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[on:]

Hey!  8-)

I'm studying informatics and am looking for a cool project for my thesis (i have 3 months time for that so it can be a bit more complicated :-) ).

I'm looking for something like using multiple arduino boards connected to one or multiple computers that are interacting with each other through sensors, ... over a network but am not sure what to do exactly

Example Project, which i can't do because it's already done: Multiple arduino boards with rfid sensors are placed in a house. People with rfid tags in their pocket are tracked by the sensors and a flash interface shows you where they are in the house. So you can look up people an so on. Great thing for a Party  ;D

The main logic should happen on the connected computer(s) and not on the boards themselves. For example i could store the connected data in a database or whatever.

Has anyone a cool idea or any hint for me? I would love doing something like this.

Thank you so much.

[Reply #1 on:]

As I go down the street, I see various ceramic animals on people's porches.  I always thought it would be nice if you could put a motion detector & a microphone in these, so when a person comes up onto the porch they would speak up.  If you could hook it up to a computer so you could change the .wav file with a click of the button would be even sweeter.  Or change how close a person has to be to trigger the speak.  Or have it respond different ways to different sounds.
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Central air tends to cool the whole house based on a thermostat in 1 location.  How about a thermostat in every room, with corresponding duct covers that automatically open/close so just the correct rooms get cooled.  Maybe even a priority list, so when the A/C is first turned on, it cools certain rooms first and fast (perhaps based on time of day?).  Ditto for central heat.  And then of course, each thermostat is a "programmable" thermostat.
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Good luck!

[Reply #2 on:]

You'd need long range rfid readers and they cost a small fortune, and they aren't very long range, I think the max is like 8ft using active tag technology .. passive max'es out at like, 8 inches lol.

It's every developers fantasy to be able to track people in real time as they move from room to room because of the number of home automation possibilities that capability presents.

There's a way to do it using 802.11 but the tags are pretty big and need batteries (active), and those systems aren't cheap either. Plus you need multiple AP's to provide a radar like functionality where locations are "approximated" by signal strength between 3 different reference AP's.  

It's all pretty crustry at the moment. I've seen improvised systems but they all have impracticalities like active tags, multiple APs, dozens of readers or users needing to check in at locations to tell the computer they've moved location.

I saw one the other day and milk bottles have tags and when they are put in the garbage the computer orders more milk. Like, how impractical is that? you get a replacement bottle of milk a day "after" you've run out .. really lame.

Anyway. Part of the fun of developing is having a great idea and then spending 2 years realizing it's not doo'able, or, you need a piece of technology that doesn't presently exist lol.

I can think of a thousand cool things to do with micros but unless you're an expert in every field of technology, it can take a while to discover all the issues of taking a concept to finished product. The thing I like best about this community is its a hive of ideas and new innovation. People here try the craziest things so if you've got an idea throw it around and people might be able to point you in the right direction = )

[Reply #3 on:]

Not sure if you're doing an engineering type of thesis or a humanities type of thesis.    But if it's engineering:

I just went with my wife to have an ultrasound (it's a boy!), and I was very impressed with what the ultrasound machine did, and how (relatively) simple the concept is:  send pulses of vibration and listen for the timing of the echoes, very quickly, as to see what's inside of something.  You'd need awfully fast circuitry to do it, but I'm imagining there's all kinds of creative applications of this basic concept that haven't been explored.  Kind of like the ping sensor, but taken to the next level.

-Paul

[Reply #4 on:]

Paul, that is such an awesome idea

[Reply #5 on:]

Also a dangerous idea:  it took a huge amount of research to determine what frequencies and intensities of sound could be safely used for ultrasound.  Remember that they also use sound waves to break up kidney stones in situ.

The average Arduino experimenter probably can't afford a transducer powerful enough to do significant harm,  but it's still not something to be done casually.

Ran

[Reply #6 on:]

Yes, let's not shake the baby!

I was thinking more for non-magnetic stud sensing in walls, etc. Higher frequencies and forces would probably be beyond Arduino scale (I could be wrong)....

A reference on whole-body vibration that's pretty good:
http://books.google.com/books?id=8yw35QsoCuIC&pg=PA1&lpg=PA1&dq=%22human+response+to+vibration%22&source=bl&ots=HoKD7fr0ql&sig=jn9kL5pvAgOu2-Swn6FJgUc1m0c&hl=en&ei=wis4So_EEIeoswOZkpz-Bg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4

I understand there's a newer "Handbook of Human Vibrartion," but I've not read it.

[Reply #7 on:]

Arduino User's Rule #162: Don't be like Tom Cruise...

http://blogcritics.org/scitech/article/tom-cruise-ultrasound-rebel/
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10309963/

 

- Brian