Open Hardware Summit 2011 Case Studies of Open Source Hardware Projects: The Nuclear Accident in Japan September 14 2011 at New York Hall of Science, NYC, NY, U.S.A. Shigeru Kobayshi (Geiger Maps Jp, IAMAS)[The talk at OHS will be 10 minutes long]
Let me start with a brief self introduction. I worked for a digital musical instrument company[CLICK]. I’m teaching at a small public school of design and media arts, and I developed opensource toolkits for physical computing such as Gainer [CLICK] and Funnel [CLICK].
Photo: Shunsuke Takawo Open Hardware Summit 2011 | Shigeru KobayashiThis is the Gainer hardware, released in 2006
Photo: NTT InterCommunication Center [ICC] Open Hardware Summit 2011 | Shigeru Kobayashidesigned to use with a breadboard, jumper wires and various components.
I have been writing articles about prototyping for MAKE magazine in Japanese regularly.
Photo: Kenichi Hagihara Open Hardware Summit 2011 | Shigeru Kobayashiand wrote a book about Arduino to introduce the pleasure and importance of prototyping tostudents, hobbyists, designers, artists and engineers.
FIO 4 x 4 (December, 2010) Designed by Shigeru Kobayashi Funnel I/O (July, 2008) Designed by Shigeru Kobayashi FIO (December, 2009) Designed by Shigeru Kobayashi and SparkFun Arduino Fio (March, 2010) Designed by Shigeru Kobayashi and SparkFunI also designed Arduino Fio with SparkFun Electronics as an open hardware product derivedfrom LilyPad Arduino.
Introduction Overview • Introduction • History • Hardware • Case studies 1. Japan Geigermap: At-a-glance 2. Geiger Maps Jp 3. Safecast/Tokyo Hackerspace • Summary Open Hardware Summit 2011 | Shigeru KobayashiThis is the overview of my talk. First of all [CLICK], I’ll introduce what happened after theaccident. Then [CLICK] Ill introduce a few Open Hardware related activities inside/outsideJapan with interviews and [CLICK] closes with summary.
Introduction The Nuclear Accident • There was the Great Tohoku Earthquake on March 11th. • In the wake of the nuclear accident at TEPCO Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant, media outlets were filled with information on the spread of radiation throughout Japan. • Since there was the lack of information, all kinds of rumors quickly spread across social media sites, often filled with incorrect or misleading information, and added to public confusion. • To make matters worse, the government and the company were constantly saying ‘everything was okay’ when it was obvious that it wasnt. The extent of the damage was only disclosed three months later. Open Hardware Summit 2011 | Shigeru KobayashiTEPCO: Tokyo Electric Power COmpany
IntroductionHardware• After the accident, there have been huge needs of radiation monitoring equipments such as Geiger counters.• Several open hardware developers responded immediately.• Recently, several developers in Japan productized affordable Geiger counters.Open Hardware Summit 2011 | Shigeru Kobayashi
Case Study 1 Japan Geigermap: At-a-glance http://japan.failedrobot.com Open Hardware Summit 2011 | Shigeru KobayashiOK, let’s talk about three cases. The first case is Japan Geigermap.
Case Study 1 Japan Geigermap: At-a-glance | Overview • A map by Haiyan Zhang to visualize crowd-sourced radiation readings from across Japan. • This and other mapping projects were taking the Pachube feed, which came from a variety of independent and government sources. • This highlighted and interesting issue for Open Data, where the government had a network of radiation sensors around the country, but this data was not made in an open format. • Several individuals worked to scrape this information and turned it into an open data format to feed into Pachube. • The Japan Geigermap project worked to make the sensor information as clear as possible to citizens through design and user experience. Open Hardware Summit 2011 | Shigeru KobayashiInstead, citizens could visit the government websites to gain this information.
Case Study 1 Japan Geigermap: At-a-glance | History http://twitter.com/#!/haiyan/status/48535925248098304 Open Hardware Summit 2011 | Shigeru KobayashiIf I remember correctly, this was her first tweet about Geiger maps on March 18th.
Case Study 1 Japan Geigermap: At-a-glance | History http://jsdo.it/motoishmz/rdC2 Open Hardware Summit 2011 | Shigeru KobayashiIn prior to her map, a web developer, Motoi Shimizu, created a prototype of a Geiger maputilizing Pachube feeds on March 18th and shared on jsdo.it, an online code sharing and IDEfor HTML5 by Kayac. So far over 13,000 views, and inspired many derivatives. Haiyanexpanded his idea and implemented ‘Japan Geigermap’.
Case Study 1 Japan Geigermap: At-a-glance | Overview http://twitter.com/#!/haiyan/status/48885447346225155 Open Hardware Summit 2011 | Shigeru KobayashiThen, she launched the first version of Japan Geigermap on March 19th. It was only one dayafter her initial tweet. So quick!
Case Study 2 Geiger Maps Jp http://geigermaps.jp Open Hardware Summit 2011 | Shigeru KobayashiThe next case is Geiger Maps Jp. I’m the team lead of this project.
