WIRELESS SENSOR NETWORKS
PAGE
WIRELESS SENSOR NETWORKS
Environmental Sensor Application of Rain Collector II
with CrossBow Technology
by
Aurelio Quimado Hafalia
Senior Project
ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT
California Polytechnic State University
San Luis Obispo
2005
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Section
Page #
Abstracti
List of Figures ...ii
Acknowledgements .iii
I. Introduction.1
II. Background...3
III. Requirements..6
i. Learn how to use TinyOS....6
ii. Learn how to use TinyViz....7
iii. Test Equipment....8
iv. Program a CrossBow Mica2 to interface with the
MIB510...8
v. Program a CrossBow Mica2 to interface with the MDA300CA.9
vi. Wire the CrossBow MDA300CA to interface
with the Rain Collector II...11
vii. Use XListen.nc to convert the transmitted data
to a txt. file. Then have Matlab retrieve the raw data
from the txt. file to display in a user-friendly graphical
fashion..13
IV. Test and Results...14
V. Conclusions and Recommendations....17
Bibliography....18
Appendices.....19
A. Troubleshooting..20
B. TOSBase Output....21
C. XSensor Output..22
D. m-file of Rain Collector II...23
Abstract
This report goes into discussion of a particular application, a
rainfall measuring device, with wireless devices developed by
Crossbow Technology and students and faculty of the University of
California Berkeley. The first several pages introduce the tasks of
the Wireless Sensor Networks Group followed by a detailed report of
the wireless equipment interfacing successfully with the rain gauge
application. A step-by-step technical approach was taken to inform
the reader of the uses of this wireless technology. To conclude the
senior project, results were recorded from the application
demonstration to verify the completeness of the senior project.
List of Figures
Figure #
Page #
1. Field-Application Overview.4
2. Crossbow MIB510....5
3. Crossbow Mica2 mote.5
4. Crossbow MDA300CA....5
5. Rain Collector II and MDA300CA Circuit12
6. Rain Collector II and MDA300CA Wiring Diagram...13
7. Data Collected from the Counter Channel.16
8. Graphical Representation of Output17
Acknowledgements
First and foremost, I would like to thank Dr. James Harris who
is my senior project advisor, professor, and my guide to help me
obtain my goal in becoming a Cal Poly graduate in the Electrical
Engineering program. You have given me a senior project I can truly
be proud of and hope to see the Wireless Sensor Networks Team
thrive through its beginning stages here at Cal Poly. Thank you
again for giving me this unique opportunity as I will apply my
experiences in future group projects.
To the undergraduates, I thank you for our weekly collaboration
in making this senior project a memorable one. Without each others
knowledge, communication skills, and patience we would not be able
to complete the definition of teamwork. This senior project was a
success because of that important aspect.
To the graduates, I appreciate the countless hours you have put
in the WSN team. Without having both of you to make the project
come together, we would not have gotten this far. Thank you for
your dedication.
The Wireless Sensor Network Team appreciates the support of Drs.
Diana Franklin and John Seng for sharing their Crossbow hardware
with us, and the Network Performance Research Laboratory (NetPRL)
for purchasing the additional sensors that were used in the
completion of this project.
I. Introduction
I am a member of a team of undergraduate and graduate EE / CPE
students that developed the implementation of a wireless project
entitled Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) at Cal Poly the WSN Team. A
Crossbow Technology, Inc., system was selected as the technology to
be used. CrossBow plays a big roll in sensory systems globally.
This is the company that manufactures and provides information on
how to use the TinyOS technology. The project began by learning how
to use the newly developed wireless operating system, TinyOS, which
was established by students and professors at the University of
California, Berkeley. Through the manuals and tutorials found on
the internet, we were able to execute programs and create computer
simulations and demonstrations on the CrossBow hardware. The next
phase was to develop and test our understanding of writing and
modifying code by successfully uploading the program to the
CrossBow hardware. Our goal is to introduce implementation of a
potentially user-friendly WSN system such as the CrossBow
Technology, Inc products with its environmental measuring devices
to design an all-in-one application. It is our hope that this
project is considered as an on-going project to be adopted by the
school to show the benefits of this technology.As the WSN team
continues to grow in the future, we plan to make a positive impact
cost-effective, applicable, and efficient integration of the
available technology in the market into one complete system. Within
a year or two, the WSN Team hopes to implement CrossBow technology
in Cal Polys green house and Swanson Ranch in Santa Cruz, CA.
