IoT | Growing Data Foundation

Makerspace Adelaide

Fri, 01 Jan 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Makerspace Adelaide is a community fabrication and prototyping space that the Growing Data Foundation has supported as a hub for hands-on IoT, electronics and open hardware projects.

Makerspaces provide access to tools — 3D printers, laser cutters, soldering stations, electronics benches — and, more importantly, a community of makers willing to share skills and collaborate on projects. For GDF, the makerspace connection supports the hardware prototyping side of citizen science and IoT initiatives including SmartHollow and the TTN Adelaide sensor node program.

About

GDF has provided mentorship, project facilitation and open-source toolkits to Makerspace Adelaide participants, helping bridge the gap between community making and real-world environmental and social impact projects.

Nest boxes and integrated sensors

Fri, 01 Jan 2021 00:00:00 +0000

As a result of urban pressure old trees with hollows that animals rely on for shelter and breeding sites are disappearing at an alarming rate. Providing nesting boxes for wildlife is a start but to truly protect our critters we need to know more.

A way to help

Nesting boxes can provide homes to animals such as owls, parrots, possums and bats, but how do we know if the nesting boxes are being used by these animals? How do we know if they are installed in the best places? Nesting boxes are only the first part of the story. Through the use of technology it is possible to monitor, measure and collect real time data to inform best practice wildlife management.

The team leading this project is the Growing Data Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation that supports open-source projects and the development of sustainable solutions for social good. Members from the GDF working with Adelaide company fauNature have designed and built a nest box which integrates sensors and other technologies to collect data in a non-intrusive manner. This data can then be analysed to improve wildlife management outcomes. People will be able to determine how animals are using the nest boxes in parks, urban environments and even in their own backyards.

The Growing Data Foundation have just deployed two smart-nests in the Adelaide parklands. The open data collected from the sensors within the nest boxes (aka “smart nests”) is being made freely available for others to use in their own projects. The nest box project links with the Adelaide The Things Network, an open data network convened by the Growing Data Foundation. The advantage of this approach is that it provides the ability for the nest box to be connected in real-time to the internet without network costs, in parkland situations where WiFi availability is problematic and mobile contracts are expensive.

You can find out more about the Smart Nest and the The Things Network at “The Things Network on Tour APAC”, the first Australian conference dedicated to The Things Network and LoraWAN technologies on November 17-18 2019 in Adelaide, South Australia.

This project has been supported by a grant from the Adelaide Mount Lofty Ranges Natural Resources Management (NRM) board.

Riverland Schools IoT Project

Fri, 01 Jan 2021 00:00:00 +0000

The Riverland Schools IoT Project connects secondary school students in the Riverland region of South Australia with real-world environmental data through a curriculum-integrated Internet of Things (IoT) program.

Initiated in June 2020 at the invitation of the District Council of Loxton Waikerie, the project supports staff and students across four Riverland high schools in designing and deploying sensor experiments that draw on LoRaWAN infrastructure recently installed across the region.

The project

Students use low-cost sensors and the open Things Network to collect real-time data on topics they choose — water quality, microclimate, agricultural conditions — and then analyse and visualise that data as part of their school curriculum. The emphasis is on open data, open tools and developing local technical capacity in regional South Australia.

The tech

The project uses The Things Network (TTN) LoRaWAN infrastructure, low-cost sensor nodes, and open-source data dashboards. Data collected by students is published openly for community use.

About

The Growing Data Foundation facilitated the project, providing technical mentorship, hardware sourcing and curriculum design support. The project is part of GDF’s broader commitment to bringing IoT and open data skills to regional and rural communities.

The Things Network

Fri, 01 Jan 2021 00:00:00 +0000

The Growing Data Foundation founded The Things Network (TTN) Adelaide in 2016, establishing one of Australia’s first community-run LoRaWAN networks. TTN Adelaide provides free, open long-range wireless connectivity for IoT devices across metropolitan Adelaide and surrounds.

The network

The Things Network uses LoRaWAN technology to allow sensors and devices to communicate over distances of several kilometres without mobile subscriptions or WiFi. Gateways installed by community volunteers and organisations create a shared public network that anyone can use for environmental monitoring, smart city applications, agriculture and community science projects.

The tech

LoRaWAN (Long Range Wide Area Network) is a low-power wireless protocol ideal for battery- operated sensors in parks, farms, buildings and waterways. TTN Adelaide gateways relay sensor data to a free, open network server, and the collected data is made available through open APIs.

About

In 2019 the Growing Data Foundation was awarded the sole rights to host The Things Network Asia Pacific On Tour Conference in Adelaide, drawing over 150 attendees from across the region. TTN Adelaide continues to grow as a shared community resource underpinning citizen science, education and environmental monitoring projects across South Australia.

The Things Network Adelaide

Fri, 01 Jan 2021 00:00:00 +0000

We are advocating for the development of a city-wide Internet of Things data network in Adelaide. A network that can talk to the internet without 3G or WiFi (no and has low battery usage, long range and low bandwidth extends opportunities for makers, inventors and creatives.

Get involved!

Join The Things Network – Adelaide, and join the Adelaide Open Data and IoT Meetup group to connect with like-minded people – and to get news, details of events straight to your app or mailbox.

About

The advantage of this technology for Maker and citizen science projects is that it allows ‘things’ to talk to the internet without 3G or WiFi – meaning that if a box is located in a remote area; data can still be obtained on conditions, effectiveness… or whatever it is you are measuring/monitoring.

Ansterdam has successfully demonstrated the value of this concept by creating the The Things Network using a new a new technology named LoraWAN™ that is perfect for Internet of Things projects.

Adelaide has many citizen science projects, makers, tinkerers and creators who will benefit from such a network.

Nest boxes and integrated sensors

Tue, 01 Oct 2019 00:00:00 +0000

A way to help

This project has been supported by a grant from the Adelaide Mount Lofty Ranges Natural Resources Management (NRM) board.

The Things Network Adelaide

Thu, 01 Aug 2019 00:00:00 +0000

Get involved!

Join The Things Network – Adelaide, and join the Adelaide Open Data and IoT Meetup group to connect with like-minded people – and to get news, details of events straight to your app or mailbox.

About

Ansterdam has successfully demonstrated the value of this concept by creating the The Things Network using a new a new technology named LoraWAN™ that is perfect for Internet of Things projects.

Adelaide has many citizen science projects, makers, tinkerers and creators who will benefit from such a network.