Introduction HUGnet is a network of sensors that will monitor many different things at our campus. Our first deployment is a network of thousands of sensors that will be deployed through out our buildings. They are designed to sense temperature, heat flow, light, air quality and other useful data. HUGnet gathers data from these sensors and stores it in a central database, posting results of analyzed data on web. Initially it will be used for research. In the future it will be used for building operations automation and maintenance, utility management, and security.
Open Source! All of the hardware and software associated with HUGnet has been released to Open Source/Open Hardware. All of the information on our circuit boards, assemblies, and software can be found at http://dev.hugllc.com/. You are welcome to register as a user and edit the wiki or report bugs. We are really excited by the possibility that others can benefit from all of the work we have put into HUGnet.
Gateways Gateways connect the computers to the HUGnet. This system includes a daemon on the PC that sends data out of the serial port to a HUGnet Controller that translates the serial data to HUGnet.
Controller Boards Controller Boards are the heart of the HUGnet system. They power the HUGnet lines, as well as trasmit data on them. They route packets only to the particular HUGnet that has the endpoint on it that the packet is destined for.
Endpoints The endpoint is the core of the HUGnet system. The first endpoint circuit board will provide the actual sensing. The boards will eventually control temperature, humidity, lighting and most other aspects of the building operations.
The picture at the right is an endpoint circuit board. This board is capable of measuring 9 different sensors or switching 12 different controls. The boards can be custom designed for specific sensing and control applications. This small board fits into a standard outlet box, using only the cover plate screws for mounting. The design works with enclosures that are inexpensive and available in a wide range of styles. The enclosures are familiar to technicians and easy to install.
The sensors are attached to a daughter board that mounts on the two headers on the top and bottom of the right side of the board. To start with we will be building these daughter boards by hand. The daughter board allows us the flexibility to use the main board for many different applications. That means higher volumes and lower costs.
Live Data This is live data from the Research Campus. You can get at all the live data from all of the sensors here on the web. Clicking on the menu item Endpoints will display a list of endpoints split out by type. It then displays the following items on each endpoint:
Name
Job
Location
ID
Poll Int
Last Poll
Last Config
Firmware
Controller
Status
Name: This is totally arbitrary. ;)
Job: What the sensor is doing.
Location: Where the device is physically located.
ID: The ID used to send packets to the endpoint.
Poll Int: The interval in minutes between polls.
Last Poll: The last time it was polled.
Last Config: The last time the configuration was read out of the endpoint.
Firmware: The part number and version of the firmware in the endpoint.
Controller: The key of the controller that is powering the HUGnet this endpoint is on.
Status: 'Good' if all is well. 'Problem' otherwise.