This report provides detailed-procedural descriptions
accompanied by figures to help the reader get a better
understanding of what I have accomplished as my senior project. The
report starts with a quick review of the technology being used and
then transitions into the requirements of the project concluding
with the results of a demonstration.
II. Background
Before I go into detail of the technical aspect of the WSN
project, it is imperative that the reader understands the basic
operation of each hardware device used. The devices used are Mica2,
MDA300CA, and MIB510.
The WSN Team uses Crossbow Technologys wireless sensors. This
platform enables powerful, wireless, and automated data collection
and monitoring systems. The power behind this hardware is TinyOS.
It is the operating system used specifically for wireless systems
that provides low-level event and task management. It is an
open-source operating system that allows the programmer, who is
fluent in C, to customize the existing applications written.
The radio boards we utilize for our senior project is called
Mica2 motes. These motes are battery-powered wireless devices that
have the primary function to send and receive data. There is a
built-in processor that runs TinyOS. Connection is based on a radio
link. The number of motes that are in use varies directly with the
magnitude of the wireless network.
The data acquisition card we interface with is the MDA300CA. It
is an environmental data acquisition module that mates directly to
the Mote. The MDA300CA has the capability to interface with
external sensors. Several highlights of this particular sensor
board are the facts that it can take both analog and digital
inputs, it has a built-in counter, and have necessary excitation
voltages to interface with external environmental sensors. This
device has the potential to receive and transmit a number of
external sensor data, all at one time.
The last piece of hardware we use is the MIB510. It is known as
the mote interfacing board that provides the gateway for the data
to flow from the mote to the PC. This particular board connects to
a PC through a serial interface. The MIB510 allows us to upload
programs to the motes to execute its capable functions.
Figure 1 is a diagram that gives an idea of how I applied this
technology to the Rain Collector II application. Figures 2, 3, 4,
show the Mica2, MDA300CA, and the MIB510.
Figure 1: Field-Application Overview
III: Requirements & Design
i. Learn how to use TinyOS
The reference used to understand this operating system was a
TinyOS tutorial found on the internet (if needed, please refer to
this website: http://www.tinyos.net/tinyos-1.x/doc/tutorial/ ). I
was able to interpret the code based on the detailed explanations
and examples given. A primary example was StdControl, the common
interface that is used to initialize TinyOS components. Here is an
example of that code.
StdControl.ncinterface StdControl {
command result_t init();
command result_t start();
command result_t stop();
}
The three commands that are defined are init (), start (), and
stop (). They are called when a component is first initialized.
These three commands are able to call multiple components and
subcomponents. The only command that can be called multiple times
is init (). It can not be called after the commands start () or
stop (). Through the first several lessons I was able to decipher
what was taking place in the TinyOS code as I applied specific
programs to my application.
This was the foundation stage of my senior project. It was
challenging for me because of my limited background in programming.
As I referenced my C & Unix notes, my understanding of TinyOS
code accelerated as I studied the code given in the tutorials.
Spending time to reverse engineer a couple of programs along with
the help of my teammates in the WSN Team allowed me to modify the
code towards the final stages of my senior project.
ii. Learn how to use TinyViz
TinyViz is the TinyOS simulator. Without the use of the
hardware, I was able to execute the necessary commands to simulate
programs. This gave me an introduction on how to load applications
and see what should happen if I was working with the TinyOS
hardware. In one of my many power point presentations, I was able
to demonstrate specific programs to show an understanding of this
newly developed operating system which was part of the groundwork
of my senior project. In theory, once I am able to execute the
necessary commands to upload applications to the simulator, I
should be able to follow the same procedure for the hardware.
