Raspberry shake seismometer

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nellyt

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#217845 14-Jul-2017 20:14

These are a successful Kickstarter project from about a year ago.
There currently about 15 in NZ
http://raspberryshake.net/stationview/

They have just launched another kickstarter for an upgraded version
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1158786437/raspberry-shake-4d-detect-earthquakes-and-invisibl/description

Would be nice to see a few more scattered round the country.

msukiwi

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#1822683 14-Jul-2017 21:03

Nice, but tooooooo expensive for me.

I have been part of the Quake Catcher Network for about 7 years.

(BOINC project that requires a USB sensor - mine is anchored to the house foundation, computer runs 24/7)

Unfortunately the "project" is effectively dead now. USA University funding has run out and no-one working on it now.

At times the server goes offline etc for days.

Down from hundreds of sensors in Christchurch at it's peak to about 5 now!

They were great at fast locating our quakes long before GeoNet rapid existed with very good accuracy to where GeoNet eventually located them at.

Shame really.

blakamin

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#1822688 14-Jul-2017 21:16

$200 for a PiHat??? No thanks..

neb

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#1823006 15-Jul-2017 19:22

blakamin:
$200 for a PiHat??? No thanks..

A lot of the cost is the geophone. The whole setup is also a helluva lot less expensive than any other equivalent system.

jpoc

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#1823718 17-Jul-2017 12:01

Isn't there a free app for this?

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-38349755

Even our very own EQC are aware.

https://www.eqc.govt.nz/news/smartphone-can-alert-users-to-earthquakes

neb

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#1823763 17-Jul-2017 13:38

jpoc:
Isn't there a free app for this?

That's a very different thing, we're talking about local sensors, not a report of what someone else is reading somewhere else.

jpoc

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#1823825 17-Jul-2017 15:00

neb:
jpoc:

Isn't there a free app for this?

That's a very different thing, we're talking about local sensors, not a report of what someone else is reading somewhere else.

If you think that it is different then, I am sorry but you do not understand what the app is.

It uses the accelerometer in a smart phone to detect earthquakes. The reporting of what others are seeing just means that all of the phones running the app are reporting back to a server which then publishes the information. It is a local sensor, it is the sensor set in your phone.

neb

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#1823835 17-Jul-2017 15:12

jpoc:
It uses the accelerometer in a smart phone to detect earthquakes.

That's a cheap MEMs, in a device that's constantly being jostled around as part of its everyday use. It's something that you can force into use as a kludge to try and detect quakes when there's nothing better available, not an actual seismic sensor. An analogy for a geophone-based sensor on a seismic pier is that it can detect a single sheet of paper being slid under the corner of a larger (hypothetical) piece of paper the size of a football field. A MEMs in a cellphone being carried in your pocket may not even be able to detect an earthquake at ground zero. It might, or it might not. It's better than nothing at all, but not a proper seismic sensor.

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Coil

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#1823867 17-Jul-2017 15:34

Wow i want one, Wow its to expensive, Onto the next kickstarter that ill wait 5 years for then never see my money again.

frankv

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#1823905 17-Jul-2017 16:29

neb: A MEMs in a cellphone being carried in your pocket may not even be able to detect an earthquake at ground zero. It might, or it might not. It's better than nothing at all, but not a proper seismic sensor.

I think the idea is that it ignores motion until it has lain still for a while.

Whilst it may not be an "proper" seismic sensor, at 99.999% of locations around the country the alternative *is* nothing at all.

jpoc

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#1823965 17-Jul-2017 18:09

neb:
jpoc:

It uses the accelerometer in a smart phone to detect earthquakes.

That's a cheap MEMs, in a device that's constantly being jostled around as part of its everyday use. It's something that you can force into use as a kludge to try and detect quakes when there's nothing better available, not an actual seismic sensor. An analogy for a geophone-based sensor on a seismic pier is that it can detect a single sheet of paper being slid under the corner of a larger (hypothetical) piece of paper the size of a football field. A MEMs in a cellphone being carried in your pocket may not even be able to detect an earthquake at ground zero. It might, or it might not. It's better than nothing at all, but not a proper seismic sensor.

If you would take the time to read the description, you would see that the app developers manage to discriminate fairly well between movement caused by other factors and movements caused by earthquakes.

The folks in California who are responsible for earthquake monitoring reckon that they get good data from quakes that are as small as 2.5. The info is very useful to them as they have way more data coming in from a quake than they would have from a much smaller number of sensors.

Shimmer

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#1824059 17-Jul-2017 21:02

I've got a couple of the original devices, one installed at my place with the geophone buried outside and one at my folks place. They live a few km's away from a quarry so they've been using to also track when they are blasting. They are quite sensitive so it needs to be placed to avoid noise from walking/doors slamming.

Re Kickstarter and losing you money, for this one I'd say you'd be pretty safe, they are well past start up phase.