Solar Grid Inverter Monitoring System - Part 2

The second part of this project requires the RS232 to be signalling at a longer distance than the usual fifteen metre limitations.

To overcome this distance limitation and maintain reliability of the serial network, we use of a special telecommunication device called a RS232 extender. 


The RS232 Extender

The Gefen RS232 extenders will be used to extend the RS232 connection from the Fronius IG grid inverters to the remote location, with over one hundred feet of Cat5e cable.

The Gefen RS232 extenders will perfectly reproduce all 9 pins from one end to the other and have the ability to provide power over Ethernet to the second extender, saving on extra cables and power supplies.

The extender units act as a sender and receiver pair on the RS232 network. Allowing the grid inverter's data logger to send Windows computer information to the Fronius access software.

The RS232 extender sender unit connects to Fronius IG grid inverter at one end and the RS232 extender receiver at the computer terminal at the other end.

Then the Cat5e cable connects the send and receive extender units, over 300 metres away. The sender unit is powered by a 5 volt power supply, which will also power the receiver via the Cat5e cable.


The Fronius IG Access Software

The free Fronius Solar access software is available for download from their corporate website at http://www.fronius.com. The software provides advanced onsite data analysis and archiving options for the PC. As an administrative tool, it offers full setup options for all system components in Solar Net.

The software is easy to install on the Windows system, with a helpful installer wizard.

Once installed, the software is located in the programs section of the windows start menu.

The Fronius access software splash screen displays the general energy output information for the photovoltaic solar power system.

Under the administration menu, the new PV system can be added and configured for the RS232 connection back to the grid inverter's data logger.

In the next part of this series, I will be looking at connecting the monitoring software and data logger to collect information from the school's solar power system, and explaining the features and advantages that computerised power monitoring can have for an organisation.


Other PV Solar Powered Systems and Concepts

A PV solar power system has many other applications apart from grid power installations. One example is NASA's Helios aircraft, remotely piloted to fly at high altitudes.

The electrically powered Helios is constructed mostly of composite materials such as carbon fibre, graphite epoxy, Kevlar, styrofoam, and a thin, transparent plastic skin.

The main tubular wing spar is made of carbon fibre. The spar, which is thicker on the top and bottom to absorb the constant bending motions that occur during flight, is also wrapped with Nomex and Kevlar for additional strength.

The wing ribs are made of epoxy and carbon fibre. Shaped styrofoam is used for the wing's leading edge and a durable clear plastic film covers the entire wing.

The Helios collects a variety of information in the atmosphere, and runs mainly on solar power.

On August 14, 2001, the Helios Prototype, piloted remotely by Greg Kendall, reached an altitude of 96,863 feet, a world record for sustained horizontal flight by a winged aircraft.

The altitude was more than 11,000 feet or more than 2 miles (3.2 km) above the previous record for sustained flight by a winged aircraft. In addition, the aircraft spent more than 40 minutes above 96,000 feet.

Tragically the Helios crashed over the Pacific Ocean on 26 June 2003.

Solar Activity and the Risks to Modern Technology

In the middle of our solar system sits a incredibly large nuclear reaction held together by an enormous gravity pull. Many millions of times the mass of the earth, this star emits solar weather that stretches out past the orbit of Pluto. As with weather on earth, the sun's weather can form destructive storms that stretch out from the sun's surface onto the Earth and further into the solar system.

These solar storms are full of particles (protons, electrons, and plasma), radio waves, x-rays and other forms of energy that come from nuclear reactions.

When these storms reach Earth, they can having varying effects on our planet.


What does this have to do with Technology?

Most technology systems, with the exception of the military and some corporate technology, have no built-in resistance to the effects of extreme solar storms.

This means that most of our electronic devices, electric motors and power systems are very vulnerable to solar activity, which may render the devices partially or totally inoperable.


Why Should we be Worried About the Effect on Everyday Technology?

On September 1–2, 1859, the largest recorded geomagnetic storm occurred. Aurorae were seen around the world, most notably over the Caribbean; also noteworthy were those over the Rocky Mountains that were so bright, the glow awoke gold miners, who began preparing breakfast because they thought it was morning. Telegraph systems all over Europe and North America failed.Telegraph pylons threw sparks and telegraph paper spontaneously caught fire.

Some telegraph systems appeared to continue to send and receive messages despite having been disconnected from their power supplies.

