Japan Geoscience Union Meeting 2014

Presentation information

Oral

Symbol G (General [Education and Outreach]) » General [Education and Outreach]

[G-04_29AM2] Geoscience education for 10th-12th graders

Tue. Apr 29, 2014 11:00 AM - 12:45 PM 423 (4F)

Convener:*Masatsune Hatakeyama(Seiko Gakuin High School), Chair:Masatsune Hatakeyama(Seiko Gakuin High School)

12:21 PM - 12:30 PM

[G04-P02_PG] A reconstruction of "Film Case Seismometer" employing "Arduino" and "Processing"

3-min talk in an oral session

*Yoshio OKAMOTO1 (1.Osaka Kyoiku University)

Keywords:seismograph, Arduino, Processing, education, USB

We reconstruct so called "Film Case Seismometer (Okamoto,1999)" for class room use. The legacy system had developed about two decades ago and was a full seismograph involving a moving magnet sensor and a PC recording system as a simplified mimic of a modern digitalized seismograph and a logger system. While the sensor was simplified and easy constructed enough, however the recording system was somewhat complicated and employ a specific program language on the limited PC. Therefore, the system was not so far contributed and/or demonstrated at mid-school's class rooms. In this regard, now we try to fully model-change the old system to an innovative style using "Arduino" (one chip micro-computer including both I/O and A/D converter devices) and "Processing" (Java based language for easy programing). The main aspects are as follows, 1) The sensor consists a rounded coil on a acrylic pipe and a strong Neodymium bar magnet hanging with a series rubber band from a main pillar hook. The Neodymium magnet can supply a sufficient signal and an appropriate damping by induced current with a surrounded metal pipe.2) The recording system and software are improved more simplified and can applicable on any PC or even tablet.3) The micro-tip used for I/O and A/D converting is "Arduino Uno" (Italian made and a cheap cost, 30 USD), which is easily controlled by a simple software written in Processing language and exchanges signals via USB port.4) Processing language is used for A/D driving and logging, which is running on any operation system such as Windows, Mac, Linux and even Android.5) The additional hardware for natural earthquake observation is a circuit employing OP amps for signal boost, which is divert from our legacy system.6) All system is constructed in a transparent acrylic box for recognizing mechanism at a glance.7) The wave signal is displayed on PC or tablet at real time with second time-marks and also save to PC as a graphic mode or digital mode at each moment.8) The logging and displaying capacity can be extended to three channels easily.