An update on Edward Mallon’s Arduino data logger project we covered previously:
If you need a logger with a cheap durable housing, it’s still hard to beat the Dupont-jumper build released in 2016. But sometimes I need more of a bare-bones unit for bookshelf test runs while I shake down a new sensor. I can whip up a breadboard combo in about twenty minutes, but they can stop working if I bump one of the wires by accident. I’ve lost SD cards from this half way through a long term test, and I’ve also run into issues with noise & resistance from those tiny breadboard contact points.
To address this problem I’ve come up with a new configuration that uses a screw-terminal expansion shield originally intended for the Arduino Nano. This requires a modest bit of soldering, and after some practice, between 1-1.5 hours to finish depending on how many “extras” you embed.
Read more details at his blog here.
We published a journal article on these loggers, which goes into some detail about optimizing the design for deployments that can extend beyond two years. Two case studies show how different housing & component configurations enable you to capture different data with similar sensor combinations.
Cave Pearl Data Logger: A Flexible Arduino-Based Logging Platform for Long-Term Monitoring in Harsh Environments
http://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/18/2/530
Sensors is an open-source journal, so the PDF is free for anyone to download.
A visiting researcher dropped by our humble basement workshop with questions about the physical skill level students would need if they added one of our DIY data loggers to their environmental curriculum. I figured the easiest way to cover that was to simply build one, while they recorded the process.
The result of that 3 hour session is now available on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL79ZjHgoYtfzvDKPADJH7HPYDFFlxSLXt