1 00:00:06,320 --> 00:00:11,499 [Music] 2 00:00:16,320 --> 00:00:19,760 welcome back to the open hardware 3 00:00:18,080 --> 00:00:22,080 minicon so next up we have a 4 00:00:19,760 --> 00:00:26,080 presentation about open hardware weather 5 00:00:22,080 --> 00:00:27,920 radar and our speaker is tisham who you 6 00:00:26,080 --> 00:00:29,359 may have seen previously at an open 7 00:00:27,920 --> 00:00:31,599 hardware mini conf he did a very 8 00:00:29,359 --> 00:00:32,399 interesting talk about energy monitoring 9 00:00:31,599 --> 00:00:33,920 and 10 00:00:32,399 --> 00:00:36,239 if my memory is correct tish you were 11 00:00:33,920 --> 00:00:37,280 using fpgas for that project i think is 12 00:00:36,239 --> 00:00:39,520 that correct 13 00:00:37,280 --> 00:00:41,760 i got to a stage where i was like 14 00:00:39,520 --> 00:00:43,840 experimenting with them yeah this has a 15 00:00:41,760 --> 00:00:45,680 fair bit of fpgas in it as well 16 00:00:43,840 --> 00:00:47,280 okay great so 17 00:00:45,680 --> 00:00:49,360 following on from questions after that 18 00:00:47,280 --> 00:00:51,520 last session about what are applications 19 00:00:49,360 --> 00:00:53,840 for fpgas perhaps 20 00:00:51,520 --> 00:00:55,920 this is an example i'm very interested 21 00:00:53,840 --> 00:00:56,960 to see this presentation so tish take it 22 00:00:55,920 --> 00:00:59,840 away 23 00:00:56,960 --> 00:01:03,039 thank you thank you um yeah so my slides 24 00:00:59,840 --> 00:01:05,040 are up uh so i uh 25 00:01:03,039 --> 00:01:07,840 i'm tisham i 26 00:01:05,040 --> 00:01:10,000 build things for fun and this is one of 27 00:01:07,840 --> 00:01:11,280 the things i built and 28 00:01:10,000 --> 00:01:13,360 i'll start 29 00:01:11,280 --> 00:01:15,360 before i introduce myself i will start 30 00:01:13,360 --> 00:01:17,119 with an acknowledgement to the country 31 00:01:15,360 --> 00:01:19,600 i'm presenting today from the land of 32 00:01:17,119 --> 00:01:21,600 the ghana people of the adelaide plains 33 00:01:19,600 --> 00:01:25,119 and i acknowledge their 34 00:01:21,600 --> 00:01:27,920 people the past present and current 35 00:01:25,119 --> 00:01:29,920 and the connection to the land and water 36 00:01:27,920 --> 00:01:32,159 is very crucial to life 37 00:01:29,920 --> 00:01:36,079 and this presentation even though it's 38 00:01:32,159 --> 00:01:38,320 about hardware it's really about water 39 00:01:36,079 --> 00:01:41,439 and we'll see a lot of that going 40 00:01:38,320 --> 00:01:43,439 through and yeah enjoy 41 00:01:41,439 --> 00:01:45,520 so i started 42 00:01:43,439 --> 00:01:47,200 building this project 43 00:01:45,520 --> 00:01:49,759 many years ago there's a little bit of a 44 00:01:47,200 --> 00:01:51,600 timeline here but uh slowly been 45 00:01:49,759 --> 00:01:54,320 chipping away at it and 46 00:01:51,600 --> 00:01:56,479 i'm at a stage where i need help and 47 00:01:54,320 --> 00:01:59,280 this is in addition to what you have 48 00:01:56,479 --> 00:02:01,759 done and learned it's also about getting 49 00:01:59,280 --> 00:02:03,600 this out to the community and getting 50 00:02:01,759 --> 00:02:06,560 interest in hardware 51 00:02:03,600 --> 00:02:07,439 in rf frequencies 52 00:02:06,560 --> 00:02:11,360 bigger 53 00:02:07,439 --> 00:02:13,520 and looking at water that's right 54 00:02:11,360 --> 00:02:17,360 so there's a bit of a flow of the ideas 55 00:02:13,520 --> 00:02:18,800 i my mind works in a very random 56 00:02:17,360 --> 00:02:20,640 branching fashion and i have to 57 00:02:18,800 --> 00:02:22,879 backtrack and linearize it our 58 00:02:20,640 --> 00:02:25,760 presentation by its very nature is very 59 00:02:22,879 --> 00:02:28,560 linear so i've tried to put down all of 60 00:02:25,760 --> 00:02:30,400 the different ideas that are 61 00:02:28,560 --> 00:02:31,360 going to be talked about in a linear 62 00:02:30,400 --> 00:02:33,680 fashion 63 00:02:31,360 --> 00:02:36,239 so i will talk a bit about the history 64 00:02:33,680 --> 00:02:38,480 of weather radars where they come from 65 00:02:36,239 --> 00:02:41,120 it's a bit of a superpower seeing things 66 00:02:38,480 --> 00:02:44,160 in radar uh we don't really have extra 67 00:02:41,120 --> 00:02:46,480 vision or super people these days but uh 68 00:02:44,160 --> 00:02:48,560 radar is the closest you can come to 69 00:02:46,480 --> 00:02:52,480 extravision seeing through walls and 70 00:02:48,560 --> 00:02:55,440 clouds into into the what's behind 71 00:02:52,480 --> 00:02:58,480 uh talk about a bit of ocean in the sky 72 00:02:55,440 --> 00:03:00,080 and how the radar interacts with the 73 00:02:58,480 --> 00:03:01,920 moisture 74 00:03:00,080 --> 00:03:04,319 some stuff about solid state radars and 75 00:03:01,920 --> 00:03:08,319 where things are at in the commercial 76 00:03:04,319 --> 00:03:11,120 industry in this arena a bit of project 77 00:03:08,319 --> 00:03:13,280 timeline of my and my partner gashini's 78 00:03:11,120 --> 00:03:15,280 work on this so i didn't do all this by 79 00:03:13,280 --> 00:03:18,400 myself i had a lot of help 80 00:03:15,280 --> 00:03:20,959 and all of the rest of it is around 81 00:03:18,400 --> 00:03:23,120 how iteratively you try to solve 82 00:03:20,959 --> 00:03:25,040 problems i was watching 83 00:03:23,120 --> 00:03:26,480 john's presentation on dealing with 84 00:03:25,040 --> 00:03:28,080 issues that you come about when you're 85 00:03:26,480 --> 00:03:30,000 trying to make hardware 86 00:03:28,080 --> 00:03:31,920 some of the issues when you're trying to 87 00:03:30,000 --> 00:03:33,680 get a new idea of the ground or even 88 00:03:31,920 --> 00:03:35,440 bigger their business issues and making 89 00:03:33,680 --> 00:03:36,959 people understand that this is actually 90 00:03:35,440 --> 00:03:40,080 worth doing 91 00:03:36,959 --> 00:03:41,440 uh and then there is a funding issues uh 92 00:03:40,080 --> 00:03:43,440 is what i'm referring to and a couple of 93 00:03:41,440 --> 00:03:45,360 technical issues around now casting and 94 00:03:43,440 --> 00:03:47,440 qpe which stands for quantitative 95 00:03:45,360 --> 00:03:49,440 precipitation estimation 96 00:03:47,440 --> 00:03:52,640 and then we get to 97 00:03:49,440 --> 00:03:55,599 the actual idea or the prototypes i have 98 00:03:52,640 --> 00:03:56,959 or been working on for uh phased array 99 00:03:55,599 --> 00:03:58,640 radars 100 00:03:56,959 --> 00:04:01,200 and 101 00:03:58,640 --> 00:04:03,599 and this is not a brand new idea it's 102 00:04:01,200 --> 00:04:06,000 just becoming easier and easier to do 103 00:04:03,599 --> 00:04:07,200 with the advances in availability of 104 00:04:06,000 --> 00:04:10,080 hardware 105 00:04:07,200 --> 00:04:11,920 uh easier for novices and people just 106 00:04:10,080 --> 00:04:14,400 sitting in their living rooms to do i 107 00:04:11,920 --> 00:04:16,799 guess outside a lab 108 00:04:14,400 --> 00:04:19,280 and sky's ahead hewani is the project 109 00:04:16,799 --> 00:04:21,759 name hiwa means that what's in the sky 110 00:04:19,280 --> 00:04:25,199 what's the weather like in swahili 111 00:04:21,759 --> 00:04:26,840 so the sky is ahead for this project and 112 00:04:25,199 --> 00:04:30,639 all of the turbulence that would be 113 00:04:26,840 --> 00:04:33,440 experiencing or been experiencing 114 00:04:30,639 --> 00:04:35,520 so yeah so the there's a fair amount of 115 00:04:33,440 --> 00:04:38,800 slides there's a lot of words uh some 116 00:04:35,520 --> 00:04:41,199 pictures so i'll just go through it and 117 00:04:38,800 --> 00:04:42,560 i will keep an eye on the time 118 00:04:41,199 --> 00:04:44,320 so the 119 00:04:42,560 --> 00:04:46,400 microwave part of the electromagnetic 120 00:04:44,320 --> 00:04:49,040 spectrum is what we're talking about and 121 00:04:46,400 --> 00:04:52,400 it's a finite resource 122 00:04:49,040 --> 00:04:54,320 and we have governments uh 123 00:04:52,400 --> 00:04:56,400 licensing our spectrum 124 00:04:54,320 --> 00:04:58,720 at very very high rates and our modern 125 00:04:56,400 --> 00:04:59,759 civilization like me talking over wi-fi 126 00:04:58,720 --> 00:05:01,919 right now 127 00:04:59,759 --> 00:05:04,960 is tied together by this part of the 128 00:05:01,919 --> 00:05:07,039 spectrum and only very few people work 129 00:05:04,960 --> 00:05:08,800 on it understand it it's pretty black 130 00:05:07,039 --> 00:05:11,280 magic 131 00:05:08,800 --> 00:05:13,759 yeah so that's that's sort of the very 132 00:05:11,280 --> 00:05:16,000 interesting area to work in 133 00:05:13,759 --> 00:05:17,280 a bit of history of how how these things 134 00:05:16,000 --> 00:05:19,919 came about 135 00:05:17,280 --> 00:05:22,479 the radios were invented and then the 136 00:05:19,919 --> 00:05:25,039 radar itself came from 137 00:05:22,479 --> 00:05:27,039 what was a request for a death ray to 138 00:05:25,039 --> 00:05:29,440 spray something into the air and take 139 00:05:27,039 --> 00:05:32,400 down aircraft during the second world 140 00:05:29,440 --> 00:05:34,960 war uh and the uh 141 00:05:32,400 --> 00:05:37,759 the radar installations came about i 142 00:05:34,960 --> 00:05:39,759 became aware in my life journey about 143 00:05:37,759 --> 00:05:41,039 radars through reading this book the 144 00:05:39,759 --> 00:05:43,840 grand slack 145 00:05:41,039 --> 00:05:46,240 by a french free air force pilot pia 146 00:05:43,840 --> 00:05:48,800 customer who later became a politician 147 00:05:46,240 --> 00:05:50,960 who talked about the radar that was 148 00:05:48,800 --> 00:05:53,440 being used in the air force during the 149 00:05:50,960 --> 00:05:56,800 second war 150 00:05:53,440 --> 00:05:59,039 uh so yeah so that from war after the 151 00:05:56,800 --> 00:06:02,720 war ended there was a lot of radars 152 00:05:59,039 --> 00:06:06,400 available and uh there were what was the 153 00:06:02,720 --> 00:06:09,199 clutter in the wartime radar uh became 154 00:06:06,400 --> 00:06:11,039 signal in that this radar is being used 155 00:06:09,199 --> 00:06:12,319 for civilian purposes to observe 156 00:06:11,039 --> 00:06:14,800 precipitation 157 00:06:12,319 --> 00:06:18,479 rain surplus military radars form the 158 00:06:14,800 --> 00:06:20,400 seed of weather observation radars 159 00:06:18,479 --> 00:06:23,199 so there's an ocean in the sky 160 00:06:20,400 --> 00:06:25,360 uh we have so many oceans that my son 161 00:06:23,199 --> 00:06:26,960 reads about you know uh the arctic the 162 00:06:25,360 --> 00:06:29,919 antarctic the 163 00:06:26,960 --> 00:06:32,400 south the north atlantic south atlantic 164 00:06:29,919 --> 00:06:34,080 there is also an ocean in the sky 165 00:06:32,400 --> 00:06:36,240 all of the evaporation from all of the 166 00:06:34,080 --> 00:06:37,120 oceans gathers in the sky and a lot of 167 00:06:36,240 --> 00:06:39,440 our 168 00:06:37,120 --> 00:06:42,720 uh biosphere depends on that ocean in 169 00:06:39,440 --> 00:06:44,639 the sky falling down on the land 170 00:06:42,720 --> 00:06:46,479 and the 171 00:06:44,639 --> 00:06:49,039 the reason that we have things like 172 00:06:46,479 --> 00:06:51,440 wi-fi are due to the weird dams that the 173 00:06:49,039 --> 00:06:54,639 water molecule does when excited with 174 00:06:51,440 --> 00:06:56,479 frequencies at this uh this this yeah 175 00:06:54,639 --> 00:06:58,479 with these frequencies and absorbing it 176 00:06:56,479 --> 00:06:59,680 sucking it up and sometimes reflecting 177 00:06:58,479 --> 00:07:02,880 some of it 178 00:06:59,680 --> 00:07:04,720 and we end up with this unlicensed bands 179 00:07:02,880 --> 00:07:07,680 where no people don't want to use it and 180 00:07:04,720 --> 00:07:10,400 we use it for things like wi-fi and the 181 00:07:07,680 --> 00:07:12,880 ism bands 182 00:07:10,400 --> 00:07:15,759 the benefits of the weather observation 183 00:07:12,880 --> 00:07:18,639 i will go into more detail but it's it's 184 00:07:15,759 --> 00:07:21,360 uh affects both the benefit side that we 185 00:07:18,639 --> 00:07:24,319 grow crops and have drinking water 186 00:07:21,360 --> 00:07:27,360 uh to the risks we have i was living in 187 00:07:24,319 --> 00:07:28,560 canberra and uh thousands of cars were 188 00:07:27,360 --> 00:07:30,560 turned into 189 00:07:28,560 --> 00:07:33,520 what my friend kelvin refers to as golf 190 00:07:30,560 --> 00:07:36,319 balls by the meteors 191 00:07:33,520 --> 00:07:37,440 hydro meteors not that not the space 192 00:07:36,319 --> 00:07:40,639 kind 193 00:07:37,440 --> 00:07:42,400 so uh i have seen this i i learned 194 00:07:40,639 --> 00:07:44,560 french in school so i've seen this 195 00:07:42,400 --> 00:07:46,479 saying in english you know one man's 196 00:07:44,560 --> 00:07:49,280 fish is another man's poison it didn't 197 00:07:46,479 --> 00:07:52,240 really make sense until i learned french 198 00:07:49,280 --> 00:07:53,919 is that poison is actually fish 199 00:07:52,240 --> 00:07:56,560 and the 200 00:07:53,919 --> 00:07:58,960 this is because what i refer to as the 201 00:07:56,560 --> 00:08:01,280 attenuation due to their resonance with 202 00:07:58,960 --> 00:08:03,680 water at these frequencies and this is 203 00:08:01,280 --> 00:08:05,120 what you can use for uh 204 00:08:03,680 --> 00:08:07,840 for the microwave observation of 205 00:08:05,120 --> 00:08:07,840 precipitation 206 00:08:08,560 --> 00:08:13,440 so the given coming from the target 207 00:08:11,199 --> 00:08:15,759 observation radars you have lots of 208 00:08:13,440 --> 00:08:17,360 other types of target observation radars 209 00:08:15,759 --> 00:08:18,560 some of them are marine radars and they 210 00:08:17,360 --> 00:08:20,319 can be 211 00:08:18,560 --> 00:08:21,680 turned into weather radars with 212 00:08:20,319 --> 00:08:23,840 modifications 213 00:08:21,680 --> 00:08:26,240 but you require specialist labs to make 214 00:08:23,840 --> 00:08:28,160 those modifications and uh yeah they're 215 00:08:26,240 --> 00:08:32,959 not quite easy to get you need a whole 216 00:08:28,160 --> 00:08:34,000 truck and it's big so this one is not uh 217 00:08:32,959 --> 00:08:36,000 like a 218 00:08:34,000 --> 00:08:37,839 small low frequency so high frequencies 219 00:08:36,000 --> 00:08:39,120 it depends a big antenna they're quite a 220 00:08:37,839 --> 00:08:40,959 bit set up 221 00:08:39,120 --> 00:08:42,399 but quite quite interesting things you 222 00:08:40,959 --> 00:08:43,839 can do with all of the target 223 00:08:42,399 --> 00:08:46,000 observation right now so that's sort of 224 00:08:43,839 --> 00:08:48,480 history of where we are 225 00:08:46,000 --> 00:08:51,519 sort of moving forward to the last 10 or 226 00:08:48,480 --> 00:08:52,800 20 years we have seen uh 227 00:08:51,519 --> 00:08:54,959 things 228 00:08:52,800 --> 00:08:57,120 become more even more compact gallium 229 00:08:54,959 --> 00:08:59,440 nitride is uh used for the power of the 230 00:08:57,120 --> 00:09:01,040 fire solid state instead of magnetrons 231 00:08:59,440 --> 00:09:03,120 which were used in the earlier radars 232 00:09:01,040 --> 00:09:06,000 and were not very disciplined