Frequently Asked Questions
General
- What is Sensorpedia?
- Sensorpedia is Web site like Facebook or Twitter; however, instead of
creating a social network to connect people to people, Sensorpedia
creates a human-machine network to connect sensors with users and
applications. Sensorpedia permits its users to publish, subscribe to,
search for, connect to, and view all kinds of sensors and all types of
sensor information.
- What kind of sensors will connect to Sensorpedia?
- All kinds: smoke detectors, intrusion alarms, weather sensors, video
cameras, cell phones, global positioning systems, seismic sensors,
acoustic sensors, chemical sensors, radiological sensors, pressure
gauges, medical instrumentation, telemetry systems, home security
systems and alarms. There is virtually no limit to the kinds of sensors
and detectors that will connect to Sensorpedia. Even sensor databases
can connect with Sensorpedia.
- Who will use Sensorpedia?
- Sensorpedia will serve a broad range of users, from casual one-time
users who will search for sensor information from a particular location,
to scientists, developers, students, and hobbyists who routinely will
use Sensorpedia to contribute and retrieve sensor information for
experiments and science projects. Local, state, and federal public
safety officials, intelligence analysts and planners, and emergency
response workers, everyone and anyone with sensor information to share,
will use Sensorpedia for improved awareness, planning, security, and
emergency response. Even homeowners and business owners who intend to
improve the security and energy efficiency of their homes and businesses
will use Sensorpedia. What Wikipedia is for general knowledge and
information, Sensorpedia will be for sensor information.
- How will I interface my sensors or my sensor data to Sensorpedia?
- A Sensorpedia application programming interface (API) will provide the
instructions for interfacing sensors, sensor data, and sensor alerts to
Sensorpedia.
- How much will Sensorpedia cost?
- Sensorpedia will be free for Internet users! For users who have special
requirements to run autonomous versions of Sensorpedia inside their
firewalls, a licensing plan can be negotiated.
- When will Sensorpedia be ready?
- Sensorpedia is currently live in a limited BETA. We are hoping to release an open BETA version later this year. If you have an immediate need for Sensorpedia for your enterprise or organization, please contact us about being involved with the current limited beta.
Registration
- Do I have to register to use Sensorpedia?
- No, registration is not required to browse and search public data in Sensorpedia. However, you do need to register if you'd like to publish your data. Registration may also be required to view data with access control turned on. Don't worry, registration is easy. Sensorpedia relies on OpenID for authentication so you may already have a valid login.
- What is OpenID?
- OpenID is a system for logging in to multiple websites with a single identity without having to maintain numerous separate accounts and passwords. Many popular web sites support the OpenID standard so you may already have a valid login. To register with Sensorpedia, you simple associate one or more OpenID identifiers with your account. Your password is never sent to or stored by Sensorpedia. If you don't have an OpenID identifier (or don't know if you do), then check this list of recommended OpenID providers.
