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Build Your Own Data Logger Community / Feed

Welcome to the official group forum for our virtual course, Build Your Own Data Logger. This is your space to engage with course instructors Akiba and Jacinta from Freaklabs, find help and resources for each module, collaborate and chat with your fellow course participants, and share your progress on your own Data Logger project!

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Module 6: Ruggedising Devices

Akiba
Welcome to the sixth module of our Build Your Own Data Logger virtual course. In these videos, we’ll discuss ways to protect devices from water, dust and animals. Then we assemble the WildLogger using cable glands so...

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Module 7: Testing and Piloting

Akiba
Welcome to the seventh module of our Build Your Own Data Logger virtual course. In this module, we take our fully assembled system into the lab, sandbox and pilot test environments. 

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Module 5: Optimising your application

Hi everyone,  Module 5 is now available! Please use this thread to ask any questions that pop up as you work your way through this module.  In Module 5 we...

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Hurray !, we were waiting impatiently for it, now we can put our babys to sleep and let them only work what is necessary!
I've started to see a bit of the content, and as always, it's exceeding my expectations.
Congratulations on your excellent work!

Thanks a lot for the new module!
It now keeps logging and logging and logging....

Greetings from Austria,
Robin

Glad to hear it's working! We're now working on the last couple modules which is more mechanical and assembly. Hoping to get those out soon. We're feeling a bit of pandemic fatigue so progress is slower than usual. Ha ha ha.

Akiba

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Module 5: Optimising Your Application

Akiba
Welcome to the fifth module of our Build Your Own Data Logger virtual course. In these videos, we’ll optimise our data logger application, and add the finishing touches to application code so it’s ready for deployment. 

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Wildlogger for freshwater monitoring

Hi Akiba, Jacinta, and wildlogger group. We're proposing to trial Wildloggers for monitoring freshwater [streams], starting with water temperature and dissolved...

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Hi Nigel.

At the moment, I don't know of any other groups doing water monitoring. @JAL is doing a cave monitoring project. The DS18B20 is a nice sensor. It was the original sensor I was going to use for the Wildlogger kit before switching to the DHT11. One thing is that you may need to test how waterproof it actually is. When I took them apart, there was just a heat shrink tubing seal to the DS18B20 with exposed pins inside the stainless steel tube.  
I haven't had the chance to play with a DO sensor yet, but definitely hoping for more info once you deploy. It sounds like a fascinating project.

Akiba

Hi Nigel,

Are you interested in attended or unattended monitoring?  You can take inspiration from openctd, also the cave pearl project which has a few variants.  IMO the atlas instruments are probably the safest way to go.  Water quality sensors are frightfully expensive, and even Atlas sensors are spendy in my book.

I heard there was a chap calibrating DS18B20 units (NIST traceable) for USD20 or so, that would partially remove the accuracy issue (the 18B20 is accurate to 0.5degC only).  The 18B20 can come already waterproofed which is convenient.

 

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BLE connection problems

Hello Akiba and Jacinta, I am doing connection tests of the Wildlogger through the BLE HM-10 module and I have a problem for which I can not find a solution I have connected the...

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Hi Jose.

I somehow missed this post. I can't fully understand the issue you're running into. Can you post the code you're using? Also if you can, perhaps a rough diagram of how you're interfacing the BLE HM-10 to the Wildlogger? It sounds like you somehow have it connected to the USB dongle interface? And then the other side of the Bluetooth connection is connected to the PC? It sounds like an interesting application.

Thanks.

Akiba

Hi Akiba,
It seems to me that I have not explained myself well, as it is a somewhat special topic, if you think I will answer you in private. These days I'm a bit busy, but I hope I can answer you soon
Best regards,

Hi JAL. 

No problem. Feel free to email directly or private message through Wildlabs on the specifics. No rush either. I think it's interesting that there seems to be interest in adding a BLE interface to the system. It's the second time hearing about it :)

Akiba

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Mid Course Check-In

Hey Everyone, We're halfway through the course, whoop!  Congratulations on making it this far.  We've covered a lot, and though the...

