MIT’s Octopus is a pleasant environmental sensor for city deployment

There are a number of superb causes to observe native environmental circumstances, particularly as they pertain to local weather change analysis and varied ecological safety initiatives. However doing so in city locales is a problem, as merely mounting a tool will be troublesome. That’s why a staff from MIT’s Senseable Metropolis Lab constructed Octopus, which is a pleasant environmental sensor meant for city deployment.

Octopus seems actually cute, due to its cephalopodic enclosure. However that 3D-printable enclosure isn’t simply aesthetic, it is usually purposeful. The “tentacles” are mounting factors appropriate for hooks, straps, screws, magnets, and no matter else you may have to safe the Octopus system on to a streetlight pole, constructing, or bicycle. The “head” unscrews to disclose the elements inside and extra modules will be positioned between the top and the tentacles to develop the system’s performance.

That is an Open Supply {Hardware} Affiliation-certified challenge and the invoice of supplies is obtainable on GitHub, however it’s a bit difficult. You may slim it down into three subassemblies: the host PCB, the event board(s) and sensors, and the enclosure. The host PCB is a customized job and helps to maintain the whole lot tidy. The event boards and sensors mandatory will depend upon what knowledge wants assortment: temperature and humidity, air high quality, or picture classification by way of Edge Impulse (flowers are an instance).

Relying on the use case, Octopus can comprise an Arduino Nano 33 BLE Sense or an Arduino Nicla Imaginative and prescient board. The Nicla Imaginative and prescient handles the picture assortment and an SPS30 particulate matter analysis package screens air high quality. There may be additionally a GPS module for gathering location knowledge for logging and people logs go on an SD card. There’s a lithium battery with related charging circuitry to make Octopus completely wi-fi.

Should you’re on the lookout for an environmental monitor system with versatile mounting choices, Octopus often is the good selection.