This storm was called the Carrington Event and similar strength storms reach the earth every few hundred years.

A storm like the Carrington Event today would cause most of our modern technology to fail within hours. There would be significant electronic damage, power failures, global financial confusion, and disruption to transport and communications.

Without active help and intervention, areas of the earth could experience famines, civil unrest, and wars.



Recent Solar Storms and Increasing Activity Causing Increased Risk

On the 3-5th of August, we had a geomagnetic storm interact with the Earth, causing a G3 storm event to our magnetosphere.

This storm was impressive, but lucky not a threat to most communication and power systems. However, it posed large issues for satellite operators and space operations.



G3 Solar Storm Effects:

Power systems:  voltage corrections may be required, false alarms triggered on some protection devices. Spacecraft operations: surface charging may occur on satellite components, drag may increase on low-Earth-orbit satellites, and corrections may be needed for orientation problems. Other systems: intermittent satellite navigation and low-frequency radio navigation problems may occur, HF radio may be intermittent, and aurora has been seen as low as Illinois and Oregon.

All the definition for the scales of geomagnetic storms, solar radiation storms, and radio blackouts levels are located at the NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) website. http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/NOAAscales/index.html

NOAA also has a website devoted to monitoring solar storm activity and contains other excellent information on solar activity. http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/

This current solar cycle is showing signs of the beginning of a very active period for solar storms and risks to the earth.

This cycle will continue to increase in activity for several years before subsiding into a calmer part of the cycle.


What to do About the Risks of a Solar Storm?

The issue needs to be treated like an natural event, similar to earthquake risks. As with earthquakes on Earth, we have built better buildings, invest in detection and prediction, educating people and designing government polices to deal with such a disaster.

Just with earthquake risk management, solar storms need to be addressed to minimise the harm to our way of life.

Possible improvements to solar flare storm risks:

• More EM shielding in electronics devices
• Better designed power systems and grids.
• Better warning and forecast of solar storms
• Understand the sun and it's dynamics better.
• Education of people on the topic in a meaningful way.
• Government polices on the issue, risks and reactions to events.

Through education of the public, better understanding of the sun and laws requiring built-in protection for important devices and systems, the world can become resistant to this type of event.

We may never be able to remove the risk of solar storms, but we can minimise its harm to our technology driven world.

Easy ESXi 4.1 with serial or USB UPS control

In the past, there has always been a problem with setting up USB uninterruptible power supply to VMware ESXi servers.  Here is the method of enabling a VMware ESXi 4.1 bare-metal server to communicate with an inexpensive serial or USB-only UPS system.

Install a Guest Windows System

You will need to install a Windows virtual machine to run the power management software, and connect to the UPS system.


I have used APC Powerchute software on a Windows 2008 server with this installation method, and encountered no problems.

Most Windows OS guests with USB management software should work in the same way.


Enabling the USB Pass-through  

Now that ESXi 4.1 has been released, it is possible to use a USB data cable on any UPS and communicate with Windows control software.  

ESXi 4.1 has the ability to make a USB connection from the server hardware, directly through to a virtual machine hosted on the same server.

This allows UPS monitoring software to run on a windows virtual machine on the server and talk to the UPS on the ESXi server USB hardware.

You will need to make sure the USB adapter is attached to only the power controller guest OS, to minimise other guest OS conflicts. 

The management and attachment of the USB hardware is done in the virtual machine hardware configuration screen.

When adding USB hardware to the hardware of the virtual machine, a new option is now available for direct USB hardware access.


Enabling the SSH Service for Root Access

The next step is to enable the SSH service on the ESXi server, so a root remote console is present via SSH.

You will need physical access to the ESXi server, so you can login to its console as the root user.

Edit the configuration file for SSH with the following command:

nano /etc/ssh/sshd_config

Find the line that starts with PermitRootLogin and change the "no" to "yes".
 
Restart the sshd service with the command:

service sshd restart

The SSH service will now accept root logins to the console for running scripts. 



Windows Guest Script File  

On the Windows virtual machine running the Powerchute software, a small .bat file needs to be created, pointing to a free SSH client called Putty.

You can download Putty from their website. http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/ 

After getting Putty and setting up the .bat script, log into the same directory on the Windows guest. 

You will be able to point your UPS control software directly to the shut-down script on the local host.

