#14: scan-the.space

• 

  MongoDB

• 

  number of devices over time

• 

  arp-scan of devices

• 

  minecraft steve on a raspberry pi sense hat

Inspiration

I wanted to show people what devices are on the network in a way that would be interactive, fun, and give a little more awareness of what the network looks like from the computer's perspective.

What it does

Scan the Space runs periodic scans for devices on the network, then displays the data on a web server. Users can visit the web server, look at graphs of the network data over time, and have the option to assign their device a nickname. Scan the Space is useful for makerspaces, to log how many people visit throughout the day/week (or year!), how long each individual spends there, and to give the users some insight into the network. Another use case could be a company that runs a chain restaurant or store, to identify repeat customers to different locations.

How I built it

The whole thing runs on a raspberry pi with a pi sense hat. It connects to MongoDB Atlas running on Google's Cloud Platform (GCP). The web server is made with a Flask Python backend, and Vue.js for the frontend.

Challenges I ran into

We had some trouble connecting to MongoDB from the pi (it worked on the laptop). We ended up solving it by connecting another wifi dongle and conecting to a network that didn't block certain types of packets. In the process, we now dual-wield wifi dongles so we can now scan 2 networks at once!

Accomplishments that I'm proud of

You can even assign multiple devices to your nickname, without anyone being able to steal the name (with a clever authentication method).

What I learned

How to use MongoDB!

What's next for scan-the.space

A global dashboard that connects to multiple devices More charts! A more visual representation of the devices A leaderboard of total time connected

Built With

• arp-scan
• flask
• javascript
• mongodb
• pi-sense-hat
• python
• raspberry-pi
• vue.js