Week 6 Day 28

We pulled all of our plant data today, here are the results of our comparison.

It should be noted that the plants caused a drop in the CO2 levels both during the peak times along with during lunch and the overnight period.  

Work continues on the paper and final presentation.

Week 6 Day 26

Today is the day for our threshold tests.  We set up our sensor to take measurements every 30 seconds, let it normalize, and then began assaulting it with different airborne gases and particulates.  The first test was the fumes released from the act of soldering our newest board. (yes, we are creating a new board, i'll get to that in a minute.)  Next, we grabbed some coffee and sat the cup next to the sensor to see what readings we picked up off the fresh grounds.  For the 3rd test we grabbed some hand sanitizer and placed a large sample next to the sensor. The last test consisted of us fumigating the lab with a can of air freshener, seen below.

For the afternoon we grabbed some plants from walmart so we can test the CO2 content of the teachers lab again with the addition of indoor plants.  Also, throughout the day Georgette has been working on our newest wireless board that we will be using for techfest.  Here is her progress.

Week 5 Day 25

This morning Dr. Bruce Hunter brought in three visitors from UAEM, Mexico.  We discussed the differences between the education system in the US vs the education system in Mexico.  It was very interesting to hear that in Mexico there is often a connection between several high schools and one university.  This means that if a student knew they wanted to be a doctor, they could begin the program in high school and then continue on to the university.  We look forward to seeing what other connections can be made between the RET program and the UAEM in Mexico, possibly even heading down to Toluca to experience the culture and participate in some environmental studies  





Here is our current progress on the xbee shield that we are attaching to our prototype so we can transmit data via a wireless sensor network.

Week 5 Day 24

The morning session was spent cleaning up our poster and working on the methods section of our paper.  Chirag spent some more time developing the wireless portion of our sensor and trying to get two of the units to talk to each other.  By the end of the day he was getting data from our sensor from the wireless xbee, but was working on cleaning up some extraneous values.  Hopefully by tomorrow we will be completely wireless.

This afternoon we attended a seminar by Dr. Kuruvilla John on Air Quality Monitoring.  He discussed how air pollution has progressed over time, and the legislation that has been put into place to help monitor the issue.  He also discussed different detection methods for every thing from ozone to particulate matter.  It was very interesting to see several of the parameters that we have investigated for indoor air applied to the outdoor setting.

Week 5 Day 23

Today was spent comparing the data from all of our different locations to see how close our prototype is to the more expensive graywolf unit.  Here is everything we have collected thus far, graywolf data on the left and our prototype on the right.

We also began work on developing the wireless capability of our arduino board.  Here is our progress.

Week 5 Day 22

Today is terrarium day!  We are taking air quality readings from the terrarium downstairs to see how it compares to our other locations.  Here are some pictures of the terrarium and the setup.

We are anticipating a higher relative humidity in this location along with a much lower CO2 concentration.  All of the other readings should come in around the same averages from before.  After we finish collecting today's data we will begin working on the final presentation.

Week 5 Day Day 21

The week started off with a presentation from Dr. Hunter on GPS and GIS.  He explained the basics of how GPS works, along with showing us some state of the art equipment that the university uses for research.  He then introduced us to the arcGIS software that utilizes the collected GPS data.  We went through a short demo  using the program, which allowed us to manipulate the different layers to show relationships between different pieces.  The software makes it very easy to actually use the data and present multiple layers in one location.



The second half of the day was spent working on the engineering side of our lesson plan, specifically writing the design portion of the student activity for an engineering design class.  Our goal is for students to build the prototype unit, and then use their functional unit to sample their schools indoor air quality.

Week 4 Day 20

Today was spent comparing data once again to see if any trends emerged from the different locations.  Right now it looks like our prototype is doing very well when compared to the GrayWolf, just not near as sensitive.

We are in the process of setting thresholds for each parameter based upon the readings from our prototype. These will be "comfort" readings for temperature and humidity, a scent threshold for VOC, a functional range for carbon dioxide, and then a hazard threshold for carbon monoxide.




