December 2006 Update

December 2006 has been a time for re-tooling. We've taken a break from our direct tasks to work on some interesting projects:

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NETWORKED SENSOR SYSTEM (NSS)

We designed the NSS for security applications. It consists of three modules (described immediately below). They intercommunicate via the internet.

GIS Clients (PCs) subscribe to data from one or more deployed Networked Sensors via the Sensor Bridge.

The Sensor Bridge aggregates data from the Network Sensors. It can be hosted on a GIS Client PC, or remotely on any internet-connected PC.

The Network Sensors transmit data when an Event occurs.

The prototype Network Sensor (NS) has a laser and video camera attached to a 5' umbilical. When the laser beam is interrupted, the NS notifies the Sensor Bridge that an Event has occurred, captures a frame of video (a "still image"), and retains its logged data. These data are uploaded to the Sensor Bridge.

The Event data appears on the GIS Client Display. The User can display a satellite image representating the Event location, along with data transmitted by the Networked Sensor. As of 2006, a video frame (rendered as a jpeg) and accelerometer signature data are provided.

Jim: I finally got a chance to package the prototype. I had a breadboard system cobbled together on the bench while I worked on the embedded software. It's been fun to shift gears, and get my hands dirty...

The main components of the Networked Sensor are:

- Microcontroller SBC: (Rabbit BL2000)
- Frame grabber card: (uCFG) with eval MBoard
- Laser break-beam sensor
- Video Camera

Jim: I'm working on the next-generation NS now; the main goal is hardware cost reduction, as these prototype parts are expensive. I'm replacing the BL2000 with an RCM series uController, and designing an interface board. These changes should bring down the cost by over 50%.

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