Pages updated

Quite a lot of pages updated, some new instructions and most recent lab components are  now on  up here. Although a lot of stuff is still missing – Arduino shields and more simple components as well (ok we are not mentioning all the different resistors :)

But we’re getting there.

Inventables

I recommend everyone to take a look at this site: http://www.inventables.com/

They sell small samples of all sorts of weird materials like conductive fabrics, thermochromic inks and fabrics, sensors, actuators and much much more. Most of the samples are pretty expensive, but at least it is a good way to know what sort of weird materials are available.

Lab view, august 26

It is starting to look rather nice, thanks to all the work Matti did and the new storage things we got. I’ve been arranging sensors and other electronic components and updating the library catalog a bit.

view of the lab

view of the lab shelves

New stuff

We’ve finally got some storage things for the electronics – no proper cupboards yet, but small plastic ones for the resistors, sensors, small tools etc. Also 4 LCD screens and the DMX controller. Rumors that the iPad has arrived circulate… lets see what we can do with that. Hmmm. wonder what was / is the status of the University iPhone SDK membership application, has anyone done anything about that?

Pachube Feed From the Lab

Pachube is an excellent web-based platform that lets you connect to real-time sensor, energy and environment data from objects, devices & buildings around the world.

The site is currently in beta testing phase, but there are tons of interesting feeds you can already use in your projects. For example, this feed: http://www.pachube.com/feeds/5692 comes from a buoy near the Hawaiian Islands and it gives  you – among other things – data of the height of the waves in the ocean.

I’ve set up a live Pachube feed from the lab. This is the data that is currently being logged:

  • Light Intensity Value
  • Temperature (in Celcius)
  • Temperature (in Fahrenheit)
  • Humidity %
  • PIR motion sensor

This is the data from the light sensor, (although with a small delay in time?):

Check out the feed at http://www.pachube.com/feeds/7728 and read the tutorials on the Pachube site to get an idea how to use the data in your projects and how to set up your own feed.

– edit by tomtom:

Hello from Pöykkölä!

I’ve nearly dismantled all the 27 boxes with our stuff and checked out if the PachubeNode still works. It does, and now we have a window we can open, so let’s set up a feed which actually measures daylight and outside temperature :)

Site open

Welcome to the Interactive Environments Lab of the University of Lapland.