Zoönology

ESP32 microcontroller (Lolin D32 Pro)

Zoöp

"Zoöp" is an experimental model for organizations to transition towards ecological justice - by not only preaching, but radically practicing it. In a Zoöp, non-humans have an equal voice next to humans, on all levels of the organization and its decision-making. As the initiators describe it: “Zoöp is short for Zoöperation: coöperation with zoë – (Greek for ‘life’) Together with other Zoöps we work towards the transformation of our economy into a regenerative human-inclusive ecosystem, a network of exchange of matter, energy and meaning that supports all bodies in their existence”. ^{[Zoöp manifesto]}

Zoönology: Observing & Sensing

The name of this workshop, "Zoönology", is the combination of technology and zoë. It may seem paradoxical to combine computation and the model of Zoöp as computation depends on the extraction of finite resources. Therefore, as we make the connection during the workshop by making, the question arises to whether computing and network technologies could have a place in regenerative, human-inclusive, reciprocal ecosystems ^[zoop.earth]. In the workshop we will use a low powered ESP32 micro controller and a environmental sensor to observe non-human or non-living entities.

Environmental sensors

Soil moisture sensor

SparkFun Soil Moisture Sensor

Schematic

Code

int soilPin = 32; // the sensor signal pin is connected to pin 32 on the board
int soilValue = 0; // we set the initial value of the soil sensor to 0

void setup() {
  Serial.begin(9600); // make a connection to the computer
}

void loop() {
  soilValue = analogRead(soilPin); // read value from the soil pin (32)
  Serial.println(soilValue); // send value to the computer
  delay(1000); // wait 1 second (1000 milliseconds)
}

UV/IR/Visible Light sensor

Adafruit SI1145 Digital UV Index / IR / Visible Light Sensor

Schematic

Code

#include <Wire.h>
#include "Adafruit_SI1145.h"

Adafruit_SI1145 uv = Adafruit_SI1145(); // adafruit library to talk to the Si1145 sensor

float visibleLight; // variable to store the visible light sensor value
float infrared; // variable to store the infrared sensor value
float uvIndex; // variable to store the uv index sensor value

void setup() {
  Serial.begin(9600); // make a connection to the computer
  
  if (! uv.begin()) {
    // this checks if the board can find the Si1145 sensor
    Serial.println("Didn't find Si1145");
    while (1); // and stops if it cannot find the sensor
  }
}

void loop() {
  visibleLight = uv.readVisible(); // read visible light value from the sensor
  infrared = uv.readIR(); // read infrared value from the sensor
  uvIndex = uv.readUV() / 100.0; // the UV is multiplied by 100 so we divide to get the UV index

  delay(1000); // wait 1 second (1000 milliseconds)
}

Air Quality Sensor

File:AirQualitySensor

Adafruit SGP30 Air Quality Sensor Breakout - VOC and eCO2

Temperature/Humidity Sensor

File:TemperatureHumiditySensor

Adafruit Si7021 Temperature & Humidity Sensor Breakout Board

Pressure/Temperature/Altitude sensor

File:PresTempAltitudeSensor

Adafruit BMP280 Barometric Pressure & Altitude Sensor

Code

All the starter templates and final code can be found on our Github page.

Planning:

Week 1: (7th of February)

* Introduction in the ESP32 micro controller & sensors
* Picking your environmental sensor for coming weeks
* Research your sensor

Week 2: (14th of February)

* Connecting your sensor to the Lolin D32 Pro
* Saving sensor data to the SD card

Week 3: (21st of February)

* Displaying sensor values on a local captive portal

Week 5: (7th of March)

* Field testing

Week 6: (14th of March)

* Extracting sensor values from the field test
* Documenting findings on the captive portal

Week 7: (21th of March)

No class

Week 8: (28th of March)

* Finishing up the captive portal

Tutorials

To be added ...

Sources & References

Low Tech Magazine
Feral Atlas
Permacomputing