This past month, Crossbow displayed the award-winning eKo system at the AGU Fall Meeting in San Francisco. The American Geophysical Union (AGU) is a group of members consisting mainly of Earth and space scientists who study how rocks, water, air, space, and life interact with each other to understand how the global system works. What they learn increases our sense of wonder, encourages us to ask new questions, and allows us to make wise use of Earth's many resources. This particular event draws upwards of 16,000 geophysicists from all around the world who meet to review the latest issues affecting the Earth, the planets and their environments. The eKo system provides a key new alternative by which scientists and researchers can gather data from their environment with an ease and efficiency previously unavailable. The event provided a wonderful venue to meet customers, inspire new ideas and most importantly educate others in the use of wireless sensor networks.
The Mebius Sensor Project is aimed at sensing the natural environment of Shonan Fujisawa Campus (SFC). Researchers at SFC have deployed 15 wireless eKo sensor nodes with temperature, humidity and illuminance sensors on the circumference of the campus. Each sensor node has a solar battery panel, and is a part of a larger multi-hop network that covers a broad area. The Mebius Sensor system is designed to be a platform of various ubiquitous computing applications such as enhancing people’s awareness of their natural environment.
Fig.1: Mebius Sensor in SFC
Research Goal
Researchers were determined to create a campus sensing platform for ubiquitous services.
- Services that enhance our awareness of the natural environment
- Services that inspire a discussion on the environment
- Easy deployment of the sensor
- Flexible spatiotemporal query of the past sensor data
- Real-time delivery of the sensor data to the services
- Inter-campus cooperation of the sensor networks
Plan and Schedule
The Mebius project plans to cover the whole SFC canpus with 15 sensor poles. Each node has the capability to transmit data up to 2 miles offering a large coverage area and a greater level of detail regarding the various micro environments.
Fig.2: Map of Mebius Sensor in SFC
Available on Twitter
Researchers at SFC have integrated the data collected with popular social media applications such as Twitter. Subscribers can see the temperature on Twitter every hour. Follow mebius_sensor on Twitter.
Fig.3: Mebius Sensor on Twitter
Detail of the Sensor Pole
The Mebius sensor utilized Crossbow's eKo node for its sensor platform. Each node included a solar radiation sensor and a temperature and humidity sensor.
Fig.4: Detail of the Sensor Pole
The Mebius Sensor Project provides a glimpse into basic applications for which eKo has been used. The system can be found frozen in ice, under dense canopies, on tree trunks, bobbing on buoys ... anywhere sensing is needed eKo can be found, silently taking Earth's pulse.
