College - Author 1
College of Engineering
Department - Author 1
Electrical Engineering Department
Degree Name - Author 1
BS in Electrical Engineering
College - Author 2
College of Engineering
Department - Author 2
Electrical Engineering Department
Degree - Author 2
BS in Electrical Engineering
Date
8-2025
Primary Advisor
Clay McKell, College of Engineering, Electrical Engineering Department
Additional Advisors
Dennis Derickson, College of Engineering, Electrical Engineering Department Steve Dunton, College of Engineering, Electrical Engineering Department
Abstract/Summary
The Solar Duck Sensor Node transforms a standard DuckLink into a fully self-sustaining environmental monitor. A compact solar panel / power bank module plugs into the power ports of both the DuckLink and the Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W, keeping them charged through day-night cycles. The Pi Zero 2 W will perform local processing of sensor data. Sensor output will come from the Raspberry Pi AI Camera and its object detection capabilities. This output will be distilled into metadata and advertised over BLE. The DuckLink captures these packets, encapsulates them into LoRa payloads, and forwards them across the ClusterDuck mesh to an internet-connected PapaDuck gateway, where the OWL DMS takes in the data for real-time visualization. The Raspberry Pi / DuckLink sensor system will fit inside a weather-resistant enclosure that is pole-mounted and will weigh less than 5 pounds. Daily energy consumption from this system is expected to be around 86.76 Wh. Expected run time in absence of solar generation is 12 hours. The solar panel will be supported by a mounting bracket that can be attached to either the gimbal of a tripod or a pole. This will enable continuous operation in remote or disaster-prone sites with zero external power or network infrastructure.
URL: https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/eesp/699