Windows .bat file:
-------------------------------------------------

putty "server-address" -l root -pw "password" -m Unix_Commands

-------------------------------------------------


Unix_Commands file:
-------------------------------------------------

poweroff

exit

-------------------------------------------------


Final Notes

This new feature for USB connections in ESXi 4.1 makes it very easy to implement UPS systems into the VMware environment. I have only tried this with Windows 2008, running APC Powerchute software and uninterruptible power supply with USB control. But I believe any configuration of Windows and power control software should work.

New Section in Scribd and the Natural Revolution

A new section in Scribd.com has been added to the Burning the Midnight profile.

Two articles have been uploaded to the Technology and Business collection for the new section.

• Technology, Natural Capital and and the Natural Revolution Slides  
• Innovation of Technology in Business Slides

 
Here is an embedded slide-show on Natural Capitalism and Revolution from the Burning the Midnight Scribd profile.





Watch the profile http://www.scribd.com/burningthemidnight for recent publications from Burning the Midnight, and further insights and information on technology, business, economy, security and environmental topics.

VMware Server 2 - Part 4 - High Availability Services

High availability is a general requirement, rather than a extra feature, in today's server environments. Especially as organisations and people have become more reliant on IT systems for everyday tasks. A simple way to build redundancy into VMware Server 2 software is by using the Linux High Availability software on a Linux CentOS installation.

This example configuration works well for systems that are server-only devices, e.g. web servers, FTP servers or internet mail systems.

Desktop virtual machines are not recommended for this set-up, because information can be lost when the Linux HA starts new instances of all the virtual machines.


Two Things Required

For this project, there are two requirements for constructing a small cluster of VMware Servers.

• Redundant Datastore
• Redundant Server Hardware

In this example, the redundant datastore will be using FreeNAS, with Linux HA offering the redundant VMware Server services.


Linux High Availability

The Linux HA software maintains a set of building blocks for high availability cluster systems, including a cluster messaging layer, a huge number of resource agents for a variety of applications, and a plumbing library and error reporting toolkit.

For this example installation of Linux HA, the heartbeat will be using the IPfail service, which will be the main focus for the VMware Server redundancy.

The Pacemaker functionality will not be used for this example, but can be used in larger server farms for cluster management.


Setting up the Linux HA on CentOS

An IP network, using a crossover Ethernet cable on eth3, has been set up on both the CentOS VM servers, which is used to send heartbeat information to and from the Linux HA services.

It is important that your host file contains the correct host names of the servers, as required by Linux HA.

I.e., for this example Server1 and Server2 need to be in the host file.

more /etc/hosts

127.0.0.1                  localhost

192.168.0.100          Server1.test.com.au server1

Below are the example configuration files for the Linux HA on each of the VM server.

(CentOS Server 1)
/etc/ha.d/ha.conf file
-------------------------------------------------------------------
logfile /var/log/ha-log
watchdog /dev/watchdog
bcast eth3
keepalive 2
warntime   10
deadtime  30
initdead  60
auto_failback on
node Server1
node Server2
udpport  694
respawn root /usr/lib/heartbeat/ipfail
ping 192.168.0.1
--------------------------------------------------------

/etc/ha.d/haresources file
--------------------------------------------------------
Server1 192.168.0.100/24/eth0 vmware::start
--------------------------------------------------------

/etc/ha.d/authkeys file

--------------------------------------------------------
auth 1
1 crc
--------------------------------------------------------

(CentOS Server 2)
/etc/ha.d/ha.conf
--------------------------------------------------------
logfile /var/log/ha-log
watchdog /dev/watchdog
bcast eth3
keepalive 2
warntime   10
deadtime  30
initdead  60
auto_failback on
node Server1
node Server2
udpport  694
respawn root /usr/lib/heartbeat/ipfail
ping 192.168.0.1
--------------------------------------------------------

/etc/ha.d/haresources file
--------------------------------------------------------
Server1 192.168.0.100/24/eth0 vmware::start
--------------------------------------------------------


/etc/ha.d/authkeys file
--------------------------------------------------------
auth 1
1 crc
--------------------------------------------------------



The Network Attached Storage Setup

The network attached storage being used for the VMware is the open source FreeNAS distribution. FreeNAS is a free network-attached storage server, supporting: CIFS (Samba), FTP, NFS, rsync, AFP protocols, iSCSI, S.M.A.R.T., local user authentication, and software RAID (0,1,5), with a web-based configuration interface.

In this example, the two VMware Servers are connected on a separate IP network on eth1. The gig-E switching network is then connected to the FreeNAS server where the vmdk files and datastores will reside.

