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Computer Technology
Permanent and transitory systems are included. Full-time dataloggers are needed for the acquisition, storage, and transfer of measurement data. Low power single board computers applicable to more complex calculations, processes, and protocols are discussed. Measurements of power consumption for selected laptop computers are presented to allow users to make informed choices in this common tool used during field trips.
Low Power Single Board Computer
The Technologics TS-7260 single board computer (SBC) is a very low power computer board with a high degree of functionality. The board consumes less than 1 Watt at full 200 MHz processor speed. Power consumption can drop to 0.25 Watts at slower clock speeds. The ARM-based processor runs Linux. The board supports Ethernet, USB, serial, and analog and digital I/O. It has been used successfully on several projects by SRI International. Please check back for more information or contact Roy Stehle via the link on the Contacts page.
Campbell Scientific Dataloggers
Campbell Scientific offer a range of very-low-power (down to <10 mW) dataloggers.
These loggers are well established in many fields, and continue to
remain very popular with scientists. They are well-suited for
autonomous data acquisition and can be augmented with memory cards for prolonged data storage. Remote access to these loggers is also possible, but due to a quirk in the communications protocol
used by Campbell Scientific, high link latencies such as those present
in an Iridium or HughesNet satellite link cause the maximum achievable
data rate to plummet well below the link capacity, in some cases barely
exceeding the data acquisition rate.
See this technote for more details on the Campbell Scientific datalogger latency issue.
Laptop Power Consumption
Computer technology plays a big part in polar research, however choosing a system that can complete the task while using the least power is important. Below is power consumption data for candidate laptops in various operational modes. Clicking on the laptop name will display a graph of its power usage in different modes of operation.| Laptop Brand and Model Number | Watts | Windows Bootup | Simple Computer Operations | USB File Transfer | Defrag HDD | Lid closed (Screen Off) | Screen Max Brightness | Screen Min Brightness | WLAN off | Standby | Hibernate |
Dell D620 |
avg | 28 | 27 | 30 | 28 | 17 | 25 | 20 | 26 | 2.5 | .9 |
| peak | 50 | 38 | 35 | 35 | |||||||
Lenovo T40p |
avg | 33 | 25 | 31 | 27 | 17 | 26 | 17 | 25 | 1.4 | 0.7 |
| peak | 40 | 32 | 39 | ||||||||
Lenovo T60p |
avg | 38 | 33 | 37 | 36 | 25 | 33 | 26 | 0.5 | 0.0 | |
| peak | 49 | 52 | 45 | 40 | |||||||
Panasonic
CF-18 |
avg | 18 | 14 | 17 | 18 | 8 | 15 | 8 | 14 | 0.8 | 0.8 |
| peak | 20 | 18 | |||||||||
Panasonic
CF-30 |
avg | 17.5 | 16 | 20 | 17 | 13 | 15 | ||||
| peak | 28 | 21 | 15 |