Through this process of getting TinyViz to work, I initially ran
into difficulty in regards to TinyOS installation. I had to search
the internet for message boards on TinyOS to install the correct
version to run the simulator. It turned out TinyOS was primarily
designed to interface with Linux instead of Windows. But after
making the needed changes on my computer to interface with the
updated TinyOS software, I was able to execute a number of programs
through TinyViz. The two main programs were the Blink.nc
application and a Hello World morse-code application that was
developed by one of the members of the WSN Team, Wesley Leung.
Accomplishing the task of simulating programs, our next step was to
apply our knowledge to the CrossBow hardware.
iii. Test Equipment
The following test equipment has been provided or funded by the
NetPRL Group, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Department of Cal Poly, SLO:
1. A Linux box or a Windows PC with Cygwin installed
2. TinyOS version 1.1.7
3. Crossbow MIB510CA Programming and Serial Interface Board
Figure 2
4. Crossbow Mica2 mote (2) Figure 3
5. Crossbow MDA300CA Environmental Monitor Sensor Board Figure
4
6. TOSBase (Provided by Crossbow)
7. XSensor (Provided by Crossbow
8. Xlisten Serial Line Listener (Modified from Crossbow
sourcecode)
iv. Program a CrossBow Mica2 to interface with the MIB510.
Specification:
A Mica2 mote is needed to mate with the MIB510 to collect data
wirelessly from a second mote that is connected to the MDA 300CA.
The mote that is programmed and to be the gateway between the PC
and the incoming data packets, needs to execute a program called
TOSBase.nc TOSBase.nc receives the incoming data from the second
mote.
Procedure:
After supplying power and making the serial-USB port connection
from the MIB510 and the PC, connect a Mica2 mote to the MIB510 and
install TOSBase. *IMPORTANT: Batteries for the Mica2 mote must be
taken out while uploading programs. If failed to do so, the Mica2
mote will no longer be operational.* In general, the location of
TOSBase is located in the following directories:
cd/opt/tinyos-1.x/contrib./xbow/apps/TOSBase. After locating the
correct directory that contains TOSBase, execute the command, make
mica2 install.0 mib510.com1. The program should upload successfully
with no indication of error. If an error occurs, please refer to
Appendix A which lists some of the possible descriptions of what
may have caused an error. If those possibilities have been
eliminated, refer to Crossbows contact information on their
website. Refer to Appendix B to see the output of a successful
upload of TOSBase. Assuming a successful upload, detach the Mica2
mote and proceed with the next section.
v. Program a CrossBow Mica2 to interface with MDA 300CA
Specification:
The MDA300CA is equipped with drivers (SamplerC.nc). This
application allows the activation of all the channels with the
specified parameters. The SamplerC.nc also goes into sleep-mode
when no sampling is in progress. This means longer battery
life.
The MDA300CA is attached to a Mica2 mote in order to transmit
data wirelessly to the mote that is connected to the MIB510. The
program that will be used to transmit the data in raw form is the
XSensor.nc. Essentially, this program takes the data collected from
the MDA300CA and sends it back to the Mica2 mote connected to the
MIB510 as long as both motes are within the wireless network.
Procedure:
First, attach the MDA300CA to the Mica2 mote. To upload
XSensor.nc, the mote with the attached MDA300CA must also be
attached to the MIB510. *IMPORTANT: Batteries for the Mica2 mote
must be taken out while uploading programs. If failed to do so, the
Mica2 mote will no longer be operational.* After making all the
necessary connections, upload the program, XSensor.nc. Once in the
XSensor directory, execute the following: "make mica2
install.1mib510.com1." After the successful upload, detach the mote
from the MIB510, install the batteries, and activate the mote. The
mote with TOSBase.nc uploaded with no batteries needs to be
reconnected to the MIB510 to allow wireless transfer between both
motes.