CIFS or NFS mounts will have to be setup on the NAS before installing any virtual machines, so that the VMware Servers can mount the FreeNAS server, giving a redundant storage of the VM's vmdk files.

Example of mounting the NAS from CentOS:

mkdir /vmware

mount -t cifs  //FreeNAS_IP_Address/vmware /vmware -o user=admin,pass=abcde

Make sure that the /etc/fstab file is updated with the mounting information, so that the NAS mounts will reconnect in the VM Servers on reboot.

192.168.10.10:/vmware /vmware cifs defaults 0 0


Overall Setup of the System 

The overall setup uses two separate switched networks for reliability to the NAS and Internet - one network for the redundant NAS services to the VM Server for the VM's vmdk files, and the other network for data access to the Internet and other LAN services.

The two VM Servers are connected by a crossover Ethernet cable to run the heartbeat service.

The heartbeat service controls the VM Server redundancy.

This setup (or close variations) allows for a reliable setup for high availability VM Servers, without investing in an expensive SAN and only using the free VMware Server 2 software.


There is more to come in "VMware Server 2 - parts 5 and 6". 

I talk about monitoring the server, and changing system resources, among other things VM technical.

Stay tuned...

Solar Grid Inverter Monitoring System - Part 1

Solar based power has become an important part of modern strategy for some organisations as they move from carbon based fuel dependence to renewable energy. One of my current projects is looking at a solar power applications for a school that is working towards establishing a carbon neutral power system.

The solar panel array that is currently installed on the school's roof has enough panel area to produce up to 5 kilowatts of electrical power on a sunny day.


Fronius Grid Inverters
 

Three Fronius Grid Inverters

Three Fronius IG 30 grid inverters can feed up to 7.5 kilowatts of power back into the grid, or to the school's AC electrical systems. These high power inverters form the centre of the photovoltaic system, as AC power and access back to the power grid is essential at the school.

Grid inverters are essential for a power system to have mains AC power and photovoltaic power, enabling seamless use of both power sources as a single power source.


The goal of this project is to network the Fronius inverters into a PC system running MS Windows, so that information about the power grid and photovoltaic solar array can be collected for educational and organisational use.



Cabling the Grid Inverters for Computer Monitoring

Inverter, fuse box and Cat5 plate

Blue cables are the serial bus

The three Fronius grid inverters have been mounted on the wall in a way that makes it easy to network the units together.

The three inverter units all have special Com cards, so they can be networked together in a bus type network.

At each end of the Cat5 bus network, special terminator plugs are used to close circuit on the network.

Grid Inverter Bus Network and PC Serial Connection

The last unit has a special data logger card that gives the Fronius grid inverters a data IO port for a computer via RS232.

The data logger card has a DB9 connector, which has been then converted to Cat5 for easy of use in the networking cabinet. 

RJ45 connector in the rack to the Data Logger

The cable run from the DB9 connector on the inverter can be up to 20 metres in length. But for longer lengths of cable, RS232 extenders maybe required. For this example, the Cat5 serial cable is terminated into the network rack in another building.

The Windows PC is connected to the terminated rack connection, which connects back to the Fronius grid inverters with which the Windows PC will be communicating.



For part 2 of this project, I install and setup the Fronius IG access software on the Windows PC.

I will also be explaining the features and advantages that computerised power monitoring can have for an organisation.

Stay tuned.

Technology, Natural Capital and The Natural Revolution

Technology and business have always coexisted in history, with new industries and business concepts connecting with technology and offering beneficial outcomes and new markets. Examples of this in today's business world include the development of the Internet Web 2.0, mass production and international airline carriers. Today, another new market is emerging around the world, called natural capital. It is beginning to pervade the investing landscape with serious talk of climate change business opportunities and ecological responsibilities.

What is Natural Capital?

In economics, capital and capital goods are factors of production used to create goods or services that are not themselves significantly consumed (though they may depreciate) in the production process.

Natural capital is the extension of the economic notion of capital to goods and services relating to the natural environment.

Natural capital is the stock of natural ecosystems that yields a flow of valuable goods or services into the future.


