19 KiB
EcoSen - LoRa Data-Loggers for environmental quality (Español abajo)
Environmental monitoring is essential due to the variety of ways in which it is threatened. Usually recording environmental variables can be carried out by private data loggers. These devices, due to their high costs, or being of closed design, do not allow us to buy in quantity or build them. Our proposal consists in the design and development of open hardware data loggers with LoRaWan technology for communication with devices for downloading data. The data loggers will be of two types: aquatic and terrestrial. Aquatics will measure relevant data for the determination of water quality such as turbidity, dissolved oxygen, conductivity and pH. The terrestrial, will measure bee activity variables in hive, biological indicators of environmental quality. These data loggers are based mainly in the Cave Pearl Proyect, but with adaptations to surface waters.
Motivation
We want to bring to society the passion for monitoring rivers and lakes. Also with the plus of learning about open electronic projects with possibility of reproduce, modify and customize data loggers. The Open technology that we bring is associated with open data repositories that will make the environmental information accessible to everyone!
The first steps
To begin recording environmental variables is necessary to develop some abilities measuring these. To do that we are gonna start making a Coqui conductivity sensor of Public Lab website.
Specifications & Technical Attributes
The specific attributes of the data logger you build will depend slightly on the type of sensors you buy for the system. The numbers shown below are for the full version of the data logger that contains exactly the parts that we suggest in our build documents and parts list. Below, you can see which parts could be changed for which spec upgrades.
| Attribute | Value [imperial] | Value [SI] |
|---|---|---|
| Weight | [lbs] | 1 [kg] |
| Footprint | [in] | 30x5 [cm] |
| Battery Capacity | 6800 [mAh] | 6800 [mAh] |
| Battery Discharge Rate | [A] | [A] |
| Nominal Current Draw | [A] | [A] |
| Operating time | 3 [months](continual use) | 3[months](continual use) |
| Approximate Max wireless communication | [] | 3 [km] |
| Communication (in this guide) | Arduino IDE (windows, mac, GNU/linux) | |
| Cost | ~ $350 |
Features
This data logger is designed to function similarly to the Cave Pearl Proyect data logger designs:
- Autonomous: this data logger has an autonomy of several months
- Customisable: Allows to choose what sensor you want for your data logger
- Wireless communication: Thanks to the LoRa connectivity this device can send a measurements to a server and get access to the information wherever you are. This feature is new to the Cave Pearl Proyect data logger.
We chose a Arduino pro-mini to be the "brain" of this data logger for its versatility, accessibility, simplicity, and ability to add and upgrade your own modifications. Any method with which you can communicate with a arduino pro-mini (bluetooth, WiFi, LoRa, etc) can be added to the data logger to get the information from its.
In addition, here are the open communication ports and hardware on the Raspberry Pi:
- 4 USB ports (3 if using Xbox controller)
- RPi Camera port
- 1 I2C Bus (0 if using LED Matrix screen)
- 2 SPI Bus (1 if using LED Matrix screen)
- 3.5mm Audio Jack
- 13 GPIO pins (6 if using LED Matrix screen)
Using the above ports, you could theoretically drive the rover autonomously from the camera, via a USB dongle attached to anything (your own video game controller, a USB microphone, or many others... be creative!), or through any interface using the Pi's GPIO ports (distance sensors, accelerometers, and much more). We've only given you two simple ways to control the rover to start... we want you to come up with even more!
For the power system of the rover, there is also ample spare power which can be used for your own addons and upgrades. See the Electrical subsystem documentation for more specific details.
Online 3D Model
The model above includes the state of the rover at each individual step throughout our build instructions!!! Therefore, you should be able to reference the online 3D model in addition to the photos in the build instructions as you are building to ensure your build is going well.
Other Resources
In addition to this repository which holds all the documentation for this project, there are two additional websites tied to this project. One is a landing site which holds general information and an overview of the rover and how it works:
https://opensourcerover.jpl.nasa.gov
There is also a user-run forum to help facilitate discussion about the project.
Note: JPL and Caltech have no official affiliation with this forum; it is run by individuals of the general public.
