The OSDT Android Sensor Pod project is a collaboration between computer scientists, ecologists, and marine scientists for developing an embedded controller for applications in marine biology and limnology.  Funded by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, this project involves a combination of software and hardware developments together with science deployments at the Moorea Coral Reef (MCR) LTER Network, the North Temperate Lakes (NTL) LTER Network, and the Palmyra Atoll. The goal is to develop a next-generation smart sensor controller for embedded and mobile applications and conduct field experiments at coral reefs and fresh-water lakes. As part of the project, we ported the OSDT middleware to the Android platform and developed new software for configuring and managing real-time embedded applications. The OSDT-Android controller manages sensor interfaces, data acquisition, on-board processing, and data transmission over multiple types of radios, including Iridium satellite, cellular, Bluetooth, and long-distance wireless. When combined with a Droid cell phone or tablet, the OSDT Android controller becomes a robust sensor pod that can be configured to serve as a cluster head or gateway node in complex sensor-based systems. The OSDT Android sensor pod is developed in Java.  It is easily reprogrammable.  It includes software for scheduling sensor operations and communications.  It is designed to support on-platform event detection and real-time control. The science deployments will incorporate a variety of sensors, including pH, PCO2, dissolved oxygen, temperature, and pressure.  Two important science issues will be investigated: (1) ocean acidification at coral reefs, and (2) the effects of lake mixing on invasive species.

Poster is available at: [ppt].