Successfully compiling the program, a prompt will be sent back
to the user without any error messages. Refer to Appendix C to view
a successful upload of XSensor.
vi. Wire the CrossBow MDA 300CA to interface with the Rain
Collector II
Specification:
The functionality of the Rain Collector II is a normally-open
switch. At the bottom of the dual bucket, there is a small
cylindrical magnet. When the bucket tips on either side, the magnet
passes the normally-open switch causing it to close. When the
switch closes, it allows a current to continue through the circuit
back to the counter producing a voltage spike. This voltage spike
is detected by the MDA300CAs onboard Counter. The function of the
Counter is to save the number of spikes it receives until a data
packet is sent out to the PC. Once the data packet is transmitted,
the Counter automatically resets back to zero waiting for the next
voltage spike from the Rain Collector II. Figure 5 is a circuit
diagram of the functionality of the Rain Collector II and
MDA300CA.
Figure 5: Rain Collector II and MDA300CA Circuit
Procedure:
Make the proper connections between the Rain Collector II and
MDA 300CA. Short the switch by tipping the bucket of the Rain
Collector II. This will allow the Counter on the MDA 300CA to
record the voltage spike. The channels that are utilized on the
MDA300CA are Vcc, Gnd, and the Counter. Figure 6 shows a wiring
diagram of the MDA300CA and the Rain Collector II.
Figure 6: Rain Collector II and MDA300CA Wiring Diagram
vii. Use XListen.nc to move the transmitted data to a txt. file.
Then have Matlab retrieve the raw data from the txt. file to
display in a user-friendly graphical fashion.
Specification:
XListen.nc is the program that displays the data that was
collected from the TOSBase program. XListen interfaces with a txt.
file. After getting the data, execute a Matlab program to display
data in a user-friendly fashion by displaying a graph of rainfall
(mm) per packet sent.
In order to convert the counts collected from the Counter port
from the MDA 300CA to millimeters, a formula is needed to execute
conversion. The conversion used in Matlab is the following:
[0.4 * (counts collected from Counter)] / 2
.4 = .4 mm / bucket-tip
2 = the Counter counts every 2 units. Divide by 2 is needed to
get the correct number of tips.
Procedure:
After the raw data has been collected in the txt. file, write a
Matlab code that will implement a conversion formula and display
graphical results.
(Refer to Appendix D to view the m-file for Matlab.)
IV. Test and Results
Objective: Demo the application, Rain Collector II, with the
Crossbow technology. Display accurate, meaningful, and real-time
results in a graphical fashion.
Following the previous steps in Chapter III Sections iii vii, I
was able to gather data in real-time that displayed accurate
results. The programs I used to display the output are XListen, a
text file, and Matlab. XListen allowed an open channel to gather
the data packets that were sent out wirelessly from the Mica2 mote
connected to the MDA300CA, and was provided by Jose Bacerra (ref.
6). The text file displayed two columns. The first column displayed
the time in seconds when a packet was received. The second column
showed the number of counts the Counter channel received. Matlab
took the information from the text file and executed the
conversions and graphical display. Refer to Appendix D for the
m-file used in Matlab for the Rain Collector II.
The following is the collected data in the text file. Notice the
four digits starting from the right are in hexadecimal. I
implemented a Matlab function that converted the hexadecimal value
to decimal to make the correct conversions to millimeters (see
Figure 7).
Sec Cnts
0 0000
11 0000
33 0000
43 0000
54 0000
65 0000
76 0000
86 0002
97 0001
108 000a
129 0000
140 0007
151 0000
161 0000
172 0000
194 0000
204 0000
226 0002
237 0000
247 0000
258 0000
Using the data collected from the text file, Matlab performed
the necessary operations to display the following output as shown
in Figure 8.
Figure 8: Graphical Respresentation of Output
The test and results of the Rain Collector II application to
Crossbow technology demonstrated the required goals with complete
success.