in their 233 00:09:03,120 --> 00:09:07,760 frequency generation 234 00:09:06,000 --> 00:09:11,040 to have a little list of various 235 00:09:07,760 --> 00:09:13,519 military modern solid-state radars 236 00:09:11,040 --> 00:09:15,680 and then the civilian solid state radars 237 00:09:13,519 --> 00:09:17,040 are available too but they still use a 238 00:09:15,680 --> 00:09:19,200 spinning antenna 239 00:09:17,040 --> 00:09:21,279 uh so i have a few small list of 240 00:09:19,200 --> 00:09:22,720 civilian solid-state radars that are 241 00:09:21,279 --> 00:09:25,120 just been entering the market over the 242 00:09:22,720 --> 00:09:27,040 last five years or so 243 00:09:25,120 --> 00:09:29,040 um yeah 244 00:09:27,040 --> 00:09:30,720 i actually went out to the marina to 245 00:09:29,040 --> 00:09:33,040 take a picture of one 246 00:09:30,720 --> 00:09:34,880 in adelaide my yeah 247 00:09:33,040 --> 00:09:38,160 during a family beach time i'm just 248 00:09:34,880 --> 00:09:40,560 staring at radars at the marina 249 00:09:38,160 --> 00:09:43,279 so yeah so this is a project timeline of 250 00:09:40,560 --> 00:09:45,519 me being becoming involved in this 251 00:09:43,279 --> 00:09:48,839 project working through various 252 00:09:45,519 --> 00:09:51,440 challenges deploying hardware in on the 253 00:09:48,839 --> 00:09:53,519 field uh doing our first presentation on 254 00:09:51,440 --> 00:09:55,680 it so i started working on it uh with my 255 00:09:53,519 --> 00:09:57,680 friend kashini around 2018 256 00:09:55,680 --> 00:10:01,360 i visited kenya we'll talk about that in 257 00:09:57,680 --> 00:10:03,200 a minute and uh we deployed sensors uh 258 00:10:01,360 --> 00:10:05,839 we sort of i give a first public 259 00:10:03,200 --> 00:10:08,000 presentation about it in baikonu mostly 260 00:10:05,839 --> 00:10:09,760 on the devops and the high software side 261 00:10:08,000 --> 00:10:12,880 of it and the infrastructure side of it 262 00:10:09,760 --> 00:10:14,880 of getting the data together and 263 00:10:12,880 --> 00:10:16,160 sort of disseminating it 264 00:10:14,880 --> 00:10:17,519 over 265 00:10:16,160 --> 00:10:20,560 nairobi 266 00:10:17,519 --> 00:10:22,000 uh so nairobi hasn't had a weather radar 267 00:10:20,560 --> 00:10:25,440 in the last 268 00:10:22,000 --> 00:10:27,760 30 or so years before that in a place 269 00:10:25,440 --> 00:10:29,120 called current there was a big radar 270 00:10:27,760 --> 00:10:31,360 installation 271 00:10:29,120 --> 00:10:33,279 and it became such that there was no 272 00:10:31,360 --> 00:10:35,519 expertise obviously in maintaining this 273 00:10:33,279 --> 00:10:38,480 a big piece of hardware and it became 274 00:10:35,519 --> 00:10:40,480 unmaintained and there the government 275 00:10:38,480 --> 00:10:42,959 has been trying to do 276 00:10:40,480 --> 00:10:45,760 a new budgetary required request to set 277 00:10:42,959 --> 00:10:47,920 up a new one and they refund to do a one 278 00:10:45,760 --> 00:10:50,480 big lumpy one you end up with millions 279 00:10:47,920 --> 00:10:52,800 of dollars and uh sub-saharan country 280 00:10:50,480 --> 00:10:54,800 just doesn't have the room to pull it 281 00:10:52,800 --> 00:10:56,959 off 282 00:10:54,800 --> 00:10:59,200 uh so yeah so that's sort of we saw a 283 00:10:56,959 --> 00:11:01,920 need and we ideated we deployed stuff we 284 00:10:59,200 --> 00:11:04,160 talked about it i talked about it um 285 00:11:01,920 --> 00:11:05,760 vishing is a very private person uh he 286 00:11:04,160 --> 00:11:06,800 doesn't like talking about these things 287 00:11:05,760 --> 00:11:08,320 too much 288 00:11:06,800 --> 00:11:10,480 uh the 289 00:11:08,320 --> 00:11:12,399 i've been trying to stabilize stuff over 290 00:11:10,480 --> 00:11:15,120 the last year i've taken various breaks 291 00:11:12,399 --> 00:11:17,839 between jobs and written a bunch of code 292 00:11:15,120 --> 00:11:20,399 to improve the stuff from how it was run 293 00:11:17,839 --> 00:11:22,560 some serverless now i'm sort of working 294 00:11:20,399 --> 00:11:24,000 again on the hardware side 295 00:11:22,560 --> 00:11:26,320 to create 296 00:11:24,000 --> 00:11:28,640 new versions which are cheaper easier to 297 00:11:26,320 --> 00:11:30,800 deploy require less maintenance 298 00:11:28,640 --> 00:11:31,760 are more open compared to what we have 299 00:11:30,800 --> 00:11:34,640 now 300 00:11:31,760 --> 00:11:36,880 uh and sort of uh maybe in a few years 301 00:11:34,640 --> 00:11:39,200 maybe hardware is hard 302 00:11:36,880 --> 00:11:40,720 someone will pay us for it or 303 00:11:39,200 --> 00:11:42,560 there will be a big market where 304 00:11:40,720 --> 00:11:43,839 everyone is making them and we can buy 305 00:11:42,560 --> 00:11:46,399 them cheaper than we can make them 306 00:11:43,839 --> 00:11:48,640 ourselves which is sort of even though 307 00:11:46,399 --> 00:11:51,519 the gray market for arduinos is huge 308 00:11:48,640 --> 00:11:53,839 this day is in aliexpress 309 00:11:51,519 --> 00:11:56,399 it's great for people in other parts of 310 00:11:53,839 --> 00:11:58,480 the world like say india or kenya 311 00:11:56,399 --> 00:12:00,639 is a financially really good 312 00:11:58,480 --> 00:12:03,360 option for a cheap hardware to become 313 00:12:00,639 --> 00:12:04,880 available that people can learn outside 314 00:12:03,360 --> 00:12:08,399 outside 315 00:12:04,880 --> 00:12:08,399 of what they can afford yeah 316 00:12:08,560 --> 00:12:14,079 so uh so this is sort of the loop 317 00:12:11,440 --> 00:12:17,200 again i'm reminded of john's talk of uh 318 00:12:14,079 --> 00:12:19,440 prototyping trying something out 319 00:12:17,200 --> 00:12:21,360 sharing about it getting some learning 320 00:12:19,440 --> 00:12:24,240 new things getting feedback 321 00:12:21,360 --> 00:12:25,040 refining your ideas and trying going 322 00:12:24,240 --> 00:12:27,200 again 323 00:12:25,040 --> 00:12:30,000 just keep doing it the cost of iterating 324 00:12:27,200 --> 00:12:30,880 on hardware is higher time costs are 325 00:12:30,000 --> 00:12:33,200 higher 326 00:12:30,880 --> 00:12:35,200 it's a slow cycle so you make small 327 00:12:33,200 --> 00:12:37,120 changes and you put on 328 00:12:35,200 --> 00:12:39,040 yeah instead of getting a new stencil 329 00:12:37,120 --> 00:12:41,040 made you put on captain tape where you 330 00:12:39,040 --> 00:12:42,880 need to hack things together have 331 00:12:41,040 --> 00:12:45,600 botched wires 332 00:12:42,880 --> 00:12:48,079 it's a it's how hardware is done uh 333 00:12:45,600 --> 00:12:50,160 it's not pretty i was iterating on my 334 00:12:48,079 --> 00:12:51,920 background this morning to get it in the 335 00:12:50,160 --> 00:12:54,000 good white balance it's a real world 336 00:12:51,920 --> 00:12:55,680 changing the real world is hard 337 00:12:54,000 --> 00:12:58,639 so i have to run off and get some you 338 00:12:55,680 --> 00:13:00,320 know uh dark paper to fix it and i could 339 00:12:58,639 --> 00:13:03,360 have done two in software but uh i'm a 340 00:13:00,320 --> 00:13:03,360 hardware person i guess 341 00:13:03,839 --> 00:13:08,079 so yeah so one of the challenges we had 342 00:13:05,600 --> 00:13:09,519 was uh getting started bootstrapping and 343 00:13:08,079 --> 00:13:11,519 getting a little bit of money to get 344 00:13:09,519 --> 00:13:13,600 started uh so 345 00:13:11,519 --> 00:13:15,760 the top picture is me and my friend 346 00:13:13,600 --> 00:13:16,880 kishini and my tattoo which are like 347 00:13:15,760 --> 00:13:19,600 local 