The main resources of the natural capital market in the 21st century are:

• Energy (electricity, fuel)
• Water (clean, grey, waste)
• Waste (sewage, carbon, uranium)
• Recycleable Non Durable Consumption (Paper, ink, light bulbs) 
• Recycleable Durable Consumption (maintenance, repairs)
• Recycleable Human Consumption (packing, food, products)

The combination of technology and natural capital provides the ground work for a new type of economic revolution that will surpass the industrial revolution. Technology is the state of the art of the whole field of practical know-how and tool use. It therefore encompasses all that can be said about arts, crafts, professions, applied sciences, and skills. The natural revolution is coming because the world's industrial technologies are beginning to become unprofitable or inefficient, due to constaints on resources and markets that are caused by environmental and social issues.

The next part looks at the key concepts in the natural revolution and definitions of the ideology.

It compares the ideas of the last 200 years of the industrial revolution to the demands of the evolving natural revolution of the 21st century.

 
Industrial Revolution - the revolution the world needed

The Industrial Revolution was a period in the 18th and 19th centuries when major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, and transport had a profound effect on the socio-economic and cultural conditions of the world.

The onset of the Industrial Revolution marked a major turning point in human history; almost every aspect of daily life was eventually influenced in some way.

Main points of the Industrial Revolution: Increased worker productivity output by 100 fold. Created conditions for a consumerist society. Natural resources were plentiful. (Natural capital) Productivity was measured in part by how many boats you had for fishing; or how many chainsaws you owned for forestry. Human resource capital became a less important part of profits. (e.g. the end of slavery) Technology was a significant factor in the industrial revolution.

Natural Revolution - the revolution the world needs now

The Natural Revolution refers to a hypothetical series of research, development, and technology transfer initiatives, to improve the industrialised or technology driven natural capital production of the world.

The initiatives involved in the development of the Natural Revolution include carbon reduction, waste recycling , and efficient farming practices, to name a few.

Main points of the Natural Revolution: 

• Natural resource productivity will increase by a 100 fold.
• A continuation of a consumerist ideas.
• Natural resources not limitless. (Natural Capital)
• Productivity is now measured by how many fish you have in the sea, not how many boats, and how many trees are in a forest, not how many chainsaws you have.
• Natural capital use must become more efficient (e.g. oil, fresh water, and soil).
• Technology will be a large influence in the natural revolution.

What does this mean for Individuals and Organisations?

For individuals and organisations to adjust to the changing environmental and public concerns, there will be legal requirements and operational efficiency improvements.

Natural Capitalism and technology innovation offers a logical way for people and organisation to reorganise and adapt to these new economic and social changes in our modern society.

A good example of an emerging Natural Capitalist economy and country is the Maldives, where President Mohamed Nasheed is championing climate change awareness, carbon trading and environmental harm minimisation. 

With regard to the threat posed to the very low-lying islands by changes in sea level caused by global warming, in March 2009, President Nasheed pledged to set an example by making the Maldives carbon-neutral within a decade by moving to wind and solar power.

He argued that the cost of the change would be no higher than what the Maldives already spends on energy.

As part of a wider campaign by international environmental NGO 350.org's campaign publicising the threats from climate change and its effects on the Maldives, Nasheed presided over the world’s first underwater cabinet meeting on 17 October 2009, off the island of Girifushi with his ministers meeting underwater in scuba diving gear.

The end result of applying innovative technology and natural capitalism to the world will be the start of the Natural Revolution. The Maldives and other smart countries are moving ahead of the environmental curve and applying natural capital ideas to develop their countries.

Saving on natural capital is good for your organisations' mid and long-term bottom lines. The sooner your organisation starts thinking about natural capital, the less painful it will be in the future. This will be eventually mandated by governments. (carbon trading, environmental laws etc.) Natural capital will become increasing expensive in the future, due to scarcity, environmental impacts and increased population. Technology will play a large influence in the natural revolution.

Individuals, business and organisations have to change the way they operate and by increasing their efficiency with the natural capitalism ideology.

Combining technology and natural capitalism is the best way to accomplish this for a green planet and to kick start the global natural revolution.

