Community Environmental Observation Network

Development of a free sensor network based on an open design data recorder and the implementation of a platform for the exchange and processing of environmental data.

The project Community Environmental Observation Network (CEON) was dedicated to the development of a free sensor network to collect environmental data (e.g. ground shaking, meteorological data). It was intended develop the proof-of-concept for a system allowing to collect dat with contributions from citizen, research institutions or public authorities like communities or schools. The collected data should lead to a large data basis which can be used for public information, research, and arts.

A prototype of an open design seismograph based on the Arduino Mega2560 microcontroller board and the BeagleBone Black single-board computer was developed. Most work went into the development of a sensitive analog to digital conversion to meet the needs of scientific data collection. Four stackable printed circuit boards (PCB) fitting onto the Arduino were designed:

Power Supply Shield (PSS)

This PCB does the main power supply conditioning.

GPS Timing Shield (GTS)

The GPS timing shield has a ublox LEA-6T GPS module which is mainly used to provide a GPS disciplined clock signal to the analog to digital converter (ADC). It moreover provides a puls-per-second signal for accurate time stamping of the recorded data and it has the possibility to log single-phase raw data for differential positioning.

ADC Main Shield (AMS)

The analog to digital conversion happens on this shield. The Texas Instruments ADS1274 analog to digital converter (ADC) is used. It is a 4-channel, 24 Bit Delta-Sigma ADC.

Analog Interface PGA Shield (AI-PGA)

The analog interface shield has a programmable gain amplifier (PGA) and an active 5-pole anti aliasing filter. The PGA Texas Instruments PGA281 is used.

Visual Documentation