May Sun Always shine on SRKNEC! Jay's Weblog

As I mentioned in my last blog, we had been to the KMTR Rain forest for a possible deployment solution using Sun SPOTs. Here is a brief accout of how Sun SPOTs actually fared in these XTreme conditions..

The Existing System:

ATREE has undertaken a pioneering canopy research program at KMTR which is opening a new world of ecological understanding.As a part of the project, they need to measure various environmental variables as temperature, light, rainfall, soil moisture, if possible CO2 etc.

Currently the parameters are measured using hobo data loggers developed by Onset in US from various parts of the forest, that could be ground, forest canopy, disturbed forests etc. The data loggers currently give readings at 1 hour interval for light, temperature and RH

Actual Deployment Place highlighted in Red

The Environmental Conditions:

1. Temperature Range:      8 - 38 Degree C

2. Humidity:                     15-100%

3. Rainfall Range:             1000-4500mm

Requirements:

Since they do long term monitoring at the site for vegetation, phenology and soil moisture levels the equipments need to run unattended for months together. The equipments should also be small, completely water proof - usually moisture levels are 100% for a large part of the year. Many dataloggers have failed due to moisture. Hence, a reliable, moisture resistant sensor network is needed which will measure the required parameters efficiently.

They deploy the data loggers on tree tops about  22 - 25 mt high. They periodically have to climb up trees and bring the dataloggers down. So, it would be really useful the system could send data down wirelessly if base station connected to the computer is in range.The data can then be stored in database and analyzed to generate reports. But theory sounds really good... What about practical deployment and feasibility? We analyzed many important aspects. Here is what we found...

Can Sun SPOTs help ?                                                                                                  The Data Logger Circuit

Issue I: How to protect the Sun SPOT in such hostile conditions?

                                 Box Open Box Closed

The environment where the actual deployment is to be made is very hostile.. The main problems are:

• Humidity
• Wind
• Rain
• Animals - specially monkeys.. One of the data logger was actually chewed away and destroyed by a Nilgiri Langoor

Sun SPOT and HOBO Together!                                                         Deployed on Tree Top

But the solution was already in place! They have developed a nice little box that keeps the data logger away from Rain and water splashings from sides. Also they lock it awat so that the animals cant get their hands on that. The device is suspended from the middle and slits are provided so that the temperature and moisture are not altered. 

Issue II: The accuracy of the data?

We had developed a prototype of the probable system for testing. The Sun SPOT was kept on the tree for 1 day and programmed to take 48 readings of light and temperature at intervals of 1 hour each. Later it would send the data to database through basestation.

The actual result was fantastic! We had placed the Sun SPOT besides the hobo data logger inside the box and the readings found were almost matching. The slight deviation of 0.5 units was completely acceptable.

Here is the actual comparison:

Readings with Data Logger:

From ATREEPics

Readings with Sun SPOT

From ATREEPics

Issue III:  Range of Sun SPOTs!

We did rigorous testing for the Range of the Sun SPOTs. And the results were fantastic again:

Height above sea level	Humidity	Elevation	Environment	Time	Range Found
1250 m	60 – 65 %	Horizontal	Clear Ground	09:20:00	70 m
1250 m	60 – 65 %	40 Degrees vertically Downwards	Some obstacles like shrubs and few trees	09:45:00	38 m
1300 m	75 – 80 %	Horizontal	Clear Ground but very windy	22:30:00	90 m
1200 m + 22 m on tree top	71.00%	Vertical	Inside dense forest with thick foliage between ground and tree top.	11:00:00	22 m but not very clear. We had to move about to get clear range.
20 m on tree top	75.00%	Vertical	Inside forest with little foliage between ground and tree top.	16:00:00	20m clear transmission found.

Dr T Ganesh (ATREE Scientist) and Us.                                       Last ditch Code Changes!

Conclusion  The project is ON! Cheers!!

THE RAIN FOREST!

The Sun SPOTS!

I had blogged about the project Canopee last time around. Me, and Vasusen Patil went for the complete requirement analysis and on-field prototype testing at the KMTR forest from January 8 - 13. We had a BLAST!!! Here I will present a short summary of our experience.