Case Study 2 Geiger Maps Jp | Overview • A portal for radiation maps/visualizations and a list of affordable measurement tools such as Geiger counters. • Original idea was creating a map for the people living in Japan to let them check radiation levels of interested points to compare between points and the present and the past. • Due to the complexity of setting up and calibrating geiger counters, there was a need to organize and create standards around units of measurement, calibration, data feed format. • We discovered needs a portal of Geiger maps. Then we changed our plan and set up a portal on April 9th. • 12 contributors, available in 12 languages Open Hardware Summit 2011 | Shigeru KobayashiHaiyan’s Geiger map has been really useful to know radiation levels of all over the country ata glance. We wanted to create an additional map for the people living in Japan to let themcheck radiation levels of interested points to compare between points and the present andthe past. I asked on Twitter and a designer and a web developer responded, then we startedthe project. Through the discussions, we discovered needs a portal of Geiger maps. Then wechanged our plan and set up a portal on April 9th and ask for volunteer translators totranslate article into 12 languages.
Case Study 2 Geiger Maps Jp | A List of Hardware Open Hardware Summit 2011 | Shigeru KobayashiThere is a list of affordable Geiger counters, mainly Open Hardware products.
Case Study 2 Hardware | Geiger Counter • Developer: SparkFun Electronics (U.S.A.) • Price: $149.95 • Sensor: LND 712 (α, β, γ and X-ray) • Interface: USB, pulse • License: CC BY-SA 3.0 http://www.sparkfun.com/products/9848 Open Hardware Summit 2011 | Shigeru KobayashiThis product was already available when the accident occurred.
Case Study 2 Hardware | Geiger Counter • SparkFun provided me a board • I wrote sketches for Processing and Arduino, then published on a blog about 10 days after the accident • Several people started monitoring and sharing in response to the article Open Hardware Summit 2011 | Shigeru KobayashiBut it was out of stock on March 16th. So I contacted Nathan Seidle of SparkFun aboutavailability, and he kindly provided me a board immediately. While waiting, I wrote a simplesketch for Arduino to simulate serial outputs of the Geiger counter. I got the board thenpublished an article in Japanese on March 23rd. After that, several people started monitoringand sharing in response to the article.
Case Study 2 Hardware | Geiger Counter Twig • Developer: Seeed Studio (China) • Price: $42.8 (including a J408γ) • Sensor: North Optic J408γ (γ) • Interface: Twig (Seeed Studio’s Grove system for Arduino) • License: CC-BY-SA 3.0 http://www.seeedstudio.com/depot/ twig-geiger-counter-p-867.html Open Hardware Summit 2011 | Shigeru KobayashiI also contacted Eric Pan of Seeed Studio about availability of GM tubes in China, and theyresponded very quickly. They published an article, ‘Radiation detector, help needed!’ onMarch 16th. So far, about 130 comments to the article, and they stocked affordable GM tubesin the end of April, and released an interface board for a GM tube in the end of June.
Case Study 2 Hardware | Radiation Sensor Board • Developer: Libelium (Spain) • Price: $162.9 (€115.00) • Sensor: North Optic J305β (β and γ) • Interface: Arduino shield • License: CC-BY-SA 3.0 http://www.cooking-hacks.com/index.php/ pack-radiation-sensor-board-for-arduino-geiger-tube.html Open Hardware Summit 2011 | Shigeru KobayashiDavid Cuartielles of the Arduino team contacted me on Google chat on April 6th, and hesuggested me that Libelium is working for a Geiger counter product. He introduced me toDavid Gascón, the CTO of Libelium, and they provided me a sample to evaluate in the end ofMay. They also published good technical documentations online.
Case Study 2 Hardware | Pocket Geiger Counter KIT • Developer: radiation-watch.org (Japan) • Price: $45 (¥3,500) • Sensor: eight PIN photo diodes (γ) • Interface: audio (to be mate with an iOS device) • License: closed source http://www.radiation-watch.org/p/blog-page.html Open Hardware Summit 2011 | Shigeru KobayashiPocket Geiger Counter KIT is developed by radiation-watch.org, an open and non-profitproject to develop cheap and smart survey meter for everyone. The project is supported byvolunteer engineers and designers inside/outside Japan, and the survey meters have beenfabricated in a factory survived in the disaster. They released the product as a kit, people canassemble easily, on August 10th at low price. They keep this as a closed source project tomake this sustainable. I think this is a reasonable approach.
Case Study 2 Hardware | Geiger Counter Kit Mark2 • Developer: Wakamatsu Tsusho (Japan) • Price: $282.9 (¥22,000) • Sensor: GSTube SBM-20 (γ) • Interface: USB, LAN (Pachube, Twitter) • License: an open source license http://www.wakamatsu-net.com/cgibin/biz/ pageshousai.cgi?code=53150002&CATE=5315 Open Hardware Summit 2011 | Shigeru KobayashiThis is a just recently released mbed based Geiger counter kit and claims that ‘open source’and compatible with Pachube/Twitter. Now ‘Pachube’ is gradually becoming known amongcitizen in Japan after the disaster.
