joe Kerman
rob: that book would be *excellent* to poke through. I will try to find some sort of bin/storage area for this project specifically that you could leave it in.
I am unavailable from 9p-1a on wed/thurs nights. but will be there for sure from 7:30-9 tonight.
And once again, huge huge thanks to Tim for heading up the documentation and scheduling for this project!
Chris Meyer
Chris
Tim Syth
7:30 @S67. Ramp up to build and curriculum outlining. See you there!
Scott Hasse
ideas for measuring humidity. One interesting one is that the length
of a human hair changes with humidity. I am wondering if we could
suspend a hair with a small weight, and then measure the distance the
weight moves. Not sure if that would be cheaper, but it would
potentially be less maintenance than a wick-based temperature
differential system.
Perhaps best to design the device with both possibilities in place,
and one activity could be to measure humidity simultaneously with both
and compare the results.
Scott
Scott Hasse
heltones
you have to have moving air over the wick, generally by swinging the
instrument around in the air like the old-school party noisemakers.
The instruments I've used are called sling psychrometers. Moving parts
may make the self-contained and/or datalogging sides of things more
challenging. It is a nice way to bring the physics of humidity,
evaporation, and temperature into a more tangible light, although,
it's still a bit abstract for some people.
On the larger discussion, have you looked into the Seed Studio
electronic brick system? They offer a lot of these parts with
connectors. I haven't worked with them, but the prebuilt connectors
may be desirable for a project like this. They have an LCD module.
http://www.seeedstudio.com/depot/electronic-brick-starter-kit-p-506.html?cPath=138&zenid=f832b73ceffe842661d3d7c2a9de8017
Seed Studio offers a T/RH sensor from their Twig line. It's one of the
cheaper ways to make an RH measurement that I've seen, but I also have
no experience.
http://www.seeedstudio.com/depot/twig-temphumi-sensor-p-745.html?cPath=144_147&zenid=f832b73ceffe842661d3d7c2a9de8017
I have seen capacitance-style RH sensors on ebay for single digit
prices, to the best of my memory. Again, I haven't worked with them,
but I wanted to throw it out there in case you folks haven't happened
upon them yet. My experience is with more research-quality, expensive,
DCV output sensors. Sorry I can't offer more info along these lines.
-Eric
On Apr 6, 11:20 am, Scott Hasse <sha...@compcc.com> wrote:
> You can make a low cost but high maintenance humidity sensor with two temperature sensors and a wet wick.
>
> You measure the temperature differential due to evaporation. This type of sensor is interesting educationally as well, with evaporation rates, energy of evaporation, etc.
>
> Scott
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> > Added a bunch of notes to the project, particularly about "motherboard" type boards, and some links to specific sensors. recurring problem, especially with humidity/pressure sensors are that they are all "high precision" devices im seeing available. If anyone has any leads for a LOW precision (==low cost) sensor, we need to investigate that route. possibly even ones constructed ourselves. I really dont want to make a device that uses a $20 sensor module. im thinking more like $0.20
>
> > rob: that book would be *excellent* to poke through. I will try to find some sort of bin/storage area for this project specifically that you could leave it in.
>
> > I am unavailable from 9p-1a on wed/thurs nights. but will be there for sure from 7:30-9 tonight.
>
> > And once again, huge huge thanks to Tim for heading up the documentation and scheduling for this project!
>
> > Heya,
>
> > First and foremost, next GHC meeting will be Wednesday evening at 7:30pm. This will be the ramp up to start building as well as outlining the documentation for modular "opportunities" we want to include with the device.
>
> > Before I get to the update, I want send out some recognition to the level of participation S67 has been mustering. Thus far, we have had contributions from Joe, Tom, Tony, Heather, Chris, Greg, Davi, Pete, Markus, Carol, Scott, Will, Mossmaster (sorry, only have your handle!), Dougal, and Mike...and I am very likely missing a few. Count 'em: that's 14 people!!
>
> > And the recognition isn't just internal. Element14 had this to tweet:
>
> > So big thanks to all the help, but enough with the preening.
>
> > The concept is crystallizing. It will be a functional weather station out of the box, with modular capabilities that temptingly invite people to do and learn! Some of the more exciting modular opportunities will be to construct a directional antenna, a wind sensor, and a rain gauge. We are also thinking a VGA 15 pin connector would be a nice option. If anyone has any interest in helping us write/source documentation to be distributed with our weather station, come to the Wednesday meeting to help us outline the plan.
>
> > Last night was a "parts" meeting. Hopefully my attempt at sharing the Parts and Code Resource Google doc made its way to your inbox, but if not, the link is here: 2011-04-04 - GHC Resources. If you cannot get access but want it, harass me immediately and I will rectify the situation. Here is a great opportunity for those of you with a lot of knowledge but not a lot of time to help us foot soldiers cut to the chase!
