This week Array of Things project launched, installing the first of its sensors in Chicago.
.@arrayofthings installs the first of 500 nodes on Chicago streets – https://t.co/NE5QKck38W pic.twitter.com/TNiZTB6pSv
— Argonne National Lab (@argonne) August 29, 2016
.@arrayofthings sensors are coming online! Local readings of air quality, environment will help us plan better.https://t.co/llYREghIam?
— Tom Schenk Jr. (@ChicagoCDO) August 29, 2016
How @arrayofthings can help cities tackle challenges such as childhood asthma and air quality, vis @CNNMoney: https://t.co/DiOqD2ABlY
— ComputationInstitute (@Comp_Inst) August 29, 2016
Here is an excerpt from the official announcement:
Array of Things is designed as a “fitness tracker” for the city, collecting new streams of data on Chicago’s environment, infrastructure, and activity. This hyper-local, open data can help researchers, city officials, and software developers study and address critical city challenges, such as preventing urban flooding, improving traffic safety and air quality, and assessing the nature and impact of climate change.
In the first phase of the project, 50 nodes will be installed in August and September on traffic light poles in The Loop, Pilsen, Logan Square, and along Lake Michigan. These nodes will contain sensors for measuring air and surface temperature, barometric pressure, light, vibration, carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, ozone, and ambient sound intensity. Two cameras will collect data on vehicle and foot traffic, standing water, sky color, and cloud cover.
Smart Chicago partnered with Array of Things operator, UrbanCCD, and the City of Chicago to manage a civic engagement process in June of 2016. This process included collected public feedback on draft governance and privacy policies and hosting public meetings in two of the areas of the city that would see nodes first: Pilsen & the Loop. See documentation from the public meeting in Pilsen in this blog post and see documentation from the public meeting in the Loop in this blog post. To read more about these civic engagement efforts, read Smart Chicago’s Array of Things Engagement Report.
Here is a video about Array of Things featuring Brenna Berman, the Chief Information Officer for the City of Chicago, and Charlie Catlett, the Director of UrbanCCD and lead investigator for Array of Things:
Below is a video describing the technology in the Array of Things sensors. It also touches on the engagement process and the privacy policy feedback collection.
