In Scientific Visualization, we will soon be using a tool called the TI SensorTag. Prior to using it, we have been assigned to do research on the tool, and on sensors in general, as well as how they can be used in school, and in the real world.
A sensor is any device that detects or monitors something. There is a wide variety of sensors from microphones to sensors that measure depth in water. This data can be taken from the device, and then analyzed. The TI SensorTag we are using contains ten different sensors, allowing the tag to measure light, sound, humidity, pressure, object temperature, ambient temperature, magnetic forces, movement, and speed. The data is then sent to a paired phone or similar device, where it can be recorded. An example of sensors being used in the real world is with cars. Automobiles have speedometers to let you know what speed you are traveling at in order to stay within safety limits, and newer vehicles have other safety sensors such as cameras or motion sensors to check whether or not there are other vehicles nearby. When making, or fixing cars, sensors can also be used. How noisy a car is may be considered while it is in the design stages, and things such as tire pressure may be measured on a regular basis. Sensors can also be useful in the health world. Certain germs and enzymes function better in certain environments. For instance, if the enzyme catalase, found in the liver, is cooked at a certain temperature, it will no longer break down hydrogen peroxide. While knowing this specifically may not be the most useful information, if professionals study which environments germs can and can't live in, we can have better knowledge of how to sterilize medical tools and surfaces. Another example is measuring environmental factors. Scientists can record the chemical makeup of bodies of water to make sure that the levels of dissolved oxygen are balanced, and that the pH isn’t too high or low. By tracking different chemicals, they can also assess what nutrients are more crucial to different organisms of that ecosystem. This is useful for us to learn about how to protect the environment by not putting too much of certain chemicals into the water. At school, we can use the TI SensorTag in order to collect data and learn how to analyze and organize it, as we will be doing in Sci Vis. However, it could also be a useful asset for biology, as everyone could create a miniature ecosystem (or a terrarium), put the sensor inside, and collect data from the model. Then, through comparing the data, a class could learn what factors make one ecosystem more successful than another. They could also collect data outside, and compare it to data in other climates that they could find through research. Though it may be too much work, it could be useful in math class as well, allowing for the collection of real life data. The sensor is a nice tool because students are more likely to be engaged with their work when they have collected the data themselves, rather than just seeing random numbers on a page. Most of the data that you would collect from the TI SensorTag would best be displayed on a line graph, as it would show the change of different factors overtime. Ambient temperature, humidity, pressure, and light would all be best measured on line graphs because you could easily compare the trends of each factor, even in multiple environments at once. Movement and speed would be best shown on line graphs as well, as you would want to track how speed changes overtime, as well as when movement was greater. However, object temperature, as well as magnetic force, would best be displayed on a bar graph, because you could compare the temperatures and forces of different objects or areas. While there may be some change in these factors, it is more likely that the trend of these variables won’t be very important, and it would be more useful to compare an initial reading from one area or object. This is not always the case though, since sometimes you do want to see the trend of this data, such as how the ground temperature changes throughout the day. Then the data would also be best displayed on a line graph. Measuring environmental data can provide students a more thorough understanding of how different factors affect us and other organisms. On a more basic level, we could see how the environment often changes throughout the day, and we could compare the climate of the local area to other climates. It will also teach us how to interpret raw data, how to organize it in a way that is more readable, and how to make conclusions based off of the information put in front of us. As mentioned above, being able to use a sensor to collect data ourselves will likely be more interesting that having the computer spit a jumble of random numbers out at us for us to interpret. So, overall, the scanner could make us more knowledgeable about the environment, more engaged in our work, and better at deciphering and organizing data.
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AuthorHi, I'm Abi, a DSA student who likes games, drawing, writing, and acting. Archives
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