Technical References Collection now Avaliable on Scribd

Burning the Midnight has added a new section to its Scribd profile, called Technical References. It contains many useful documents and wall sheets for wireless, electronics and network technologies. Handy to have hanging in the laboratory or workshop for a quick reference: http://www.scribd.com/burningthemidnight

Publications include:

• Motorola Canopy Reset Default Plug
• Radio Transmitter Power dBm to Watt Conversion Table
• IP Subnet Reference Sheet
• JEDEC Coding System Table for Diodes and Transistors
• Serial Console Cable Howto and Wiring Diagram
• Ami Bios Beep Codes Reference
• Optical Fibre Connector Reference Sheet
• Electronic Formulas
• Resistor Colour Value Howto and Code Sheet
• Ceramic and Mylar Capacitor Value Howto and Code Sheet

Check them out at http://www.scribd.com/burningthemidnight in the Technical References section of the Burning the Midnight profile. Also, the Technical Reviews section on Scribd has a lot of information on wireless, networking and security hardware systems. Well worth a look.

VMware Server 2 - Part 3 - Mounting an ISO image on a Datastore

Mounting ISO images onto your virtual machine can be very handy for installation and management. It removes the need for a physical CD/DVD drive to run the installation CD, upgrades and resource packages for the virtual machine.

Using ISOs for Installing Guest Operating Systems

A handy way to make it easier to install a guest operating system, is to use ISO images from the datastore as virtual CD/DVD drives.

In this example, the Slackware Linux 13.1 DVD ISO image will be downloaded to the ISO datastore and used for the guest installation.

cd /vmware/iso/   (Pre-mounted datastore directory)

wget http://www.slackwaremirror.com/slackware-13.1-install-dvd.iso


Then the rest is done from the VM Server 2 web console.

To install from an ISO image instead of a physcial CD/DVD drive, there is only a slight difference between the standard guest installation covered in part-1 and installing from an ISO image. (For larger views of the pictures, just click the image.)


In the virtual machine installation wizard, the part the concerns the ISO images is the "CD/DVD Drive" options.

In this screen, selecting the option "Use an ISO Image" will allow the user to have a virtual drive instead.

On the next wizard screen, the browse selector allows the adding of the ISO image on the server datastore.



Click  browse and the datastore selection window appears.

Browse to the ISO datastore and select the slackware-13.1-install-dvd.iso image to use as the virtual drive.

After hitting OK, the original CD/DVD properties screen appears with the correct path to the ISO image. 

Follow the rest of the wizard as if you were installing a standard virtual machine on the server.

Once the wizard is finished, starting the guest OS from the console will start the installation of the OS from the bootable Slackware Linux ISO image.

Install as per normal. 


Changing the Virtual CD/DVD Drive ISO Image

After installing a guest operating system, you may want to mount another ISO image for upgrades of operating systems or installing other applications.

To change the ISO image, go to the console and stop the virtual machine.

Under the summary section of the virtual machine's console tabs, in the hardware panel, select the "Edit" option under the CD/DVD Drive subsection to bring up the CD/DVD drive options window.

In this window, the user can select the connection as a ISO image in the radio buttons. Click browse to select the ISO image from the server datastore. Once the image is selected, click OK and re-power the virtual machine to have access to the new CD/DVD image. Now the user is ready to run the application install CD/DVD or operating system upgrade disc.

Mounting ISO images as virtual CD/DVD drives is very handy, and means you don't have to maintain a store of discs. But wait, there is more to come in "VWware Server 2 - parts 4 and 5" of the blog. I talk about monitoring the server, changing system resources and clustering the VMware server, among other things VM technical. Stay tuned...

Building an Industrial Robot - Part 1 - The Robot Brain and Body

Here's my project to make a universal platform for industrial robot experiments.

The requirements are to develop and construct an industrial grade tracked robot for under US$2000.

The robot has to be able to work in harsh environments, be net-workable and operate for long periods before recharging.


A series of blogs will follow the progress of the tracked robot project, and this part is focused on the base construction and layout of the robot's computer.


The Robot's Main Body

Before you mount a computer brains for a robot, you need a body to mount it, so I created a quick, cheap and strong assembly method.

Side of the robot without the hatch

Top of the robot without the hatch

The main body is made of poly carbonate panels with aluminium framing for lightness and strength.

The panels are glued to the aluminium frame with silicon, the same way you would build a fishtank.

This makes construction of a robot body easy, without too much drilling and reducing the number of bolts or rivets that might come lose during the robot's operation.

Also, construction makes the robot's main body water-proof, in case it has to operate in low level water.

The main body has been sprayed with a grey primer and matt black finishing paint to protect the polycarbonate body and increase water-proofing.

It also gives stealth or a black ops look to the robot.

Side view with the hatch on

Top view with the hatch on

With the top hatch and soft mounts on, the main body is sealed for protection of the robot's computer systems.