On this forum, you can ask questions if you need help or clarification on any aspects of the project. Additionally, you can post and promote any modifications or addons that you have created on this project. We highly encourage additions and modifications to be posted on the forum so that this project and community can grow.
https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/jpl_opensource_rover/
Skills Necessary
This project has elements in mechanical assembly/fabrication, uses a host of electrical components, and has software that will run it all. In order to complete this project, you will need to have some experience in the following:
- Fabrication/Machining: Although most the parts are COTS there are a few modifications necessary to adapt them to the project. These modifications will be in the form of
- Metal cutting using band saw/dremel
- Drilling using drill press/hand drill
- Filing and sanding for part cleanup
- General Fabrication/Machining Safety
- Electronics: This project uses components like motors, motor controllers, and batteries. It will be important to have experience with the following electrical processes.
- Soldering
- Electrical debugging
- Wiring
- Electrical Safety
- Software: The rover's brain is a Raspberry Pi. Included in this repository is all the software ready to run the rover, but some knowledge is required for getting everything up and ready on the Raspberry Pi:
- Basic Linux familiarity
- Basic Python familiarity
Most of the above are skills that you can learn and pick up fairly quickly from watching videos and doing research on the internet, and throughout the project we try to give supplemental information on some of these as well. See the build documents for more information.
Tools Necessary
This project assumes you have some standard tools to help assemble the project. If you do not have any of the optional tools, we provide examples of online services that you can use to have the parts fabricated and sent to you.
Mandatory tools
- SAE Hex Key set
- SAE Wrench set
- Pliers
- Wire Snips
- Wire Strippers
- Solder Iron
- Solder
- Digital Multimeter
- Hand Drill or Drill Press
- Dremel, Band saw, or hand saw
- Items for operating a Raspberry Pi (Keyboard, mouse, monitor, 5V micro USB power adapter)
Here is an Amazon list of some of the tools that may be useful
Optional Tools
- 3D printer
- Laser Cutter
- Power Supply (to test without using battery)
Expected time commitment
In our experience, this project takes no less than 200 person-hours to build, and depending on the familiarity and skill level of those involved could be significantly more. Experienced builders may be able to build this project in this amount of time. However, this project is generally meant to be a teaching and learning tool. Throughout the documentation, we try to give supplemental information for those who might be new to this kind of project.
Disclaimer
Reference herein to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise, does not constitute or imply its endorsement by the United States Government or the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology. Government sponsorship acknowledged.
By downloading, cloning, or otherwise using the contents of this repository, you agree to the terms specified in the attached DISCLAIMER.txt file.
Getting Started
Folder organization
The main /osr/ folder contains all of the documentation and information necessary for the project, broken down into the 3 main sections: Mechanical, Electrical, and Software. Each of these sections is meant to be relatively self contained and should be fairly parallelizable, meaning that they could be completed simultaneously by different groups. There is a README.md in each section to help you navigate the information in that section.
Ordering parts
Parts Lists
The Master Parts List contains all the parts necessary to build the entirety of the robot as it is listed in our documentation. We recognize that you may want to change, add, and redesign some sections, so each of the individual build sections also contain a parts list for that corresponding section of the project. Note that these individual parts list recommend buying quantities necessary only for that section. Be sure to assess the quantities you need for common items (particularly screws, nuts, bolts, and other common hardware) if you are changing subassemblies.
Cart Share
In order to help this ordering process we have compiled a few links of a large number of these together already, if you wish to build exactly what is in our build documentation.
| McMaster | Amazon | Pololu | Adafruit |
|---|
Digikey: The Bill of Materials folder contains (currently just one) Bill of materials file for a specific vendor. We are searching for better ways to help with the ordering process, however for now the easiest way is to take the Digikey Bill of Materials and upload it to Digikey. You can find the "BOM Manager" on their homepage and then start a new BOM, where you can upload this file.
3D printing and Laser cutting
In addition to ordering all of the parts on the parts list, we recommend that some pieces be 3D printed and laser cut. If you do not have access to a 3D printer or laser cutter, we've added some online services as examples for where you can get those manufactured and shipped to you. You'll find instructions on this in the Body Build Doc, Corner Steering Build Doc, and Head Assembly Build Doc.
Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs)
The main electrical system of this rover relies on a custom printed circuit board (PCB) that handles the routing between the majority of the electrical components. This board greatly simplifies the build process and eliminates the need for you to route all the wires yourself. You can find the PCB board files at PCB Files. These can be ordered at JLCPCB by dropping each of the .zip files (these .zip files contain "gerber" files, a typical file format for PCB boards).
