Build Your Own Sensor-Based System; Beta Tester Wanted

If you've been wanting to set up your own sensor-based monitoring system and have a spare laptop computer and wireless network access, then the SensorKit might just be what you're looking for. SensorKit lets anyone with a laptop and wireless network access build an off-the-shelf, 32-unit environmental monitoring system, making it possible for anyone anywhere to collect information--variables like sunlight, soil moisture, and all weather variables--in a particular geographical area. Future applications of SensorKit might include water resource and structural monitoring.

"We envision a community of developers and users forming around SensorKit to expand the range of compatible sensors, include tools to help optimize their deployment in the field, and enhance the quality of the data returned," says SensorKit team member Jeffrey Goldman.

And the SensorKit team is looking for beta testers like you to help out.

While the system is still in beta, the technology is robust, say the researchers. "Our philosophy was 'simplicity through sophistication,'" said John Wroclawski. "We’ve tried to make the prospect of using an environmental sensor network as simple and intuitive as possible. But underneath the user-level simplicity is a powerful and effective end-to-end system."

The SensorKit project is sponsored by the Viterbi School's Information Sciences Institute at the University of Southern California and the UCLA-based Center for Embedded Networked Sensing (CENS). ISI contributors to the project include John Wroclawski, Terry Benzel, Fabio Silva, Annette Deschon, and Spundun Bhatt. CENS SensorKit developers include Jeffrey Goldman, William Kaiser, Yeung Lam, Eric Graham, Phil Rundel, and Thanos Stathopoulos.

-- Jonathan Erickson
jerickson@ddj.com

Posted by Jon Erickson at 10:54 AM  Permalink