On January 8, we visited the ATREE head-office at Bangalore, and met Dr.T. Ganesan and Dr. Soubdra Devy. We gathered their requirements for sensors in the canopy. We were at the ATREE field station at KMTR from 9th to 12th. There, we interacted with Dr. T Ganesh who is leading the canopy research program on field. We studied the system of HOBO data-loggers that they have employed for monitoring temperature, light and humidity parameters in the canopy. We analyzed their mechanism of protecting the circuit from harsh weather conditions, and the reasons of failure of most data-loggers. We deployed the SPOT at one of their on-field monitoring sites to monitor temperature and light for 24 hours. Also, we tested the SPOTs extensively for wireless radio range in different conditions (varying in altitude, humidity, density, and vegetation).

Finally, we concluded that the range of the Sun SPOT is sufficient to send data wirelessly from the top of a tree to the ground in dense foliage. The readings for 24 hours that we obtained were also satisfactory and resembled closely the readings that the researches currently get using data-loggers. It was decided that a long-term deployment (about 2-4 months) of the SPOT in on-field conditions was necessary to conclude that the SPOTs could be used to design a system of wireless sensing at KMTR.

Coming up is a series of blogs that will highlight all details of various aspects of our visit including the Sun SPOT Range testing, The Rainforest experience, the Leech experience, the prototype testing results, and other ideas that came up during the visit.

So, stay tuned!

On top of the Indian Western Ghats!

Hi.

Sun SPOTs have been my favourite technology siince long now and currently, we are working on a project called CANOPEE!

Website : http://canopee.dev.java.net/

Project Aim:

It aims at providing a comprehensive suite for environmentalists that would assist them to monitor the environmental variables and analyse the results through self generated reports.

Sun Small Programmable Object Technology will be used for building the sensor network. The project will use MySQL database server at the back-end, Netbeans IDE as the development platform and iReport plug-in for Netbeans for generating reports.

Implementation:

Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and Environment (ATREE) is built on a strong academic foundation and actively pursues investigations in the natural and social sciences, which form the basis for ongoing projects that are dedicated to outreach and education. The Kalakad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve (KMTR) , and the Biligiri Rangaswamy Temple Wildlife Sanctuary, two important protected areas in India’s Western Ghats, have been long-standing foci of ATREE’s work in forest ecology. They have also undertaken a pioneering canopy research program at KMTR which is opening a new world of ecological understanding.

We have identified that collecting data on these covariates could be very easy, most precise and regular if an efficient Sun SPOT system could be developed. The project specifically aims at developing a sensor solution which will be tested and deployed at KMTR. See Canopy Research for more details.

Long Term Goals:

1. Building SPOT Sensors

The Sun SPOTs will be used to build sensor nodes that can be deployed on field. The light and Temperature sensors are inbuilt in Sun SPOT. Other sensor IC's like humidity, soil moisture, pressure, CO2 content (If possible) should be interfaced and a compact moisture resistant node package capable of running independently for at-least 3 months should be developed.

The nodes should be able to record the values from all sensors attached after specific interval of time - typically after every 1/2 hour. The recorded values should be stored along with the time of recording and other required parameters. The Record Management Store (RMS) API will be used for the purpose.

The nodes should go into deep sleep mode when sensing is not done. During sensing the values the node should listen for a remote basestation. If Basestation is found in range, Nodes should send the collected data to the Database via basestation.

2. Building a Host Application Suite

The Host Application suite will have a neat GUI with options as given below:

• Information about each deployed sensor (Its location, date deployed etc)

• Options to search for sensors within range and collect stored data.

• Complete analysis and status of sensor when found in range and capacity for OTA manipulation

• Options to analyze the collected data and generate customized reports   

Short Term Goals:

The short term goals for the project are as follows:

• Analyse the feasibility and scope of project. Also clarify exact requirements through regular mails with ATREE authorities.

