Have started working on the schematics for the hardware. Learning how to use eagle as I go. Created a couple of parts for the sparkfun boards I'll be using. As I don't plan on getting a custom pcb for this, I wasn't particularly careful about the foot print of these. Lots of things still to connect up...
I now have the server sode code to a point where I can post data to it and have that data logged to the db. At this point, I have the functionality that the bioboxes need. Fancy reporting interfaces to be added at some point in the future.
Been a while since making any progress, real world issues (including birth of the kiddo that this is for) have been in the way. Made some minor changes to the code to get the skeleton of user management in place. Hopefully more to follow soon.
Spending a fair amount of time chasing down perl modules that I need but that don't come in the default Rapbian image. Trying to use apt to find the correct modules has been a pain so I've just taken to installing from CPAN.
I think I have the db schema figured out, but need to play around some to make sure my datatypes are right. Once that's done it's on to writing the user creation code.
I've decided to use SQLite for storing data. The database is only going to be a few tables, and I think a full blown database server like PostgreSQL would be overkill for my needs.
Also decided to use Perl Dancer to provide the backend code. Installed from CPAN because the Raspian repositories didn't have Dancer2, while all of the official Dancer documentation has moved on to Dancer2.
Next steps are to come up with the database schema and play with getting data in and out of it.
My first steps for this project are going to be focused on getting the data logging and reporting server up and running, that way the data can be gathered even if the hardware side of this takes longer to get up and running.
As a first step I'm finally moving my pi's root fs off of the sd card and onto an external usb drive. Followed the instructions here. Worked well and now have 1.8TB to play around in.
Already have Apache up and running, need to get mod_perl installed and decide on a data store. Also need to start thinking about how the reporting will work and will be presented.
Other tasks to complete include working out what sorts of data should get buttons on the hardware and which will be web only and starting to come up with schematics for the hardware.