Case Study 2 Geiger Maps Jp | Create | Feeds Open Hardware Summit 2011 | Shigeru KobayashiThere are tutorials about feeding sensor readings to Pachube, and a tool to setup feedsquickly.
Case Study 2 Geiger Maps Jp | Interviews Open Hardware Summit 2011 | Shigeru KobayashiThere are interviews of key players such as Haiyan Zhang.
Case Study 2 Geiger Maps Jp | Labs Open Hardware Summit 2011 | Shigeru KobayashiThere is also a Geiger map by original members.
Case Study 3 Safecast/Tokyo Hackerspace http://safecast.org http://tokyohackerspace.org Open Hardware Summit 2011 | Shigeru KobayashiThe last case is Safecast/Tokyo Hackerspace.
Case Study 3 Safecast/Tokyo Hackerspace | Overview • A volunteer group (10-12) doing monitoring, mapping, and visualization for public safety applications. • Started by a group of people a few weeks after the Fukushima Dai-Ichi explosions. • The initial idea was to scrape public websites for data and aggregate into one place. • Later on, Tokyo Hackerspace got involved and the scope was expanded to crowdsourced radiation monitoring, mobile data collection, and stationary sensor networks. • They proposed their idea on Kickstarter.com and funded successfully. • Keio University and various communications carriers are also getting involved now as well. Open Hardware Summit 2011 | Shigeru KobayashiThe core members of Safecast were Joichi Ito, Ray Ozzie, Sean Bonner, and Pieter Franken.
Case Study 3 Safecast/Tokyo Hackerspace | Map Open Hardware Summit 2011 | Shigeru KobayashiThis is the map by Safecast. The map covers over million points by both stationary andmobile sensor nodes.
Case Study 3 Safecast/Tokyo Hackerspace | Hardware • The original stationary sensor network design was based on the Arduino platform. • An Arduino clone (Freakduino) + a custom shield (the network chip and a high voltage Geiger tube driver). • The software was based on Shigeru Kobayashis Geiger counter software on github. Open Hardware Summit 2011 | Shigeru KobayashiThis is the prototype of their stationary node.
This is the original one.
This is the prototype with a NetRad PCB.
This is the prototype with Wi-Fi.
This is the final prototype.
And they deployed.
Case Study 3 Safecast/Tokyo Hackerspace | Hardware • The mobile node is also based on the Arduino with a custom shield that includes a GPS module, SD card slot, and Geiger counter input connector. • The device gets mounted on a car and collects data every 5 seconds as the car drives around and saves it to the SD card. The data then gets uploaded and mapped. • There are close to a million data points now. Open Hardware Summit 2011 | Shigeru KobayashiThis is the prototype of their mobile node.
This is the first prototype.
In production.
The enclosures.
This is an example of a node that is mounted on a vehicle.
Case Study 3 Safecast/Tokyo Hackerspace | Hardware • The Arduino platform allowed them to learn a lot and also to build out the hardware very quickly. They had working hardware and custom PCBs about 1.5 weeks after they started and proceeded to collect data. • Stationary nodes: Have about 35 stationary nodes set up, and the goal is to have 300 nodes up by the end of 2011 (with Keio University) • Mobile nodes: Have approximately 20 mobile Geiger counters deployed with volunteer drivers, mostly in Fukushima prefecture. They are providing drives and many are doing the drives daily, full-time. • Theyre designing the next versions of the Geiger counters based on Linux. Open Hardware Summit 2011 | Shigeru Kobayashi• These ones will be more focused on communications and will allow them to use all types of communications, make development easier, and allow us to do field upgrades. (Ethernet, WiFi, 3G modems, satellite modems)
Case Study 3 Safecast/Tokyo Hackerspace | Challenges • The main one is getting enough money to buy the hardware to build everything out (now getting better). • The other big challenge is the diversity of domain knowledge required to do all of this: hardware design, firmware, protocol stacks, web design, database admin, and visualization (theyre currently in need of help). Open Hardware Summit 2011 | Shigeru Kobayashi• The funding issue is now getting better as the project gains momentum and now the issue is actually building things out. Were ramping up on the stationary nodes, and if we get on the delivery trucks, then well have to ramp the mobile nodes.• Theyre currently in need of help with the visualization and web design aspects
Challenges and PossibilitiesSummary• With utilizing Open Hardware, we can develop prototypes of radiation monitoring tools in a short term.• Online web services such as Pachube are helpful to share open data.• Since the whole activities and projects are extremely cross- domain, its difficult to manage and execute quickly.• There will be many possibilities of Open Hardware for our daily life and serious situations such as disasters.Open Hardware Summit 2011 | Shigeru Kobayashi
Thank you very much for listeningand please give me suggestions!The longer version will be at Make: Live StageSeptember 17, 2:30 - 3 pmSpecial thanks to: Haiyan Zhang, Tokyo Hackerspace, Yang Stone and David Siren Eisner
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