Initially we will set up a static medium density network mainly on the UCSD La Jolla, and SIO campuses which is integrated into the ever-expanding UCSD 802.11 wireless network or facilities management (FM)'s 900 MHz network. Representative sensing locations will be carefully selected by the PIs in collaboration with FM. We envision mounting 15 tripods on top of UCSD buildings and 18 smaller systems to lamp post and shuttles/trucks (Figure). The combined hardware cost for this setup would be US$ 23,100.
In addition we would like to construct 2 mobile, advanced demo nodes, one at SIO and one on top of Warren College Lecture Hall. These robotic, autonomous nodes would be mounted on 4-wheel chassis and equipped with a telescopic masts and a pan-tilt-zoom camera mount. They would alternately explore the 3d-spatial variation of the microclimatological response of a single building in situ, and then scan surrounding building using a thermal imager and a camera. The nodes will be designed to allow significant expansion of their sensory capabilities in the future, e.g. for air quality, seismic, and accoustic monitoring. The required funding is $5000. Lastly, a central dedicated computer will query all nodes every minute, process the measurements, and display the results on a webpage using GIS tools like Google Earth ($1000).
To allow for a rapid start of the project and expeditious proof-of-concept, three undergraduate students will be employed full-time for summer 2007 at (3x $5700 = $17100).
| Component | 33 static nodes | 2 robotic nodes | Dataserver | students | TOTAL |
| Cost | 23,100 | 5,000 | 1,000 | 17,100 | 46,200 |
The start-up funding will be leveraged by attracting external funding which increasingly relies on showcasing undergraduate contributions to research and the integration of high-tech sensing architectures into environmental research. Examples: