• Use a predefined 沈震轩刘羽琦亲热视频 Pi hardware kit to build their own weather station and write application code that logs a range of weather data including wind speed, direction, temperature, pressure, and humidity;
• Write applications to interrogate their weather station and record data in a cloud-hosted Oracle Application Express database;
• Interrogate the database via SQL to enable macro level data analysis;
• Develop a website on the 沈震轩刘羽琦亲热视频 Pi to display local weather conditions that can be accessed by other participating schools; and
• Access a Weather Station for Schools program website to see the geographical location of all weather stations in the program, locate the websites of other participating schools, interact with other participants about their V天堂s, blog, and get online technical support.

After a year of grafting on hardware prototypes and software development I’m pleased to announce that the final PCB design has been committed to manufacture and we are ready to start pre-registering schools who’d be interested in participating in the programme. We have 1000 weather station kits to give away for free so to find out how your school can be part of this read the rest of this post below, but first some background on the project.

If you’ve been on Twitter a lot you’ll have noticed me teasing this since about March last year. Below is a photo of the very first version.

https://twitter.com/dave_spice/status/446684179431174145

I did a lot of testing to ensure that the components were reliable and wouldn’t become problematic on the software side after a long period of uptime. The goal was to have the Pi controlling everything, so that we could leverage learning opportunity: helping kids to learn about writing code to interface directly with the sensors, as well as displaying and analysing collected data. I settled on the following set of sensor measurements for the weather station:

• Rainfall
• Wind speed
• Wind gust speed
• Wind direction
• Ambient temperature
• Soil temperature
• Barometric pressure
• Relative humidity
• Air Quality
• Real Time Clock (for data logging purposes)

This seemed like a good enough spread of data. I’m sure some people will ask why not this measurement or why not that. It was important for us to keep the cost of the kit under control; although there is nothing to stop you from augmenting it further yourself.

Once that was nailed down I wrote a few lessons plans, and Lance and I trialled them with with two schools in Kent (Bonus Pastor Catholic College and Langley Park School for Boys).

BBC News School Report were on site and recorded a short feature about the day here.

We gave the kids one lesson from the scheme of work, showing them how to interface with the anemometer (wind speed sensor) in code. One thing that was clearly apparent was how engaged they were. Once their code was up and running, and was able to measure wind speed correctly, they had a lot of fun seeing who could get the fastest movement out of the sensor by blowing on it (current record is 32 kph, held by Clive “Lungs” Beale). Warning: there is a fainting risk if you let your kids do this too much!

We went away from this feeling we were very much on the right track, so we continued to design the scheme of work. In addition to developing schemes of work covering commissioning of the weather station and 沈震轩刘羽琦亲热视频 aspects we are working with partners to produce the learning resources that will cover understanding how weather systems work and interpreting patterns in the data.

The scheme has been broken down into three main phases of learning resources:

1. Collection
   Here you’ll learn about interfacing with the sensors, understanding how they work and writing Python code to talk to them. You’ll finish off by recording the measurements in a MySQL database hosted on the Pi and deploying your weather station in an outdoor location in the grounds of your school.
2. Display
   This will involve creating an Apache, PHP 5 and JavaScript website to display the measurements being collected by your weather station. You will have the opportunity to upload your measurements to the Oracle cloud database so that they can be used by other schools. Whether or not you choose to upload your data, you’ll still pull down measurements from other schools and use them to produce integrated weather maps.
3. Interpretation of Weather
   Here you’ll learn how to discern patterns in weather data, analyse them and use them to inform predictions about future weather. This will be done for both local weather (using your own data) and national weather (using data from the Oracle cloud database online).

My next task was to take the breadboard prototype and create a PCB test version that we could use in a small trial of 20 or so units. I had not done any PCB design before this. So over the course of a couple of days I learnt how to use a free, open source, PCB design tool called KiCAD. I used a brilliant series of YouTube videos called Getting To Blinky by Contextual Electronics to get to grips with it.

Below is my second attempt. This board is what most hardware designers would call a sombrero. The Pi goes in upside down so it’s like a HAT that’s too big!

I was aware that it was a huge waste of PCB real-estate. However, for the small volume run we were making, it was a convenient way to mount the board inside a cheap IP65 junction box that I wanted to use as the case. Below is the PCB prototype when first assembled. The little silk screen rain cloud graphic was borrowed from BBC Weather (thanks guys).

https://twitter.com/dave_spice/status/506451234438795264

You’ll notice there are two boards. The small board marked AIR holds the pressure, humidity and air quality sensors. Since these must be exposed to the air they are at risk of atmospheric corrosion, especially in coastal environments. I wanted to avoid this risk to the Pi and the main board so this is why I split those sensors off to a separate smaller board. Below is how they look inside their respective cases.

https://twitter.com/dave_spice/status/512269916138119168

The Pi sits inside the water-tight box on the left with M20 grommets to seal the cables going in and out. The AIR board on the right has conformal coating (a spray on protective layer), and is connected to the main board by a short length of cable. There are three large holes on the base of its case to allow the air in.