The afternoon was spent working on the lesson plan and testing out the prototype.  We took the opportunity to run our sensors while another group was making some cuts with a dremmel tool.  The prototype registered a slight change in VOC content, from 124 ppm to 149 ppm.  The largest change though was from the dust sensor which went from 0 mg/m^3 to 3 mg/m^3.  Our intent is to perform more tests like this over the next week to see exactly what causes our sensors to register a change.

Week 4 Day 19

We took a day off from testing today and went through all of our data to check the relationship between our prototype data and the more expensive GrayWolf unit.  All of the data seems to follow the same trends, with the only variation being the sensitivity of the GrayWolf unit.  For example, when there is a change in VOC concentration due to an odorous gas our prototype jumps to 250 ppm while the GrayWolf jumps to 1200 ppm.  This means that to use this as a warning system, we will have to determine specific thresholds for our unit.


This afternoon we attended a seminar from David Hunter, who is with Denton's Water Quality department.  He discussed different pollutants that you would check for in a watershed, along with different sensors and their applications.


Tomorrow will be lesson plan development day, so hopefully we can get a lesson plan finished up tomorrow.

Week 4 Day 17

Today started with a seminar with presentations from Dr. Atkinson and Dr. Namuduri.  Dr. Atkinson discussed the applications of using his quadcopter, check it out...

Dr. Namuduri presented on the topic of robotic vision and its application on the mars rover project.  Both gave a very interesting look into how robotics is being used to monitor and collect data from the environment.    

The afternoon was spent taking readings from B251, the grad lab, so we can compare our previous data.  We are also trying to work out a few bugs that we are having with the prototype.  For some reason it is giving an error message every once in a while instead of taking a reading, but then begins working fine for the next reading.  As far as data goes it is not a problem since its only one reading out of 200, we would just like to figure out what the error is.  

Week 4 Day 16

Today is the day we test the kitchens air quality.  We started testing at  9 am this morning and will wrap it up around 4:30.  Our prediction for this location is typical values for all parameters except for VOC's.  We are expecting spikes throughout the day as people make coffee or prepare food.  We will see how it turns out this afternoon.  Here is a snapshot of the setup

While the data is being compiled our group will spend some time today working through the methods section of the paper, along with setting up the final poster.

Week 3 Day 15

Midterm presentations were today, so we got to discuss all of the research that we've completed up until this point.  We also gave a demo of our unit by taking air samples from the presentation room.  It was interesting to listen to all the other groups present, and hear the progress that they have made up until this point.  All of the projects are moving along nicely, it will be a busy three weeks as we finish everything up.

Week 3 Day 14

The two units successfully took data last night in the copy room, thankfully,  so we will begin compiling the data.  It looks like we had a significant spike in the VOC at around 10pm, so it will be interesting to compare the two and see exactly what happened.   We are going to hold off on monitoring the next location until next Monday due to presentations tomorrow.   Most of today will be spent polishing up our material for the aforementioned presentation.  We will also spend some time cleaning up the lit review and clarifying exactly what we pulled from each article.  


Here are some screen shots of the two data sets from yesterday and today.  Notice the jump in VOC on each.  First is our prototype, second is the graywolf.

 




Last thought of the day, I found an interesting article on controlling airborne bacterial populations with the use of a pulsating UV-Light. Its application was in a University lecture hall, but the idea could be applied to any place where there is a large congregation of students.  This concept could be applied to all ventilation systems that feed into classroom, cafeterias or gymnasiums, all of which are breeding grounds for biological contaminants.

Week 3 Day 13

The team had a less than exciting discovery when we came in this morning.  For some reason the lap top that we were using for the gray wolf sensor shut down.  After we turned the power back on, we checked the data files to see when it stopped logging data.  The last data entry was around 2:30, meaning the computer shut down just after that. This means that we will have to redo our data logging from yesterday, and postpone our next location till tomorrow.  We will monitor the unit closely today to make sure we don't have any more mishaps.

Work is still underway on the second prototype.  It should be finished up by lunch today so that we can begin testing.  After lunch we spent more time working through our lit review by adding a few more sources. At this point we have 7, and are working on tying them all together to work with our papers abstract.