348 00:13:16,880 --> 00:13:21,680 small minivans typically 349 00:13:19,600 --> 00:13:24,000 toyota toyotas 350 00:13:21,680 --> 00:13:26,800 uh that take people around at the back 351 00:13:24,000 --> 00:13:28,800 of it we are going going to some place 352 00:13:26,800 --> 00:13:30,880 called lamu which is like a few 353 00:13:28,800 --> 00:13:33,040 kilometers from the somali border and is 354 00:13:30,880 --> 00:13:34,560 famous for kidnapping tourists but 355 00:13:33,040 --> 00:13:36,800 anyway 356 00:13:34,560 --> 00:13:39,199 and then we sort of put this idea 357 00:13:36,800 --> 00:13:42,079 together so yushini is super smart he 358 00:13:39,199 --> 00:13:43,199 went to mit he got into some got some 359 00:13:42,079 --> 00:13:46,480 contacts 360 00:13:43,199 --> 00:13:50,160 uh the major of them was greg greg 361 00:13:46,480 --> 00:13:52,399 runs the microwave sensing course at mit 362 00:13:50,160 --> 00:13:56,480 i've got a few props here so one of the 363 00:13:52,399 --> 00:13:59,279 courses that greg runs uses containers 364 00:13:56,480 --> 00:14:01,519 to build a small short range 365 00:13:59,279 --> 00:14:03,440 radar which you can generate images from 366 00:14:01,519 --> 00:14:05,360 using synthetic apertures you should 367 00:14:03,440 --> 00:14:07,920 check out it's an open course you should 368 00:14:05,360 --> 00:14:10,880 check out that stuff that greg has 369 00:14:07,920 --> 00:14:13,440 um yeah and he advised us 370 00:14:10,880 --> 00:14:14,240 we needed some money to build some stuff 371 00:14:13,440 --> 00:14:17,440 so 372 00:14:14,240 --> 00:14:20,959 ray stata who is the founder uh and 373 00:14:17,440 --> 00:14:24,560 for a while the ceo of analog devices 374 00:14:20,959 --> 00:14:26,000 uh a very high-speed analog sensing uh 375 00:14:24,560 --> 00:14:28,160 instruments maker 376 00:14:26,000 --> 00:14:30,160 he talked to us said what are you 377 00:14:28,160 --> 00:14:32,320 planning to do in three years we wrote 378 00:14:30,160 --> 00:14:33,600 down on one page he spoke to us for five 379 00:14:32,320 --> 00:14:35,360 minutes 380 00:14:33,600 --> 00:14:38,000 and he gave us 381 00:14:35,360 --> 00:14:40,720 a bit of money to do do some crazy 382 00:14:38,000 --> 00:14:42,399 things try out some crazy things 383 00:14:40,720 --> 00:14:44,639 um so yeah so that was how we got 384 00:14:42,399 --> 00:14:48,000 started on this idea 385 00:14:44,639 --> 00:14:51,920 uh so the upsides that we did sell to 386 00:14:48,000 --> 00:14:55,440 people was uh you know the rain is uh 387 00:14:51,920 --> 00:14:57,519 uh is i is vital for how we grow food 388 00:14:55,440 --> 00:14:58,880 the upsides of knowing predicting when 389 00:14:57,519 --> 00:15:00,639 it will be 390 00:14:58,880 --> 00:15:02,399 are you going to get decent amounts of 391 00:15:00,639 --> 00:15:04,399 it so you can see the graph of the 392 00:15:02,399 --> 00:15:07,120 rainfall versus food production here due 393 00:15:04,399 --> 00:15:09,199 to rainfall agriculture 394 00:15:07,120 --> 00:15:11,440 and then on the flip side the damages 395 00:15:09,199 --> 00:15:12,560 caused by unexpected precipitation 396 00:15:11,440 --> 00:15:14,560 events 397 00:15:12,560 --> 00:15:16,480 are there there's a very good site from 398 00:15:14,560 --> 00:15:18,320 noaa called billions 399 00:15:16,480 --> 00:15:20,720 and you can see billions of dollars of 400 00:15:18,320 --> 00:15:26,079 losses due to weather-related events 401 00:15:20,720 --> 00:15:28,959 flooding hail that the us experiences 402 00:15:26,079 --> 00:15:30,480 yeah so there is a good case for doing 403 00:15:28,959 --> 00:15:32,959 it we can't really control the weather 404 00:15:30,480 --> 00:15:34,639 we can observe and move people to safety 405 00:15:32,959 --> 00:15:37,519 uh so that's one of the things you can 406 00:15:34,639 --> 00:15:40,800 do or you can estimate insurance losses 407 00:15:37,519 --> 00:15:42,800 or risk of looking forward insurance 408 00:15:40,800 --> 00:15:44,560 works on the principle of the insurance 409 00:15:42,800 --> 00:15:48,880 industry knowing the risks slightly 410 00:15:44,560 --> 00:15:50,720 better than the people being insured and 411 00:15:48,880 --> 00:15:53,279 benefiting of that gap 412 00:15:50,720 --> 00:15:56,240 um yeah so that's sort of the benefits 413 00:15:53,279 --> 00:15:59,040 of better precipitation observation 414 00:15:56,240 --> 00:16:01,759 so that's the first part of getting 415 00:15:59,040 --> 00:16:03,360 going and getting some funding in and 416 00:16:01,759 --> 00:16:05,440 convincing people that this is worth 417 00:16:03,360 --> 00:16:07,920 doing maybe uh 418 00:16:05,440 --> 00:16:10,320 it's already being done by states like 419 00:16:07,920 --> 00:16:11,199 the nation states uh in the western 420 00:16:10,320 --> 00:16:12,639 world 421 00:16:11,199 --> 00:16:14,560 it's just uh 422 00:16:12,639 --> 00:16:16,399 it's worth doing for a place like africa 423 00:16:14,560 --> 00:16:19,839 as well 424 00:16:16,399 --> 00:16:21,360 so the next challenge which i guess 425 00:16:19,839 --> 00:16:23,120 came as 426 00:16:21,360 --> 00:16:25,199 creating something cool 427 00:16:23,120 --> 00:16:27,920 the project started we got the idea 428 00:16:25,199 --> 00:16:29,680 initially when i was like watching 429 00:16:27,920 --> 00:16:32,399 soccer it's uh premier league is pretty 430 00:16:29,680 --> 00:16:33,440 big and in kenya i was watching soccer 431 00:16:32,399 --> 00:16:35,680 at a pub 432 00:16:33,440 --> 00:16:38,160 and whenever the rain would come the 433 00:16:35,680 --> 00:16:40,399 satellite broadcast would like fade away 434 00:16:38,160 --> 00:16:42,240 due to rain fade obviously and i was 435 00:16:40,399 --> 00:16:44,480 like oh it's gonna i know where the 436 00:16:42,240 --> 00:16:46,240 satellite is it's probably gonna rain in 437 00:16:44,480 --> 00:16:48,160 five minutes and other people watching 438 00:16:46,240 --> 00:16:50,480 that thing with me at the bar were like 439 00:16:48,160 --> 00:16:52,000 how are you doing that 440 00:16:50,480 --> 00:16:54,000 so that sort of 441 00:16:52,000 --> 00:16:55,920 that sort of five minute prediction is 442 00:16:54,000 --> 00:16:57,440 easier but uh if you want to do 90 443 00:16:55,920 --> 00:16:58,800 minutes and so you'll take years of 444 00:16:57,440 --> 00:17:00,079 research to do it so first of the 445 00:16:58,800 --> 00:17:02,320 challenge one of the challenges we 446 00:17:00,079 --> 00:17:05,600 looked at was now casting 447 00:17:02,320 --> 00:17:08,480 and that requires a large sampling 448 00:17:05,600 --> 00:17:10,240 window and uh creating a grid of this 449 00:17:08,480 --> 00:17:12,880 sensors 450 00:17:10,240 --> 00:17:15,679 uh i have in here uh radar data 451 00:17:12,880 --> 00:17:17,839 simulation and now casting paper from 452 00:17:15,679 --> 00:17:19,439 one of the many research papers going 453 00:17:17,839 --> 00:17:21,520 around this one in particular one is in 454 00:17:19,439 --> 00:17:24,319 catalonia 455 00:17:21,520 --> 00:17:26,799 uh so we got to some stage we got to uh 456 00:17:24,319 --> 00:17:28,559 sort of 20 minute window now casting 457 00:17:26,799 --> 00:17:32,160 approach i'm just gonna talk a little 458 00:17:28,559 --> 00:17:34,720 bit more about the the way it works in 459 00:17:32,160 --> 00:17:36,799 uh in a properly deployed scenario so 460 00:17:34,720 --> 00:17:39,360 you need typically you lean big lumpy 461 00:17:36,799 --> 00:17:40,160 radars like uh the bureau of meteorology 462 00:17:39,360 --> 