sensors

Information on proposed or actual sensor networks to share such things as climate and environmental conditions, energy usage, occupancy, and transportation. One current application is AMI, advanced metering infrastructure, based on Zigbee wireless protocols. But there is the potential for more innovative ad hoc networks to be developed. Please contribute what you know.

I recently bought one of those "PowerMonitor" sensors from Black and Decker; it's a cool little thing, and works surprisingly well.

Anybody out there discovered any hack potential in it yet? Short of Zigbee meters, it might be a good stop-gap solution to collect power usage data?

-Jeff

Sorry to post to two groups, but I think this essay and interview with Usman Haque, creator of Pachube, is worth general discussion as well as posting in sensor networks. Interesting that Bruce Sterling was involved as "visionary adviser".

http://www.ugotrade.com/2009/01/28/pachube-patching-the-planet-interview...

Check out what's being done in London to create a global sensor data repository - the YouTube of sensor data - that lays the foundation for interactive environments and remote sensing applications.

http://www.pachube.com/

I helped run a 2-week course at UTS in Sydney recently, on the Master of Digital Architecture ... working with Anthony Burke, Mitchell Whitelaw and Jason McDermott, plus the students on the course. More details here - http://www.cityofsound.com/blog/2008/11/the-street-as-p.html - and more to follow (which I'll post back here). A relatively successful attempt to create a real-time 'portrait' of a street, via sensors and data scraped off the web, then capable of being delivered back into that space.

But I'm interested in sharing information about other informatics projects, work and interested parties going on in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane or elsewhere in Australia. Please post details or notes below, ta.