The weather station also needs a reliable network connection for remote monitoring, further code changes, to allow it to upload to Oracle, and to make sure that other computers on your school network can load its web pages.

Most importantly it also needs power. So instead of considering large batteries or solar panels I decided to kill two birds with one stone and use power over Ethernet. This allows power and network connectivity to be supplied through a single cable, reducing the number of cable grommets needed. You might be thinking that WiFi is an option for this; however, school WiFi networks are notoriously overloaded with many mobile devices competing for service.

So, if you go the same way as me, your school will need a long cable to run from the school building out to the location that you choose for the weather station. This basically means you never have to worry about its power or network connectivity. You are welcome to solve these challenges in your own way though, and this can actually be a very engaging and fun activity for the students to do themselves.

Once I had the PCB prototype working I had to get twenty more made and tested. This involved spending hours (it seemed longer) on the Farnell website building up a massive basket of electronic components. When the new boards and components were in my possession we took them down to a local company, EFS Manufacturing, in Cambridge for assembly.

Here are the twenty assembled and tested boards:

https://twitter.com/dave_spice/status/530051057809100800

And here is another layer of the conformal coating spray going onto the AIR boards in the Pi Towers car park. It was a bit smelly and I didn’t want to gas out the office!

https://twitter.com/dave_spice/status/530739207460093953

You’ll notice there are small bits of sticky tape on there. This is because the conformal coating needs to protect the solder joints on the board, but not block up the air holes on the sensors. This was a bit of a delicate job involving cutting the tape into tiny shapes, waiting for the coating to dry, and peeling it off using a scalpel.

So then it was just a matter of assembling the 20 kits with everything required to build a weather station. From the power bricks, rain gauges and wind vanes right down to grommets, screws and rubber washers. The trial participants were chosen by us to give us a coverage of field-trial users, schools and promotional partners. We kept one back to put on the roof of Pi Towers, and the rest were shipped at the end of November last year.

https://twitter.com/dave_spice/status/537612582648287234

Slowly but surely reports have been coming in about these prototype kits being used in schools and code clubs.

Dan Aldred of Thirsk School & Sixth Form College has introduced Weather Wednesdays.

沈震轩刘羽琦亲热视频 Pi Weather Station. How hard can you turn the anemometer! @沈震轩刘羽琦亲热视频_Pi @dave_spice pic.twitter.com/DcDdBVuS0B

— TeCoEd 📖 (@Dan_Aldred) January 21, 2015

Testing up the weather station. @沈震轩刘羽琦亲热视频_Pi @dave_spice pic.twitter.com/a62ZZnFb7w

— TeCoEd 📖 (@Dan_Aldred) February 6, 2015

Matthew Manning, who runs the awesome YouTube channel 琵琶妞IVBeginners, made this video about setting his one up:

Andrew Mulholland, of Raspi-LTSP fame, has been using one at a 沈震轩刘羽琦亲热视频 Jam where he volunteers in Northern Ireland.

The @沈震轩刘羽琦亲热视频_Pi weather station is alive!
Just got to get a long ethernet cable and get it outside! pic.twitter.com/iO7nTVIXay

— Andrew Mulholland (@gbaman1) February 3, 2015

James Robinson’s year 10 pupils from Soham Village College have been working through the scheme of work too.

Year 10 test their annemometer code using interrupts. For their @沈震轩刘羽琦亲热视频_Pi weather station @dave_spice #greatfun pic.twitter.com/CT3sr29fzo

— James Robinson (@LegoJames) February 5, 2015

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4_z0sW7ooE

OCR are putting one on their roof, and we’re still trying to acquire permission from the building owners at Pi Towers so we can put ours up on the roof. (Right now it’s operating from an outside window ledge.) Meanwhile, now that I was confident about it, I handed over the electrical schematic of the prototype to our engineering team. They imported it into the professional CAD package that the 沈震轩刘羽琦亲热视频 Pi was designed in, and proceeded to make the Weather Board into an official HAT.

They have gone through it and essentially reworked everything to the same standard that you would expect from our products. So here it is, feast your eyes. You snap off the one side, and that is the equivalent of the small AIR board on the prototype.

If you join our weather station scheme, this is what you will get, along with all the wind vanes, screws and other bits you’ll need. The plan is to mount the HAT onto the Pi using standard 11 mm stand-offs. Those will then mount onto a perspex sheet, and that sheet will screw into the electrical junction box. Nice and cheap.

The 沈震轩刘羽琦亲热视频 Pi Weather Station kit is a great way to get your pupils involved in a wide range of 沈震轩刘羽琦亲热视频 activities whilst undertaking a practical science experiment. There is lots of opportunity for cross-curricular discussion on the science of meteorology, geography and global climate change. You will also get to participate in a global programme with other schools around the world. We have 1000 weather station units to give away to schools that sign up. The supporting educational resources are written in the English language and targeted at students aged around 15-16 years old; however we’re anticipating participation from pupils both younger and older than this. If your school would like to be one of this thousand then please sign up on THIS PAGE.