00:17:42,080 has 463 00:17:40,160 --> 00:17:44,080 in various different wavelengths each 464 00:17:42,080 --> 00:17:46,480 with their own advantages 465 00:17:44,080 --> 00:17:48,640 uh bureau of met in australia has things 466 00:17:46,480 --> 00:17:50,320 with up to 200 kilometers in coverage 467 00:17:48,640 --> 00:17:52,480 after that the curvature of the earth 468 00:17:50,320 --> 00:17:54,559 again as we will discuss um you know 469 00:17:52,480 --> 00:17:57,280 just a slight couple of slides down uh 470 00:17:54,559 --> 00:17:58,960 starts affecting the big lumpy radar 471 00:17:57,280 --> 00:18:02,000 uh you can also have what i call the pie 472 00:17:58,960 --> 00:18:04,480 in the sky very high high risk 473 00:18:02,000 --> 00:18:06,559 systems which can blow up regularly so 474 00:18:04,480 --> 00:18:08,480 one of the some of these meteorological 475 00:18:06,559 --> 00:18:10,000 satellites have blown up while being 476 00:18:08,480 --> 00:18:12,640 launched 477 00:18:10,000 --> 00:18:14,080 so you put you make a baby for years and 478 00:18:12,640 --> 00:18:15,760 it costs millions and then you put it on 479 00:18:14,080 --> 00:18:17,760 a firecracker and you try to send it to 480 00:18:15,760 --> 00:18:20,160 space it's it's a high risk venture but 481 00:18:17,760 --> 00:18:23,360 no it's still doing it 482 00:18:20,160 --> 00:18:26,080 and then uh sort of uh the or the whole 483 00:18:23,360 --> 00:18:27,440 big picture uh requires some of this for 484 00:18:26,080 --> 00:18:29,120 stitching the things you're seeing on 485 00:18:27,440 --> 00:18:30,559 the ground it gives us a good big 486 00:18:29,120 --> 00:18:32,400 picture of you 487 00:18:30,559 --> 00:18:34,240 uh this is sort of the history of the 488 00:18:32,400 --> 00:18:35,840 various meteorological satellites that 489 00:18:34,240 --> 00:18:38,000 are going have been up 490 00:18:35,840 --> 00:18:40,720 my i love this last one it's a very uh 491 00:18:38,000 --> 00:18:43,600 the severi uh has a spinning 492 00:18:40,720 --> 00:18:47,039 uh approach with a mirror for observing 493 00:18:43,600 --> 00:18:48,880 the hemisphere getting a disc image uh 494 00:18:47,039 --> 00:18:51,200 there is an animation on the umed sat 495 00:18:48,880 --> 00:18:52,960 website of how severe composites this 496 00:18:51,200 --> 00:18:56,080 image is really really cool it's really 497 00:18:52,960 --> 00:18:58,160 cool with a spinning mirror 498 00:18:56,080 --> 00:18:59,919 and then you can have this sort of 499 00:18:58,160 --> 00:19:03,120 honeycomb approach which is what we 500 00:18:59,919 --> 00:19:06,240 aimed for in our project uh in putting 501 00:19:03,120 --> 00:19:09,840 together cell of uh networks depending 502 00:19:06,240 --> 00:19:11,840 on density depending on the 503 00:19:09,840 --> 00:19:14,080 importance i guess from a human 504 00:19:11,840 --> 00:19:17,039 perspective so you don't want to have 505 00:19:14,080 --> 00:19:19,520 lots and lots of dense expand radars in 506 00:19:17,039 --> 00:19:22,400 an area where there are not many people 507 00:19:19,520 --> 00:19:24,160 a 200 kilometer one would be fine so 508 00:19:22,400 --> 00:19:25,760 this sort of approach is quite common in 509 00:19:24,160 --> 00:19:27,360 weather simulations there is one of 510 00:19:25,760 --> 00:19:28,400 those models i was looking at called 511 00:19:27,360 --> 00:19:30,480 empass 512 00:19:28,400 --> 00:19:32,480 uses a multi-grid approach rather than 513 00:19:30,480 --> 00:19:35,039 an even grid it uses a multiple 514 00:19:32,480 --> 00:19:36,799 different density grids to create create 515 00:19:35,039 --> 00:19:39,280 a 516 00:19:36,799 --> 00:19:40,720 lower data volume but still quite 517 00:19:39,280 --> 00:19:42,960 accurate with the model with a 518 00:19:40,720 --> 00:19:45,760 simulation model 519 00:19:42,960 --> 00:19:47,679 uh so many many years ago uh well i was 520 00:19:45,760 --> 00:19:50,400 still doing my phd one of the other 521 00:19:47,679 --> 00:19:51,360 projects also being run out of my lab by 522 00:19:50,400 --> 00:19:53,760 my 523 00:19:51,360 --> 00:19:55,120 pg supervisor doug gray was this thing 524 00:19:53,760 --> 00:19:56,640 called the ren 525 00:19:55,120 --> 00:19:58,880 uh so this was run out of the adelaide 526 00:19:56,640 --> 00:20:00,480 university uh i'm not quite sure where 527 00:19:58,880 --> 00:20:01,919 it is at i've been out of the lab for 528 00:20:00,480 --> 00:20:04,320 many years now 529 00:20:01,919 --> 00:20:07,200 but it sort of also inspired the work we 530 00:20:04,320 --> 00:20:09,280 did was to wear the radar experimental 531 00:20:07,200 --> 00:20:11,200 network which was essentially the same 532 00:20:09,280 --> 00:20:13,120 idea taking small radars and then 533 00:20:11,200 --> 00:20:16,080 joining them together into a into a 534 00:20:13,120 --> 00:20:17,919 network to get rid of what the what 535 00:20:16,080 --> 00:20:19,840 bureau of metrology talks about the 536 00:20:17,919 --> 00:20:20,799 earth curvature effect of the big lumpy 537 00:20:19,840 --> 00:20:22,400 radar 538 00:20:20,799 --> 00:20:24,880 so it gives you better microclimate 539 00:20:22,400 --> 00:20:26,080 estimations higher resolutions temporal 540 00:20:24,880 --> 00:20:28,480 spatial 541 00:20:26,080 --> 00:20:31,440 and uh yeah takes care of takes care of 542 00:20:28,480 --> 00:20:34,640 the curvature the earth is not flat 543 00:20:31,440 --> 00:20:37,440 uh the rend project was supported by 544 00:20:34,640 --> 00:20:38,799 raytheon's phased array radar 545 00:20:37,440 --> 00:20:39,919 which is not again commercially 546 00:20:38,799 --> 00:20:41,760 available 547 00:20:39,919 --> 00:20:42,640 uh so yeah so that 548 00:20:41,760 --> 00:20:45,919 again 549 00:20:42,640 --> 00:20:49,120 my attempt at this ongoing is to develop 550 00:20:45,919 --> 00:20:51,679 something that is not a military system 551 00:20:49,120 --> 00:20:54,640 and is fairly open so that we can 552 00:20:51,679 --> 00:20:54,640 create more of them 553 00:20:55,440 --> 00:21:01,200 uh so the other challenge is uh what i 554 00:20:58,000 --> 00:21:03,760 had in my uh stream as a qpe 555 00:21:01,200 --> 00:21:07,600 quantitative precipitation estimation 556 00:21:03,760 --> 00:21:10,480 uh the qp challenge for is addressed in 557 00:21:07,600 --> 00:21:12,559 say i have a paper this uh this as a 558 00:21:10,480 --> 00:21:14,559 reference paper relatively recent a year 559 00:21:12,559 --> 00:21:15,520 or so ago from taiwan 560 00:21:14,559 --> 00:21:18,720 um 561 00:21:15,520 --> 00:21:20,720 is a you need lots of ground truth 562 00:21:18,720 --> 00:21:23,600 because the rain moves around by the 563 00:21:20,720 --> 00:21:26,320 wind uh and where you observe it in in 564 00:21:23,600 --> 00:21:28,960 the space may not be where it lands 565 00:21:26,320 --> 00:21:31,919 uh but the source data available to 566 00:21:28,960 --> 00:21:34,000 perform qpe over africa is very sparse 567 00:21:31,919 --> 00:21:35,600 and they don't agree with each other 568 00:21:34,000 --> 00:21:37,520 there are various data sources that 569 00:21:35,600 --> 00:21:39,679 tahmo temps at 570 00:21:37,520 --> 00:21:41,280 the a couple of weather models guests 571 00:21:39,679 --> 00:21:43,360 ecmwf 572 00:21:41,280 --> 00:21:46,320 their resolutions are very different to 573 00:21:43,360 --> 00:21:47,280 the sensor that we are using 574 00:21:46,320 --> 00:21:49,200 and 575 00:21:47,280 --> 00:21:51,679 the inversion problem 576 00:21:49,200 --> 00:21:54,159 becomes interactable without