Its been a while since I posted because I've been busy with work stuff... which I'm now going to bore you with for a bit!! First of all, this is what a Dust Networks kit looks like:
You get 12 sensor nodes which have two analogue sensor inputs (e.g. for pressure-based depth sensors) and RS232 which allows them to act as (very) low power network interfaces. Despite being low power the nodes can susutain links of up to 2KM in open space. The kit also comes with a Linux manager that gives you an easy to use XML-RPC management interface:
The manager might look heavy-weight compared to the motes but it doesn't actually consume that much power -- being roughly comparable to a single GridStix! So what are we doing with all this Dust Networks hardware?
In the first instance, I have connected Dust motes to Lancaster's GridStix platform. This gives us the option of switching between a 'traditional', very low power sensor network or activating the GridStix, which allow suppport for complex computation (such as image-based flow modelling). In the second instance it allows us to seperate the concern of data gathering from wirless sensor network development. Allowing our partners in Environmental Science to gather data quickly at new deployments, while leaving us free to experiment with more edgy software.
What else have I been doing? Well, I saw a couple of movies. 'Cloverfield' was good and I watched my 'other favorite comedian' Marc Maron at a comedy club in Sunnyvale. I'll leave you with a bit of Maron, discussing Jesus and Judaism with an audience member...
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