Team Group 34: Robert Monaco, Nathan Freyer, Ethan Hoover

Published December 4, 2023

Distributed Desktop Telemetry

Quick and cheap distributed in-case environmental sensor array for hardware monitoring, quality assurance, and general troubleshooting.

IntermediateShowcase (no instructions)115

Things used in this project

Hardware components

Particle Photon 2

Elegoo KY-038 Sound Sensor Module (microphone)

Part of the ELEGOO Upgraded 37 in 1 Sensor Modules Kit

Elegoo Photo Resistor

Part of the ELEGOO Upgraded 37 in 1 Sensor Modules Kit

Elegoo Analog Thermistor

Part of the ELEGOO Upgraded 37 in 1 Sensor Modules Kit

Breadboard (generic)

Personal Computer

Any computers that can communicate with wired Micro-USB devices.

USB-A to Micro-USB Cable

Data-enabled Micro-USB Cables for the Photon 2.

LED (generic)

Low-voltage LED for alarm indication.

Software apps and online services

Particle Build Web IDE

Story

This project was created as part of an IOT (Internet of Things) project for Professor John McAlpine's Fall 2023 "MEGR-3171 Intro to Measurements & Instrumentation" course. This project acts as proof-of-concept of a distributed computer data readout system, where each system can communicate with one another. Specifically, it monitors the internal conditions of our computers and alerts us if something goes wrong.

Pictured - Early development/prototyping how to send sensor data from one Photon 2 to another.

Each sensor module monitors the outputs of three sensors; a photoresistor (light sensor), thermistor (temperature sensor), and a microphone. If any sensor records a problematic reading, the master module will activate an LED on all connected devices, notifying users of an ongoing issue. The photoresistor is shielded from the LED to reduce the chances of the LED remaining on after the problem is resolved.

Using the Particle console, we created a webhook that takes our sensor readings, published as Particle events, and sends them to ThingSpeak.com to generate graphs.

ThingSpeak Telemetry Display

The code for this project is written in C. The two sensor modules measure input values using analog inputs A0, A1, and A2, and publish these readings as events in the Particle Console. These readings from the connected photoresistor, sound, and temperature sensors are then compared against predetermined thresholds. If any of the values exceed this threshold, an alarm event is published. The master module is configured to react to alarm events by activating the alarm LEDs on all modules at once.

Pictured - A completed breadboard with a Particle Photon 2, sensors, and a LED.

Pictured - A video (GIF) of the setup in action.

Once sensor readings return to acceptable levels, the sensor modules publish an all-clear event, and the master module turns the alarm LEDs off on all devices.

Below is a video that explains the project.

Pictured - YouTube video about the project.

Code

int soundOut = A2;
int thermOut = A1;
int photoOut = A0;
int power = A5;
int num = 0;
int one = 1;
int LEDon = 1;

void setup() {
    pinMode(soundOut,INPUT);
    pinMode(photoOut,INPUT);
    pinMode(thermOut,INPUT);
    pinMode(power,OUTPUT);
    
    digitalWrite(power,LOW);
    Particle.subscribe("hook-response/Temperature", myHandler, MY_DEVICES);
    Particle.subscribe("hook-response/Sound", myHandler, MY_DEVICES);
    Particle.subscribe("hook-response/Light", myHandler, MY_DEVICES);
    Particle.subscribe("Alarm", myHandler, MY_DEVICES);
}

void loop() {
    delay(30000);
    int light = analogRead(photoOut);
    if (light != 0){
        Particle.publish("Light", String(light));
    } else {
        light = -1;
        Particle.publish("Light", String(light));
    }

    delay(30000);
    int temp = analogRead(thermOut);
    Particle.publish("Temperature", String(temp));
    
    delay(30000);
    int noise = analogRead(soundOut);
    Particle.publish("Sound", String(noise));
    
    if (light == 1 || temp >= 4000 || noise >= 3000 || light == 2) {
        Particle.publish("AlarmState", "1");
    } else {
        Particle.publish("AlarmState", "0");
    }
}

void myHandler(const char *event, const char *data)
{
    if (strcmp(data,"False")==0) {
   
    digitalWrite(power,LOW);
  }
  else if (strcmp(data,"True")==0) {

    digitalWrite(power,HIGH);
  }
  else {
  }
}

Distributed Desktop Telemetry

Things used in this project

Hardware components

Software apps and online services

Story

Schematics

Circuit diagram of an individual cluster

Logic block diagram of an individual sensor cluster

Code

Photon 2 Subscription and Event Logging Code

Alarm code

Credits

Robert Monaco

Nathan Freyer

Ethan Hoover

Comments

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Distributed Desktop Telemetry

Distributed Desktop Telemetry

Things used in this project

Hardware components

Software apps and online services

Story

Schematics

Circuit diagram of an individual cluster

Logic block diagram of an individual sensor cluster

Code

Photon 2 Subscription and Event Logging Code

Alarm code

Credits

Robert Monaco

Nathan Freyer

Ethan Hoover

Comments

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