good data 577 00:21:51,679 --> 00:21:57,120 to tie to the taiwan paper which was 578 00:21:54,159 --> 00:21:57,840 fairly successful uh is 579 00:21:57,120 --> 00:22:00,720 uh 580 00:21:57,840 --> 00:22:02,880 uses a network of thousand stations 581 00:22:00,720 --> 00:22:04,480 uh for automated weather stations so 582 00:22:02,880 --> 00:22:06,080 there is another piece of hardware that 583 00:22:04,480 --> 00:22:07,840 needs to be built and 584 00:22:06,080 --> 00:22:09,760 made much more commodity which is 585 00:22:07,840 --> 00:22:12,080 automated weather stations 586 00:22:09,760 --> 00:22:14,159 um um this is an open hardware mini 587 00:22:12,080 --> 00:22:15,679 console it's another another prop for 588 00:22:14,159 --> 00:22:18,960 another piece of hardware that needs to 589 00:22:15,679 --> 00:22:21,280 exist to solve this problem better 590 00:22:18,960 --> 00:22:23,280 the another fun fact about taiwan 591 00:22:21,280 --> 00:22:25,039 apparently part of the 592 00:22:23,280 --> 00:22:27,360 silicon supply chain issue is due to 593 00:22:25,039 --> 00:22:29,840 reduced rain in the mountains of taiwan 594 00:22:27,360 --> 00:22:30,880 reducing supply of fresh water 595 00:22:29,840 --> 00:22:32,880 so 596 00:22:30,880 --> 00:22:34,799 if you are not seeing chip shortages 597 00:22:32,880 --> 00:22:37,600 there is the rain is causing it less 598 00:22:34,799 --> 00:22:37,600 rain is causing 599 00:22:38,159 --> 00:22:44,640 uh so the the the 600 00:22:41,120 --> 00:22:46,720 in uh absence of the ground rules so one 601 00:22:44,640 --> 00:22:48,880 of the things i looked at is and i would 602 00:22:46,720 --> 00:22:51,520 like to introduce here is this concept 603 00:22:48,880 --> 00:22:53,360 of precipitation air rcs 604 00:22:51,520 --> 00:22:56,400 oh that's a duplication 605 00:22:53,360 --> 00:22:58,320 radar rcs it's just rcs 606 00:22:56,400 --> 00:23:00,720 radar cross section 607 00:22:58,320 --> 00:23:03,280 i have to fix up the slide but anyway 608 00:23:00,720 --> 00:23:04,159 the teardrop shape that you have in all 609 00:23:03,280 --> 00:23:06,640 of the 610 00:23:04,159 --> 00:23:09,440 emojis of rain is not true the rain 611 00:23:06,640 --> 00:23:11,440 doesn't form a teardrop it forms this 612 00:23:09,440 --> 00:23:12,640 thing which is like an inverted goblet 613 00:23:11,440 --> 00:23:14,720 which comes to 614 00:23:12,640 --> 00:23:16,960 closest to the teardrop shape 615 00:23:14,720 --> 00:23:18,880 uh when it gets pretty big but it never 616 00:23:16,960 --> 00:23:20,960 is a teardrop it looks like a flattened 617 00:23:18,880 --> 00:23:22,720 ball it looks more like an orange when 618 00:23:20,960 --> 00:23:25,120 it's falling down due to the pressure of 619 00:23:22,720 --> 00:23:26,960 the air on on the raindrop only when 620 00:23:25,120 --> 00:23:29,280 it's very small it's a sphere because 621 00:23:26,960 --> 00:23:31,440 the surface tension of the water but as 622 00:23:29,280 --> 00:23:33,520 it as it gets bigger and due to the wind 623 00:23:31,440 --> 00:23:36,400 velocity it starts distorting 624 00:23:33,520 --> 00:23:38,400 the its shape is never a teardrop which 625 00:23:36,400 --> 00:23:40,960 is quite interesting 626 00:23:38,400 --> 00:23:42,799 um and then the the other type of rcs 627 00:23:40,960 --> 00:23:46,320 you have to get is for the hailstones i 628 00:23:42,799 --> 00:23:48,240 was discussing about in canberra uh the 629 00:23:46,320 --> 00:23:50,400 this is a pretty funky one i like it 630 00:23:48,240 --> 00:23:52,480 because it looks almost like a virus 631 00:23:50,400 --> 00:23:54,559 this one is created by by the super 632 00:23:52,480 --> 00:23:57,440 cooled water spinning and pushing off 633 00:23:54,559 --> 00:24:00,400 little cones as it spins and those cones 634 00:23:57,440 --> 00:24:04,159 freeze into place and uh 635 00:24:00,400 --> 00:24:06,320 but usually it's like a water ice mixed 636 00:24:04,159 --> 00:24:08,400 with sometimes air bubbles in it so 637 00:24:06,320 --> 00:24:10,480 you're creating the dielectric for 638 00:24:08,400 --> 00:24:12,559 hydrometeors is quite hard 639 00:24:10,480 --> 00:24:14,320 um anyway so it's a it's another 640 00:24:12,559 --> 00:24:17,760 interesting precipitation if you want to 641 00:24:14,320 --> 00:24:22,000 compute rcs uh using simulations instead 642 00:24:17,760 --> 00:24:24,240 of using uh ground station data 643 00:24:22,000 --> 00:24:26,159 and the other one type of rcs 644 00:24:24,240 --> 00:24:29,039 precipitation form is fox which you can 645 00:24:26,159 --> 00:24:30,559 just use small spheres uh to calculate 646 00:24:29,039 --> 00:24:33,279 i've been experimenting with another 647 00:24:30,559 --> 00:24:34,799 open source software project called meep 648 00:24:33,279 --> 00:24:37,840 from mit also 649 00:24:34,799 --> 00:24:40,720 which looks at this uh quite cool uh it 650 00:24:37,840 --> 00:24:42,960 has a python api you can create objects 651 00:24:40,720 --> 00:24:44,480 and then throw radar at it to see what 652 00:24:42,960 --> 00:24:46,240 the backscatter looks like just click 653 00:24:44,480 --> 00:24:48,880 cool 654 00:24:46,240 --> 00:24:51,679 and this is my favorite good looking one 655 00:24:48,880 --> 00:24:54,000 uh that i have added here a sample for a 656 00:24:51,679 --> 00:24:57,039 concocts uh 657 00:24:54,000 --> 00:24:59,200 fractal based uh 658 00:24:57,039 --> 00:25:01,120 notebook for creating ice crystals that 659 00:24:59,200 --> 00:25:03,279 grop learning has it's very cool i had a 660 00:25:01,120 --> 00:25:06,640 lot of fun playing around with it 661 00:25:03,279 --> 00:25:08,240 uh yeah so sometimes it's just fun uh 662 00:25:06,640 --> 00:25:11,840 doing some of these things and looking 663 00:25:08,240 --> 00:25:14,480 at the shapes that water forms 664 00:25:11,840 --> 00:25:17,679 so this is the open hardware radar 665 00:25:14,480 --> 00:25:20,400 presentation i'm fairly into my time 666 00:25:17,679 --> 00:25:23,600 but i will i'll go over it 667 00:25:20,400 --> 00:25:25,600 i have bits of kit to show 668 00:25:23,600 --> 00:25:27,679 so the idea is essentially instead of 669 00:25:25,600 --> 00:25:30,480 having a big antenna that spins like we 670 00:25:27,679 --> 00:25:31,520 saw in the other one of the historical 671 00:25:30,480 --> 00:25:34,080 notes 672 00:25:31,520 --> 00:25:36,640 you create a panel with lots of antennas 673 00:25:34,080 --> 00:25:39,360 in it and you can steer in one direction 674 00:25:36,640 --> 00:25:41,760 not physically but electronically 675 00:25:39,360 --> 00:25:44,559 so it requires a bunch of software 676 00:25:41,760 --> 00:25:46,320 defined radios frequency doublers 677 00:25:44,559 --> 00:25:48,320 in my case because i only have like five 678 00:25:46,320 --> 00:25:51,679 six gigahertz radios 679 00:25:48,320 --> 00:25:53,600 uh power amplifiers antenna arrays those 680 00:25:51,679 --> 00:25:56,480 are the basic building blocks there's a 681 00:25:53,600 --> 00:25:58,720 nice write up this image is from toshiba 682 00:25:56,480 --> 00:26:00,880 research on this again as i said most of 683 00:25:58,720 --> 00:26:02,640 this stuff happens in the lab and it's i 684 00:26:00,880 --> 00:26:04,880 would love to see it moving towards open 685 00:26:02,640 --> 00:26:06,960 hardware community and becoming much 686 00:26:04,880 --> 00:26:08,480 more commonplace 687 00:26:06,960 --> 00:26:10,640 so these are the couple of things i've 688 00:26:08,480 --> 00:26:12,320 tried there's an fpga here an ultra 689 00:26:10,640 --> 