Light Robot

Automated light level readings! Tool for work - with some neat features. Here's an action-shot thanks to Mike!

Status	Operational
Platform	Raspberry Pi
Budget	$1000
Date Completed	April 2020

Summary of operation

Walk it along, it records light levels as you go, using a combination of GPS, accelerometer, distance (wheel counter), lux level meter with data-output, Raspberry Pi, 7in touchscreen, and Wi-Fi to hotspot from your phone for data upload!

Parts used

• Raspberry Pi 3B + 7in Touch
• GPS Mouse - GP-808G (72 Channel)
• Inertial Motion Unit - Adafruit 9-DOF Accel/Mag/Gyro+Temp
• Yokogawa 51011 Digital Lux Meter (or similar)
• Some formply, wheels etc.!

Some engineering detail

The hardware is wired up as follows:

• Mainly everything connects via I2C to the Raspberry Pi.

It's coded up as follows:

• Python script runs on the Raspberry Pi which collects data from the sensors and sends it (via Wi-Fi) to InfluxDB and Grafana running remotely.
• From your phone, you can follow progress nearly real-time on Grafana
• You can see min, max and average values from the Grafana interface. If you clic a spot on the map - it will give you the level at that location!

Future improvements

Mike has found a new lux meter with Bluetooth BLE and done a deal with the supplier to hand over the protocol. So stay tuned!

Next stop - make it drive itself!