My goal over winter break is to build a device that monitors a household's total power consumption. It displays the data to the user and makes all of the information available on the Web for viewing and sharing.

This is a rough prototype that depicts how the final system will work. The only part I'm missing is the sensor, so right now its just outputting random numbers and transmitting them every 10 seconds over the Internet.

All of the hardware you see costs me $80. The final product, including the sensor, should cost ~$65.

I soldered and built it with the help of Emily Poplawski (Duke Pratt School, 2010)