• Build a small prototype that will use the built-in temperature and light sensors in Sun SPOTs and record values on local test field (Near Nagpur, Maharashtra, India) The recorded values should be transmitted to base station database.

• Design a Database that would store the data values and all sensor information.

• Visit the KMTR forest in January (In December heavy rainfall is predicted) and test the temporary prototype on field. Also finalize the complete project requirements and start the implementation phase. Also study existing system and do in-depth cost Analysis.

• Build a solution for extension of life of Sun SPOT. Currently according to theoretical calculations, Sun SPOT can safely work on field for 2 - 3 months. A external battery solution is currently being thought upon that could extend life by at least 1 - 2 months.

• Identify sensor IC's that will be best suited for recording other required parameters and design a framework to interface the IC's with Sun SPOT in an efficient manner.

Project Members:

1. Jay Mahadeokar

   IV Year, CSE.

2. Vasusen Patil

   IV Year CSE

3. Abhishek Kumar, IV Year Electronics

I will keep blogging about the progress of the project as it wears on!!

Talk by Mr. Rohan Ranade

Day 3 began with a teleconference with Mr. Rohan Ranade, Sun Microsystems US. Rohan Sir had already visited our college earlier this year in January for a 3-Day Netbeans workshop and it was due to him that I got motivated towards opensource and Netbeans. At that time I was a student, and now I was on the other end - conducting a workshop! Things change so quickly!

Well..  There was a problem with internet connection and so, we had to talk on phone with one of us rolling the slides. The therefore did not start as planned. But then Rohan Sir want on to explain the importance of Opensource, and how students can contribute towards it.He explained in detail the advantages of opensource for student, enterpreneur and society.

He gave the following mantra:

After the talk some students seemed to be confused with the overall philosophy of Opensource and some seemed to be convinced. He answered a few questions too I thank Rohan Sir for sparing his time from his busy schedule and enlightening the students here. His talk would go a long way in helping the students! 

After the talk was over, a student asked a very interesting question - If opensource is so great, then why Bill Gates was the Richest Man for so long, and why is Microsoft such a big company?

Well!! We were completely foxed by the question! But we went on to explain that Microsoft is a very good company and has a very big range of good software products, and it  will continue to have a big share in the software world.. But the ideology they follow is mainly closed source. So, as a student, you cannot possibly learn concepts of Operating systems if you use windows...  But an opensolaris user can actually get inside Opensolaris and check out the code!We also explained that Opensource is a recent new concept and is fast becoming a great hit and even Microsoft has started opensourcing some of its products! So, for the future Opensource is the way to go!

This followed with a good debate and finally we were able to convince students that they will be benefiting emencly if they follow the Opensource part instead of closed source, The IDEOLOGY of Opensource finally prevailed here too!!

If you have better answers please feel free to comment!

How Internet Works!

Next we had among us Mr Arindam Paul, Sun Campus Ambassador from VNIT. He gave a talk on How internet works... He explained various concepts like routers, hubs, switches, how data is actually moved along the internet, what internet actually is. The concept of IP addresses was also introduced. The students enjoyed the session a lot. Arindam's style of presentation was highly impressive!

He went on to join us for the lunch and next session. We had a very good discussion on how we can combine to help spread opensource and java not only ion our colleges, but throughout Nagpur! I thank him for sparing his time and visiting our campus.

Sun SPOTS!

After lunch, we had a session on Sun SPOTs! Both me and Vasusen conducted the session. We explained the scope of sunspots and the most amazing part of it - It can be programmed using JAVA! We displayed many applications some made by the sunspot team and some developed by us! These demonstrated the features of Sun SPOT like accelerometer, temperature sensor, light sensor, switches, Over the air communication etc!

We also demonstrated the 2- player GAME that we had made and students enjoyed it a lot!

Feedback session!

This was a unique thing that we decided to do. Here, we called up students to speak for 2 mins on how they liked OpenIT and also opensource. The best speech would get a cap!

Students gave some amazing feedbacks and we had a great time! We have recorded them and are working on making a good video out of it! Will upload it soon!

Concluding remarks!

