Darkness Map Data Collection Device

The Darkness Map encompasses both data collection and visualization of nighttime light levels. You can add to the map by downloading the app for iPhone or Android, but you can also contribute data by creating your own data collection device. This tutorial will cover how to build an Arduino powered data logger with a light intensity sensor. Since the sensor modules are attached to the Arduino on a breadboard, it's fairly simple to swap out the light sensor for a different sensor of your choosing. You can use the device to log data about temperature, air quality, noise, and many other environmental factors, and because everything is attached by breadboard, you can easily adapt it to use in other projects.

Step 1: Parts You Need

Arduino Uno - available from a variety of online resellers, and even your local Radioshack.
Adafruit Proto Shield for Arduino Kit
Adafruit Ultimate GPS Breakout Kit
Adafruit MicroSD card Breakout Board
TSL2561 Digital Luminosity/Lux/Light Sensor
Half-size breadboard
CR1220 Coin Cell Battery - also available at drug stores, other online resellers
MicroSD Card - you can also repurpose one from an old mobile phone
9V Battery clip
9V Battery

The parts for each device cost about $90, not including the Arduino Uno.

Comments

[technitute]

Nice Sir,,, I love technology and the stuffs going on electronics............

http://www.technitute.com/blog

[The Green Gentleman]

Reminds me of a nowhere-near-as-sophisticated art project I did on the impact of illumination on the perceived importance of objects in a landscape. This is way cooler.

[gennaveeva]

Thanks. I'd love to read more about your project if it's online anywhere.

[The Green Gentleman]

Fortunately, the World Wide Web was just a twinkle in Al Gore's eye when I did my project, so I am spared the embarrassment of sharing it!

[spylock]

LOL

[szulli-randall]

What exactly does this do? Does it create a map or what?

[gennaveeva]

I plan to update the tutorial with instructions for how to add the CSV files to the web-based map visualization. The hardware device was an initial prototype, and we're now developing a way to add to the map with a mobile app. I've made maps from the CSV data in Processing, but wanted to focus on the hardware aspect for this tutorial. Sorry if I wasn't entirely clear.

[james.m.k]

I don't get it. You're mapping light intensity? Why?

[gennaveeva]

I think light, and especially the amount and quality of light at night make up a large part of a city's phenomenological qualities, and how they affect your perceptual experience of the city. It's also part of an experiment in building a crowd-sourced dataset, which might have useful applications to reference against public safety data, like crime or traffic incidents.

[irishjim68]

It would be a nice touch to give some background info about the "Darkness Map" project considering how the web site has four links that go nowhere, and therefore really contains NO useful information.

[gennaveeva]

Sorry about the issues with the website, they should be fixed now. The Darkness Map is currently being developed, but I wanted to put this tutorial up as a basic overview of how to build a gps enabled data logger, in the hope that it might benefit people in their own projects. Ultimately, the easiest way to contribute to the Darkness Map project will be using the mobile app for data collection, but I thought a tutorial for this initial prototype might be useful outside of my project.