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Hi Egil. 
I think we're seeing the benefits of dropping the whole series binge watch style versus trickling them out on a schedule. I think we all learned a lot on how to manage a workshop series like this. Ha ha ha. Future ones will be more compact and released as a set. That said, this first one is important because it sets the foundation of concepts that future series will build on. Almost all conservation technology revolves around data collection in some form so the data logger concepts will keep on popping up in more sophisticated devices as well, but with fancier bells and whistles :)

 Akiba

I think this whole series is a very valuable tool and will open up a vast amount of possibilities for people to collect data for their projects, so useful to have such a workshop here all in one place.

Thanks! We think it will be useful, especially if it can serve as a building block for courses with more sophisticated devices. I think it will be really interesting to see where this goes and what comes kinds of devices and projects come out of it.

Akiba

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Power saving

Hi Akiba and Jacinta, wonderful course!!! further to my previous email, we're testing batteries and for some reason I can't get more than 24-hrs with 3x AA...

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Hi Nigel. 

it makes sense that the batteries don't last long. Since we haven't discussed the power management part of the code, you're in active mode the whole time. The power drain will be high and you won't get more than a day or two of battery life. 

What you need is to disable any peripherals you're using and put the Wildlogger into powerdown (aka sleep) mode. Then use the real time clock to wake your system up periodically to take measurements, say every hour. That's actually going to be what we do in module 5 which I'm actually working on right before I took a break to check the interwebz. 

With the right power management, you should be able to keep the system going for a month or longer depending on the power draw of the sensors you want to use. With the DHT11, PIR, and SD card, we estimate around 2.5 months but that depends on the power draw of the SD card. 

If you can have some patience,we'll be working on and finishing out module 5 soon. We'll let you know when it's available. In the meantime, if you need to deploy soon, I recommend you check out the Low Power library for Arduino and look at the examples. 

Hope that helps.

Akiba

 

Hi Akiba,

Yes, that does help. Nice to know we can expect 1-month using 3x AA 2100mAh batteries.

I had a quick look at the arduino.cc site for power management - it's all there, but looking forward to your advice/videos.

I'll move onto adapting our code for the DS18B20 temp sensor and Dissolved oxygen sensor [will soon post another thread for that]. No urgent rush to deploy yet, until code for these sensors is running ok.

Best Regards,

Nigel

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Module 4: Tying It All Together

Hi everyone,  Module 4 is now available! Please use this thread to ask any questions that pop up as you work your way through this module.  In...

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Hi JAL. 

Oh, it looks great! I like the enclosure, too. I think you have more than enoug juice to power the device for a year. Ha ha ha. Although it's still upcoming, the low power mode will mean the total current draw of the Wildlogger with an SD card and DHT11 would be around 0.6mA if I'm not mistaken. 

Thanks for starting this thread. I'm also interested in how other people will use the Wildlogger. When this is over, we'll have other short articles or videos on different applications you can do with it. 

Good luck with the cave logging! Please keep us updated on how it goes :)

Akiba

Yes, the power bank looks like a nuclear power plant for such a small consumption! ;-), but the reason for this mount is that I plan to use it on other devices. I like to use standard 18650 batteries, rechargeable, and that I can easily replace in case of failure. I also like its versatility to use different number of batteries, according to the needs

Thanks !

PD: I can't wait to put my device to sleep!

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Possible command line uses

Hi !, I am already in the testing phase of my light data logger and I am trying to use the cmd utility to modify a parameter of the light sensor in real time. Specifically, it...

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Hi Akiba
Very useful the indications you gave me, now the double values that I introduce are shown in the same way.
Likewise, the main problem I had is that the value that I entered in setALSinterruptThreshold, did not match the value that I obtained in getALSinterruptThreshold. Luckily the relationship between these two quantities corresponds to a linear function, and I have been able to solve it by applying a correction factor
The problem I have now is that the modifications that I make with cmd, once I disconnect the serial monitor, are not kept in the program, and it returns to the initial configuration by default
For this reason, my question now is, is there any way that these modifications are permanently maintained in the program, or are they only useful for testing in real time?
Greetings,

Ha ha ha. That's for the next series which will be the intermediate course. It includes writing metadata and configuration settings to the EEPROM. But if you want to move ahead on your own, try checking the Arduino EEPROM library and look at the examples. That's how you create your configuration settings as well as metadata.

