UVINO (UV-netduINO)
We at Dotsoft are excited to announse UVINO, a custom electronic solution that was created to support the HNSE (Hellenic Network of Solar Energy) project. HNSE is a funded project by the Hellenic GSRT (General Secretariat for Research and Technology), to which Dotsoft worked as a subcontractor. The challenge that HNSE faced, was the efficient collection of UV and Solar Energy measurements from stations scattered in Greece.
At similar projects that needed to collect UV measurements, PC or expensive data loggers are used. Aditionally custom software and web services are build to support the accumulation of data from the instrument and transfer to the central database.
Dotsoft proposed the use of the open source electronic platform called “Netduino”.
Netduino is an open source electronics platform using the .NET Micro Framework which practically means it can be programmed using C# or Visual Basic supported by Microsoft, and the open source community. It features a 32-bit Atmel microcontroller at 48MHz and a rich development environment (Microsoft Visual Studio). The Netduino combines 20 GPIOs (general purpose input output pins) with SPI, I2C, 2 UARTs, 4 PWM channels, and 6 ADC channels. The available code storage space is at 128Kb while the available RAM at 60Kb. The netduino is pin-compatible with Arduino shields making it very expandable as it can co-function with 3rd-party accessories that offer pre-built functionality like GPS location, servo control, battery power, communication boards etc.
In order for Netduino to be used in the HNSE project, it needed to communicate with NILU-UV (UV Irradiance Meters) and the Pyranometer (a type of actinometer used to measure broadband solar irradiance on a planar surface), which were the two instruments to be used. Dotsoft had to create an extra board compatible with the netduino, at which both instruments could connect to, and supply their data.
The extra board was designed on the Netduino shields logic, in order to sit on top of the Netduino hooking at all of its pins.
Once the board was built and tested, Dotsoft prepared the embeded software for the Netduino that handles the communication with the two instruments, the socket communication with the central database located in the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, and the local storage of the data in a micro SD card.
The main characteristics of the Dotsoft UVINO are summarized below:
- Direct server connection
The UVINO is connected to an Ethernet cable and through it; it opens socket connections to the server. This connection is used to send data and log messages to the server. On the same time, the server uses the connection to notify the UVINO for upgrades in the software that it needs to download or to request data files that are missing from the central database. Instead of the Ethernet connection that it currently uses, UVINO could connect to the internet through GPRS or Wi-Fi by adding the corresponding netduino shields. - Local storage
The UVINO is equipped with a micro-SD card that acts as a local storage, making it able to store data when the internet connection is down. Depending on the SD and the data being logged, the UVINO can store data from 3 months to many years. - Remote updates
(Experimental) The server can “push” software updates to the UVINO. Whenever a new version of the UVINO software is uploaded on the server, it gets pushed to all the connected UVINOs and forces them to reboot, so they start fresh with theit new software. - Further possibilities
UVINO can be powered by a 7-12V VDC or by USB. It can also be powered by a 9V battery or connect to a UPS so it can function independently of current outages.