Then we gave a concluding session where we interacted with the students and asked them what they would do next. Most of them were very excited and were going to make good use of the vacation that lies ahead.. We also decided to have a weekly C assignment for students that would help them and a weekly Opensolaris meeting where students would gather and do some thing on Opensolaris!!

 Overall we had a great time during the 3 days. I thank my organizing team - Sumit Mudliar, Sumit Roy and Vasusen Patil for conducting the workshop brilliantly! I also thank my HOD Mr M.B.Chandak for extending his support and providing the college facilities for the workshop and Rohan Sir and Arindam for giving great talks!

Cheers!

Open IT workshop got off to a great start on Day 1. We were really excited to get started again the following day. Here is a short summary of Day II of the workshop.

Small C application using Netbeans

Vasusen started the proceedings by interactively building a complex number utility application using Netbeans. The students made the application interactively. Again many features of IDE were explained in detail and were highly appreciated.

Next he demonstrated how easily Mobile Applications and desktop Applications can be made using Netbeans. An attendance Monitoring Application for Mobiles was also shown. We also desplayed many projects made by us in C. The projects included:

1. Orthello Game

2. Sudoku solver

3. PhoneBook.

Students were very excited and actually believed that C can be used to create many utility applications if used effectively. We also discussed the algorithms and logic for these applications. Mr Sumit Roy helped us all through the workshop - solving errors and difficulties of students. Thanks a lot Sumit!

T-Shirt for the best PhoneBook

We have announced a T-Shirt for the best phonebook appplication made by participants. They are supposed to submit their apps within 7 days. We will be doing rigorous testing of all entries and trying to break the code! Winner will be decided on factors like- logic, correctness , stability of code, commenting, formatting, clarity etc.

Lunch

We again had our lunch and this time, many students were more interested in discussing the ideas of C projects than eating .. .. The fact which pleased me a lot!

Big Buck Bunny!

After lunch no-one was in a mood to study right away. So we watched Big Buck Bunny - a cartoon movie completely made using Open Source tools! Movie lasted 10 min and students had a blast!

Why Opensolaris?

After the movie, I took a interactive session where I explained students as to why they should go for Open solaris. Many misconceptions were cleared during the talk. I accepted that Opensolaris currently might not have all features that windows has but it is on the rising path and so as a student we will be on the benefiting side. Also with the huge community support we have a lot to learn. Most of them were convinced.

 Then I explained in brief the cutting edge features of Opensolaris like - ZFS, Zones etc. (I saw that they were not grasping these high level concepts very well and quickly rounded off the thing!)

Concept of virtualization and Virtual Box

Then I went on to explain the concept of Virtualization and virtual box and how we can install an Operating system inside another OS using Sun Virtual Box. The explanation took a long time but finally all except 2 students understood the concept! Then we went on to install virtual Box interactively. We also made a virtual hard disk for Opensolaris. After that I went through a screencast which I had made to demonstrate installation of opensolaris.

Backing up of Windows and dual Boot

We had a short tea break and then Mr. Mohinish Vinnakota demonstrated how we can back up our hard disk using an FTP client and G4U. The live demonstration proved to be very useful and students liked it a lot. Then he explained how we can partition the hard disk and install opensolaris as dual boot with windows!

Homework!

The day was really absorbing. We also gave them a small task - to create a 3 - stage cypher (encryption) that would encrypt any file. The best and fastest code would get a Cap!

Thanks it for Day 2 folks! I will be back with Day 3 recap V V soon!

Hey.

 We finally concluded the 3-Day workshop for II year students and believe me it was amazing fun and a great hit! We are having holidays and still, we had 36 students attending the workshop for all three days. I know thats a small number, but I think that was a good start and the number will increase as the Open Source awareness spreads at SRKNEC.

Introductory talk:

 I started the day with an introductory talk. Firstly I explained why exactly we have arranged the workshop. We cant expect students to become programming genius or become a Opensolaris Pro in 3 - days! But we just wanted II years to know what things lie ahead of them. Also we wanted to introduce them to the amazing world of Open Source backed Sun Microsystems!

