Bloomsky is a group of weather enthusiasts interested in the maker movement and early tech adoption. In July 2014 the team crowdfunded Bloomsky, their smart weather camera. The unit contained temperature, humidity, pressure, UV and rain sensors, along with a camera to allow citizen scientists the opportunity to share their local weather with the world. The team’s vision is to bring on a weather data revolution by building the next generation of accurate and ‘hyperlocal’ information.
The team is back to the crowdfunding game with a new Complete Smart Weather Camera System. The SKY2 still has temperature, humidity, barometric pressure and precipitation sensors, but the guts of the unit is an HD camera that takes constant images in five minute increments. The device promises to give a full time lapse story of a location’s weather, every day. Another device called STORM is also available, allowing the user to measure rainfall, check wind speed and wind direction, and incorporating a UV sensor. STORM is an add-on that works only with the SKY2 (or SKY1 from the previous Kickstarter campaign) units. STORM and SKY2 are both equipped with solar panels for continuous charging.
Currently more than 100,000 users are monitoring and broadcasting their weather data, through the BloomSky app (also on the Google Play app store.) The SKY2 units are compatible with nest, IFTTT, hue and WEMO to bring your weather information into the internet of things. Data can be downloaded through the app in a variety of graphical methods or taken in one giant chunk as a .csv file. An API is also available through the app for users to create their own interfaces or applications.
BloomSky is a great example of people building the tools they wish to see in the world. These tools will help citizen scientists, weather enthusiasts and engineers who need data about weather in different parts of the globe. The campaign has already blown by its $80,000 goal and will end on August 30, 2016. First (non-early bird) units are expected to ship in October 2016.