By Posted on Posted in Communities, Events, Internet of Things, LoRa, Networking

We have liftoff. My first Balloon Environmental Sensing test successfully “slipped the surly bonds of earth, and danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings” sending data back the whole time. First flight was at the Digital Naturalism Conference in Gamboa, Panama, featuring 10+ sensor values streaming from the balloon to an online data collection system and dashboard. It was a big success! …

Balloon IoT Environmental Sensing Takes to the Air Read more »

By Posted on Posted in Events, Internet of Things, LoRa, Networking

Last month we did range testing on a new LoRaWAN radio network installation in Gamboa, Panama. The network, which covers the entire center of town is part of the Digital Naturalism Lab’s commitment to supporting wildlife and environmental research. Gamboa, where the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute’s laboratory is located, is surrounded by the Soberanía National Park, a large, intact tropical forest …

Gamboa, Panama – LoRaWAN Radio Range Test Read more »

By Posted on Posted in Art, Communities, Events, Gardening

Rust is gorgeous. We marvel at its endless shades of ochre, red, orange and sienna. We appreciate the organic shapes created as right angles collapse and edges decay into jagged landscapes. Rust is poetic, photogenic, artistic and melancholy. It grows on its own and famously, never sleeps. As an agricultural species, we love to garden. We plant seeds outdoors, water them …

Rust Garden Read more »

By Posted on Posted in Communities, Events, Internet of Things, LoRa, Teaching

It’s easy to do environmental sensing at ground level. But how about up in the air over our heads? If we could somehow reach it inexpensively and safely, can we directly explore what lies above, perhaps making our own discoveries? One of my projects for Dinacon 2019 will create a party-balloon platform for inexpensive aerial environmental sensing. Everyday balloons offer a …

Balloon Environmental Sensing Read more »

By Posted on Posted in Internet of Things, Networking

Maybe you’ve struggled with coding for time zones, local calendars or historical time changes. Or perhaps you’ve wondered why a software developer went pale when you asked them to add local time calculations to an app and wondered why? In this classic review, Tom Scott explains how a seemingly simple measurement calculation becomes a “twisty-turny thing” that takes software developers down …

The Trouble With Time Zones Read more »

By Posted on Posted in General, Internet of Things, Networking, XBee

I’ve been writing hands-on examples for using MicroPython on XBee radios. MicroPython is an open-source programming language based on Python 3, modified to fit on small devices, and optimized for microcontrollers. By using MicroPython, an easy-to-learn scripting and programming language, you can rapidly prototype intelligent behaviors at the edges of your network. Cryptic sensor readings can be transformed into useful data, excess transmissions can be intelligently …

MicroPython Examples for XBee Read more »

By Posted on Posted in Internet of Things, XBee

Here’s a fun project I created for Digi International a while back. I just wrote up for them as an Instructable so that anyone can make their own. All materials, steps, diagrams and necessary code are included in the instructions. You can get started right away. The Digi XBee3 Cellular SMS ActivityBot is an educational robot that can be controlled with …

Text Message-Controlled Robot Read more »