Akiba

Okay Akiba, I leave it in the drawer of pending things, if I have some time I would like to try it. Count on me for the next course!
Greetings !

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Battery status monitoring no longer working

Hi, Just loaded and run the Module 4-1 code and found that the battery status monitoring is not working as expected.  When I loaded and (first) ran the Module 3.3 code the...

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Hi Phil.

I checked and there's no problem with your code. It looks like it's a hardware issue. I'll be sending out a replacement board to you. Can you confirm your address via DM, just so that I can make sure I don't send it to the wrong place?

Thanks

Akiba

Hi Phil.

A replacement board was just sent out to you. Thanks for your help with the pictures and the patience :)

Akiba

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Hackaday Data Logging Contest

Hi everyone.  Hackaday is running a data logging contest right now and if you happen to need a reason to log some data, this might be the thing. It runs through April 25th...

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Module 4: Tying It All Together

Akiba
Welcome to the fourth module of our Build Your Own Data Logger virtual course. In these videos, we'll tie everything we've learned so far together by creating our functional data logger application. 

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WildLogger Add-On Board Requests

Hi everyone.  We've gotten a couple of requests for add-on boards for the Wildlogger for specific applications. Although we can't guarantee we can handle all...

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Hi Akiba,
Yes, the TSL2591 has an interrupt pin and there are also a couple of example applications in the Adafruit and TSL2591MI libraries. I am doing tests making the connections with Dupont cables in the I2C connector of the Wildlogger, and for the interruption I will use the corresponding pin of the PIR connector
The connections do not concern me since, once the prototype has been tested and defined, my idea would be to make the maximum of welded connections to avoid failures
I'm still in the design phase, I already have the hardware quite defined, and now I have to enter with the most difficult part, the software, which for me is where I have the most difficulty
I have been gathering the elements to prepare the cake, and now is the time to enter the kitchen, I will not deny that I am excited and terrified at the same time
I'm already telling you ...
Regards !

Hi JAL.

Excellent! I'm glad you've already started on it and Dupont wires should be no problem. Let us know how it goes and if you have software issues, feel free to post them in this forum. Good luck and please take pictures of the modified Wildlogger and also the deployment. It sounds like an amazing application!

Akiba 

I appreciate your encouragement !

Don't hesitate that I will keep you informed of the progress that I am making

Happy weekend !

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Carly's video blog journey

Welcome to my vlog (video blog) for the Build Your Own Datalogger course. I hope they bring you joy, some humor, and confidence that no one's getting everything right the...

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Hi Carly. 

The videos are wonderful! They're hilarious and also let me know areas we can improve on :)

Akiba

Round 2 vlog video is up!

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Module 3.3: Measuring Battery Status

Hi everyone,  As you're aware, Module 3 has turned into a bit of a monster. To get all the information to you in a digestable format, we've broken it into six...

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Hi JAL.

I'm glad you're enjoying the WildLogger! What you're doing fits exactly the purpose of this course. It's demystifying the art of customizing research equipment. For the WildLogger, if you will be using it to collect scientific grade data, I recommend to upgrade the board to use an external analog reference. There's already a footprint and we will add that to the shop this week. It's a cheap part but will stabilize the ADC reference vs temperature and also has 0.1% accuracy so that you will get more accurate ADC readings across temperature. I think we're targeting $1 for that part so it's a cheap upgrade. Currently the power supply is used as the ADC reference to keep costs down which is accurate to around +/-1.5%. 

In regards to the power supply and power requirements, the battery input needs to have a voltage of between 3.6V and 5.0V. A single cell lithium-ion or lithium-ion-polymer battery would be fine at a nominal voltage of 3.6V and full voltage of 4.2V. 

in sleep mode with an average SD card that implements power savings modes (like SanDisk), it consumes around 0.8 mA. If you're calculating battery life, you can use that as a theoretical maximum battery life, ie: if you use a 2000 mAHr battery, you would get  2500 hour battery life or ~100 days max. We usually divide by 2 or 3 to get a realistic battery life. 