The GPS is mounted on the top, next to the 2.4 GHz omnidirectional antenna.

The pole mount at the other end of the main body is for the web cam.

In the centre, the main hatch opens to access the computer system for system reprogramming, battery maintenance and internal repairs.


The Robot's Computer

The main brain of the robot will be driven by a Mini-ITX system running Linux. The Mini-ITX system will be using a SSD to boot  and run, which removes the requirement for a hard drive that might be damaged when the robot is in motion. The idea behind the Mini-ITX is to reduce complexity from hardware into software tasks, and making the programming and design of the robot's brains much easier.

The main part of the robot lies in the PIC Micro-controller connected to the Mini-ITX by a RS232  connection.

This controller has 20 inputs and outputs for driving motors and reading sensors.

The PIC Micro-controller allows the software on the Mini-ITX to interface with the robot's outside world.

The 802.11g Linksys bridge is set to connect to the local access point for remote access to the robot via IP, either for the information of a remote user or for the robot to download new information and instructions. The network security is done by WAP encryption on the layer 2 as well as 256 AES VPNs from the Linux OS.

The Webcam and GPS are plugged straight into the Mini-ITX via USB cables.

This supplies the robot's computer with GPS positioning and a digital eye for navigation.

Computer Layout Components: Mini-ITX computer 802.11g Ethernet Bridge USB GPS USB Webcam 2.4 GHz Antenna Pic Micro-controller Board USB, RS232, Cat5 and Coax cabling

The Robot Computer Layout

The above diagram show the logic layout of the connections and hardware used for the computer controller.

The Mini-ITX connections use Cat5 to the 802.11 bridge, RS232 to the PIC Micro-controller and USB to the web cam and the GPS.

The 802.11 bridge is also connected to an antenna with shielded coaxial cable.

The choice of operating system for this robot project is Gentoo Linux. I have found this Linux distribution ideal for embedded and custom designed systems. It is very easy to make live images and small OS footprints with Gentoo Linux. I have tested Gentoo Linux on Mini-ITX systems before without any issues.

More to come in the next parts of this project, as we examine the power system, track design, motor systems and software applications required.

Burning the Midnight now on Twitter and Google Friend Connect

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This site now updates twitter to send you twits anywhere you go. Follow Burning the Midnight on twitter at  http://twitter.com/burnthemidnight

Subscribe to get the latest blog updates on your mobile phone or wireless computer. Why? Just because you can...

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Maldives Future in Space

The Maldives could have a future in space with the right people leading the way. Giving the Maldives a profitable industry, bring technology to the atolls and educating people in a growing industry. The Maldives location and climate are favorable for launch operations. The atolls are strong enough for launches and a sea-ward launch is very simple, as the Maldives is a good distance from any large land masses.

Some Reasons Why the Maldives would be a good place for a Space Centre.

1) Launch Location:

The Maldives is located in the middle of the Indian Ocean straddling the equator - a perfect launch position. There are several advantages of a Maldives based, equatorial launch over most other countries land-based launch facilities:

• The rotational speed of the Earth is greatest at the equator, providing a minor extra launch "boost".

• The need for a "plane change" to the zero degree inclination of geostationary orbit is eliminated, providing a major extra launch "boost". The same rocket launched from Cape Canaveral at 28.5 degrees north latitude would lift 15%–20% less mass to geostationary orbit.

•  Any orbital inclination could be reached, thus (for example) combining in one launch site the attainable inclinations of both Cape Canaveral and Vandenberg.

2) Maldives Climate: The Maldives average rainfall is on par with other major launch sites with only 2,500 (100 in) of annual rainfall. India's launch site at Sriharikota Island annual rainfall averages about 2,500 mm (100 in) and NASA's  Florida site averages about 2,159mm (85 in) per year.

3) Security and Safety:

Remote atoll groups, surrounded by large seas, allow for excellent launch site security and safety.

• An ocean-ward launch reduces risks related to launching over populated areas, providing better safety to third parties.

• Absence of range conflicts with other launch systems and a near total absence of ship or overhead air traffic that would constrain launch.

• Maldives has friendly governmental relationships with India. USA, Russia, China and Europe. All the major space players.

It would be nice to see a space centre and launch facility in the Maldives in the next 5-10 years.  I am sure the Indian and USA space programs would be interested in investing in the Maldives on space projects. With the right direction and focused work, maybe the next place for Maldivans is in the stars themselves.