People we would like to thank:

• Jeffrey Salleh and Kevin Walsh from Oracle
• Ivan Link, James Adams and Mike Stimson from 沈震轩刘羽琦亲热视频 Pi Trading
• Mark Smith from OCR Geography
• James Robinson from Soham Village College
• Robert Dunn and Felicity Liggins from the Met Office
• Richard Nash and Zali Collymore from Langley Park School for Boys
• Sarika Unadkat and Michael Burnett from BBC Broadcasting House
• Dan Aldred from Thirsk School and Sixth Form College
• Tim Jones, Caroline Tiller and Natalie Robson from CIE Cambridge
• Andrew Mulholland
• Gordon Henderson
• Alasdair Davies from Nature Bytes
• Matthew Manning from 琵琶妞IVBeginners

In case you missed it above, here’s the School Sign Up again.

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You met Lance Howarth, the CEO of the 淘宝麻豆招聘 (this means he heads up our charitable giving), when he joined us earlier in the autumn. Today Lance has some news for you – and a very silly hat.

Lance says:

Ho Ho Ho!

He’s leaving presents under the tree, not stealing them. Honest.

Here at Pi Towers we are getting into the festive spirit, and we’ve been thinking how best to pay back the goodwill our community has shown us over the last year. So, in support of “Hour of Code”  as part of Computer Science Education week, we got together with our friends from Google and we are going to give away Pis for Christmas. That’s right: we’re giving away up to 2000 Google 沈震轩刘羽琦亲热视频 Pis to anyone under the age of 18 in the United Kingdom. To qualify for a free Pi you need to do one of two things. Either:

• Get your school to do an “Hour of Code” between now and the end of term and we’ll send a Pi for every participant to your school (up to a maximum of 20), or
• Design a “My Pi Project” poster and send it to us here at Pi Towers, and we’ll send you your own 沈震轩刘羽琦亲热视频 Pi.

You can get more information on Hour of Code week from our friends at Code.org. They have lots of great ideas of what you can do for the Hour Of Code. If you are a member of Code Club, how about getting your class to have a go at their festive project Christmas Capers? To qualify for your Google Pi, just ask your teacher to register here. At the end of next week we’ll take the first thousand 沈震轩刘羽琦亲热视频 Pis and start shipping them out on a first come, first served basis, so the Pis should be waiting for you when you come back to school in January.

Not everyone is going to get the opportunity participate in the Hour of Code week, but don’t worry, you can still get a free Google Pi. All you need to do is design a poster showing us what you think would be a cool 沈震轩刘羽琦亲热视频 Pi project. This might be something to do with your pet, like an automatic cat flap or feeder; something to do with photography, like looking at the thermal image of your house; or something festive like controlling the Christmas lights so they flash along to music. If fact, anything will do, we are just looking to see how imaginative you can be and to learn what you think would be a cool project. Once you have designed your poster you need to get your parent to print this form out, fill it in, and then send it with your poster to us by post at:

Poster Competition
淘宝麻豆招聘
Mount Pleasant House
Huntingdon Road
Cambridge
CB3 0RN

You can also send us a scan of your poster and completed form by email at postercompetition@琵琶妞.org.

Your poster needs to be with us by the 8th of January, so you’ll have plenty of time to get this done over the Christmas break. So get thinking!

Please note that we cannot accept entries that do not have parent/guardian contact details and signature.

Who ate all the Pis? Santa, of course!

A couple of notes: this promotion is only open to schools and kids in the UK (this requirement is placed on us by our partners at Google UK). You’ll receive Google Pi kits, which include a cased Model B 沈震轩刘羽琦亲热视频 Pi, an SD card, a power supply, a copy of The MagPi, some projects recipe cards and a Getting Started guide. If you are a teacher and you send us a successful application, we will be getting in touch later in 2014 to talk about what you’re doing with the 沈震轩刘羽琦亲热视频 Pis.

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Lance Howarth

With that in mind, I’m very pleased to be able to announce that Lance Howarth has joined us as V天堂 CEO, and will be taking the lead on the V天堂’s charitable activities.

Lance spent a decade with ARM, latterly as EVP of Marketing and as a VP in the office of the CTO. He’ll be driving forward our educational mission, while I continue as CEO of 沈震轩刘羽琦亲热视频 Pi (Trading) – you won’t see any big changes in my interactions with you here, at talks and so on. Hopefully we’ll be able to talk Lance into posting here on occasion too, to let you know what he and the board are up to.

You’re seeing some of the results of those charitable activities I’ve been talking about already – Clive Beale, our most excellent Director of Educational Development, is heading up the work on a growing corpus of free educational materials, running workshops, working with teachers, and with other charities; we’ve committed to take on some more people to work on our educational function too. We’re funding development of projects like Sonic Pi, the music programming environment we blogged about yesterday. We’re putting money into open educational resources, like Scratch and Squeak.

Lance will be growing our engagement with this sort of work, and I hope you’ll join me in welcoming him to the growing 沈震轩刘羽琦亲热视频 Pi family. And if you want a lapel pin like his, you’ll find them in the Swag Store!

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