V. Conclusions and Recommendations
Having the responsibility of establishing the WSN group at Cal
Poly was an important task. We succeeded in understanding the
TinyOS operating system, the syntax of the code, executing
programs, and interfacing the Crossbow hardware with other
commercial products to make a user-friendly system to collect
environmental data. These successes were accomplished because of
the groups communication, knowledge, and patience. Through these
qualities, we were able to overcome all our obstacles to reach our
goals. We hope you are able to continue where we left off based on
our experiences with the Crossbow technology and keep the WSN Team
striving for excellence.
To the future members of the WSN Team: Having a strong
background in programming and a concentration in communications /
electronics may get you started in obtaining the goals of the WSN
group. But at the same time it is imperative that you are
open-minded and humble to the other group members that may lack the
knowledge you have. It is important that all members of the WSN
Team be self-motivated to overcome obstacles together. With those
points in mind, I can guarantee there will be success in your
personal goals as well as the teams goals. It was with great
privilege working with the 1st generation of the WSN Team.
Bibliography
1. TinyOS Tutorial
http://www.tinyos.net/tinyos-1.x/doc/tutorial/2. Crossbow
Technology
http://www.xbow.com/3. CENS: Center for Embedded Networked
Sensing
www.cens.ucla.edu4. Rain Collector II
http://www.davisnet.com/weather/products/weather_product.asp?pnum=78525.
Rain Collector II Specification Sheet
http://www.davisnet.com/product_documents/weather/spec_sheets/rain_collector_std.pdf6.
Jose Becerra, Cal Poly Wireless Sensor Network Demonstration
Project; MS Thesis, EE Department, Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, CA,
September 2005
Appendices
Appendix A: Troubleshooting:1. Make sure power is supplied to
the MIB510 to allow application transfer.
2. Mica2 mote mating with the MIB510 and Mica2 mote mating with
MDA300CA:
- Make sure devices are physically connected properly.
- Pay close attention to the white bar connection and make sure
it is lined up properly.
- Make sure the switch is on the ON mode for all devices.
3. Have an extra set of batteries. This will determine the
maximum distance of the wireless sensor network established along
with execution of the uploaded program.
Appendix B: TOSBase Output
Marble1@marble /opt/tinyos-1.x/contrib/xbow/apps/TOSBase
$ make mica2 install.0 mib510,com1
mkdir -p build/mica2
compiling TOSBase to a mica2 binary
ncc -o build/mica2/main.exe -Os
-I%T/../contrib/xbow/tos/platform/mica2
-finlin
e-limit=100000 -Wall -Wshadow -DDEF_TOS_AM_GROUP=0x81
-Wnesc-all
-target=mica2 -
fnesc-cfile=build/mica2/app.c -board=micasb
-DCC1K_DEFAULT_FREQ=RADIO_916BAND_CH
ANNEL_00 -DRADIO_XMIT_POWER=0xFF
-DIDENT_PROGRAM_NAME="TOSBase"
-DIDENT_PROGRAM_
NAME_BYTES="84,79,83,66,97,115,101,0"
-DIDENT_USER_HASH=0x0054ef2eL
-DIDENT_UNIX
_TIME=0x429d5f0dL TOSBase.nc -lm
G:/PROGRA~1/UCB/cygwin/opt/tinyos-1.x/tos/system/RealMain.nc:
In
function `main'
:
G:/PROGRA~1/UCB/cygwin/opt/tinyos-1.x/tos/interfaces/StdControl.nc:63:
warning:
`result' might be used uninitialized in this function
compiled TOSBase to build/mica2/main.exe
11544 bytes in ROM
637 bytes in RAM
avr-objcopy --output-target=srec build/mica2/main.exe
build/mica2/main.srec
set-mote-id build/mica2/main.srec build/mica2/main.srec.out
0
installing mica2 binary using mib510
uisp -dprog=mib510 -dserial=com1 -dpart=ATmega128
--wr_fuse_e=ff
--erase --uplo
ad if=build/mica2/main.srec.out
Firmware Version: 2.1
Atmel AVR ATmega128 is found.
