[irised] Seismac questions

[Michael Hubenthal]

Hi Mike,

I pinged Dan Griscom, the author of SeisMac, to see if he had thought  
about this.  Please see his reply below.

> Hi Dan,
>
> This was posted on the IRIS Seismographs in Schools list.  Looks  
> like inquiring minds want to know if you have you tinkered around  
> in the iPhones yet?
>

Oh, I've certainly thought about it. My biggest concern would be the  
sample rate, or limitations thereof. There is already a very simple  
seismograph program out there, written for jailbroken iPhones (i.e.  
it's an application that is installed in a non-Apple-approved way).  
It uses backdoor methods to get at the accelerometer, and can do  
approximately 40 samples per second if you turn on the "Priority  
Boost" setting.

See <http://www.robota.nl/products/iPhone%20AcceleroLog.html>.

But! this doesn't use Apple's API, and almost certainly wouldn't past  
muster for distribution via Apple's channels. Apple's API doesn't  
(seem to) lend itself to software demanding value after value (as  
SeisMac does and this app probably does). Your app registers as a  
listener and then the system sends you an acceleration event when it  
feels like it. The rate would be fast enough for acceleration control  
of apps, so it would be at least, say, 10Hz, but I'm guessing it  
wouldn't be much more than that.

Add that concern to my perpetual lack of time, plus my lack of need  
for a new cellphone (although the iPod Touch also has an  
accelerometer) and I've not gone further into the issue.


Thanks,
Dan

-- 
Daniel T. Griscom             griscom at suitable.com
Suitable Systems              http://www.suitable.com/
1 Centre Street, Suite 204    (781) 665-0053
Wakefield, MA  01880-2400

---------------------------------
Michael Hubenthal
Education Specialist
IRIS Consortium
607-777-4612
www.IRIS.edu
hubenth at iris.edu




On Jul 1, 2008, at 8:51 PM, Michael Breed wrote:

> It would be interesting to see if anyone with some programming  
> knowledge
> could put together a seismac version for the iPhone or iPod Touch,  
> both
> of which have built-in accelerometers.  They will form the basis for
> many hand-held games in the new app store opening on July 11.  The
> beauty of using the handhelds is the portability the offer.
>
> Michael Breed
>
> Michael Breed
> Chenango Valley High School Science Dept.
> 1160 Chenango Street
> Binghamton, NY 13901
> (607) 779-4743  x4248
>>>> Michael Hubenthal <Michael.Hubenthal at iris.edu> 07/01/08 10:11 AM  
>>>> >>>
> Hi Katie,
>
> Sorry that this reply is late.  I have used SeisMac in numerous
> Teacher professional developments with success.  To give you a flavor
> for how I have used it, I have sketched out two activities which can
> be found under lessons and resources from the IRIS E&O webpage http://
> www.iris.edu/hq/audience/educators.  The first activity is designed
> to help students make a connection between the display and
> seismograms.  In the second activity students explore how hard the
> ground shakes during an earthquake.    The tool is especially
> powerful when combined with these animations http://www.iris.edu/hq/
> programs/education_and_outreach/aotm/9 .
>
> PS> For those that don't have a powerbook handy, keep in mind that
> your physics department is likely to have accelerometers as part of
> their probeware packages.  These are equally as useful for conveying
> the concepts.
>
> If anyone has any questions or suggestions for the activities please
> be sure to contact me as I would be quite keen to hear from you.
>
> Best Wishes,
> Michael
>
>
>
>
>
> ---------------------------------
> Michael Hubenthal
> Education Specialist
> IRIS Consortium
> 607-777-4612
> www.IRIS.edu
> hubenth at iris.edu
>
>
>
>
> On Jun 19, 2008, at 1:42 PM, Katie Stofer wrote:
>
>> Hi – I’m trying to convince a colleague to loan her Powerbook for a
>> SeisMac demo (mine’s circa 2003). She’s curious to hear any
>> feedback users have – has it been a big success, have you had any
>> problems, etc.?
>>
>>
>>
>> ------
>>
>> Kathryn Stofer
>>
>> TerraLink Exhibit Manager
>>
>> Maryland Science Center
>>
>> 601 Light Street
>>
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>>
>> p 410.545.5976
>>
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>>
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