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owtf - OWTF_Proposal_1.wiki

Proposed Project Name: OWTF (One Wire Temperature Finder)

Summary

OWTF is a distributed weather monitoring project which uses One Wire devices for the monitoring of temperature and humidity. The readings which are gathered through the various One Wire devices are logged to a database, and from there are processed and displayed on a web based interface. Users are able to configure the project to alert (via email and other methods) when temperatures exceed acceptable limits.

Why

Every day people consult various media sources for weather forecasts. These forecasts provide people with information concerning what the weather was like, trends for the current time period (i.e., Rain all week), and occasionally a slightly less incorrect prediction of upcoming weather conditions. These forecasts form crucial part of our modern society - from helping us decide on heating or cooling our residences, helping us dress for conditions, or just giving us someone to blame for a completely incorrect and seemingly random weather forecast.

On a smaller scale (non-critical to general society), weather forecasts for a space such as a room can show trends in heating and cooling, failure of heating or cooling device, or the effects certain events in the space (such as extra servers being deployed, an increase of people in the room, the effects of having the room's blinds open...)

This project is an attempt to gather data from various arrays of One Wire based sensors and log the data in a central database. From the database, data can then be processed and presented to users by means of a web interface and alert messages.

Necessary Tasks

Implementation and testing of the following:

  • If possible, figure out why OWFS throws linking errors during compile.

  • Monitor - create a program which reads in data from the One Wire sensors and sends/broadcasts the collected data to the collector (via UDP).

  • Collector - create a daemon which listens for traffic from the monitor(s). Upon receiving data from monitor(s), the data is logged to a database. If a temperature exceeds a preset limit, an alert event occurs.

  • Web interface - create an internet portal which allows users to access most recent temperature events. Create the ability for users to see trend graphs of collected data.

  • Desktop Client - create a simple client which displays the most recent temperature events for a selected room.

This project will be implemented in Python and HTML. Other languages may be used if necessary.

Optional Tasks:

  • Implement alerts through instant messages, RSS feeds, SMS.

  • Implement a Google Maps interface for presenting logged data on a large scale (or at least building to building scale)

Related Works and Products

Digitemp (http://www.digitemp.com/)

Digitemp is a simple program written by Brian Lane which reads in values from 1-wire devices.

Digi Watchport/H Humidity and Temperature Sensor (CDW Part: 526926)

This is a USB based temperature and humidity sensor product. It comes with a software package for running the sensors. This product is only for use on Microsoft Windows systems.

MisterHouse (http://w3.misterhouse.com:81/)

MisterHouse is a perl based open source home automation program for X10 based devices.

OWFS (http://owfs.sourceforge.net/) OR (http://www.owfs.org)

OWFS is a suite which makes it possible to create a file system (via FUSE) on Linux which communicates with 1-wire devices. OWFS also provides TCL, Python, and Perl interfaces.

OWW (http://oww.sourceforge.net/)

Oww is a software project which communicates with 1-wire sensors and presents live weather readings.

Thermo Reports (http://www.thermodata.com.au/)

Thermo Reports is an application developed Thermodata Pty Ltd. This program is a commercial software solution for Windows and PalmOS. It logs, archives, and generate reports from a small to moderate network of Dallas Semiconductor DS1921 iButton devices.

Thermodata (http://www.thermodata.com.au/)

Thermodata is a suite of applications developed by Thermodata Pty Ltd. The suite is a commercial software solution for Windows and PalmOS which logs, archives, and generates reports from a large number of 1-wire sensors and Dallas Semiconductor DS1921 iButton devices.

THMon (http://www.ibuttonlink.com/THMonManual/Manual.htm)

TH Monitor is a program produced by IButtonLink.com. This software package is only for users of the Microsoft Windows NT family (i.e. Windows NT 4, Windows 2000, Windows XP).

Web Energy Logger (http://www.ourcoolhouse.com/WEL/functions.htm)

The Web Energy Logger is an internet appliance which is designed to monitor a 1-wire sensor network. The collected data is then posted to a web site.