After our library section we got the unit problem straitened out, turns out it was a wiring issue linked to the VOC sensor.  Here is the completed unit....only issue is it wont communicate with the arduino board.  That means we will be spending the next hour checking connections to make sure everything is secured and connected in the correct location.

After our library section we got the unit problem straitened out, turns out it was a wiring issue linked to the VOC sensor.  The board is currently working and the sensors are warming up in the lab.  Hopefully we wont  have any issues with disconnected lap tops tonight.  

Week 3 Day 12

We began the day by compiling the data from both units for the B239 environment.  Each data set was converted into excel for later comparison. Here is a screen shot of what the data looks like when we converted it into graphical form.  Notice the carbon dioxide line, red graph up top, shows levels near 900 ppm then suddenly drops then comes back up before dropping down again.  This is represented by the group taking a lunch break during the first drop, and then heading home for the night.  The last sudden rise in the graph is when we arrived this morning.  All other parameters remained fairly constant for the 24 hour period.

 We then packed up both units and transferred them to the copy room, our next test location.  Here is the set up...

While we are waiting on the data loggers to do their thing, we will begin working on the literature review portion of our research paper.  This afternoon we will be attending a workshop with Dr. Thompson pertaining to lesson plan development.

Week 3 Day 11

Here is our first set of measurements that we took over the weekend in the grad lab B251.  I stopped the graph at 10 hours, excel doesn't like taking more than 250 or so readings into account for the graph. All of the data has come in within the reasonable range, so we will begin setting up our next location.




 Here is a picture of our setup in the teacher lab  B239..

Our prototype unit is located on the shelf just above the gray wolf unit.  Both units are hooked up to netbooks and set to take readings every 5 minutes. After 10 hours we will then compare the data to the graywolf once again to see how accurate our prototype is.  We will also analyze the data and see if we can see anything different from the other lab.





We are still working on the problem of integrating the arduino board into the labview program.  Here is a  screen shot of the code of the block diagram.  The temperature/relative humidity probe is still problematic since the data is linked together.  I'll keep you updated on the progress.

The rest of today was spent on our lit review for our midterm presentation friday.  This basically means we went through all of our relevant research material and pulled out the main idea of what the paper said.  We will then use this information as we write our paper. Hopefully our overnight data looks good so that we can move on to our next test location.  

Week 2 Day 10

Friday

Our prototype is finally functional from an electrical standpoint, but we are still working on the code in LabView to convert the data.  Since the temperature and humidity are located inside the same probe, its taking some creative code to split the input into the two readings.  The plan is to finish up the code today, and then begin taking readings over the weekend.

Here is our completed unit with the prototype on the left.  We will be using a netbook so that we can rotate where we are taking readings every 24 hours.  We will begin with the lab this weekend and then move on to other locations next week.

One slight issue we are still dealing with is the conversion of the 40 bit code from the temperature and humidity unit.  Instead of using labview, we will be using the arduino software to read the data this weekend to work through any bugs, then switch to labview next week.


We finished up the afternoon by brainstorming through the questions for our lesson plan and establishing our guidelines for our experiment.  Hopefully the system works well over the weekend!

Week 2 Day 9

Once again we are starting the day troubleshooting our new board.  We are getting readings from 3 of the senors, but not the 4th.  Most likely it is caused by a bad connection, so we will go through and check all of the wires.  After we get all the sensors taking readings, we will combine all of the code in LabView and create one VI that will show all of our data.  We will also finish up work on the notification system in LabView.  The idea is that when our measurements go outside of the recommended range, the system will notify us of what the issue is.

After a morning in the lab working on the board and lesson plan, we attended a lecture by Dr. Fu and Dr. Acevedo.  Dr. Fu discussed wireless sensor networks and their application into our everyday lives.  He even showed us a device that took his heart rate, and then transmitted the data to his phone.  Dr. Acevedo then took us through the Texas Environmental Observatory, or TEO for short.   The TEO shows readings for ozone, soil moisture, and many other environmental factors from all over the Denton area.  

