raspberrypi owl intuition electricity project
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Using the... RaspberryPi and the Owl Intuition Solution to Track Electricity Usage A PiFan ProjectTRANSCRIPT
Using the...
RaspberryPi and the
Owl Intuition Solution to Track Electricity Usage
A PiFan Project
The Problem Statement
● Large bills
– £486.97 in 6 months!
● How do I track usage?
– Meter is outside.... not a simple solution– Bills are quarterly/half-yearly.... too slow
The Owl Intuition Solution
● Always on
● Enables
– Tracking of usage
– Data collection
– Download of data
– Online graphs
– Great for analysis
● Great solution.... but I still need to go look at the usage
– I want to be notified
Copied from www.theowl.com
Solution Options● Buy another electricity sensor
– :( I like the owl solution it works well
● Write a program on windows laptop to interface to Owl?
– It'll crash after a week :( blue screen, etc
– Not a windows programmer – how do I send mail or even get a compiler?
● Write a program on Linux laptop to interface to Owl?
– Better, but my laptop uses lots of power – kinda self-defeating
● Use the Pi!
– Low power
– Linux based
– Easy coding
The Solution
The RaspberryPiThe Owl Sensor
TransmitterThe Owl Sensor
Receiver
The Owl Website (for Config)
The Solution Explained
The Internet
The Python Program on the RaspberryPi
● Written in Python to make it easier for the Pi Community to use
● Instructions to interface kindly supplied by Owl manufacturers
– Based on IP Multicast
● Email achieved using Sendmail● Solution works nicely● Program listing available here:
http://www.raspberrypiusers.com/?p=7484
School Project Idea
● There must be a link between:
– Eco-schools
– Computing
– Cost-savings
– Electricity
● Link school power usage profiles and share tips
– Calculate cost and profile of electricity usage, show effect of switching off lights
– Show the impact on the environment
– How many carbon tonnes of trees does the school use?
– How many trees need planting to offset (5 per tonne per year)?
● Demonstrate Programming on the Pi or other computer
One Possible School Experiment Plan
● Monday
– Hook up Owl Intuition & Pi to network
– Present to kids the effect of electricity use on the environment
● Tuesday
– Show kids the profile of Monday's electricity usage
– Identify peak times
– Explain the link of power usage at school, carbon offset and £ cost
– Experiment by look around the school for items with power on
● Wednesday
– See if the electricity usage dropped
– Explain in terms of £ and trees
– Highlight power used at night
● Thursday
– Review power usage again, plan to reduce for rest of day and night
– Focus on the computing at work, show the Pi, talk about how computers work and how the Pi is work
● Talk about Python and Scratch Programming
● Friday
– Review power usage and cost for the week
– See if the power usage has dropped per day
– Calculate £ savings if any
– Summarise how it all worked
– Show where to buy the Pi, Owl, etc – provide leaflets for parents
One Possible School Experiment Plan
● Monday
– Hook up Owl Intuition & Pi to network
– Present to kids the effect of electricity use on the environment
● Tuesday
– Show kids the profile of Monday's electricity usage
– Identify peak times
– Explain the link of power usage at school, carbon offset and £ cost
– Experiment by look around the school for items with power on
● Wednesday
– See if the electricity usage dropped
– Explain in terms of £ and trees
– Highlight power used at night
● Thursday
– Review power usage again, plan to reduce for rest of day and night
– Focus on the computing at work, show the Pi, talk about how computers work and how the Pi is work
● Talk about Python and Scratch Programming
● Friday
– Review power usage and cost for the week
– See if the power usage has dropped per day
– Calculate £ savings if any
– Summarise how it all worked
– Show where to buy the Pi, Owl, etc – provide leaflets for parents
Information
● Contact: [email protected]
● Python Program: www.raspberrypiusers.com
● Owl intuition electricity sensor: www.theowl.com
● Other points:
– This presentation was created on Linux using LibreOffice
– This slide deck and associated material is not affiliated with raspberrypi.org, the RaspberryPi foundation or theowl.com in any way
– PiFan created the Python program and has no prior Python experience :D