Project Overview

ABOUT

I'm currently a rising Junior studying Mechanical Engineering at the California Institute of Technology. I am participating in a 10-week SURF (Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship) Project in which I will build a prototype "Home Hazard Weather Station" in collaboration with Dr. Julian Bunn (Caltech's Center for Advanced Computing Research) and Professor Mani Chandy (Caltech's Computer Science Department). 

BACKGROUND

Environmental hazard detection (such as detection of fires, earthquakes, floods, and radiation leaks) is increasingly aided by computer sensors that transmit data to SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) Cloud computing systems, which allow for monitoring of conditions over large areas. However, precise sensors are expensive and very few in number, generally found only at facilities specifically interested in monitoring certain conditions. These sensors are incapable of producing detailed maps of conditions over large areas due to their small number, and therefore cannot serve as accurate and useful hazard detectors for large communities. We aim to produce detailed data for various environmental parameters over a large area by using a dense array of cheap sensors that relay information to Cloud resources in real-time. Studies have shown that by using a large number of relatively inaccurate sensors, coupled with a few precise sensors, we can greatly increase the accuracy of our sensor data over a given area and thus provide users with a reliable hazard detection system. Creative analysis of multiple types of sensor data will also allow us to monitor events otherwise not detectable with a single type of sensor. The finished product will be valuable not only to scientists who wish to monitor environmental conditions over time, but also to first-responders and product users in the case of an emergency.

OBJECTIVE
This project attempts to provide accurate, real-time data of various environmental parameters over a large area by using a number of relatively cheap sensors that serve as a “Hazard Weather Station”. This data will be made available to scientists, first responders, and the average user in order to create an efficient hazard response system.

This project builds off of the CSN (Community Seismic Network) project, which uses a dense array of inexpensive accelerometers to produce a “shake map” that monitors the seismic activity in and around Pasadena. These accelerometers are hosted in volunteers’ homes or offices, and, in addition to sending seismic data to the Cloud, allows the user to view seismic activity in their home or office via a computer application.

The goal is to construct a sensor hub (and associated software) with a variety of inexpensive sensors that can monitor other environmental parameters such as barometric pressure, radiation levels, temperature, air-quality, etc. In addition, the sensor hub will include a microphone, motion detector, and light sensor. This wide variety of sensors enable us to creatively fuse data from different sensors to detect events such as an approaching thunderstorm (finding a characteristic flash of lightning followed by rolling thunder), or a fire (changes in air quality coupled with decreased humidity). The sensors will be attached to the Arduino platform and transmit data at regular intervals to a Cloud based data storage infrastructure. The interval of transmission can be altered and prioritized for parameters that suddenly change in order to more accurately track anomalous environmental conditions. Data will be also displayed to users via a computer program and/or Android application.

By the end of the SURF research period, the prototype “Hazard Weather Station” will be able to relay information to a central Cloud computing system and work with a computer and/or Android application that lets users monitor changes in environmental parameters at their homes and offices.