sensors & journalism

two-day seminar for University of BCmasters of journalism students

Day 1: Feb 27, 2015by Fergus Pitt - @fergle

me, you, & our two days…

(there’s a prize for the first person to see the glengarry glen ross reference...)

why sense?

why sense?

precise & comparable

vs

anecdotal & impressionistic

why sense?

robot reporting:

remain in place…

dirty, denied, dangerous…

detect what humans can’t*

why sense?

data in journalism

technical skills in newsrooms*

*mind the gap!

why sense?

sensors everywhere

technology boom

electronics ecosystem

why not?

complicated

expensive

not journalists’ core competencies

characteristics(a language)

…of your whole process

characteristics

precision,accuracy,resolution,maturity,range,linearity,distance,

directness,sensitivity,insensitivity to interference,autonomy,ownership…

sensing typology

mobile,wearable,diy communal,expert,in-place,custom journalist,hybrid…

*thanks Lily Bui. @dangerbui

forms of journalisminvestigative,accountability,illustrative,explanatory,participatory,profile,trend,breaking news,

*neither complete or mutually exclusive

Case: USA Today

What were they trying to prove?What types of stories were these?What was their sensing process?How did they check their conclusions?What could sensors do that other reporting couldn’t?What were they comparing their data to?

Use our language from previous session.

Case: Public Lab

What were they trying to prove?What types of stories were these?What was their sensing process?How did they check their conclusions?What could sensors do that other reporting couldn’t?What were they comparing their data to?

Use our language from previous session.

Sensor Prototyping

Sensor Prototyping

temperature & humidity

audio level

Sensor Prototyping

background on Arduino

Sensor Prototyping

Sensor Prototyping

this is not…soldering, raspberry pi, factory PCB, calibrated

all of which are awesome directions

for future study

Electronics 100.5

power,ground,signal.

(do go and learn more…)

your parts

Arduino uno & solder-less breadboardhumidity & tempmicrophone3 x power wire (red)3 x ground wires (black)2 x output wires (some other color)1 x resistor usb cable (old skool: usb1)

a bunch of other components for y’all to play with later

basic arduino structure

1) initialize program2) setup the process3) loop the process

(can also build functions)

http://bit.ly/UBCMote

arduino code#include "DHT.h" //import the library#define DHTPIN 2 // what pin we've connected the sensor data output to: Number "2" in the digital side.#define DHTTYPE DHT11 // DHT 11. If you have the wrong sensor defined, you'll see crazy big reading.DHT dht(DHTPIN, DHTTYPE);

a bunch of other components for y’all to play with later

arduino code: initno need to type the grey or blue stuff.

#include "DHT.h" //import the library#define DHTPIN 2 // what pin we've connected the sensor data output to: Number "2" in the digital side.#define DHTTYPE DHT11 // DHT 11. If you have the wrong sensor defined, you'll see crazy big reading.DHT dht(DHTPIN, DHTTYPE);

const int sampleWindow = 50; // Sample window width in mS (50 mS = 20Hz)unsigned int sample; //we're making a *positive* number variable

a bunch of other components for y’all to play with later

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arduino code: setupyou don’t need to type the grey stuff.

void setup() {// this is the startup sequence for the arduino code. Serial.begin(9600); //open data connection at 9600bds

// Serial.println("DHT testing"); //uncomment this on if we wanted to give a "hello world".dht.begin(); // calls a library function for the temp/humidity

} //Don’t forget the curly brace to close the setup!!

a bunch of other components for y’all to play with later

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arduino code: loop

void loop() { //this is where we’re going to put our code

} // don’t forget this curly brace!!

a bunch of other components for y’all to play with later

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arduino code: loop

void loop() {//The loop we opened earlierunsigned long startMillis=millis();//define the start of the sample windowunsigned int peakToPeak =0;// a container for the level between peaksunsigned int signalMax = 0; //this is because an unsigned int will go up

to 0 then roll over unsigned int signalMin = 1024;

} // don’t forget this curly brace. We’ll have to keep moving it down

sound level sketch by adafruit.

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arduino code: loopfurther down…

while(millis()-startMillis<sampleWindow){sample=analogRead(0);if(sample<1024){ // LOOK AT THIS, We're making decisions about

getting rid of some data, based on an expectation of what the sensor "should" produce

if(sample>signalMax){signalMax=sample; //save just the max level

}else if (sample<signalMin){signalMin=sample; //save just the minimum level

}}

}

} // still inside that curly brace, you’ve already typed

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sound level sketch by adafruit.

arduino code: loopfurther down still…

peakToPeak=signalMax-signalMin; // max - min = peak-peak amplitudefloat current = (peakToPeak * 3.3) / 10.24; // convert to volts (And

multiply by ten to display more precision)// Serial.print("Noise level:"); //comment these out so we can get a csvSerial.print(current);Serial.print(",");// Serial.print("\n"); //Take these out so we can get a csvdelay(1000); // wait for a second (1000 milliseconds)} // still inside that curly brace, you’ve already typed

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sound level sketch by adafruit.

arduino codesave, compile and upload

save your file: “UBCMoteV1.ino”connect your to the arduino via usb

tools>board>arduino unotools>serial>****usb.modem*** or similar.

sketch>verify/compile: OK?file>upload: ta-da!!! (right?)

arduino code

ok then… let’s debug.

arduino codelet’s add in the temp and humidity.

arduino code: loopfurther down and still inside that brace }we’ll leave the delay() with the brace

float h = dht.readHumidity(); //call a function from the DHT sensor library, assign the output to a variable "h" (which is a float: a number with the decimal point anywhere it needs to be.)float t = dht.readTemperature(); // same idea as above, just calling a

different function.// float f = dht.readTemperature(true); // call the temp function, but pass

an "argument" which says give me the number in fahrenheit (because America)

delay(1000); // wait for a second (1000 milliseconds)} // our old friend, the last curly brace.

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sound level sketch by adafruit.

arduino code: loopfurther down and still inside that brace }

// Check if any reads failed (by checking for NaN: Not a number) and exit early (to try again).if (isnan(h) || isnan(t)) {Serial.println("Failed to read from DHT sensor!,.,"); //Tell us something

went wrongreturn;

}

delay(1000);} // “ABC”: Always Be Closing …(with the last curly

brace).

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sound level sketch by adafruit.

arduino code: loopfurther down and still inside that brace }

Serial.print(h);Serial.print(",");Serial.print(t);Serial.print("\n");// Temp and humidity looped code ends.

delay(1000); //hold it for a second (1000 miliseconds)} // the end.

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sound level sketch by adafruit.

add in Processing

for logging

Sensor Prototyping

add in Processing

download .pde file from github:

http://bit.ly/UBCCapture

(Might need to edit the 15th line. The [2].)

More maker resources

http://stackexchange.com/ http://postscapes.com/internet-of-things-hardware https://www.adafruit.com/ https://www.sparkfun.com/ http://www.makerlabs.com/ http://arduino.stackexchange.com/