Telemetry & SCADA Tools

• http://zephyr.sourceforge.net/
  Zephyr is a data acquisition and measurement automation program written in Java. It has been developed to simplify some laboratory tests at Nanomix. It is also being used by the Star Research Group at the University of Pittsburgh. This program may be suitable for many other applications involving measurement instruments and actuators, especially where there’s a need to change the setup often.

  The most important feature of this program is scripting, which allows scheduling of configuration and measurement events. The script language is based on XML. The script interpreter, instruments and output components are loosely coupled in this program, making it quite flexible. Communication with an instrument requires an adapter (driver) class that implements certain simple interfaces, depending on the instrument’s functionality. The interfaces are based on the same principles as the IVI standard.

  Currently, about 25 various instruments are supported over GPIB, RS-232 and Ethernet.

• http://www.dataq.com/
  The DI-194RS is a four-channel data acquisition module designed to familiarize you with WinDaq data logger software. It provides 10-bit measurement accuracy, a ±10V analog measurement range, up to 240 samples/second throughput, and four analog input channels.

  It features a serial port interface, making installation a snap. It also features two digital inputs that can be used for remote start/stop and remote event marker control with WinDaq/Lite software.

  G2 will be using this unit to demonstrate and teach how Data Aquisition & Control can be integrated into 3D worlds. A great example is this water quality monitoring test we will likely be using initially.

• http://www.pachube.com
  Pachube is a web service available at http://www.pachube.com that enables you to connect, tag and share real time sensor data from objects, devices, buildings and environments around the world.

  Here we have a detailed description of using Pachube with Second Life which we attempt to recreate in OpenSim.

  G2 is evaluating this highly recommended new service now and will soon report here.

• http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/robotics
  Microsoft® Robotics Developer Studio 2008 Express Edition enables hobbyists and non-professional developers to create robotics applications targeting a wide range of scenarios.

  Microsoft Robotics Developer Studio supports a broad set of robotics platforms by either running directly on the platform or controlling it from a Windows device through a communication channel such as Wi-Fi or Bluetooth®.

  In addition to providing support for Microsoft Visual Studio, Microsoft Robotics Developer Studio 2008 Express Edition provides a visual programming environment which allows developers to create applications simply by dragging and dropping components onto a canvas and wiring them together.

  The powerful Visual Simulation Environment provides a high-fidelity simulation environment powered by AGEIA Technologies™ PhysX™ engine for running game-quality 3D simulations with real-world physics interactions.

  To help developers getting started, the studio contains extensive documentation and a large set of samples and tutorials that illustrate how to write applications ranging from simple “Hello Robot” to complex applications that simultaneously run on multiple robots.