CitySense - An Open, Urban-Scale Sensor Network Testbed

The image above is a conceptual map of the CitySense deployment planned for Cambridge, MA.

CitySense is an urban scale sensor network testbed that is being developed by researchers at Harvard University and BBN Technologies. CitySense will consist of 100 wireless sensors deployed across a city, such as on light poles and private or public buildings; our current target is to deploy the network in Cambridge, MA. Each node will consist of an embedded PC, 802.11a/b/g interface, and various sensors for monitoring weather conditions and air pollutants. Most importantly, CitySense is intended to be an open testbed that researchers from all over the world can use to evaluate wireless networking and sensor network applications in a large-scale urban setting.

CitySense is supported by the National Science Foundation and Microsoft Corporation.

For a Google Earth (kmz) file of our current deployment, click here.

For more information, please contact Prof. Matt Welsh.

Summer Research Opportunities for Harvard Undergraduates

CitySense node mounted on a streetlight in Cambridge, MA.

A CitySense node mounted on a streetlight in Cambridge, MA.

News

December 3, 2008: You can now query our sensor database to extract historical weather and pollution data in XML and .csv formats.

March 21, 2008: We have completed a deployment of 5 nodes mounted on streetlights around the BBN campus in Cambridge, MA. In addition we have 5 nodes mounted on rooftops at Harvard, as well as a 14-node indoor testbed, also at Harvard.

Some press coverage of CitySense:

Live Status Page

You can view the locations and live data collected by CitySense nodes using Microsoft's SensorMap web interface. Click here for the BBN nodes and Harvard nodes in SensorMap.

The Harvard testbed node status can be viewed in Ganglia.

You can also view live weather data from the BBN weather sensor nodes at the Live Monitor Page.

Principal Investigators

Students and Staff

Documents

Attachments