Data Logging
activity:data-logging

Data loggers can help to record data from a sensor over time -- often over days or weeks, or even months. There are a variety of data loggers available, both commercial and open source. Each entry from a logger -- stored on, for example, a memory card -- may have a timestamp and some data loggers can record location from a GPS as well. Data loggers can be [paired with specific sensors](/wiki/water-sensors), and an [enclosure](/wiki/sensor-enclosures), as part of a test. ## Design constraints What are we trying to do that existing commercial data loggers don't do, or don't do well enough? We're looking for designs that optimize: * low cost (i.e. <$100) * easy to use * easy to build or buy * weatherproof (possibly) * waterproof (possibly) * Arduino-compatible (so that they're compatible with the huge [Arduino](http://arduino.cc) ecosystem) ## Options Most of the below options are #arduino based, and all are open source: [wikis:datalogger] [notes:datalogger-option] Edit the [full spreadsheet here](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1zBcLpN4PZIATLh6aDR7mwCoejWryLYYm6cJD38MqT58/edit) (by @cfastie) **** ## Questions [questions:data-logging] ## Activities We're hoping to collect a set of activities you could do with several different data loggers here, such as an example "field test," so please add help us by adding activities which can be performed with different data loggers: [activities:data-logging] **** ## Power How do you keep a data logger going in the field? Solar, big batteries, even run an extension cable out? We're developing resources on powering your data-loggers here. ## Power Questions [questions:data-logging-power] ## Activities [activities:data-logging-power] **** ## Waterproof enclosures The #riffle project -- and others -- have explored a lot of ways to make cheap waterproof enclosures for data loggers, but where wires and sensors can still stick out. Here are a some notes and prototypes under the tag #data-logger-enclosures. You can also visit the page on [sensor enclosures here](https://publiclab.org/wiki/sensor-enclosures) [notes:data-logger-enclosures] ...


Author Comment Last activity Moderation
cfastie "It seems that it might be straightforward to store arrays of data in the 32k of flash memory in a 328p chip. Flash memory is non-volatile and your ..." | Read more » over 7 years ago
david_uwi "Yes it would seem that you could do it with an atmega 328 one of the timers supports the use of a clock crystal which will get your timing accurate..." | Read more » over 7 years ago
cfastie "This is very clever. I wonder whether the memory in a Atmega 328p can be used to store data. I wonder if it is possible to access those data later...." | Read more » over 7 years ago
tuczap "I'm using thingspeak to post my data online as Xively is not free anymore or at least you can't use free account to post all this data online. I'v..." | Read more » over 7 years ago
kinasmith "I am also very curious how much temperature affects the batteries in very low current applications. I haven't found good documentation about that. ..." | Read more » over 8 years ago
cfastie "This is probably not the best data set to do calculus on. The air temperature data is from a sensor in a jug suspended above the pile, and the batt..." | Read more » over 8 years ago
donblair "Yay, data!! Neat observation about the battery voltage and the temperature. Makes me want to compare the rate of battery voltage drop to the temp..." | Read more » over 8 years ago
kinasmith "Nicely done, and nice temps for such a small pile too! I'm curious to see how long they can sustain that heat. I've done some work with compost in ..." | Read more » over 8 years ago
david-days "I imagine so (regarding the grass). If it's fairly fresh, there's probably enough water content to feed the bacteria as things break down. We use..." | Read more » over 8 years ago
cfastie "Thanks David, I wish I had some of your manures to spice up my pile. I'm surprised at how hot this pile is without the addition of any N-rich mater..." | Read more » over 8 years ago
david-days "Excellent work, @cfastie! I live on a farm in Ohio, and we use cleanup from the chicken house and the horse/goat barns to make our compost piles. ..." | Read more » over 8 years ago
ggallant "D5 appears to connect the INT/SQW on the RTC to PD5 on the CPU. I would be very interested in how one uses the feature. I'm assuming that it requir..." | Read more » over 8 years ago
mathew "The RTC can be set to shutdown and wake the AT328P, it just uses another pin that could be used for a sensor. @donblair left an exposed pin availa..." | Read more » over 8 years ago
ggallant "Chris, I really don't know the actual time but assuming 800usec (nice for the math) to sleep and wake up it would be 800 / 8,000,000 or 0.01% whi..." | Read more » over 8 years ago
cfastie "George that's a good point. Although the real time clock is running all the time, it is not smart enough to do something as complicated as setting ..." | Read more » over 8 years ago
ggallant "I think 8 seconds is the "maximum" interval with a 16MHz crystal. You wake up every 8 seconds and can go back to sleep if there is no work to be do..." | Read more » over 8 years ago
cfastie "Don thinks that eight seconds might be the minimum interval during which the system can be put into deep sleep. So all the sleep stuff happens in m..." | Read more » over 8 years ago
ddileona "Cool! One question: I thought I read in the riffle documentation that you could only log in multiples of 8 seconds. That seemed liked a weird mult..." | Read more » over 8 years ago
cfastie "Thanks Bob, that's encouraging. My bricked card just gets hot to the touch when I put it into a card reader. I don't have much hope for it. " | Read more » over 8 years ago
Bob "While working on my Riffle beta datalogging program, I also corrupted the micro SD card. The Riffle was no longer able to initialize the card. Stra..." | Read more » over 8 years ago
MeganKierstead "@schroyer Putting together my own DustDuino now and heads up, the personal Xively data hosting is buggy as all hell now. Can't even get past creati..." | Read more » about 9 years ago
tomtobback "Hi @Willie, thanks a lot for sharing your excellent work. I used your example sketch for my Dustduino with a ESP8266 wifi module, posting to emoncm..." | Read more » about 9 years ago
warren "@mathew wrote a great overview of lots of different ways that different projects/sensors measure particulates: http://publiclab.org/notes/mathew/05..." | Read more » over 9 years ago
nikmhanif "Hey guys. I'm building a similar system, but instead of Shinyei PPD-42, I am using SHARP GP2Y1010AU0F dust sensor. However, I am not sure whether t..." | Read more » over 9 years ago