Bridging the Data Divide: Where Bored Owl's Eddie fits in the Experimental Universe

If you have ever tried to design a custom data collection system for an experiment or pilot plant you will have come across this frustrating paradox. On the one hand there are accessible maker type tools like Arduino which are fragile when it comes to the field and on the other hand there are industrial tools like PLCs (Programmable Logic Controllers) which require expertise in automation engineering to configure. This makes system design for scientists and engineers fraught, what path do you choose? flexible maker tools, or industrial tools?

What we will talk about today is where is the market right now, are there any newer alternatives in the middle ground between these two alternatives which can help solve this paradox?

Lets start by looking at the three major tiers dominating the data acquisition market:
Tier 1. Maker tools for hobbyist or prototyping - these are vulnerable in the field to real world hazards (e.g. like mechanical vibration, thermal stress and power supply fluctuations and electrical noise in busy environments) - this includes Arduino's and basic microcontrollers.

Tier 2. High speed lab bench - these are high cost and most are tethered to a local PC - these DAQs are designed for a lab setting for speed, accuracy and advanced diagnostics but they aren't designed for *standalone remote deployment in the field*.

Tier 3. Industrial tools - these are high cost, require expertise to program - this includes PLCs. These are very reliable in industry for operating continuously but the cost of entry is very high and the expertise in PLC programming is outside the experience of most scientists who just want to log data and work in programming languages like python which they are familiar with.

Where Eddie fits: the smart bridge

Bored Owl designed the Eddie Data Hub to solve a specific pain point: how do you carry the flexible code and unique sensor concepts used in initial laboratory settings through to systems with high technical readiness (i.e. high TRL) without rewriting everything from scratch?

When you've built a prototype that demonstrates your measurement technique transitioning it to a commercial prototype can mean substantial redesign costs and time, such as designing a custom expensive circuit board to protect your prototype, or changing to a PLC. Eddie sits comfortably in the middle of these two paths for prototype to commercialisation, it takes the low coding, plug and play spirit of a maker project and packages it in a robust, modular, industrial grade shell. So Eddie can take you all the way from lab prototyping through to commercial implementation in the real world including standalone operation in the field.

Eddie was designed by Bored Owl from decades of experience in what works and what doesn't in measurement and control in industrial and research environments. Eddie's design incorporates all the important engineering features which are required for a commercial product (including standalone remote operation in the field). When you're starting out trying to design a measurement system in a lab all these requirements are not obvious so we've taken care of them for you. These engineering essentials include:
- the ability to reboot sensors to maintain contact,
- automatically restarting after power outages by including a hardware watchdog timer,
- datetime stamped data
- real time operating system
- software robust enough for a standalone operation in a noisy environment
- rugged mechanical design and ability to easily enclose units in standard electrical enclosures for protection from moisture and heat.
- hardware and software which is easy to interface with so when staff changeover occurs you can maintain lab continuity and knowledge doesn't leave with staff.

The core philosophy of Eddie's design is to reduce the overheads in time, money and highly specific software expertise that normally stop creative scientific experimentation getting off the paper plan or getting completed on schedule in budget. By starting with a working modular base, researchers can immediately attach their custom sensors, view real time data on a clean dashboard (which they can also customise) and continuously refine their process based on actual field feedback.

If you are trying to bridge the gap between a great idea on a lab bench and a bullet proof deployment in the field, you don't need to reinvent the wheel you can look for platforms in the middle ground which keep software accessible while hardening the hardware for the wild.

Below is a quick comparison table showing the middle ground Eddie occupies compared to Maker and Industrial options for measurement systems.