UNION COLLEGE WEATHER STATION

1
UNION COLLEGEWEATHER STATION

• Brian Kruppenbacker
• Jeffrey DAlessandro
• Advisor Professor Traver

2
Goals

• Design and implement a weather station for the
  Union College campus community
• Record
• Temperature Relative humidity
• Barometric pressure Precipitation
• UV index Wind speed
• Wind direction
• Calculate
• Wind chill Dew point
• Display current and archived measurement data at
  weather.union.edu

3
Performance Criteria

• Measurements must have accuracy within 5
• The measurements must represent the current
  weather conditions
• The computer must store the measurement data for
  future reference
• The system must be able to run for a long period
  of time (years)
• The station must be low maintenance
• Any malfunctions must be easy to fix

4
Behavior

• Sensor station located on roof of F.W. Olin
  building will record measurements
• Sensor station sends data to a computer
• Computer will perform the additional calculations
  needed
• Computer will store all measurements
• Computer will generate webpage to display most
  recent measurements
• Webpage will allow users to view archived
  measurement data

Sensor Station
Hard Drive
5
Our Design
Sensor Station
Structure
Communication
Server
6
Types of Sensors

• DIGITAL
• Based on number of pulses
• Precipitation
• Wind Speed

• ANALOG
• Based on voltage
• Temperature
• Relative Humidity
• Barometric Pressure
• Ultra-Violet
• Wind Direction

7
Sensors Analog

• 8051 Microcontroller Analog to Digital Converter
• All sensor outputs were adjusted to fit between
  the range of 0 and 2.5 volts through the use of
  voltage dividers
• The voltage division is then taken into account
  when the measurements are calculated

8
Sensors Digital

• 8051 Microcontroller Programmable Counter Array
• Signal bounce is handled using both software and
  hardware approaches
• Measurements are calculated based on the number
  of pulses and the number of pulses within a time
  frame
• Pulses are counted using interrupts

9
Sensor Station Microcontroller
Start
Setup Precepitation and Wind Speed (Interrupts)
Get Temperature
Get Relative Humidity
Get Barometric Pressure
_____
Get UV
ENQ
Get Wind Direction
Check for ENQ
ENQ
Turn off Interrupts Send Data If sent correctly,
reset Precip and Wind Speed Counters Turn
Interrupts back on
10
Structure

• Location
• F.W. Olin Building
• Power
• 120 volts from building
• Safety
• Grounded (lightning)
• Circuit Breakers

11
Communication

• The server will poll the microcontroller for new
  data every 60 seconds
• A communication protocol was created
• Serial Communication via Ethernet using Quatech
  Serial Device Server

12
Communication Serial Device Server

• Encapsulates serial data coming from the
  microcontroller and sends it over Ethernet
• Device software on server receives data and
  creates a virtual serial port
• Server uses virtual serial port as if it were an
  actual serial port

13
Communication Protocols
Start
Emit ENQ
SYN
DATA
DATA
TIMEOUT
Checksum
TIMEOUT
Emit ACK
Done
Checksum
Good
Checksum
Bad Checksum
Emit NAK
Server-side Protocol
SYN
TIMEOUT
14
Server

• Polls the microcontroller for data
• Calculates
• Wind Chill and Dew Point
• Averages, Highs, Lows, and Totals
• Store measurement data
• Generate webpage
• Current Weather Conditions
• Archived Weather Measurement Data

15
Server Data Flow Diagram
Data Acquisition
Calculations
Current Weather Measurements File/Database
Archived Weather Measurements File/Database
Web Page Generator
Archived Measurements Manager
16
Server Website

• PHP is used to read the current weather
  measurement data from a file and display the
  conditions

• Archived data can be viewed by selecting the
  month, day, and/or year

17
Results

• http//weather.union.edu
• All of the sensors have accuracy within 5
• All measurements accurately depict the current
  weather conditions of the area
• The sensors purchased are low maintenance
• Station repairs will be simple and explained in a
  manual

18
Conclusion
What we learned

• System design and implementation
• How to handle signal bouncing using both software
  and hardware approaches
• Serial Communication
• PHP and HTML
• Teamwork and time management skills

19
Future Work

• Add additional sensors to the station
• Implement a database to store the current and
  archived measurement data
• Implement a data management program to compress
  and perform calculations on archived data
• Adjust website to obtain the data from the
  database
• Build station structure and mount on top of F.W.
  Olin building

20
Thank You

• Professor Traver
• Professor Hedrick
• Professor Spallholtz
• Professor Almstead

21
Questions