00:26:14,480 cyclone four 690 00:26:12,320 --> 00:26:16,640 lime sdr i have a few of these 691 00:26:14,480 --> 00:26:17,679 uh i'm trying to get one of these blade 692 00:26:16,640 --> 00:26:19,760 rf's 693 00:26:17,679 --> 00:26:22,400 they're quite expensive this also has an 694 00:26:19,760 --> 00:26:25,919 fpga but next generation up from the 695 00:26:22,400 --> 00:26:28,159 lime sdr the second five fp here 696 00:26:25,919 --> 00:26:31,039 um there is a frequency doublers which 697 00:26:28,159 --> 00:26:33,440 uh i contacted lyme sdr about and they 698 00:26:31,039 --> 00:26:36,159 said tire one customer has bought all of 699 00:26:33,440 --> 00:26:38,720 them so it's not available so i love to 700 00:26:36,159 --> 00:26:42,000 see what this tier one customer is doing 701 00:26:38,720 --> 00:26:43,760 so i have a pcb here 702 00:26:42,000 --> 00:26:46,320 which is essentially the pc we have in 703 00:26:43,760 --> 00:26:48,400 the slide um with feed it has frequency 704 00:26:46,320 --> 00:26:50,720 doubling output feeds and 705 00:26:48,400 --> 00:26:54,799 transmit and receive channels i'll be 706 00:26:50,720 --> 00:26:54,799 quite interesting to see how how we go 707 00:26:56,080 --> 00:26:59,200 uh the next one is the 708 00:26:58,320 --> 00:27:01,360 uh 709 00:26:59,200 --> 00:27:03,200 like a passive frequency doubler so this 710 00:27:01,360 --> 00:27:04,720 one has an active chip on it 711 00:27:03,200 --> 00:27:06,000 but this one is a passive frequency 712 00:27:04,720 --> 00:27:07,600 doubler which 713 00:27:06,000 --> 00:27:09,520 which you can get as well but you have a 714 00:27:07,600 --> 00:27:10,960 bit of signal loss i have ordered a 715 00:27:09,520 --> 00:27:12,240 couple of these to experiment with as 716 00:27:10,960 --> 00:27:14,559 well 717 00:27:12,240 --> 00:27:15,919 uh so then the next part is the hardest 718 00:27:14,559 --> 00:27:18,480 to get stuff because you will be 719 00:27:15,919 --> 00:27:20,799 spraying real power into the air as the 720 00:27:18,480 --> 00:27:21,840 power amplifiers so stay within low 721 00:27:20,799 --> 00:27:22,880 powers 722 00:27:21,840 --> 00:27:25,279 um 723 00:27:22,880 --> 00:27:27,200 60 watt amps you cannot get because you 724 00:27:25,279 --> 00:27:29,600 need to sign 10 000 forms to say you're 725 00:27:27,200 --> 00:27:32,240 not gonna do anything naughty with them 726 00:27:29,600 --> 00:27:34,159 uh but 35 watt or so maybe you'll still 727 00:27:32,240 --> 00:27:38,000 have to sign forms and you can get those 728 00:27:34,159 --> 00:27:38,000 uh again power amplifiers 729 00:27:38,080 --> 00:27:42,240 and then this is a fun bit like i was 730 00:27:39,840 --> 00:27:44,320 talking about the in the can array so i 731 00:27:42,240 --> 00:27:46,320 was been messing around creating antenna 732 00:27:44,320 --> 00:27:49,120 arrays there are existing designs you 733 00:27:46,320 --> 00:27:51,520 can get of the mimo antenna arrays uh 734 00:27:49,120 --> 00:27:53,440 you can at 5.8 gigahertz you can pick up 735 00:27:51,520 --> 00:27:55,279 your standard wi-fi antenna arrays and 736 00:27:53,440 --> 00:27:57,279 work work with those 737 00:27:55,279 --> 00:27:59,919 uh so this is like 738 00:27:57,279 --> 00:28:02,320 created using uh freecad and i'm 739 00:27:59,919 --> 00:28:05,039 planning to put some antenna designs uh 740 00:28:02,320 --> 00:28:08,480 off the shelf and my own into fico which 741 00:28:05,039 --> 00:28:10,080 is a tool i used uh for uh mems based 742 00:28:08,480 --> 00:28:11,600 antenna simulation to see how they 743 00:28:10,080 --> 00:28:13,520 behave 744 00:28:11,600 --> 00:28:16,159 uh this is what a realistic antenna 745 00:28:13,520 --> 00:28:19,200 would look like uh for sending and 746 00:28:16,159 --> 00:28:19,200 receiving and so on 747 00:28:19,279 --> 00:28:24,799 uh so yeah so that's sort of uh the last 748 00:28:22,720 --> 00:28:26,960 part of the open hardware approach that 749 00:28:24,799 --> 00:28:28,880 i'm working on i don't have completed 750 00:28:26,960 --> 00:28:31,200 hardware i have got like lots of parts 751 00:28:28,880 --> 00:28:32,799 i've got like a bunch of cables to put 752 00:28:31,200 --> 00:28:35,679 into my rubber ducks 753 00:28:32,799 --> 00:28:37,840 uh but i haven't got a full built yet 754 00:28:35,679 --> 00:28:40,080 but i would love to see people contact 755 00:28:37,840 --> 00:28:42,960 me and collaborate on that 756 00:28:40,080 --> 00:28:45,679 so the skies ahead are pretty turbulent 757 00:28:42,960 --> 00:28:48,080 for our project we have sort of run 758 00:28:45,679 --> 00:28:49,919 through the angel funds that we had 759 00:28:48,080 --> 00:28:51,440 doing learning various things 760 00:28:49,919 --> 00:28:53,120 experimenting 761 00:28:51,440 --> 00:28:55,039 uh funding for building something in 762 00:28:53,120 --> 00:28:57,120 africa is challenging people don't seek 763 00:28:55,039 --> 00:28:59,360 any clear path to revenue 764 00:28:57,120 --> 00:29:00,720 operating with these things outside of 765 00:28:59,360 --> 00:29:02,799 cleared lab 766 00:29:00,720 --> 00:29:04,159 in a western world is challenging a 767 00:29:02,799 --> 00:29:06,480 little bit 768 00:29:04,159 --> 00:29:09,679 so that's that's quite interesting in 769 00:29:06,480 --> 00:29:11,600 balance in africa we can reach out to 770 00:29:09,679 --> 00:29:14,080 people i have seen the head of the 771 00:29:11,600 --> 00:29:16,480 meteorological department uh 772 00:29:14,080 --> 00:29:18,640 assistant director or in kenya and 773 00:29:16,480 --> 00:29:21,039 pitched our idea and got some support of 774 00:29:18,640 --> 00:29:21,840 some some push back and corruption as 775 00:29:21,039 --> 00:29:24,240 well 776 00:29:21,840 --> 00:29:26,320 but yeah so it's that will be a higher 777 00:29:24,240 --> 00:29:28,159 bar to do in australia 778 00:29:26,320 --> 00:29:29,679 the operating environment in africa is 779 00:29:28,159 --> 00:29:31,679 difficult building hardware getting 780 00:29:29,679 --> 00:29:33,360 stuff shipped in is difficult 781 00:29:31,679 --> 00:29:35,679 and i would love to see open source 782 00:29:33,360 --> 00:29:38,720 hardware and software community jump in 783 00:29:35,679 --> 00:29:41,039 with their resources to put together a 784 00:29:38,720 --> 00:29:43,679 good set of things that can be that can 785 00:29:41,039 --> 00:29:46,080 be relatively affordably built into a 786 00:29:43,679 --> 00:29:47,840 large array so to in order to build a 787 00:29:46,080 --> 00:29:50,399 antenna array like this you would 788 00:29:47,840 --> 00:29:52,159 require hundreds of fpr's 789 00:29:50,399 --> 00:29:52,960 not hundreds yeah perhaps under this 790 00:29:52,159 --> 00:29:55,760 yeah 791 00:29:52,960 --> 00:29:59,039 when in my lab also in the lab we built 792 00:29:55,760 --> 00:30:02,080 a 100 antenna gps passive radar so you 793 00:29:59,039 --> 00:30:04,640 could bounce gps of an airplane and see 794 00:30:02,080 --> 00:30:06,240 use that as a radar so it requires a lot 795 00:30:04,640 --> 00:30:09,039 of a lot of 796 00:30:06,240 --> 00:30:10,559 rf rf signal chain stuff 797 00:30:09,039 --> 00:30:12,000 yes i would love to see the open source 798 00:30:10,559 --> 00:30:15,200 hardware and software community dive 799 00:30:12,000 --> 00:30:17,679 deeper into the rf land 800 00:30:15,200 --> 00:30:20,159 and thank you for listening i'm happy to 801 00:30:17,679 --> 00:30:22,559 take questions uh i think that went went 802 00:30:20,159 --> 00:30:24,559 well for a reasonable amount of time 803 00:30:22,559 --> 00:30:26,640 i was i've been making this presentation 804 00:30:24,559 --> 00:30:28,640 after john asked me to do it over a few 805 00:30:26,640 --> 00:30:30,240 few weeks and i was hanging out whenever 806 00:30:28,640 --> 00:30:31,520 i would have free moment i would hang 807 00:30:30,240 --> 00:30:33,520 out 808 00:30:31,520 --> 00:30:35,200 and one of the people who saw me writing 809 00:30:33,520 --> 00:30:37,840 this presentation wrote me a poem so i 810 00:30:35,200 --> 00:30:37,840 have it in there 811 00:30:38,320 --> 00:30:41,919 oh that's great thank you tish that was 812 00:30:40,559 --> 00:30:43,360 very interesting 813 00:30:41,919 --> 00:30:44,880 now we're pretty much on the limit for 814 00:30:43,360 --> 00:30:47,360 time here but we do have a couple of 815 00:30:44,880 --> 00:30:48,640 questions which hopefully 816 00:30:47,360 --> 00:30:50,799 will be brief 817 00:30:48,640 --> 00:30:52,159 and the first one is calling back to 818 00:30:50,799 --> 00:30:52,960 what you were just mentioning a moment 819 00:30:52,159 --> 00:30:55,520 ago 820 00:30:52,960 --> 00:30:57,840 um you were talking about gps 821 00:30:55,520 --> 00:30:59,360 reflectometry and one of the questions 822 00:30:57,840 --> 00:31:01,039 from in the chat is do you do any work 823 00:30:59,360 --> 00:31:03,279 with passive reception of reflected 824 00:31:01,039 --> 00:31:04,399 noise the rf component of rain noise can 825 00:31:03,279 --> 00:31:07,519 be received but i don't know how 826 00:31:04,399 --> 00:31:11,039 directional it is fairly broadband 827 00:31:07,519 --> 00:31:13,679 yeah yeah so some of the ideas are there 828 00:31:11,039 --> 00:31:16,960 for using rain fade as well 829 00:31:13,679 --> 00:31:19,440 so if you have a good number of cell 830 00:31:16,960 --> 00:31:21,760 towers or things like that or you can 831 00:31:19,440 --> 00:31:23,760 measure the rain fade using passive 832 00:31:21,760 --> 00:31:25,760 received mode only and then you have to 833 00:31:23,760 --> 00:31:27,919 again go back and invert all of that in 834 00:31:25,760 --> 00:31:30,880 the actual body of the rain and the 835 00:31:27,919 --> 00:31:33,039 reflectivity is scatters so you have to 836 00:31:30,880 --> 00:31:35,039 do it's a quite a difficult inversion 837 00:31:33,039 --> 00:31:37,360 problem if you have control over the 838 00:31:35,039 --> 00:31:38,480 radiator it's an easier easier problem 839 00:31:37,360 --> 00:31:39,360 to solve 840 00:31:38,480 --> 00:31:41,279 okay 841 00:31:39,360 --> 00:31:44,640 and another question is do any of the 842 00:31:41,279 --> 00:31:46,399 marine radars work with linux 843 00:31:44,640 --> 00:31:49,360 ah that's that's a that's a good 844 00:31:46,399 --> 00:31:51,440 question so uh the marine readers ship 845 00:31:49,360 --> 00:31:53,279 with their own hardware uh so some of 846 00:31:51,440 --> 00:31:56,399 the you have to break into the signal 847 00:31:53,279 --> 00:32:00,399 chain i spent an amount of time sitting 848 00:31:56,399 --> 00:32:02,799 on um wireshark uh they have ethernet 849 00:32:00,399 --> 00:32:04,960 going over the protocols and stuff uh i 850 00:32:02,799 --> 00:32:06,000 haven't opened uh any of that yet it's 851 00:32:04,960 --> 00:32:07,600 not very 852 00:32:06,000 --> 00:32:09,919 i'm not sure what the 853 00:32:07,600 --> 00:32:12,000 legal ramifications of reverse 854 00:32:09,919 --> 00:32:14,960 engineering these things is yet i don't 855 00:32:12,000 --> 00:32:14,960 have i'm 856 00:32:15,360 --> 00:32:19,039 yeah so 857 00:32:16,480 --> 00:32:21,279 they work over ethernet so once a driver 858 00:32:19,039 --> 00:32:23,760 is built and the ethernet protocol is 859 00:32:21,279 --> 00:32:25,200 reverse engineered you could make them 860 00:32:23,760 --> 00:32:27,519 work 861 00:32:25,200 --> 00:32:29,519 okay i would love help there sen if 862 00:32:27,519 --> 00:32:32,080 please privately send me something else 863 00:32:29,519 --> 00:32:32,880 and do some wireshark capture packets 864 00:32:32,080 --> 00:32:34,080 yeah 865 00:32:32,880 --> 00:32:35,360 um 866 00:32:34,080 --> 00:32:37,120 there was 867 00:32:35,360 --> 00:32:38,640 we are really pushing for time but no 868 00:32:37,120 --> 00:32:40,080 two more quick questions one is would 869 00:32:38,640 --> 00:32:43,279 these radars be useful for people 870 00:32:40,080 --> 00:32:45,600 running solar power plants 871 00:32:43,279 --> 00:32:48,080 interesting uh so if you have want to 872 00:32:45,600 --> 00:32:50,000 see real time quick response so if you 873 00:32:48,080 --> 00:32:52,960 want to see rain clouds arriving over 874 00:32:50,000 --> 00:32:54,960 the horizon beyond the predictions that 875 00:32:52,960 --> 00:32:56,640 bureau of med provides you 876 00:32:54,960 --> 00:32:58,880 then you would want to do this yourself 877 00:32:56,640 --> 00:33:00,399 bureau of met i have spoken to jaya from 878 00:32:58,880 --> 00:33:03,039 after my previous presentation at 879 00:33:00,399 --> 00:33:05,120 birofmet and bureau of met is about to 880 00:33:03,039 --> 00:33:08,720 release after many years of research uh 881 00:33:05,120 --> 00:33:10,480 like 90 minute now casting uh service 882 00:33:08,720 --> 00:33:12,240 which they'll it takes them five minutes 883 00:33:10,480 --> 00:33:14,080 to assimilate and run the radar and then 884 00:33:12,240 --> 00:33:16,559 they can look forward 90 minutes which 885 00:33:14,080 --> 00:33:18,640 is fairly accurate so maybe rather than 886 00:33:16,559 --> 00:33:21,120 hosting your own uh in australia 887 00:33:18,640 --> 00:33:23,200 especially you could use the bombs bomb 888 00:33:21,120 --> 00:33:24,960 is an excellent science agency you could 889 00:33:23,200 --> 00:33:27,039 use bomb service 890 00:33:24,960 --> 00:33:28,559 yeah okay um well we better wrap it up 891 00:33:27,039 --> 00:33:30,159 but just before you go 892 00:33:28,559 --> 00:33:31,519 if people want to follow up on this and 893 00:33:30,159 --> 00:33:33,279 they want to learn more about your 894 00:33:31,519 --> 00:33:34,880 project is there a particular place they 895 00:33:33,279 --> 00:33:37,840 should look 896 00:33:34,880 --> 00:33:39,919 um there is a twitter bot that we built 897 00:33:37,840 --> 00:33:42,159 as part of this uh called heroin aka 898 00:33:39,919 --> 00:33:44,720 which has been gone silent i haven't 899 00:33:42,159 --> 00:33:46,480 been able to maintain it um so you can 900 00:33:44,720 --> 00:33:49,120 look at hawaiian k's previous updates 901 00:33:46,480 --> 00:33:52,159 over nairobi so hewani is what is in the 902 00:33:49,120 --> 00:33:54,559 air k in kenya so it gives tweets out 903 00:33:52,159 --> 00:33:56,240 the rain in nairobi 904 00:33:54,559 --> 00:33:58,240 and you can also reach me on twitter on 905 00:33:56,240 --> 00:33:59,440 what nick is the social media i'm most 906 00:33:58,240 --> 00:34:01,919 active in 907 00:33:59,440 --> 00:34:03,360 yeah great that's fantastic well thanks 908 00:34:01,919 --> 00:34:04,640 tish i really appreciate you coming 909 00:34:03,360 --> 00:34:06,080 along and 910 00:34:04,640 --> 00:34:08,000 this has been a very interesting thing 911 00:34:06,080 --> 00:34:10,240 and a couple of people in the chat also 912 00:34:08,000 --> 00:34:11,839 mentioned i really liked the imagery of 913 00:34:10,240 --> 00:34:14,000 the ocean in the sky that you mentioned 914 00:34:11,839 --> 00:34:15,040 at the start 915 00:34:14,000 --> 00:34:17,599 thank you 916 00:34:15,040 --> 00:34:20,599 okay thank you see ya 917 00:34:17,599 --> 00:34:20,599 bye