I explained the importance of Open Source and showed some cool videos which started the ball rolling!

I also demonstrated the Sun Academic Initiative and the Open Source University Meetup (OSUM). Students were thrilled after learning about the prospects of free training and they found the OSUM site really AWESOME!

The talk lasted 1:30 mins. from 10 - 11:30 AM.

 Brainteaser Session:

Mr Sumit Mudliar conducted the next session. He asked some amazing puzzles and brain teasing questions which really got all students active and interested. Sun goodies (pens and Keychains) were given to the correct answers!  He also explained general stages in software development which students found perfectly logical and easy to grasp.

Session ended in an hours time.

Lunch!

We had our lunch which was amazing and frankly speaking far better than what we had expected. Kudos again to Sumit for arranging amazing caterers!

Talk by Proff M.B.Chandak on current trends in IT

After lunch, Proff M.B.Chandak, HOD, CSE gave a brilliant talk which covered top 10 current trends in the IT industry. The students were completely new to all the concepts and so some of them found it difficult to grasp. But at the end of the day, the talk proved really enlightening not only for the juniors but also for us!

The topics covered included virtualization, SaaS (Software as a service), internet telephony, networking, NLP etc. The session lasted for about an hour and was an absorbing one!

After the session, we had some filler Q/A session which refreshed students for the next session!

Recap of C

Mr Vasusen Patil then conducted a interactive session where, all the basic concepts in C were brushed up! Students were asked to write basic C constructs and logical functions. They soon realized that they knew very little besides syllabus.

Then we explained them that C is far more useful language that just another subject in curriculum and can be used to make really cool programs. We stressed the fact that it is the best language when it comes to building the basic logic and concepts in programming.

Introduction to Netbeans and Cygwin

After the recap, Vasusen went on to introduce the students to Netbeans IDE. This was the first time most of them ever sae an IDE and they were simply amazed. We used Netbeans to build basic C applications using Cygwin compiler. We demonstrated the various functionality of the IDE and the support it provides for building up substantial software.

The concepts like code folding, intelligence of IDE, dynamic error detection, code generation, refactoring etc were explained and students really enjoyed the thing!

Student Kits!

We also distributed Opensolaris and Netbeans student kits!

Hi.

 We have arranged Open IT - a 3-day work-shop for II year students. The II Year students only have a basic understanding of C language. Hence the workshop mainly aims at introducing students to the various trends in software field and explaining the importance of Open Source. We will also educate them with major Sun's Open Source Technologies.

. The schedule will be as follows:

Date	Time	Topic
12/11/08	10 – 11 AM	Current trends in S/W field and various technologies available to choose by Prof. M.B. Chandak, HOD CSE, SRKNEC
	11 – 12 AM	Logic Building through Puzzles and Algorithms
	12 – 1 PM	Lunch Break
	1 – 2 PM	Importance of Open Source. Major players in open source and Sun's open source technologies overview
	2 – 3 PM	Recap of C + Interactive C Quiz + Test
	3 - 3.30 PM	Tea Break
	3.30 – 5.30 PM	Interactive Phonebook Using C + Live demos of some softwares made by seniors using various technologies netbeans/ mobiles/ visual studio etc.
13/11/08	9.30 – 11 AM	Introduction to Object Oriented Programming and IDE's – Netbeans Feel!
	11 - 12.30 PM	Developing Small Applications using NetBeans C/C++
	12.30 – 1.30 PM	Lunch Break
	1.30 - 2:00 PM	Open Source Movie
	2 – 3 PM	Introduction to Open Solaris
	3 - 3.30 PM	Tea Break
	3.30 – 5.30 PM	Open Solaris Installation on Virtual Box
14/11/08	10 – 11 AM	Software Academic Initiative (SAI) + Importance of JAVA
	11 – 1 AM	Open Source talk by Mr. Rohan Ranade, Sun Microsystems US.
	1-2 PM	Lunch Break
	2 – 3 PM	Sun SPOT demonstration.
	3 – 5 PM	Quiz/ Contest based on concepts learnt during 3 days.

Cheers!