Rover Build Roadmap
Above is an example roadmap of how you can build the rover and which parts of the build are dependant on the other sections. It is broken down into 5 stages:
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Stage 1: Start getting all the parts!
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Stage 2: Once you have all the parts, everything in stage 2 can be completed in parallel. It is highly recommended to start on the electrical testing of components outside the robot before doing any electrical work inside the completed robot body. You can also work on the software at any stage between here and the end.
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Stage 3: During stage 3, the mechanical subassemblies should all be assembled and start to be integrated together. There should be some amount of testing done on the electrical system, as well as some progress on the software.
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Stage 4: The rover is mechanically built and all subassemblies integrated together. During stage 4, you begin the integration of the electrical components and the various power and data wires that run throughout the rover.
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Stage 5: Once the electronics are all powered and communicating, you need to test and calibrate all the motors in the system.
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Stage 6: After everything has been tested and calibrated and the software is up and running, the robot will be fully functioning and built!
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Stage 7: Add your own upgrades! We chose Raspberry Pi as the brain of the project so that it should be easy to add, change, and upgrade to build exciting things on top of this already cool robot. Some upgrade ideas to get you brainstorming: sonar for collision detection, IMU for orientation / closed-loop driving / obstacle mapping, camera for object identification and tracking, sensor packages (temperature, pressure, humidity), solar panels, or even a robotic arm!
Building the Master Parts List
Anytime parts are changed in the build docs, you must rebuild the master parts list by running the init.sh script, which in turn runs the build_parts_list.py script after installing the necessary dependencies. This script will create a new master_parts_list_raw.csv and master_parts_list.xlsx, both of which need to be committed when making changes to the parts list.
When updating the build docs, make sure all parts have a part reference number (S1, E20, etc). If you are adding a new part, be sure to also add it to the parts_list_reference.csv. That file is the source of truth for the name of the part, and also contains information like the price, model, manufacturer, and link to the part. In that file, you can also override the quantity to order for the project in case the quantities in the build documents aren't representative of the total number of parts required (for example, some electrical components like resistors or capacitors are inexpensive and are also prone to failure, so we use the override to recommend buying a couple extras).
Happy building!!
If you have any questions or run into problems during your build, please search for answers and/or reach out on the forum.
Releases
The rover has undergone some major changes since its initial release. The resources and information in this repository (on the master branch) will always be the most up-to-date information about the rover. However, if you are interested in older versions of the rover, you can see legacy releases of the OSR at https://github.com/nasa-jpl/open-source-rover/releases
Project Team
Project Lead:
Michael (Mik) Cox
Development Team:
Eric Junkins and Olivia Lofaro
Special Thanks To:
Magdy Bareh, Michelle Viotti, Tom Soderstrom, Dave Gallagher, Jim Rinaldi, Molly Bittner, Christine Fuller, Billy Allen, and Charles Dandino
Additional Projects!
We recognize that there might be a some individuals, hobbyists, and groups that might be hesitant or unable to build the Open Source Rover due to skills/tools necessary, or budgetary constraints. We'd like to give the information to a similar project that was designed by someone who was inspired after participating in our open source rover beta group to design one for around $500, and heavily utilizing 3D printing. We think this project would be especially great as a hobby project, and appropriate for those just getting into some of these areas, or someone looking to spend a little less money.
https://hackaday.io/project/158208-sawppy-the-rover
https://github.com/Roger-random/Sawppy_Rover
Pathways
Value Proposition generic for Open Hardware
The product
An Open source data logger that people can find online, access, replicate, buy and delivers a set of funcionalities, use values with certain quality.
Pain relievers
I could either buy it, replicate it, build it myself, or order someone else to manufacture it because is not patented.
Gain creators
The Open source data logger allows to study, and improve its current desing and many people can participate in making it better.
The Value proposition (more specific)
The product
The product proposed is a data logger to assess environmental quality. This product is a small, cheap and low consumption device that allows to measure different variables like freshwater environments. Another important feature about these data loggers will be their connectivity to Lo-Ra Wan technology that will also be connected to the internet. This product will bring information at real time about sites of interest
Pain relievers
Freshwater environments are recreational places widely used by society. For this kind of use environmental monitoring could tell us if the place is safe.
Gain creators
People could be empowered with facts that allows them to make a struggle or any kind of social claim. State will be able to announce that their remediation politics were effective to make a healthier environment.