We'll also be making some bonus sensors and training materials specifically for the WildLogger so people can extend it to different applications. We'll announce that soon, likely once we're caught up on the video creation. Also do let us know if you have requests for sensors, displays, etc. 

Hope that helps and let me know if you have any other questions.

Akiba

 

 

Hi Akiba,
Oh, your answer is great!
My idea is to build a DL that allows,

  • Light registration, with time stamp, when it exceeds a certain threshold (To control the human presence in the cave) The card only has to record when this threshold is exceeded to save energy
  • Periodic record of temperature and humidity
  • Data recording on SD
  • Autonomy of at least 4 months

I have tried some sensors and I think I will use the TSL2591 because it has a very low detection threshold (0.18 uLux) and has an interrupt pin. I've already been testing some sample libraries, and I think it would be ideal
For temperature and humidity I am hesitating between using the DHT11 or the BME280
Perfect the external reference of the ADC if it serves to have more accurate readings
My idea is to use a power bank with 3 or 4 18650 Lipo batteries and built-in BCP, and to be able to disconnect the device when it detects that the power supply is less than 3.2V
Is the Sandisk card you mention a normal one, or of an industrial type like the one you presented in the corresponding module?
My best wishes,

Oh that sounds like a fascinating application. I've actually just started a thread for Wildlogger add-on board requests. The TSL25911 sounds do-able and also it looks like one useful thing would be to put together some adapter cables to other popular modular systems like the Adafruit Stemma and Seeed Grove. Let's discuss this in the other thread. 

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Module 3.2b Command Temp and Humidity

I am running into an error "cmdTemperature was not declared in this scope" I thought it was a spelling error, but I am not finding the type, so I was wondering if...

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Hey, 

In the cmdTemperature and cmdHumidity functions, there's full stops between void and cmdTemperature and cmdHumidity. Can you try removing them and see if that works?

Cheers 

Jacinta 

 

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Module 3.4: Real Time Clock

Hi everyone,  As you're aware, Module 3 has turned into a bit of a monster. To get all the information to you in a digestable format, we've broken it into six...

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Hi JAL.

For Module 3.4 - Lab 4a, the time will be hard coded into the sketch and then it will just print that time out. It's just to demonstrate how you would set it and how you would print it out. Every time you reset the board, the same time is reprogrammed into the real time clock so it will never advance. 

Where you will see the actual real time clock behavior is in Module 3.4 - Lab 4b where you set the clock from the command line and can read it from the command line. Since it won't be hard coded but rather set at run-time, and then independently read out, you should see the clock advance. Also you should only need to set the clock once as long as the backup battery holds up (should be good for a few months to years). 

Please try lab 4b and check if the clock can advance. You should see the seconds incrementing at least.

Akiba

Hi Akiba!
Now it's okay, and the clock is ticking!
Now I understand the errors I made, I had used the example of the Rtc_Pcf8563 "Setclock" library that contains in the Setup an "rtc.initclock" statement, with which every time you restart the program the clock starts counting from the starting point of departure.
Your first example did not set the clock either, and it only served to enter a time and print it later.
I had also tried to use the Rtc by Makuna library to automatically synchronize the time of the PC with that of the RTC, but I got a time loss error, as if, for some reason, the RTC did not retain the time. It is true that this library is designed for other RTC models of the DS **** series, and surely the error comes for that reason
Do you know if there is a library to fulfill this function with your RTC?
Thank you !!

You'll need to write a software application that would communicate from the PC to the board via serial. Within that software application, you could send the time and date to the Wildlogger application, ie: through the command line interface. This would automate the synchronization. 

Akiba

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Module 3.6: Interrupts

Akiba
Welcome to the sixth and final part of Build Your Own Data Logger module 3. This new module covers interupts, PIR motion sensors and setting timers and alarms on our real time clock.  

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Module 3.5: SD Cards and the FAT File System

Hi Everyone,  We've got a module release for you going into your weekend - happy Friday! Please use this thread to ask any questions that pop up as you work...

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Hi JAL.