Uploading: flash
Fuse Extended Byte set to 0xff
Marble1@marble /opt/tinyos-1.x/contrib/xbow/apps/TOSBase
Appendix C: XSensor Output
Ball G@r /opt/tinyos-1.x/contrib/xbow/apps/XSensorMDA300
$ make mica2 intstall.1 mib510,com1
mkdir -p build/mica2
compiling XSensorMDA300 to a mica2 binary
ncc -o build/mica2/main.exe -Os -I../../tos/interfaces
-I../../tos/system -I../
../tos/lib -I../../tos/sensorboards/mda300
-I../../tos/platform/mica2
-finlin
e-limit=100000 -Wall -Wshadow -DDEF_TOS_AM_GROUP=0x81
-Wnesc-all
-target=mica2 -
fnesc-cfile=build/mica2/app.c -board=mda300
-DCC1K_DEFAULT_FREQ=RADIO_916BAND_C
HANNEL_00 -DRADIO_XMIT_POWER=0xFF
-DIDENT_PROGRAM_NAME="XSensorMD"
-DIDENT_PROGR
AM_NAME_BYTES="88,83,101,110,115,111,114,77,68,0"
-DIDENT_USER_HASH=0x306db657L
-DIDENT_UNIX_TIME=0x429e6688L XSensorMDA300.nc -lm
compiled XSensorMDA300 to build/mica2/main.exe
20834 bytes in ROM
1062 bytes in RAM
avr-objcopy --output-target=srec build/mica2/main.exe
build/mica2/main.srec
Ball G@r /opt/tinyos-1.x/contrib/xbow/apps/XSensorMDA300
$
Appendix D: m-file of Rain Collector II
%Rain Collector II Program
%THIS M-FILE OPENS A FILE THAT IS STORED IN THE 'current %work
directory'
%CALLED CNTR1.txt (OR ANY GIVEN NAME WHEN XLISTEN IS RUN)
%THIS PROGRAM USES textread(), A FUNCTION THAT READS %NUMBERS
AND CHARACTERS
%THE DATA SAVED TO "CNTR1.txt" CONTAINS NUMBERS AND/OR
%CHARACTERS IN THE FIRST 2 columns
%THis only reads numbers starting from R,C (ROW,COLUMN)
%
data=csvREAD('C:\tinyos\cygwin\opt\tinyos-%1.x\contrib\xbow\tools\src\xlisten\june2.csv',1,0)
[time,val] =
textread('C:\tinyos\cygwin\opt\tinyos-1.x\contrib\xbow\tools\src\xlisten\CNTR1.txt',
'%d %s')
%variable= data(row,column)
%once the data is stored in the data matrix in matlab the
%indexing starts from
%Row=1,2,3.. & Column=1,2,3..
%x contains the time in seconds
%**********************************************************%BELOW
THIS COMMENT BOX IS WHERE THE CONVERSION FORMULAS %NEED TO BE
PLACED
%for example if the engineering units need to be divided by %a
1000 to get the voltage
%read from ADC in volts DO:5
%**********************************************************
%your_variable = ((0.03894*(y_voltage))-42.017);
Max=size(val);
%CONVERTS TO HEX TO DECIMAL
for n = 1:Max,
dec(n)=hex2dec(val(n))
end
cnt = (dec *0.2) / 2;%FORMULA TO CONVERT COUNTER %TO
MILLIMETERS
%RAIN COLLECTOR TITLES FOR GRAPHICAL OUTPUT***************
plot(time,cnt)
grid
xlabel('Seconds ')
ylabel('Millimeters')
Title('RAINFALL IN MILLIMETERS VS. TIME')
%*********************************************************
%plots the time in x axis and engineering units in y axis
%plot(x_time,your_variable)
%grid
%xlabel('Title for x-axis')
%ylabel('Title for y-axis')
%Title('Title of graph')
%***********************************************
2
1
Figure 7:
Data Collected from Counter
7
6
( Figure 4. Crossbow MDA300CA
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5
Figure 3. Crossbow Mica2 mote(
( Figure 2. Crossbow MIB510CA
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