>
> > One big issue we have right now is the display. We would like to have some sort of immediate gratification right on the device to a) let people see the data immediately and b) provide some functionality that is independent from a computer. Thus far we have considered using an early, color, Nokia cellphone screen (globally available, but somewhat complex to interface with our device) or a LCD that is built in the basic unit. The included LCD seems like the better option, but I wanted to ask the S67 Brain Trust for its input. A cheap display is key...robustness is another consideration. Thoughts??
>
> > That's it this time around. I'll be at S67 at 9pm-ish this evening if anyone wants to talk in person, and don't forget the S67 gathering at 7pm.
>
> > t
>
> > --
> > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Sector67" group.
> > To post to this group, send email to sect...@googlegroups.com.
> > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to sector67+u...@googlegroups.com.
Tim Syth
All, next GHC meeting will be tomorrow, (4/10) at 2pm. Parts are in the
mail and the initial build is slated for this coming week.
Have a good one!
Tim Syth
Parts should be in. I will be there at 7:30pm, but the build can start
whenever people have gumption...don't wait up on account of me. We have
2 days before we need the next update in with the organizers, so some
progress would be stellar.
For those WITHOUT serious technical chops like myself, there is still
plenty to do in the way of documentation, research, and building some of
the "modular opportunities" as prototypes. All are welcome!
It would be excellent to knock this thing out and get through a few
iterations right away...the Red Bull Challenge needs to be jumped on as
well.
Until tonight.
t
Joe Kerman
see you tonight!
t
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Chris Meyer
Chris
Tim Syth
t
Tim Syth
7:30pm this evening.
Hope to see you there.
t
Tim Syth
whenever.
Also, anyone who has access to 5+ strands of hair (human, horse,
whatever!), 8 inches in length or longer (the longer the better), please
hook us up! We need it for another iteration of our humidity sensor.
There is an envelope in the GHC bin with "Hair" written on it where
donations can be deposited. I already used up our stock piles so more
would be lovely. A bit creepy I know, but it is all for science.
Hopefully see you tonight!
t
Tim Syth
http://bit.ly/fi126i). 9 days until the documentation needs to be
submitted, and we are hoping to put in some solid time through the
weekend so next week can be for tweaks and final documentation. The big
ideas on the table are thus:
1) LCD screen with all the necessary connections is a pain in the butt,
but the wow-factor of some immediate feedback in spreadsheet form would
be lovely (thanks to Craig's slick program). The latest idea is a LCD
with a serial backpack that can be plugged in when data is to be seen,
but removed to both limit power consumption and protect the screen.
Besides, serial ports are nice. (Craig, we may need your expertise here
again--I'll be in the touch of that is case.) We just think some
feedback that is independent of a computer would be a nice feature.
2) Hooking up a Nokia battery (of which there is near infinite supply in
the world) to power the thing. While this is not a good long term option
(thanks of the feedback Todd!), there is still the intrigue of being
able to pull the battery out of a phone, power this device for a
half-day to collect a data set, and then make the phone live on while
having data to play with. A primary goal of the project is the
understanding and manipulation of data, so we are trying not to get
entirely caught up in the weather station function of this thing. If we
can get people to pull this thing out for a day, get some data, and then
engage that data for a bit, it will be considered a win. And if this
means someone finds it cool their cellphone battery can power the thing,
all the better.
3) Solar powering the thing. Mark as a baby flex solar panel which is
just too cute not to attempt to integrate. We'll see how this goes.
4) The low-tech sensors: Here is where I have been working. The rain
gauge looks good (see the S67 site for images), but hair humidity sensor
seems to be a flop. There needs to be more lever between the hair
connection and the output point. I am hoping an source of 8+ inch hair
manifests soon so we can give this another whirl. If so, we may
integrate the sensor with the device for another input. This is the hair
+ arduino = win-every-time angle. Still got the anemometer to make, but
Rev Cycles hooked us up with some donated bike hubs that will be the
spindle and the rest should not be too much work over the weekend.
Finally, the schedule we are looking at for the next few days is the
following:
1) The bin is open to tinkers 24/7 and there are Google Docs for
guidance should anyone want to engage on a whim.
2) There will be efforts going on during the next 4 days. Joe "Makerbot"
Kerman (with sidekick "Solar" Mark D.) may be in the space during
daylight hours for the two days, and I (Tim) will be around during the
weekend to harass whatever support I can out of people while documenting
the snot out of the project. Bring kleenex if you are looking to
participate. And chances are any combination of us will be around Friday
evening as that is a good time to see the social nuance of S67.
Ding.
t
Tim Syth
Final week of the GHC is underway. We have until April 3rd to submit,
but the final push on the device will get underway tonight and aim to be
done by the weekend. Anyone interested in lending insight, support or
ideas is invited to S67 at 7:30pm.
Hope to see you there!
t
Joe Kerman
In the short time im there, id like to get together a (personal) to-do list so i can start banging out and checking things off. I have the most time on my hands, so im expecting to have a disproportionate share of the load for the final writeups etc.
looking forward to buttoning it up!