Ah I understand now. When we put the libraries in github, we were still debating on what versions we would use. For the RTC library, we initially wanted to use the library available from Arduino Library Manager, but it didn't support the Timer feature and datetime function (it just supported date and time separately). We ended up using a fork of the RTC library with the additional features.

Also there are so many different versions of sdFat and as you saw, one version is incompatible with another. We were using v1.01 at that time which we've field tested and worked well. However after a lot of thought, we finally decided to use the last version of Release 1 which is v1.1.4 .Unfortunately the github libraries didn't get updated. Actually we didn't think anyone would use them and would install the libraries as per the videos. The Github libraries were intended for archival purposes. I'm glad you caught the version mismatch though. 

It's actually a good example of one of the painful parts of embedded programming. Getting the right combination of library versions, application code, and hardware so they are all communicating happily together and doing what you want can be quite challenging and frustrating. That's why when we discussed with Steph and Ellie, we liked the idea of doing a deep course, but also wanted to make sure there were a lot of avenues of support. Otherwise, there are so many hidden walls to run into.

Also the github libs have been updated, but I'm glad you got it all to work anyways. 

Akiba

Too many things to consider! :-)

This is one of the reasons why I try to work with VsCode, that this IDE allows to save each project with its library versions

But I still have other problems that I do not understand ..., we will continue to insist

The great advantage of this course is your professional support, without it we would be lost!

Best regards !

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BYO Datalogger Github Repository

Hi everyone. In case you weren't aware of it, the BYO Datalogger course has a github repository where you can view, download, and clone the Wildlogger board design files...

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Hi Akiba,
I am using VsCode and I see that your board is not included in the list of available
What similar board do you think I could use? Do you foresee that your plate will be included in the near future?
Cheers !

Hi JAL. 

I think everyone should use the editor they feel comfortable with, but our courses will assume using the default Arduino IDE. There is a setting where you can use the Arduino IDE just to compile and use an external editor. I recommend possibly using this mode so you can use the included board files we've prepared. We stray a bit outside the standard Arduino ecosystem since we are designing boards specifically for field deployment. We are actually using larger chips with more RAM so our board files are different than the standard included ones. 
Akiba

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Module 3.2: Temperature and Humidity Settings

Hi everyone,  As you're aware, Module 3 has turned into a bit of a monster. To get all the information to you in a digestable format, we've broken it into six...

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An observation I made when first experimenting with DHT22 modules with a Raspberry Pi years ago that still seems true with Arduino and DHT11 sensors.  The first reading of the temperature and humidity always seems to be inaccurate for some reason, so my habit was to always read and throw away the first command as part of the device setup.

e.g.

28.10,49.00  <--  inaccurate
29.60,46.00
29.60,46.00
29.60,46.00
29.70,46.00
29.70,46.00

 

John

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Module 3.5: SD Cards and the FAT File System

Akiba
Welcome to the fifth part of Build Your Own Data Logger module 3. In these videos, we'll get into the process of writing our data logger application and carrying out our proof-of-concept strategy. 

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Module 3.4: Real Time Clock

Akiba
Welcome to the fourth part of Build Your Own Data Logger module 3. In these videos, we'll get into the process of writing our data logger application and carrying out our proof-of-concept strategy. 

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Course Directory

Welcome to the Build Your Own Datalogger virtual course. On this page, you'll find a table of contents to help you navigate around the course and supporting materials.  

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Module 3.3: Measuring Battery Status

Akiba
Welcome to the third part of Build Your Own Data Logger module 3. In these videos, we'll get into the process of writing our data logger application and carrying out our proof-of-concept strategy.

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Module 3.2: Temperature and Humidity Settings

Akiba
Welcome to the second part of Build Your Own Data Logger module 3. In these videos, we'll get into the process of writing our data logger application and carrying out our proof-of-concept strategy. 

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Module 2: Setting up the Arduino IDE

Hi WILDLoggers,  Module 2 is now live! Thanks to everyone attending our Office Hours with Akiba and Jacinta today. If you can't make it, don...

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Oh great. That makes me feel better also. Hope you have a stable development system to work off of. Great things still need to be made!

Akiba

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