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The components are becoming more available now, and as more tech-friendly people wind up in "wet sciences" labs the need is getting more widely recognized. My group put a basic system together (and everyone is invited to contribute additional sensor interfaces etc!). It's built around a Raspberry Pi and sensors from Phidgets (and note the Phidgets people sell a 4-20 interface so it can talk to all sorts of things).

In terms of capability this is not new, but we're trying to automate the setup as much as possible, so that people who don't consider themselves "computer people" can set something up, run a couple of basic sanity checks on the outputs, and have a functional monitoring system.

You could use Phidgets and a OTG cable.

Which then increases the cost and requires drivers
http://www.phidgets.com/products.php?category=0 As you can see these all cost more than the Pi by it's self.
This is an option http://www.sparkfun.com/products/10585 when the new one is available
People can always use this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812196233 if their are drivers for this.

http://www.phidgets.com/

I've used Phidgets in the past for exactly this application (research into UIs for large data). Lots of premade USB controls available and easy to hook up most analog controls to their IO boards. I went to the local electronics shop and bought a slew of buttons, knobs and slides and had no problem hooking them up with phidgets.

For programming, I wrapped the C library in Python using SWIG.

-Chris

I have been using a custom Phidgets for the past couple years to monitor electrical usage in my house. I have one of these http://www.phidgets.com/products.php?category=8&product_id=3503 to monitor each branch circuit in my electrical panel. I then have http://www.phidgets.com/products.php?category=0&product_id=1018 this connected to my main pc to do all the data logging. I have written a custom c++ application to dump the raw data into a mysql database and then i have PHP to query data and datasets for reporting. This comes close to your budget if you only need to monitor a couple circuits. If you monitor all 26 of your branch circuits in your house, then this can become fairly expensive compared to your budget however all the other electrical monitoring agents you will find will be several THOUSAND dollars for some "professional enterprise data center solution" to do the same amount of logging and same features which the phidgets can do for 1/10 the price. Instead of spending $10,000 you spend maybe $500 for the same or better features and compatibility.

I have been using a custom Phidgets for the past couple years to monitor electrical usage in my house. I have one of these http://www.phidgets.com/products.php?category=8&product_id=3503 to monitor each branch circuit in my electrical panel. I then have http://www.phidgets.com/products.php?category=0&product_id=1018 this connected to my main pc to do all the data logging. I have written a custom c++ application to dump the raw data into a mysql database and then i have PHP to query data and datasets for reporting. This comes close to your budget if you only need to monitor a couple circuits. If you monitor all 26 of your branch circuits in your house, then this can become fairly expensive compared to your budget however all the other electrical monitoring agents you will find will be several THOUSAND dollars for some "professional enterprise data center solution" to do the same amount of logging and same features which the phidgets can do for 1/10 the price. Instead of spending $10,000 you spend maybe $500 for the same or better features and compatibility.

Phidgets If you would like a bit of an easier ride.

Version 2.0 of their Phidgets SBC is going to be really slick, but don't expect it anytime soon.

I don't work for them, but http://www.phidgets.com/ would rock with this thing if it had wifi.

Seriously, how many connectors out there do you know of that let you plug it in any way you feel like?

Oh, I don't know... Ever used headphones?

How about at least some power connectors?

I can't even imagine it being easier to manufacture this little square thing than to manufacture something, you know, round like that.

This is a common topic on comp.robotics.misc... search the archives -- its come up at least once in the past couple of months. Instead of using embedded processors, why not use the PC with an I/O board?
http://www.phidgets.com/
http://wiring.org.co/

And single-board computers are getting affordable...
http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/product_info.php? products_id=8207

Well, if you're scanning objects in your home, you might as well use a stationary device connected to a computer, since there's little point in putting RFID tags in furniture or other normally non-mobile objects. Also, I would think a mobile power source and even basic processing would drive up the price.

I haven't tried them yet, but if you are interested in PC-based RFID readers, some friends recommended these:

http://www.hobbyengineering.com/H2177.html

http://www.phidgets.com/index.php

Phidgets is a company that sells these RFID readers and tags in an "off the shelf" manner. For a mere $90 CDN (almost nothing in USD), you can get a reader plus a whole set of tags (and of course the software to program against it with).

one of theeseRFID KITS and some spare "dart heads" some sort of dart gun and programming knowledge. Simple, yeah right. Good on theese guys for doing it first.

I actually wrote a research paper on this as an undergraduate at UC Irvine.

I built a bank of LED lights, connected to a Phidgets kit board, and wrote a Java interface to monitor web pages and my POP3 inbox. When something changed, the interface software would strobe the light grid instead of popping up a dialog or something. That way, you could be barely conscious of a new event, but it wasn't distracting enough to actually grab your attention unless you were looking for it.

I wish I hadn't had to give the Phidget kit back at the end of the project. =(

Phidgets (http://www.phidgets.com/) is something that has recently become extremely cheap and accessible to software guys like me who HATE hardware. Phidgets make it really easy to build physical user interfaces (think nobs, switches, pressure sensors, etc.) without needing to do any hardware stuff yourself.

They are extremely easy to use, as you can see by these undergrad projects (http://grouplab.cpsc.ucalgary.ca/phidgets/gallery /index.html).

Full disclosure: I am a member of the lab from which this stuff was developed.

Well I don't have the software yet but I have put together the items that could be used for monitoring a room.

Take a look here

www.Phidgets.com

oh yeah, and some cool stuff from here. You'd have to program it tho.

As a web developer and dilettante programmer, I'm interested in how RFID will extend the reach of our apps beyond the keyboard/mouse and out into the real world (well, several inches out into the real world, anyhow, given the limitations of RFID receivers.)

I've been playing with the RFID kid from Phidgets; it's about 100 bucks to get started with a reader and some chips of your own. Unfortunately for a newbie like me, it's not as easy as working with a barcode reader -- you've got to access the hardware using a VB object, do your own filtering and suppression for multiple reads, etc. If someone has written a package that will abstract this stuff, making the reader act like an easy-cheesy USB keyboard, I'd be glad to know about it.

While we're on the subject, anyone know of any other fun, entry-level RFID hardware, kits, or packages, so we can write our own Evil Supply-Chain-Management All-Seeing-Eye application?

<a href="http://www.phidgets.com/">Phidgets</a>

I predict wonderful "learning experiences" as RFID reading/duplicating technology moves down to individuals.

RFID reading technology.

On a side note, this site is awesome. Check them for all your random-parts-with-simple-computer-interfaces needs. =)