Pointelist has been discontinued as a commercial product. The sensing landscape has changed with full-fledged open platforms like Field-Kit in active development and off-the-shelf Zigbee sensors available from manufacturers like Centralite at competitive price points.

We developed Pointelist because we wanted access to highly granular data at a low cost. While Pointelist is not yet for sale, we are currently working towards a cost of $2 per data point. It’s important to note that, unlike other sensor networks, this cost target includes access to an online interface that allows you to manage, view, and store your data.

We’ve yet to find a limit. Our deployments have clustered anywhere between 1-300 sensors on a single node. Currently, we recommend clustering no more than 30 sensors per trunk cable and 90 sensors per node for network reliability reasons. As part of your experiment, however, you can try to cluster as many as you want.

Pointelist currently offers temperature and relative humidity sensors. Other sensor types are in development, but are not yet available for testing.

Pointelist is a beta monitoring platform and should be treated as such. It is not intended to provide critical data or to be used in any circumstance in which the data generated is relied upon to ensure the health, safety, or welfare of individuals. Please refer to the user agreement for the full statement of use limitations.

The system is not waterproof as shipped. However, your kit can easily be made waterproof depending upon its application. Please contact us for more information and examples of our own waterproofed deployments.

With Pointelist, your data is dynamically loaded on to our online interface in five-minute intervals. Additionally, the interface allows you to manage your deployments and graph your experiments expeditiously. You can access data from both past and current deployments using either your desktop or other mobile device.

Data will be stored for no less than 1 year after receiving a kit. For long-term storage, all data can be downloaded via an API (see below) or as an Excel file.

We have a RESTful API with example integrations leveraging C#, Javascript, Python, and Grasshopper under development. API documentation can be found here.

Once you receive your kit, all you need to get started is a power source and an internet connection, either via Wi-Fi or an Ethernet cord.

Standard Ethernet connections, such as 10/100 speed ports or 10/100/1000 high-speed Gigabit ports will work with Pointelist.

Most common Wi-Fi networks using WEP, WPA, or WPA2 security are compatible with Pointelist, which automatically determines what kind of security your network uses. However, Pointelist does not currently support enterprise-level Wi-Fi authentication, or 802.1x, which includes networks that require login with a username and password, as well as SSID, for Wi-Fi access. Many enterprise network administrators provide WPA2 networks alongside enterprise Wi-Fi networks to support other devices that also do not support enterprise networks, such as printers. Consult your network administrator to determine whether the appropriate network might be available at your location.

Pointelist only makes outbound connections, so firewall configuration is only necessary if your network blocks outbound connections. Two ports are used by Pointelist, TCP: 80 and UDP: 123. TCP: 80 is a device-server communication for data collection and connectivity status checks. UDP: 123 is an initial date and time synchronization. Ensure that your firewall does not block these two ports in order to allow Pointelist to communicate with your server.

Typically, this issue is caused by incorrect connector installation. In other words, the wires have not been inserted fully into the connectors, or the connectors have not been crushed correctly with the vise grips. We’ve provided a tutorial video that will help you to properly install and crush your connectors. If you’re sure that your connectors have been installed and crushed correctly, confirm that the node is connected to the internet. The center button of the Pointelist node should be blue (if it’s connected via Wi-Fi) or green (if it’s connected via Ethernet). If the center button is red, or shows no color, your node is not connected to the internet. If your node is connected and your sensors are crushed, but you are still experiencing difficulties, please contact us for further support.