School STEM Research Project: Developing an IoT Mesh Networking Solution for Remote Water Quality Monitoring
We were pleased to make a donation to a 12th grade student in Northern California earlier this year. We asked him to write a blog post and here's what he had to say:
I am a 12th-grade student from Northern California, earlier this year as part of my AP Research class I started a research project to develop and deploy an IoT mesh-networking solution for water quality monitoring. This solution has implications in remote regions as well as in developing countries where it can be a challenge to effectively gather and transmit valuable water quality data to an end-user. I collaborated with researchers at the United States Geological Survey (USGS) and Particle used the Particle.io mesh technology to power the IoT mesh component of the project.
Chicago Electronic Distributors was crucial for making this project possible because my school was unable to provide funds for the project. Chicago Electronic Distributors donated all of the LiPo batteries necessary for powering my IoT nodes.
During the test deployment of the devices at a nearby nature preserve, all 6 of the individual nodes had to be individually powered, and a reliable battery power source was crucial for storing power generated from the onboard solar panels.
To conclude, we had a successful test deployment, which showed the feasibility of using cost-effective IoT devices using mesh networking technology to gather and transmit water quality data remotely. I’m currently working on a new and improved iteration of the project, and greatly appreciate the support of Chicago Electronic Distributors.
Leave a comment