Specifications

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Abstract
Design of a Low-Power Automatic Wireless Multi-Logger Networking Device
by
Kelly S. Lewis, Master of Science
Utah State University, 2007
Major Professor: Dr. Brandon Eames
Department: Electrical and Computer Engineering
Virtually every industry and discipline (e.g., mining, ph armaceutical, construction, agricul-
ture, reclamation, etc.) is finding applications for w ir eless data acquisition for monitoring
and managing processes and resources. Two sectors, namely agriculture and environmental
research, are seeking ways to obtain distributed soil and plant measurements over larger
areas like a watershed or large fields rather th an a single site of intensive ins tr umentation
(i.e., a weather station). Wireless sensor networks and remote sensing have been explored
as a means to satisfy this need. Commercial products are readily available that have re-
mote wireless options to support distributed s en or networking. However, these systems
have been designed with a field engineer or technician as the target end-user. Equipment
and operating costs, device specific programming languages, and complex wireless config-
uration schemes have impeded the adoption of large-scale, multi-node wireless systems in
these fields. This report details the development of an easy-to-use, ultra-low power wireless
datalogger in corporating a scalable, intelligent data collection and transmission topology.
The final product can interface to various sensor types including SDI-12 and uses an LCD
display to help simplify device setup.
(68 pages)