Tomorrow we plan on working through our lesson plan, specifically the explanation portion.

Week 2 Day 8

Wednesday

Today started off with a little bit of computer trouble.  We are having issues running our LabView program on my laptop, and pulling data from the Arduino board.  The reason why this is important, is we plan on taking readings from multiple locations, hence the importance of a portable laptop.  Until we can get this issue resolved, we will continue testing our sensors from the lab workstation in which LabView works fine.

Work is also continuing on combing all the senors onto one board.  From yesterday some more connectors have been added....













As work continues on the merged board, here are the pin diagrams that are being used to align the specific components on the board.

The first of our merged boards is completed, containing all 4 of our sensors. We will begin testing as soon as possible.  We will also begin work on the alarm system for notification of when our readings stray outside of the acceptable range.  We will have a notification on the screen, as well as an actual LED that lights up on the board.  

Week 2 Day 7

Tuesday

The overnight comparison of the data from the prototype and the gray wolf system is very encouraging.  It looks like the two only had a difference of +or- 15 ppb.  Here is the LabView front panel along with the GrayWolf unit showing our measurements that were taken every 5 minutes.

We will begin the same process today for our next set of sensors.  While we are waiting on the data to be compiled, we are beginning work on our lesson plan. Specifically, we are working on the engage section of the lesson which will be the into portion of the unit.




Dr. Li gave us the go ahead to begin work on combing all of our sensors, meaning that we have a lot of work  to do this afternoon.  Here are the begin steps of assembling the new board.

This is our carbon monoxide sensor, notice that it has had some slight modifications made to its connective leads.  Since the board is square and the sensor is round, it has caused some mounting issues.  Its a lot like trying to put a circular peg into a square hole. 

  With some creative soldering, Georgette has managed to get it to fit quite nicely on the board.

And now with the dust sensor added in the middle.

We finished the day by attending a LabView training in which we designed our own VI(virtual instrument).  The topics we discussed will be very helpful when we design our own programs for data acquisition from our sensors.  Here is what my VI ended up looking like.

Tomorrow we will test our sensors again and complete more research on professional grade IAQ systems.  

Week 2 Day 6

We start off the week with the tricky task of trying to
make our sensors fit on the board in the correct way. As you can see the dust sensor( the large silver unit up top) is rather large, making it difficult to fit neatly on the board.   Its  a bit like doing a jigsaw puzzle with electronic components. We have also added the VOC sensor, which  is the circular silver sensor with small holes in the top.  


The dust sensor will do exactly what its name suggests, detect dust in the air.  It does this by picking up the reflected light from dust in the air.  It is so effective that it can differentiate house dust from cigarette smoke by the pulse pattern of the output voltage.  


The VOC sensor, which stands for Volatile Organic Compounds, has a high sensitivity to low concentrations of odorous gases.  Many VOC's themselves are not hazardous, but play an important role in the formation of ozone.  Ozone is a photo-chemical oxidant  that is generally harmful to plant tissue and human respiratory tissue if found in the troposphere.   

Our first set of sensors is completed!  We attached the dust sensor and VOC sensor to the ARDUINO board ( thats the blue board underneath the red board) which is then connected to the computer via USB.  LabVIEW then converts the readings into ppb.    We have started taking our first measurements, set to log data every 5 minutes.  We are starting with VOC and then will move on to the dust sensor.  The gray wolf unit is currently set up in the same room as our prototype so we can compare the data to make sure it is in a respectable range. 

 After checking our values we found that we had a slight issue with our prototype, but the wire has been reconnected and our output values are coming in well within an acceptable range.  For example, the gray wolf unit is reading 119 ppb and our prototype is reading 117 ppb, close enough for our purposes.

We will leave the units running overnight to get some more data, and then change the locations tomorrow to see if we can get some different readings.  Last thing for today is to get everything ready for our next set of sensors, the temperature/relative humidity and carbon monoxide.  Temperature is in white on the left, and CO is red and circular on the right.  Here it is below...